11-18-2021, 02:15 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-18-2021, 02:19 AM by cpoteraske.)
Hello everyone,
I understand there have been a lot of threads talking about people completing their degrees and would like to make a quick one stating on how I did mine and the timeframe involved with it. I started my college journey in 2017 by attending a B&M technical college while working a full time job, a semi part time job, and being a national guardsman. I took three classes and ended up with a 1.9 GPA with having two c's and a C-. At this point, I had given up on ever finishing my associates degree.
Around 2020 when the pandemic kicked off, I was called up to active duty in the Army National Guard to pickup decedents because funeral homes had stopped responding to the scene of death. During this time, I became interested in becoming a police officer in my state. The requirements state that you need 60 college credits. I went about finding the easiest way to achieve this and stumbled upon a site called straighterline. I spent all my free time knocking out random courses to meet that 60 credit requirement and I completed it. This is when I stumbled upon DegreeForum and learned all these terms such as RA/NA, ACE, CLEP, AAS and so forth. I had never steeped myself into the college lingo or bothered to understand it until I found this forum. According to my states terms for police applicants, these 60 college credits I had worked so hard for had to be RA, with the ability to ask for a waiver of up to 30 ACE credits. I stopped once again thinking I couldn't and wouldn't be able to complete a degree or be able to meet these requirements due to life obligations.
Fast forward to 2021, I have gone through a divorce, sold my house and was in the process of switching jobs all at the age of 24. I said now or never and returned back to this forum to receive help on potentially completing my associates degree. I made this post on 5-30-2021
People on this forum came out of the woodwork with the kindness of their heart to use their knowledge and help guide me on a path. Special recognition to, rachel83az, dfrecore, bjcheung77. rachel83az had brought my attention to the Pierpont BOG AAS, and so I set off to complete it. In about or month or two I had met the requirements and had applied for graduation at Pierpont which was conferred Aug 6th 2021.
On 6-26-21 I made another post inquiring about UMPI and things I would need to maximize transfer credits. ss20ts suggested I take a few courses, and without even double checking I trusted him and did them as quick as I could. This turned out to be a HUGE help. I transferred in my credits and began working on UMPI classes. UMPI Term 1 for me I completed 10 courses with a 3.7 GPA. I was almost done, I had one course that was offered that I couldn't take which made me enroll in another term. I completed this class the first week of September and was done with my degree. I opted to add a history minor as I had taken quite a history classes prior which opened the door for it. I was officially done with my degree in late October 2021. I finished my 2n'd term with a 4.0 and graduated with a 3.8. I am now on the final end of the hiring process with multiple agencies, of which I have been a top contender in every place I applied to.
I would like to thank everyone who helped me along the way and to those who have contributed to the forum. I am often a lurker who just reads every new post but I figured if you were like me and thought you could never work a full time job and complete a degree you could be persuaded. I was on my own at 18 working a full time job with no financial help as I grew up relatively poor and figured only those who are privileged could take the time to complete a degree. If you have any questions about anything please feel free to PM me and I can try my best but the people here have all the knowledge anyone could need to help you on your journey.
TLDR; Got degree, couldn't do it without the knowledge of this forum.
I understand there have been a lot of threads talking about people completing their degrees and would like to make a quick one stating on how I did mine and the timeframe involved with it. I started my college journey in 2017 by attending a B&M technical college while working a full time job, a semi part time job, and being a national guardsman. I took three classes and ended up with a 1.9 GPA with having two c's and a C-. At this point, I had given up on ever finishing my associates degree.
Around 2020 when the pandemic kicked off, I was called up to active duty in the Army National Guard to pickup decedents because funeral homes had stopped responding to the scene of death. During this time, I became interested in becoming a police officer in my state. The requirements state that you need 60 college credits. I went about finding the easiest way to achieve this and stumbled upon a site called straighterline. I spent all my free time knocking out random courses to meet that 60 credit requirement and I completed it. This is when I stumbled upon DegreeForum and learned all these terms such as RA/NA, ACE, CLEP, AAS and so forth. I had never steeped myself into the college lingo or bothered to understand it until I found this forum. According to my states terms for police applicants, these 60 college credits I had worked so hard for had to be RA, with the ability to ask for a waiver of up to 30 ACE credits. I stopped once again thinking I couldn't and wouldn't be able to complete a degree or be able to meet these requirements due to life obligations.
Fast forward to 2021, I have gone through a divorce, sold my house and was in the process of switching jobs all at the age of 24. I said now or never and returned back to this forum to receive help on potentially completing my associates degree. I made this post on 5-30-2021
Quote:Hello,
I've been lurking here for a long time and my passion to finally finish a degree of any sort has popped back up again. I chose a degree at TESU that would transfer the most credits over and allow me to finish it in a quick amount of time. I wanted to post my information and see if I am overlooking anything major that would save me some time. I am currently enrolled in two classes for summer. The program I am in at the moment is a AA in Arts (General Studies). Am I missing something or am I going down a good path to finish this degree within a decent time frame?
People on this forum came out of the woodwork with the kindness of their heart to use their knowledge and help guide me on a path. Special recognition to, rachel83az, dfrecore, bjcheung77. rachel83az had brought my attention to the Pierpont BOG AAS, and so I set off to complete it. In about or month or two I had met the requirements and had applied for graduation at Pierpont which was conferred Aug 6th 2021.
On 6-26-21 I made another post inquiring about UMPI and things I would need to maximize transfer credits. ss20ts suggested I take a few courses, and without even double checking I trusted him and did them as quick as I could. This turned out to be a HUGE help. I transferred in my credits and began working on UMPI classes. UMPI Term 1 for me I completed 10 courses with a 3.7 GPA. I was almost done, I had one course that was offered that I couldn't take which made me enroll in another term. I completed this class the first week of September and was done with my degree. I opted to add a history minor as I had taken quite a history classes prior which opened the door for it. I was officially done with my degree in late October 2021. I finished my 2n'd term with a 4.0 and graduated with a 3.8. I am now on the final end of the hiring process with multiple agencies, of which I have been a top contender in every place I applied to.
I would like to thank everyone who helped me along the way and to those who have contributed to the forum. I am often a lurker who just reads every new post but I figured if you were like me and thought you could never work a full time job and complete a degree you could be persuaded. I was on my own at 18 working a full time job with no financial help as I grew up relatively poor and figured only those who are privileged could take the time to complete a degree. If you have any questions about anything please feel free to PM me and I can try my best but the people here have all the knowledge anyone could need to help you on your journey.
TLDR; Got degree, couldn't do it without the knowledge of this forum.
Pierpont BOG AAS - 2021
UMPI Bachelor Of Liberal Studies - Management Minor, History Minor
UMPI Alumni - 2021 Magna Cum Laude
![[-]](https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/images/collapse.png)
![[Image: e7P9EJ4.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/e7P9EJ4.jpeg)
