Planning help for Business Admin, Marketing Degree

[Akuebler]

Your Location: Illinois, United States
Your Age: 30s
What kind of degree do you want?: Either a BS or BA for Business Admin - Marketing
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 

Illinois Valley Community College
ALH 1214 Certified Nursing Assistant, 8, B (Completed 2006. I don't expect this to transfer)

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits:

Sophia Credits: 15

College Algebra, 3, A
Business Comm, 3, A
Environmental Science, 3, A
Intro to Business, 3, A
Visual Comm, 3, A

Any certifications or military experience? I am working on Google's Digital Marketing and Google's Project Management Certs through TADA

Budget: I don't have much savings but could contribute $1k/month toward a degree
Commitments: I'm a single mom of an 8-year-old. I currently work full-time as Head of Marketing for a tech company. My work is full-time but hybrid. I spend my weekends with my long-distance partner and every other weekend with my son and his two young boys. He understands my commitment to getting my degree but kid weekends are crazy and unpredictable.
Dedicated time to study: I try to dedicate 2-3 hours most weeknights and 4-10 hours on weekends . The goal is at least 20 hours/wk.
Timeline: I would like to finish my Bachelor within 12-24 months
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: I have up to ten semesters of my Pell Grant left and am eligible for the max award for the 23-24 school year. Next year I expect to qualify but may not receive the max. No employer assistance, but I have great credit, so I can finance if I have to.

After a lot of soul searching, I have decided that I really want to attend a Top 20 Business School to pursue a career as a CMO or CEO at an Inc 5000 company. If cost were no issue, my dream is to attend Kellogg for my MBA. (Lofty and unlikely, I know, but I want to set myself up in case I get lucky.)

I was initially looking at WGU. I really loved the alumni and large, friendly community, but the strict 3.0 GPA isn't strong enough for me.

I like the competency degree style and I want to get my degree as soon as possible, but I want to graduate with a competitive 3.5 GPA. I also have ten years of experience in business and marketing.

Because I was so set on WGU, I don't have strong feelings for the other options. I am currently looking at UMPI and TESU. I like UMPI for their competency, but I am nervous that they are changing their curriculum, and they are such a small school without much of an online community or active alumni. I don't honestly know much about TESU except that it is highly recommended by many here on the forum. I would love opinions or advice. I have looked at the Wiki but still can't narrow it down, and feel like I'm overlooking something. I know I can't plan my courses too much until I choose a college, but I'm really torn and concerned I'll make the wrong choice if I try to decide on my own.

Sorry if I missed something, posted in the wrong place, or talked too much. I'm a long-time lurker and first-time poster, so I'm a bit nervous. ?

I REALLY appreciate everyone who runs, monitors, and contributes on DegreeForum. You all are amazing. ?

[rachel83az]

I would definitely suggest UMPI, even if there are some possible issues with the swap over to Brightspace. For YourPace, UMPI doesn't count anything below a B to be a pass, which means it's not unusual for YourPace students to graduate with a 4.0 (or nearly so).

At TESU, it's possible to take only the final Capstone/Cornerstone classes there, but there is no guaranteed minimum grade. It doesn't happen a lot, but a student could theoretically graduate with less than a 3.0 average relatively easily.

UMPI's Marketing degree is traditionally one of the longer/more difficult ones, but if you have a decade of experience then it should be easier for you to do. Between Pell and your monthly budget, you should have no problems financing your degree - even if it takes you 3-4 sessions instead of 1-2 as some students have been able to do.

[Akuebler]

I would definitely suggest UMPI, even if there are some possible issues with the swap over to Brightspace. For YourPace, UMPI doesn't count anything below a B to be a pass, which means it's not unusual for YourPace students to graduate with a 4.0 (or nearly so).

At TESU, it's possible to take only the final Capstone/Cornerstone classes there, but there is no guaranteed minimum grade. It doesn't happen a lot, but a student could theoretically graduate with less than a 3.0 average relatively easily.

UMPI's Marketing degree is traditionally one of the longer/more difficult ones, but if you have a decade of experience then it should be easier for you to do. Between Pell and your monthly budget, you should have no problems financing your degree - even if it takes you 3-4 sessions instead of 1-2 as some students have been able to do.

That was where I was leaning. Thank you!

[LevelUP]

In terms of a MBA, I would check out the iMBA offered by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

https://giesonline.illinois.edu/explore-...online-mba

[Akuebler]

In terms of a MBA, I would check out the iMBA offered by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

https://giesonline.illinois.edu/explore-...online-mba

Thanks! That was one I looked at. It's only a little over an hour from me. I love U of I but it's more known for its engineering school vs it's business school and I would prefer to have a weekend MBA program with some in-person time for networking. It's definitely on the list if I don't make it into Kellogg or Booth though.

[rachel83az]

For UMPI, make sure you follow the plans on the wiki and at least fill out your GEC with Sophia classes. You'll still need at least Human Biology, Human Biology Lab, and Spanish I.

[dfrecore]

TESU is fine (I graduated from there), but there will be no networking, and almost no graded credits - 6 or 15cr depending on which plan you do. I think a top 20 MBA school will want more graded credit. I could be wrong, but since you're starting from almost scratch, it makes sense to set yourself up for success early.

WGU also does not give traditional grades, so that would be a no-go for me in your situation.

Leaving UMPI, which is a great choice for someone without any RA credit. It makes way more sense to do this degree than TESU because of that.

[bjcheung77]

@Akuebler, both institutions are perfectly fine, it really depends if you're looking at a BABA with Marketing Concentration or a BSBA with an AOS of Marketing, there really isn't much difference as they're coming from public/state universities. You can ladder up to a more well known and slightly more expensive Masters like the one LevelUP mentioned, if you don't really need the MBA, the same institution offers a much cheaper IMSM which is also AACSB accredited, it also provides a scholarship opportunity too at 70% off the sticker price!