Working on Pierpont AAS

[Ariadne]

Hello everyone,

Here are my details, and I'm going for the Pierpont BOG AAS.


Your Location: TX, USA
Your Age: 50
What kind of degree do you want?: BOG AAS
Current Regional Accredited Credits:
 
CUNY York College/San Juan College Total Credits: 35

SPCH 101 COMM IN CONTEMP SOC 3.0 B
SD 101 DEV IND LIF STYLE 1 1.0 P
ENG 125 COMP 2 WITH LIT 4.0 A
PSY 102 PERSN & SOC PROCESS 3.0 A
ASTR 111 PLANETS,MOONS,COMET 3.0 B
ENG 200 UNDERSTANDING LIT 3.0 A
GEOL 120 OCEANIC ENVIRONMENT 3.0 D
HIST 113 BIRTH OF EUROPE 3.0 B
COSC-111 COMPUTER LITERACY 3.00 A
ECED-225 CHILD GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT 3.00 A
PSYC-230 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 3.00  A
SOCI-110 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY 3.00 A

(SD 101 DEV IND LIF STYLE 1 1.0  is a pass/fail required intro to college course that may not count anywhere but York so in that case it's 34 credits in this category.)

 
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits:
 
Sophia Total Credits: 14
Visual Communications 3
The Essentials of Managing Conflict 1 
Developing Effective Teams 1
Introduction to Nutrition 3
Introduction to Business 3
Art History II 3


Any certifications or military experience?
None that are worth college credit.


I enjoy learning and am currently still taking Sophia courses and have been in touch with Nancy Parks to get things rolling. I've run into an issue with my application in that I submitted it in August and received a "Decision Letter" but nothing in the mail and no user id or way to register for a Pierpont email or to access anything more than just my dashboard that displays the Decision Letter and the details of my application. Nancy said she will check on my account after the holiday.

I would like to transfer the AAS to UMPI and try to get a degree in Psychology but if I can't do that I'm fine with choosing something else. I'm pretty well established in my career and I'm doing this for my own edification and enjoyment at the moment since life got in the way of my degree plans back in my 20s when I attended a brick and mortar school in NY.

I might like to get an AOE in something as I've read this is preferable for the BOG degree but not sure which one I should pursue.

Does anyone have insights into degree planning based on what I've provided? Nancy says she thinks I've got all the 15 base requirements and I have the RA needed as well, but I'm just not sure at this point on what electives to take. I've just been taking whatever seems interesting. I'm not strong in math at all so I would steer clear of those courses unless they're required.

Thanks!

[bjcheung77]

@Ariadne, great first post but you missed the addendum, you've got the gist of the BOG AAS completed, you may want to do a BOG AAS with an Info Systems emphasis by completing the Coursera certs for $1/first month, and go for UMPI BAS with MIS & Psychology double minor, you can add another minor in PM or Management if you wanted. I would skip the BA Psychology as you're most likely needing a 'check the box' degree in favor of the BAS with one, two, or three minors, this way, you'll be well versed in Info Systems and Psychology by following the WIKI plans for the Pierpont BOG AAS and UMPI BAS...

BTW, since you're in Texas, you can go for the Pierpont BOG AAS and ladder that up to the TAMUC BAAS Organizational Leadership or another BAAS concentration or BGS (General Studies) offering if you wanted, it'll be cheaper than UMPI but may take a little longer. Either of these options would fit the 'check the box' option and get you into a Masters if you ever wanted to go that route (UMPI MAOL or WGU MBA/MSML), HAU MBA, etc. Here's a thread right below yours, for review: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...on-Systems

[rachel83az]

If you want to continue to UMPI, you're going to need a math class. UMPI accepts Intro to College Math (Pierpont does not) from Sophia. College Algebra from Sophia should be pretty easy, though, even if you struggle with math. You also need a lab science (Human Biology + Human Biology lab) and either French or Spanish.

[ltw900rr]

Hello fellow Texan!

