UMPI Criminal Justice BA - seeking input on this probably overly detailed plan!

[ProgressiveSloth]

Hello, this is a lovely community! I’ve been reading for a couple months and am feeling bold and nearly ready to get started. I’m trying to maximize cost efficiency over time, am more comfortable with CBE than courses (but fine with either, just one of those people who excel at testing), and I’ve got 40-45 credits in my bucket right now, depending on how they’d be counted on eval. I’m looking to beef that up with more gen eds and some concentration specific courses before starting the application process. I’ve got my current credits listed below, along with what I’m considering taking at SDC inside their transfer agreement with UMPI. Hoping for some insight on whether it would be easier/cheaper in the long run to just take the SDC stuff at UMPI, and asking for some guidance on filling in credit gaps for GE, namely, Sophia vs CLEP vs something else. 

Info: 
Located in Indiana, 35
Seeking CJ degree with intent to obtain MS in Forensic Psych


RA from Ivy Tech CC 
24 Credits

Intro to Public Speaking, 3 CR
Intro to Ethics, 3 CR
Intro to Microcomputers, 3 CR
US His 2: 1877-Present, 3 CR
Linguistics, 3 CR
World Geography, 3 CR
Concepts in Mathematics, 3 CR
Fitness and Wellness, 2 CR
1st Yr Seminar, 1 CR

CLEP w/credit equiv per UMPI
12 Credits

English Comp 1, Modular (old), 3 CR
Analzying and Int. Lit, 3 CR
Principles of Marketing, 3 CR
Principles of Mgmt, 3 CR

AP - 3 Credits

Intro to Psych

Misc ACE, unsure if still viable 

Developing Effective Teams (Sophia)
Insurance Ethics (Institutes)

I was planning to use Modern States for 15 more credits on the following:

Business Law
American Gov
Macro
Micro
Human Growth and Dev
Intro to Sociology

I’ve found MS a super easy format so far and am pretty familiar with the material for everything but econ…took the AP classes in HS but that was a half lifetime ago hah

I was then planning to use 2 months of SDC to complete 7 courses for 21 credits that transfer directly into the degree at UMPI to cover the following reqs:
 
CRJ 101
CRJ 230
SOC 230
CRJ 250
CRJ 332
PCJ 215
PSY 200

Leaving the following major specific req to be completed at UMPI:

CRJ 225
CRJ 372
CRJ 376
CRJ 340
SOC 430
CRJ 496
CRJ 377
POS 332 

For a total of 24 res credits, 21 UL and a grand total of 100 with all above credit sources combined leaving a need for 20 additional credits, 9 I will have to get from UMPI to fulfill UL/res requirements (as one of the above is LL).

Meaning, I need to find 12 more credits elsewhere whether from SDC, CLEP, Sophia?, etc (unless it’s advisable to just take UMPI?)

For cost, 2 months of SDC + 3 exam fees would be $610 w/o discount + probably 2 terms @ 1400 UMPI + $100 in CLEP proctor fees = $3510 

Is there a more cost efficient way to handle any of this? I’ll need to do an Algebra course and a lab science, which I figured I could either wrap into my UMPI stuff unless there’s a better option I could do before applying?

Would skipping CLEP and doing Sophia get me to the same place credit wise for less and fill in the credits needed for gen ed? I do need to have a law course as a prereq for one of the UL in the plan, was going to use bus law CLEP for that.

Am I overlooking anything? My brain is soupy after poring over all this info. I was leaning CLEP wise vs Sophia but am confused about whether they both fall under the 30 credit limit for transferring prior learning stuff as well. If so, I’m already half to that 30 credit limit yeah?

I’m looking to ladder up to a Forensic Psych program and was considering the SDC course in that to throw in as an elective for another $70 as I don’t see an equivalent anywhere else.

Okay, I hope I didn’t go overboard! Y’all ask folks to be as detailed as possible so I tried to give everything I could think of. Thank you so much!

