(12-16-2021, 08:08 AM)BigBird Wrote: Dear all!!

After "ghost" following this forum for some time, I finally decided to post a thread myself. In particular, I see this as my chance to thank all of you for making my dream come true!

I have been struggling to complete any traditional Bachelor's program in Germany throughout the last years, switching majors from Economics to American Studies while also trying various minors and specializations, including Religious Studies or Art History. My grades were alright, but being forced to attend lectures in person and dedicate 3 years towards a BA impacted me. I am an entrepreneurial consultant, so (before the pandemic) my life's schedules and locations were continually changing.  

Facing the pandemic and being driven to find a solution for my "problem," I came across a university in Seattle, where I started to pursue an online-based BA in Business Administration; however, it still was not exactly what I was looking for. It was synchronous and required weekly contributions. 

Then, in July of this year, I somehow came across this forum and ashkir's plan for UMPI's BA in Business Administration. It changed everything and encouraged me to start completing a total of 19 ACE courses in about 1.5 months. Meanwhile, I applied for UMPI's Fall 2021 term and transferred in a total of 82 credits, leaving me with only 13 unsatisfied competencies. You can probably imagine how shocked I was to find out that the plan worked, and I somehow made it possible to graduate within half a year. Crazy!! 

Similar was my experience with UMPI; everything went super smooth and uncomplicated; Even when I wanted to complete another 4 courses with study.com, it was no problem to do so. This might be unusual in the US, but being from over-bureaucratic Germany, it was mindblowing! Moreover, the competency-based system favored my knowledge gained through professional experience. It just took me 10 weeks to complete the remaining competencies (9 for the BA + 1 for residency), adding up to 135 credits and a BA with a cumulative 4.0 GPA. 

Coming up, I will attend the Master of Science in Management (MSM) program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the tuition-free Master of Science in Financial Engineering at WorldQuant University. As soon as the programs start, I will try to document them here. I believe it could be helpful for some.

Once again, thank you for all the help and information! You are amazing! 

BigBird

(12-16-2021, 10:01 AM)uncapentin Wrote:

(12-16-2021, 08:08 AM)BigBird Wrote: Dear all!!

After "ghost" following this forum for some time, I finally decided to post a thread myself. In particular, I see this as my chance to thank all of you for making my dream come true!

I have been struggling to complete any traditional Bachelor's program in Germany throughout the last years, switching majors from Economics to American Studies while also trying various minors and specializations, including Religious Studies or Art History. My grades were alright, but being forced to attend lectures in person and dedicate 3 years towards a BA impacted me. I am an entrepreneurial consultant, so (before the pandemic) my life's schedules and locations were continually changing.  

Facing the pandemic and being driven to find a solution for my "problem," I came across a university in Seattle, where I started to pursue an online-based BA in Business Administration; however, it still was not exactly what I was looking for. It was synchronous and required weekly contributions. 

Then, in July of this year, I somehow came across this forum and ashkir's plan for UMPI's BA in Business Administration. It changed everything and encouraged me to start completing a total of 19 ACE courses in about 1.5 months. Meanwhile, I applied for UMPI's Fall 2021 term and transferred in a total of 82 credits, leaving me with only 13 unsatisfied competencies. You can probably imagine how shocked I was to find out that the plan worked, and I somehow made it possible to graduate within half a year. Crazy!! 

Similar was my experience with UMPI; everything went super smooth and uncomplicated; Even when I wanted to complete another 4 courses with study.com, it was no problem to do so. This might be unusual in the US, but being from over-bureaucratic Germany, it was mindblowing! Moreover, the competency-based system favored my knowledge gained through professional experience. It just took me 10 weeks to complete the remaining competencies (9 for the BA + 1 for residency), adding up to 135 credits and a BA with a cumulative 4.0 GPA. 

Coming up, I will attend the Master of Science in Management (MSM) program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the tuition-free Master of Science in Financial Engineering at WorldQuant University. As soon as the programs start, I will try to document them here. I believe it could be helpful for some.

Once again, thank you for all the help and information! You are amazing! 

BigBird

 Congratulations ! What a great story, thank you for sharing. By the way, what region of Germany are you in ? I lived in Babenhausen for 3 yrs. Beautiful area !

   UncaPentin's Mom

(12-16-2021, 09:50 AM)ashkir Wrote: Dude! That is so awesome! Congratulations on your achievement! Go and celebrate. You got a degree!

American Universities are incredibly unique. Liberal arts colleges (the type of campus that UMPI is) don't really exist outside the United States. American colleges are expensive, but, their experience is unlike anything else in the world and holds a competitive gold standard that a handful of other campuses across the planet can even dare to compete with.

There are over 25,000 universities on this planet. University of Maine system ranks #855 out of them for their quality, offerings, and student retention. So not only did you graduate from an American University, you graduated from among the best of them, and from a public state university (the American Gold Standard)!

