WGU MS in Accounting - Ladder from UMPI

[CharisandJon]

Accounting classes at UMPI have assignments that are structured similarly to what you'll find at an actual job. So things like preparing a tax return or an audit report, something like that. I'm not an accountant, so I don't know exactly what the classes are like, or expect, but it's not (just) essays on accounting practices.

Thank you so much, that’s really helpful! It’s good to hear that there are practical assignments as well.

[bjcheung77]

UMPI is all assessments and assignments, they got rid of exams.  It really depends on the person and the students study habits, time management and so on...

Thank you for the response! Yes I read that it was all writing/project based and no exams, and was wondering how that translates over/plays out in accounting. I’m not sure if I have all that much to write about accounting haha, but hopefully they have good rubrics/outlines. Also, I’ve read that if you transfer in with a bachelor’s, they waive all the general ed requirements. Is that also true when transferring in with an associate’s in interdisciplinary studies (not from Pierpont)? I’ve tried searching but can’t seem to find the answer. Thank you!

It won't matter where you get your associates, you're going to have to complete 30 residency credits at UMPI and need to transfer in an additional 30 credits to hit the requirements for 120 credits. If you already have 90 credits and it hits all the right spots for the requirements, then you just need to do the 30 residency credits.

Accounting classes at UMPI have assignments that are structured similarly to what you'll find at an actual job. So things like preparing a tax return or an audit report, something like that. I'm not an accountant, so I don't know exactly what the classes are like, or expect, but it's not (just) essays on accounting practices.

Thank you so much, that’s really helpful! It’s good to hear that there are practical assignments as well.

Hmm, I believe... It's similar to case studies and you'll be doing something practical, like a mini project or report that simulates what you would do on the job.

[davewill]

I am not familiar about the accounting field, I did search from reddit that if you already completed bachelor in accounting at wgu, it should be enough to sit for CPA exam.

https://www.reddit.com/r/wguaccounting/c...xam_after/

Most states require an extra 30 credits in accounting and business beyond a bachelor's degree to become a CPA. You can do this by simply taking extra courses, or you can earn a master's while doing that.

[CharisandJon]

UMPI is all assessments and assignments, they got rid of exams.  It really depends on the person and the students study habits, time management and so on...

Thank you for the response! Yes I read that it was all writing/project based and no exams, and was wondering how that translates over/plays out in accounting. I’m not sure if I have all that much to write about accounting haha, but hopefully they have good rubrics/outlines. Also, I’ve read that if you transfer in with a bachelor’s, they waive all the general ed requirements. Is that also true when transferring in with an associate’s in interdisciplinary studies (not from Pierpont)? I’ve tried searching but can’t seem to find the answer. Thank you!

It won't matter where you get your associates, you're going to have to complete 30 residency credits at UMPI and need to transfer in an additional 30 credits to hit the requirements for 120 credits.  If you already have 90 credits and it hits all the right spots for the requirements, then you just need to do the 30 residency credits.

Accounting classes at UMPI have assignments that are structured similarly to what you'll find at an actual job. So things like preparing a tax return or an audit report, something like that. I'm not an accountant, so I don't know exactly what the classes are like, or expect, but it's not (just) essays on accounting practices.

Thank you so much, that’s really helpful! It’s good to hear that there are practical assignments as well.

Hmm, I believe... It's similar to case studies and you'll be doing something practical, like a mini project or report that simulates what you would do on the job.

Thank you so much! That's good to know about case studies and mini projects.

I have around 80 credits now toward a BS degree. When I used the University of Maine's transfer equivalency tool on their website (sorry, can't remember the exact name) and put in my current school's name and courses, very few of my completed general eds matched up. There were a lot of general ends that I would need to take at UMPI (or Sophia/Study) in addition to the at least 30 credits I would need to take there for the major. It seemed from other posts that transferring in with a bachelor's waived the general eds even if they didn't match, so I wanted to see if it's the same with an associate's and I'd be able to get around taking all those general eds.

At my current school, I can change majors to an AA in interdisciplinary studies, and I would only have to take one "career readiness" course to graduate - the rest of my credits would be "unused credits" but still on my transcript. I was wondering if it would be worth it to graduate with an AA and then transfer instead of just transferring over now with 80ish credits but no degree. The actual courses I would be transferring over would be the same with an associate's vs. credits but no degree (except the career readiness, but that doesn't transfer anyway), but would just having the associate's degree waive the general eds even if they didn't perfectly match? If so, then I'm assuming the rest of my credits would just be matched to the UMPI degree to see what major and concentration courses I would have left to take (it'd be more than 30 credits). Probably unlikely but at least worth asking haha.

[bjcheung77]

It won't matter if you finish or not finish the AA in interdisciplinary studies, the reason is they'll just transfer in the max credits of 90, you can send more in, but only 90 of them will go towards the Bachelors of your choice. If you want, you can even do a freebie AALS at UMPI, by adding the program and forgetting it, all the classes you take towards the Bachelors would be thrown into the degree to complete or finish the degree.

[CharisandJon]

It won't matter if you finish or not finish the AA in interdisciplinary studies, the reason is they'll just transfer in the max credits of 90, you can send more in, but only 90 of them will go towards the Bachelors of your choice.  If you want, you can even do a freebie AALS at UMPI, by adding the program and forgetting it, all the classes you take towards the Bachelors would be thrown into the degree to complete or finish the degree.

Oh ok, thank you so much! That's makes sense, and that's nice they do a freebie AALS with Bachelor's at UMPI! I wish it was that easy at my school, they allow an "associate's in-passing" that you can complete on the way to a bachelor's, but it's discouraged and have to get special approval/evaluation from the registrar, finish it in a certain timeframe, etc.