Thanks for great advice, just need some MBA direction

[RICKE95126]

I want to thank you guys for some amazing advice, I just started Sophia and it seems like a great platform. I've reached out to Pierpont and spoke with an advisor, their governors AA degree is a perfect 1st step, I'm sending my transcripts as we speak, seems like there is FA options out there. After speaking to an advisor my target should be an MBA and I should have a credit plan to reach it.. as mentioned in previous messages I have 22 lower level credits 100 lvl Basic math and psychology 1 100 lvl AA studies a D+ in a coaching class and the rest electives. Where should I go for the BA and aside from taking all the Sophia credits what else should I be taking to prep for an MBA?

[rachel83az]

As dfrecore mentioned, you're probably going to need knowledge of stats for an MBA. So, IMO, you might as well take Sophia Algebra and Statistics and get a business degree instead of just a liberal studies degree. If you do that, you still need to choose a school. Seriously, until you decide on a school we can't tell you what classes to take or not to take.

You don't need English Comp I but let's say that you did and didn't want to do Sophia's. As an example, TESU does not accept any English Comp courses at Study.com and you need to get your credits elsewhere. Excelsior takes "English 204: English Composition I" and COSC takes "English 104: College Composition I". That's just a very basic example. There is no universal set of classes that will get you a degree at every college or university.

Given that a degree requires approximately 40 classes (at 3 credits each) to complete, there are literally thousands of possible combinations of classes. Yes, most people tend to use the same classes because it's easier. But every forum member could take a slightly different combination of classes and still get a degree of some kind in the end.

If you are leaning towards UMPI and getting a business degree there, you also should not take Sophia's Project Management because it'll make your life easier to complete that course at UMPI instead of Sophia.

[RICKE95126]

So what I am hearing is:

Determine what subject you are weakest in
Pick a course of study
There are 4 School to choose from
Pick the school who requires the least amount of what you struggle with the most
Then figure out what platform suits you best
Determine which courses to take based on the above mentioned criteria


Are there MBA programs that allow for testing, online only degrees similar the the BA programs?

[rachel83az]

So what I am hearing is:

Determine what subject you are weakest in
Pick a course of study
There are 4 School to choose from
Pick the school who requires the least amount of what you struggle with the most
Then figure out what platform suits you best
Determine which courses to take based on the above mentioned criteria

More or less, yes. You can certainly choose to do just liberal studies at any of the schools but it may make your MBA more difficult later (especially if you avoid stats).

Are there MBA programs that allow for testing, online only degrees similar the the BA programs?

There are a number of online MBA programs, yes. They will not allow you to bring in credits from elsewhere in the same way that you can with a bachelor's degree but there are affordable options available.

[dfrecore]

So what I am hearing is:

Determine what subject you are weakest in
Pick a course of study
There are 4 School to choose from
Pick the school who requires the least amount of what you struggle with the most
Then figure out what platform suits you best
Determine which courses to take based on the above mentioned criteria


Are there MBA programs that allow for testing, online only degrees similar the the BA programs?

I would say that I've never determined what subject I'm weakest in to make the choice.  I'd really just go with what you can afford, and which degree looks the easiest to complete.  Then I'd choose the platform(s) to use (and if you like Sophia, that's great, but they don't have UL credit, nor are they RA).

You have to choose the school/degree, then plan out the best way to meet the requirements (if it's 30cr of UL, you need to figure that out; if it's 30cr of RA, you need to figure that out, then individual degree requirements for GE; etc.).

[RICKE95126]

So what I am hearing is:

Determine what subject you are weakest in
Pick a course of study
There are 4 School to choose from
Pick the school who requires the least amount of what you struggle with the most
Then figure out what platform suits you best
Determine which courses to take based on the above mentioned criteria


Are there MBA programs that allow for testing, online only degrees similar the the BA programs?

I would say that I've never determined what subject I'm weakest in to make the choice.  I'd really just go with what you can afford, and which degree looks the easiest to complete.  Then I'd choose the platform(s) to use (and if you like Sophia, that's great, but they don't have UL credit, nor are they RA).

You have to choose the school/degree, then plan out the best way to meet the requirements (if it's 30cr of UL, you need to figure that out; if it's 30cr of RA, you need to figure that out, then individual degree requirements for GE; etc.).

UL vs RA? This is not the same? I understamd that Sophia is not UL but it's not an option for all 4 schools?

Sound like you're not a big fan of Sophia, what do you suggest for LL? 

You mentioned that UMPI requires and essay for each of the10 classes (30 cr) you need to take from them...That does not sound fast and problematic.

Sorry for all the questions but communicating in this manner means I'm getting the information and drips and drabs. 

My hope was to outline what I was looking for how many credits I had where I got them from and to get some advice on the best way to achieve my goal i.e. a degree plan or a sample of one to work from..

Cost is the the smallest factor, the other points I outlined are my biggest considerations

I don't know all of the resources that I can use... Which platforms provide LL UL RA etc.. which are the easiest based on my learning style, etc.. thus me asking sooo many questions.