BigBird Wrote:Coming up, I will attend the Master of Science in Management (MSM) program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the tuition-free Master of Science in Financial Engineering at WorldQuant University. As soon as the programs start, I will try to document them here. I believe it could be helpful for some.

Once again, thank you for all the help and information! You are amazing! 

BigBird

(12-16-2021, 11:38 AM)bjcheung77 Wrote:

BigBird Wrote:Coming up, I will attend the Master of Science in Management (MSM) program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the tuition-free Master of Science in Financial Engineering at WorldQuant University. As soon as the programs start, I will try to document them here. I believe it could be helpful for some.

Once again, thank you for all the help and information! You are amazing! 

BigBird

Amazing! Congrats! That's an interesting set of events, kind of like a big circle to get to where you're at!  Great persistence and perseverance on your end to get to where you're at!  Wow, look at your upcoming Masters, especially both of them are "pretty" competitive for the entry requirements!  Question, did you get the scholarship for the MSM program too?

(01-05-2022, 04:02 PM)amlagood Wrote: I plan to apply for masters as well  I'm wondering did you have any trouble with universities not for some reason or another not accepting your bachelors or asking questions about it? Congrats on the Ivy masters ??

(12-16-2021, 10:28 AM)BigBird Wrote:

(12-16-2021, 10:01 AM)uncapentin Wrote:

(12-16-2021, 08:08 AM)BigBird Wrote: Dear all!!

After "ghost" following this forum for some time, I finally decided to post a thread myself. In particular, I see this as my chance to thank all of you for making my dream come true!

I have been struggling to complete any traditional Bachelor's program in Germany throughout the last years, switching majors from Economics to American Studies while also trying various minors and specializations, including Religious Studies or Art History. My grades were alright, but being forced to attend lectures in person and dedicate 3 years towards a BA impacted me. I am an entrepreneurial consultant, so (before the pandemic) my life's schedules and locations were continually changing.  

Facing the pandemic and being driven to find a solution for my "problem," I came across a university in Seattle, where I started to pursue an online-based BA in Business Administration; however, it still was not exactly what I was looking for. It was synchronous and required weekly contributions. 

Then, in July of this year, I somehow came across this forum and ashkir's plan for UMPI's BA in Business Administration. It changed everything and encouraged me to start completing a total of 19 ACE courses in about 1.5 months. Meanwhile, I applied for UMPI's Fall 2021 term and transferred in a total of 82 credits, leaving me with only 13 unsatisfied competencies. You can probably imagine how shocked I was to find out that the plan worked, and I somehow made it possible to graduate within half a year. Crazy!! 

Similar was my experience with UMPI; everything went super smooth and uncomplicated; Even when I wanted to complete another 4 courses with study.com, it was no problem to do so. This might be unusual in the US, but being from over-bureaucratic Germany, it was mindblowing! Moreover, the competency-based system favored my knowledge gained through professional experience. It just took me 10 weeks to complete the remaining competencies (9 for the BA + 1 for residency), adding up to 135 credits and a BA with a cumulative 4.0 GPA. 

Coming up, I will attend the Master of Science in Management (MSM) program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the tuition-free Master of Science in Financial Engineering at WorldQuant University. As soon as the programs start, I will try to document them here. I believe it could be helpful for some.

Once again, thank you for all the help and information! You are amazing! 

BigBird

 Congratulations ! What a great story, thank you for sharing. By the way, what region of Germany are you in ? I lived in Babenhausen for 3 yrs. Beautiful area !

   UncaPentin's Mom

Thank you! I am originally from Berlin but currently live near Munich. There are multiple Babenhausen in Germany; Was yours in Bayern state? Then, it is only 60-70 miles away  

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(12-16-2021, 09:50 AM)ashkir Wrote: Dude! That is so awesome! Congratulations on your achievement! Go and celebrate. You got a degree!

American Universities are incredibly unique. Liberal arts colleges (the type of campus that UMPI is) don't really exist outside the United States. American colleges are expensive, but, their experience is unlike anything else in the world and holds a competitive gold standard that a handful of other campuses across the planet can even dare to compete with.

There are over 25,000 universities on this planet. University of Maine system ranks #855 out of them for their quality, offerings, and student retention. So not only did you graduate from an American University, you graduated from among the best of them, and from a public state university (the American Gold Standard)!

Thank you soo much! Without you, this would have not been possible!! 

Even though internationals cannot take out loans or ask for financial aid, I believe that the money spent on UMPI was well worth it. It did not only save valuable time but also provided the opportunity to continue studying for my upcoming Master's. Who would have thought that UMPI can bring one to UIUC (a public ivy)?

BTW Germans tend to be very spoilt when it comes to paying for education. Here, no public university costs more than USD$ 500 per year (flat).