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

[NoStudentNoCry]

I agree with ss20ts. If the goal is to get degree, why waste time hoarding additional ACE credits? There are only so many slots for electives to fill.
You can take classes later for fun - when you have your new shiny degree.

[ProgressiveSloth]

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.

Yeah, I elaborated on needing more than the classes listed to reach residency requirements and figure I will just have to pull those from electives offered by the university. Might not have been clear on that, sorry!

I had read the UMPI threads and saw a couple mentions that they only allowed 30 credits transferred in from ACE sources. I think it was one of the first threads about the school, it was a long one. That said, if you’ve succeeded in transferring in 90 then it sounds like either the policy changed or I misread it, so thank you for mentioning that.

Noted on the bio course, thank you.

---

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.

Okay, it sounds like Sophia is probably the better option based on everyone’s feedback. I’m a strong test taker and just used to CLEP so maybe I was being stubbornly attached to it as my main source of credit. It takes me a handful of hours to do modern states and then the tests I have scheduled two at a time in the past. I’ll try Sophia out though, for sure. 

Not keen on Spanish. I took four years of German and three semesters of latin in HS. Wondering if I can test out with that, I need to look at the CLEP options there. I’ve stayed pretty active in my German community so I haven’t totally lost proficiency there. The Am Gov I don’t need instant cert for right? That’s just a study aid? I already took the modern states refresher on it a few months back and I didn’t find any of the information new, but I’m also very active in that area and have done a lot of independent learning. I’d hate to spend time or money on something I probably don’t need, but I don’t want to be overly confident either.

Noted on the Bio, thank you! It definitely sounds like SDC is the winner there and I appreciate the heads upz

---

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

Ah, a dissenter! I honestly do love CLEPs (and testing in general) - I do well with them because I’m already familiar with the information for most of the topics at the level of the tests, and I don’t want to sit through courses just to revisit what I know I already know. I have taken multiple in a day too (although four? I’m just impressed you didn’t get bored lol!). I like your plan here - I’d still have to take the seven SDC courses I already listed but you added those two others, so a total of 9…I’d be able to do that in 2-3 months I reckon…

The english comp 2 - is there any allowed test out option for that? I was skipped through freshman English courses at my college because my SAT and SAT 2 scores indicated I didn’t need it (I did AP English classes all through HS) - the CLEP I took was for when I switched to CC last minute (they didn’t allow the same exceptions for SAT scores but did allow me to skip w/my CLEP). I’d really like to avoid composition as I’ve been freelance writing for pay for a decade, but if I must, I must. I seem to remember there used to be an advanced comp exam though, maybe it was an excelsior exam?

---

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.

Fortunately I live right down the road from a testing center, it’s a five minute drive so not really an issue for me on that front, but I’m definitely taking the Sophia suggestions into heavy consideration as it’s nearly unanimous that y’all recommend it instead!

---

I agree with ss20ts. If the goal is to get degree, why waste time hoarding additional ACE credits? There are only so many slots for electives to fill.
You can take classes later for fun - when you have your new shiny degree.

Oh I wasn’t trying to overfill credits! If anything I thought my plan put me at nearly exactly what I needed but if I miscalculated by all means please do call me out, that’s exactly why I came here! It helps having outside input since I’m still navigating all of this!

---

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.

I do need the law exam - one of the UL at UMPI requires a LL law credit. The HGD course was for an elective slot. I only have 40 credits and between all the requirements for the major, I still need a handful of electives so I was trying to grab easy ones. I already have mastery of the HGD material so figured it would be easy and quick. I definitely overlooked the language requirements though so that does make a difference and I’ll be reworking things to account for that. I mentioned the lab need already above. Please don’t assume I’m disorganized or aimless, I’ve been working on this a lot and making a couple of oversights is why I sought feedback. I’m not an expert at this yet.

---

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!

 
I appreciate this. My testing center is a community center annex five minutes away so it’s not at all an issue for me and when I say I’m a strong test taker, I really mean it. I was the annoying kid who scored in the top 1% for statewide standardized testing. I just thrive with that format, the combination of the pressure of time plus having a knack for retaining information after reading it once really lends itself to competency exams for me. I’m not knocking sophia though, it may be the better option overall! I felt a little surprised how many folks are recommending away from CBE, but I’m glad to have so many opinions to consider. It takes me less than an afternoon to get through a modern states course, then 2 hours for a CLEP including travel…if Sophia is faster, by all means, all for it. I’m probably going to end up doing some of each.

---

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.

My plan above accounts for 21 UL courses already and 24 residential credits, so I’d need three more classes at the UL at UMPI to get to where I need to be. That’s what I was assuming would happen (but don’t know for sure). I don’t think I overshot my math with extra credits but someone did point out the language requirement I missed, so I see where that’s coming from now and realize I do need to swap out a couple things. Still looking for a way around the second English requirement, it was my strongest subject in school and I was allowed to skip it in college, but if I have to include that in my UMPI courses because no alternative is allowed, that does change things some. Thank you!

---

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.

Okay so to make sure I’m clear, what I’m missing from the GEC is the second English course, the language requirement and the biology lab. Is there anything more than that? I’ve been looking through their page on the GECs but being on mobile for now, I don’t know if it’s just a weird format or what, but I’m not finding a breakdown of what the exact requirements are, it’s just listing categories without any indication of how many credits are needed for each area. I may have the wrong page entirely.

[rachel83az]

If you speak German, by all means either CLEP that sucker or else pay for one of the ACTFL exams. Since you live so close to a testing center, go ahead and get ModernStates to pay for your German CLEP exam.

InstantCert has an exam for American Government that's worth ACE credit. $20 for the month plus $25 testing fee. But, since you live so close to a testing center, you might as well just take the CLEP.

Also, don't take any further English Comp stuff. It's easier and faster to do English Comp at UMPI than elsewhere. It will also get you up to speed on how UMPI expects their papers to be done.

[Mom5]

You mentioned APs in HS…

I believe UMPI will take AP scores for credit - maybe you can knock out English and German (or whatever else) that way?

[ashkir]

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.

I agree. I could've done probably about ~10 less classes at Sophia if I knew I was doing UMPI and the GEC requirements better.

[ss20ts]

You mentioned APs in HS…

I believe UMPI will take AP scores for credit - maybe you can knock out English and German (or whatever else) that way?

AP exams are really for high school students. It's almost impossible for someone who isn't a high school student to take them. If the poster is currently in high school, then they're not eligible for UMPI. You have to be at least 20 years old to be accepted into the YourPace program.

[bjcheung77]

Yes, CLEP/Sophia for Lower Level and if you're working on upper level, go with Study.com/UMPI. You need at least 30 credits with UMPI anyways. Apply, Complete the max with your alternative credits and transfer them in, then work on the rest at UMPI.