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Oops, I meant 18 more credits with CLEP, not 15. Zoinks!

[NoStudentNoCry]

1) You only listed 8 classes = 24 credits to take at UMPI. You still need to take at least 6 more to meet residency requirement.
2) You say "I was leaning CLEP wise vs Sophia but am confused about whether they both fall under the 30 credit limit for transferring prior learning stuff as well". I am not sure what you mean. There is no such thing as 30-credit limit for transfers. I transferred 90-ish credits from Sophia and so did multiple members of this forum.
3) Take biology with lab via study.com. The one offered via UMPI appears to be ridiculously hard to pass.

[rachel83az]

No, skip CLEP as much as possible.

Head over to Sophia. Pay $40 (with code Back2School - valid until the 30th) and get Business Law, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Algebra, and their new Intro to Sociology (whatever they've called it). I'm not sure what GEC requirement you're trying to fill with Human Growth & Development, but I'm fairly certain there's an option at Sophia for that. You can easily get these things done in under a month. This will save you A LOT of time/energy/money when compared to taking the CLEPs. Seriously.

You might or might not need more Sophia courses for the GEC requirements anyway; I'm not sure. Hopefully, someone who has attended UMPI will be able to chime in about this soon.

If you have access to a testing center, go ahead and CLEP for American Government. Otherwise, do NOT do the home proctoring. Pay $45 for InstantCert's American Government. Also take Spanish at InstantCert. You need at least 3 credits of a language and InstantCert is apparently the easiest way to do that. You have Linguistics, but I don't think that counts as a language.

As already stated, take Biology 101L at SDC. And drop two SDC courses so that you've got 30 residency credits at UMPI instead of 24. You are theoretically allowed to transfer in an unlimited amount of credits from any accepted source but each degree requires AT LEAST 30 credits to be taken from UMPI. The majority of your UL credits must also be taken at UMPI.

[dfrecore]

I would absolutely do CLEP, not sure why you'd be advised not to do that - it's a great way to earn credits for someone who is a good test-taker. I took 4 in 1 day and was THRILLED with the results, it really kickstarted my plan.

CLEP
Am Govt
Sociology
4 additional if you want (not sure I'd choose econ...)
http://www.free-clep-prep.com/clep-difficulty-list.html

ICC
Spanish

Study.com
BIO 101L: Intro to Biology w/Lab
an additional course, I'd probably do a physical science (ESCI 104: Intro to Meteorology or ENS 101: Environment & Humanity) - you're paying for 2 courses, you may as well make the most of it

UMPI
English Comp II
Creative Decision Making
remaining 8 major courses

[rachel83az]

CLEP home testing is problematic. For testing in a center, Sophia is going to be significantly cheaper once you take into account travel time and whatnot.

[ss20ts]

You're kind of all over the place. Why are you wasting time on CLEP exams for courses you don't need? I wouldn't take Business Law or the Human Growth one.....they'll be electives. They won't count for your major. You already have electives. You need to focus on the GEC and the major requirements. You also need to complete a MINIMUM of 30 credits at UMPI. The majority of the UL courses also need to be completed at UMPI. You need a lab science and language as well. Focus on what UMPI requires not these extras.

[dfrecore]

You're kind of all over the place. Why are you wasting time on CLEP exams for courses you don't need? I wouldn't take Business Law or the Human Growth one.....they'll be electives. They won't count for your major. You already have electives. You need to focus on the GEC and the major requirements. You also need to complete a MINIMUM of 30 credits at UMPI. The majority of the UL courses also need to be completed at UMPI. You need a lab science and language as well. Focus on what UMPI requires not these extras.

Honestly, this is exactly the plan I would advise her to do!  I'd do CLEP for anything she wants, as long as she has 10 courses at UMPI.  I'm not sure what the problem is.

---

CLEP home testing is problematic. For testing in a center, Sophia is going to be significantly cheaper once you take into account travel time and whatnot.