And the MBA deal is the online benefit soley $

Sorry if I am a pain in the #$&

[rachel83az]

Upper level and RA is not the same thing at all. The credits you already have are all lower level and RA. Lower level is freshman/sophomore (usually 100/200) and upper level is junior/senior (usually 300/400). At TESU, you don't need to have a single RA credit that is also UL.

Sophia is great for lower level but, again, they do not have anything that is upper level. Exactly where to get UL courses will depend on exactly which school/degree you finally choose.

The essays at UMPI don't have to be that long (IIRC, 3-7 pages). But, FYI, you'll have to do a LOT more writing for an MBA.

My hope was to outline what I was looking for how many credits I had where I got them from and to get some advice on the best way to achieve my goal i.e. a degree plan or a sample of one to work from..

If you start taking credits at random, you're going to wind up taking a LOT longer and probably take a bunch of utterly useless credits. Sophia is an excellent start but, beyond that, it really depends.

Your current approach is kind of akin to saying that you're going to start slapping paint on a canvas and you'll figure out who it's a portrait of later. Will it work? Sure. Maybe. It can. Is it the correct way to approach painting a portrait? Not really. Is it efficient? Absolutely not. Will you wind up with a mess in the process? Definitely. Figure out who you want to draw, then we can tell you what art supplies to buy and what colors you need.

[dfrecore]

I would say that I've never determined what subject I'm weakest in to make the choice.  I'd really just go with what you can afford, and which degree looks the easiest to complete.  Then I'd choose the platform(s) to use (and if you like Sophia, that's great, but they don't have UL credit, nor are they RA).

You have to choose the school/degree, then plan out the best way to meet the requirements (if it's 30cr of UL, you need to figure that out; if it's 30cr of RA, you need to figure that out, then individual degree requirements for GE; etc.).

UL vs RA? This is not the same? I understamd that Sophia is not UL but it's not an option for all 4 schools?

Sound like you're not a big fan of Sophia, what do you suggest for LL? 

You mentioned that UMPI requires and essay for each of the10 classes (30 cr) you need to take from them...That does not sound fast and problematic.

Sorry for all the questions but communicating in this manner means I'm getting the information and drips and drabs. 

My hope was to outline what I was looking for how many credits I had where I got them from and to get some advice on the best way to achieve my goal i.e. a degree plan or a sample of one to work from..

Cost is the the smallest factor, the other points I outlined are my biggest considerations

I don't know all of the resources that I can use... Which platforms provide LL UL RA etc.. which are the easiest based on my learning style, etc.. thus me asking sooo many questions.

And the MBA deal is the online benefit soley $

Sorry if I am a pain in the #$&

RA = Regionally Accredited = College Credits from a Regionally Accredited school (as opposed to a Nationally Accredited school).

UL - Upper Level, LL =Lower Level

At both COSC and TESU, you need 30cr of RA - you'll take 6cr from them for the cornerstone and capstone, and then you can bring 24cr of RA from elsewhere.  Your UL credits do not have to be RA credit (although it can help to kill 2 birds with 1 stone).  Since you have 23.5cr of RA already, and all of it is LL, you just need ½ credit from somewhere. You could take a science lab, but that seems like a pain in the butt.  If it were me, I'd take the English Comp II TECEP exam since you need that at any of the Big 3 or UMPI, and it's the easiest way to get those credits (or at least, the fastest).  If you passed English Comp I, you should be able to pass the TECEP with very little study.

I don't have anything against Sophia at all, they just only provide LL non-RA credit, so you're going to have to supplement them with other options.

[RICKE95126]

Upper level and RA is not the same thing at all. The credits you already have are all lower level and RA. Lower level is freshman/sophomore (usually 100/200) and upper level is junior/senior (usually 300/400). At TESU, you don't need to have a single RA credit that is also UL.

Sophia is great for lower level but, again, they do not have anything that is upper level. Exactly where to get UL courses will depend on exactly which school/degree you finally choose.

The essays at UMPI don't have to be that long (IIRC, 3-7 pages). But, FYI, you'll have to do a LOT more writing for an MBA.

My hope was to outline what I was looking for how many credits I had where I got them from and to get some advice on the best way to achieve my goal i.e. a degree plan or a sample of one to work from..

If you start taking credits at random, you're going to wind up taking a LOT longer and probably take a bunch of utterly useless credits. Sophia is an excellent start but, beyond that, it really depends.

Your current approach is kind of akin to saying that you're going to start slapping paint on a canvas and you'll figure out who it's a portrait of later. Will it work? Sure. Maybe. It can. Is it the correct way to approach painting a portrait? Not really. Is it efficient? Absolutely not. Will you wind up with a mess in the process? Definitely. Figure out who you want to draw, then we can tell you what art supplies to buy and what colors you need.

So I'm a little confused You're saying take all of the Sophia courses or not?

[rachel83az]

There are a couple of exceptions - such as you shouldn't take the Foundations courses or College Readiness unless you REALLY want to - but, yes, take everything at Sophia.

But wanting to know which UL courses to take before you've chosen a school... that definitely doesn't work.