(07-11-2023, 02:57 PM)tallis Wrote: Thanks for the warm welcome, @bjcheung77.

I didn't fill yet in the degree planning advice template because I have no transferrable credits yet, and I was a bit unsure about my next steps. But maybe it'd be best to fill it at this point in order to receive expert advice and just to know which classes at Sophia I should take ;-)

I don't have any Bachelor's. I have completed 2 years of my brick-and-mortar BA before I dropped it because I felt my job was much more rewarding at that time. I was considering finishing it up at an online university, but it requires my university to send the transcript directly to somewhere else, and I'd need to ask the faculty for it directly. And since it is a small faculty, I would run into people that were there when I was failing out of my 3rd year. For some stupid reason, I'd prefer to avoid that. Although Open University, based on the partnership with my original university, had no trouble crediting these 2 years for their Open Degree – but their pricing is difficult for me to swallow, and I was refused a loan from their foundation.

I got into MA based on my work experience (5+ years in Public Relations) and writing portfolio (multiple news items & expert articles ghostwritten for top brands, and published in the newspapers across the Central and Eastern European region, as well as in some UK and USA newspapers). Not having a bachelor's degree doesn't do wonders for my ego, though, especially since the MA is going to last for the next 2 years and I thought finishing BA sooner at the UMPI would be a cool option that would help in sorting out my resume (I'd have BA completion date before MA's, and there'd be a BA at all).

I also got into University of London BA, but I can't afford those fees at the moment, especially in comparison with their quality of student support (or rather lack of it), lack of interaction with the faculty and other sins that aren't just worth this fee.

So I was thinking to take a double bacc at UMPI (Ms Shea confirmed it was possible) – BA BA (double minor in Marketing & Project Management) & BA English. Later on, I'd love to go for graduate studies in the area of business, marketing (particularly online), public relations or something like that. I like Rome Business School's program, as well as Georgetown's online one. Maybe on the way there I'd also take a BA in International Management from German IU Online to have a British BA degree as well.

My base end goal is having a BA, a MA and maybe a PhD on my resume. My hidden dream is to try getting rid of some health issues keeping me stuck at home and try and get into a brick-and-mortar in the USA or the UK. But I'm not yet sure about that because I would have to rely heavily on someone else's support as a hard of hearing person. This is one thing that kept me from going abroad to study when graduating from high school, but now I'm thinking that maybe there'd be a way to do that. I kind of miss the student life and I am irritated by the recruiters telling me that my English level isn't good enough just because my accent sucks (I don't hear myself – of course it's going to suck ;-)).