I absolutely LOVE CLEP, and didn't mind the testing center except that it was a bit far for me.  But my kid, who is a great test-taker, is absolutely going to go to a testing center to CLEP as much as he can.  Travel time may not be an issue for everyone (it isn't for us any longer, I think it's maybe 10 minutes away).

The feeling you get when you complete a CLEP and score 3 (or 6 or even 12cr) is amazing.  I know more than one person who did almost an entire degree with CLEP exams.

Plus, for many, CLEP is the only thing their school will accept for alt-credit - so let's not go discouraging people from using CLEP!

[ss20ts]

You're kind of all over the place. Why are you wasting time on CLEP exams for courses you don't need? I wouldn't take Business Law or the Human Growth one.....they'll be electives. They won't count for your major. You already have electives. You need to focus on the GEC and the major requirements. You also need to complete a MINIMUM of 30 credits at UMPI. The majority of the UL courses also need to be completed at UMPI. You need a lab science and language as well. Focus on what UMPI requires not these extras.

Honestly, this is exactly the plan I would advise her to do!  I'd do CLEP for anything she wants, as long as she has 10 courses at UMPI.  I'm not sure what the problem is.

---

Only 120 credits are required. Extra courses mean extra time and money. There's only so much room for electives. Most people have to take more than 10 classes at UMPI due to the GEC requirements. The OP doesn't have the required English courses either so those will need to be completed at UMPI. There's that UL requirement to worry about as well.

[dfrecore]

You're kind of all over the place. Why are you wasting time on CLEP exams for courses you don't need? I wouldn't take Business Law or the Human Growth one.....they'll be electives. They won't count for your major. You already have electives. You need to focus on the GEC and the major requirements. You also need to complete a MINIMUM of 30 credits at UMPI. The majority of the UL courses also need to be completed at UMPI. You need a lab science and language as well. Focus on what UMPI requires not these extras.

Honestly, this is exactly the plan I would advise her to do!  I'd do CLEP for anything she wants, as long as she has 10 courses at UMPI.  I'm not sure what the problem is.

---

Only 120 credits are required. Extra courses mean extra time and money. There's only so much room for electives. Most people have to take more than 10 classes at UMPI due to the GEC requirements. The OP doesn't have the required English courses either so those will need to be completed at UMPI. There's that UL requirement to worry about as well.

So between rachel86az and I, we suggested that the OP use ICC/Sophia/CLEP/Study.com to get the GEC completed (except Comp 2 which he/she should do at UMPI); and then do 7 UL courses in the major.  There is only 1 UL course they are planning on doing through Study.com (CJ 305: The Juvenile Justice System), and then some electives.

So I'm confused on why you are not wanting him/her to do electives via free CLEP exams (on courses they've taken in the past) for electives?  What are you suggesting instead?

[ss20ts]

Only 120 credits are required. Extra courses mean extra time and money. There's only so much room for electives. Most people have to take more than 10 classes at UMPI due to the GEC requirements. The OP doesn't have the required English courses either so those will need to be completed at UMPI. There's that UL requirement to worry about as well.

So between rachel86az and I, we suggested that the OP use ICC/Sophia/CLEP/Study.com to get the GEC completed (except Comp 2 which he/she should do at UMPI); and then do 7 UL courses in the major.  There is only 1 UL course they are planning on doing through Study.com (CJ 305: The Juvenile Justice System), and then some electives.

So I'm confused on why you are not wanting him/her to do electives via free CLEP exams (on courses they've taken in the past) for electives?  What are you suggesting instead?

Pretty sure I gave my opinion. I'm an alumni so I am VERY familiar with the GEC and the general electives. Many people FAR too many courses expecting them to transfer and they don't. There's only so much room for general electives. Why waste time and money completing 133 credits when a degree only requires 120? Focus on what is required and whatever you want for your own enjoyment do after you complete the degree. With the plan the OP has, they are missing quite a bit in the GEC.