As Bj mentioned, also look into the TAMUC Organizational Leadership or BGS program. My wife and I are both currently enrolled in this program, along with a few other members on this forum. I started with an Associates degree from a local community college that did not have many core classes associated with it, and I was able to transfer that along with the majority of my missing core classes from Sophia to TAMUC. After TAMUC reviewed my transcripts, I needed to take 14 classes with them for the degree. I completed 3 classes during the 7 week Fall 1 semester, and I am waiting on my final essay to be graded for my 4th class for the 7 week Fall 2 semester that finishes on Dec 15th (I should be able to squeeze 1-2 more classes in this semester). TAMUC is $750 a semester.



link to wiki for TAMUC

[HoustonGuy]

I was also able to transfer my 18 credits from a local community college and a ton of Sophia credits to earn a BOG associates from Pierpont (should be conferred next month) and only lack 39 hours to finish a BAAS in OL at TAMUC. My wife took a few more classes and only needed 33 hours. She’s trying to knock it out in 2 or three semesters and I’m probably going to end up taking most of a year. It’s doable and affordable at $750/ mini semester with 6 mini semesters a year including books. The total cost comes in under what my employer will reimburse for continuing education so it’s a no brainer!

[Ariadne]

Budget: Outside of any financial aid grants (I do not take out loans), I can spend about 2 - 3k, possibly a bit more so I'm mainly looking to find the cheapest possible routes.
Commitments: I work full time from home and have three other people in the household that I support alone.
Dedicated time to study: I have at least three hours every evening to study and can push that to four if needed.
Timeline: As fast as possible. I'd like to get the AAS within the next 3 - 6 months and a Bachelor's in another year or so if possible.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: I applied for Financial Aid and they said I could have a grant up to 5k and change, so I'll see how to work that into things.

[bjcheung77]

Good update, with the info, you should go for the Associates then ladder that up to the Bachelors at TAMUC, it'll most likely cost the same as UMPI, but you're more suited for that degree as you have a limited number of hours to put into the degree, you've got too many commitments to try and speed through it with UMPI. So, complete the BOG AAS with an emphasis of your choice, rack up more credits with Sophia.org, then transfer up to 84-87 credits into TAMUC with the remaining to be done with them...

[Ariadne]

I finished it! 

I have 65 credits so far now and working on Ethics which will give me three more from Sophia. 

I applied for graduation and Nancy did my degree audit, now I'm just waiting on approval from the Dean and Associate Registrar it looks like.

I went crazy on Sophia and just kept doing one after the other and focusing on the non-Touchstone classes. I only have a few left I can take that are non-TS because I've done all the others so I'll have to do a few TS ones as well.

It's an AAS but no concentration or anything.

My question, for though who may know -- if I want to pursue a Bachelor's in Psychology, what would be the best school to take this AAS to and continue my schooling? I don't have a lot of money and it will probably take a bit longer for me but that's ok. 

Is it possible to even get a Bachelor's at this point for less than say, 5000 dollars? Or should I be budgeting for more? Really out of my element on the tuition.

Thanks everyone!

Here are the courses I've completed on Sophia and the respective credits for each:

Foundations of Statistics 2
Microeconomics  3
Art History I 3
Art History II 3
Environmental Science 3
Introduction to Business 3
Visual Communications  3
The Essentials of Managing Conflict  1
Developing Effective Teams 1
Introduction to Nutrition  3
Lifespan Development 3
Introduction to Web Development 3
Introduction to Information Technology 3

And finishing up Introduction to Ethics 3 which I'll have done in the next week. 

[bjcheung77]

Basically decide if you want a TAMUC BAAS OL where you can take a random number of Psych classes for your electives, another option is... You can continue on with the UMPI BLS Minor in Management and a second minor in Psychology. If you want to go into Psychology later, you can get the MS Psych at Walden, it's competency based and can be done in a term, for roughly $6K USD.

[Ariadne]

Basically decide if you want a TAMUC BAAS OL where you can take a random number of Psych classes for your electives, another option is... You can continue on with the UMPI BLS Minor in Management and a second minor in Psychology. If you want to go into Psychology later, you can get the MS Psych at Walden, it's competency based and can be done in a term, for roughly $6K USD.

It was mentioned that TAMUC cost only 750 a semester but I don't see that anywhere on their website.