UMPI might be right for me but I need some help pls

[LookMaIMadeIt]

Hi All, 

First, thank you so much for taking the time to read this and offer any advice or comments you may have for me. 


2 Part post 
1) For awhile I was looking at WGU then stumbled on here and heard about UMPI. I am still not 100% sure but like 90% sure UMPI is right for me. What I love about it from what I have read is competency based, price is decent, no proctored exams, accepts up to 90 credits and I feel the name recognition of a state school seems better (although i know this really doesn't matter) 
What is making me hesitant are the papers, I have not written a paper let alone college level in 10 years. At WGU i see the papers have rubrics that are supposedly very easy to follow. Does UMPI have a rubric? Some of these post i see people saying 10+ page papers and I just don't know if I would be successful there without a clear guide on what needs to be written, I could do it but not at the pace I was hoping for. 

2) I'm looking to complete my bachelors in business with a PM concentration, currently I work as Junior Product Manager for a Health-Tech company. In the last 13 months I went from a specialist role to operations lead to Jr product manager, this company is great but i want protection if i leave i need to be able to check that bachelors box off to even have my resume seen. This is why i have decided against the BLS with a business/PM minor. Although its enticing to have more electives (aka Sophia credits baby!) When i search job listings for my desired career all are looking for a BA or BS business degree. So the question here is the degree plan for UMPI BABA with concentration in PM, below I have listed all my current credits. Its a bit confusing with UMPI's GE requirements and i want help so i can maximize on credit transfers. 

WHAT I THINK FITS GEN ED
Credits - Course - Source - Grade
3 - ENG 101 Composition I - RA Community College - A
3 - ENG 102 Composition II - RA Community College - A
3 - COM 103 Public Speaking - RA Community College - A
3 - PSY 203 Into to Psychology - RA Community College - B
3 - SOC 201 Into to Sociology - RA Community College - A
3 - ENG 231 Mystery & Detective Fiction - RA Community College - B
3 - ANT 204 Cultural Anthropology - RA Community College - A
3 - HIS 104 History US II - RA Community College - B
3 - SPA 101 Beginning Spanish- RA Community College - B+
3 - College Algebra - Sophia Learning - 93% (i think this is just pass/fail though, right?)

WHAT I THINK FITS ELECTIVES?
Credits - Course - Source - Grade
3 - HMS 117 Intro to Community Services (social work) - RA Community College - B+
3 - HED 271 Alcohol Addiction Abuse Behavior - RA Community College - C+  
3 - PSY 216 Lifespan Human Development - RA Community College - A
3 - PSY 215 Abnormal Psychology - RA Community College - B+

3 - CMP 101 Into to Computers - RA Community College - B
3 - HMS 200 Community Service Skills - RA Community College - A

Currently enrolled in Environmental Science with Sophia Learning. 

THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!!!

[ss20ts]

Every course with a paper has instructions and a rubric to follow. UMPI also has a professor for each course so if you have problems or questions you can reach out to them and they are happy to help you.

UMPI doesn't have Gen Ed. They have GEC which are their version of gen eds and general electives. Here's my thoughts on your transfer credits:

ENG 101 Composition I - GEC
ENG 102 Composition II - GEC
3 - COM 103 Public Speaking - GEC
3 - PSY 203 Into to Psychology - GEC
3 - SOC 201 Into to Sociology - GEC
3 - ENG 231 Mystery & Detective Fiction - General elective
3 - ANT 204 Cultural Anthropology - General elective
3 - HIS 104 History US II - GEC
3 - SPA 101 Beginning Spanish - GEC
3 - College Algebra - Sophia Learning - GEC
3 - HMS 117 Intro to Community Services (social work) - General elective
3 - HED 271 Alcohol Addiction Abuse Behavior - General elective
3 - PSY 216 Lifespan Human Development - GEC
3 - PSY 215 Abnormal Psychology - General elective
3 - CMP 101 Into to Computers - General elective
3 - HMS 200 Community Service Skills - General elective

[LookMaIMadeIt]

Every course with a paper has instructions and a rubric to follow. UMPI also has a professor for each course so if you have problems or questions you can reach out to them and they are happy to help you.

UMPI doesn't have Gen Ed. They have GEC which are their version of gen eds and general electives. Here's my thoughts on your transfer credits:

ENG 101 Composition I - GEC
ENG 102 Composition II - GEC
3 - COM 103 Public Speaking - GEC
3 - PSY 203 Into to Psychology - GEC
3 - SOC 201 Into to Sociology - GEC
3 - ENG 231 Mystery & Detective Fiction - General elective
3 - ANT 204 Cultural Anthropology - General elective
3 - HIS 104 History US II - GEC
3 - SPA 101 Beginning Spanish - GEC
3 - College Algebra - Sophia Learning - GEC
3 - HMS 117 Intro to Community Services (social work) - General elective
3 - HED 271 Alcohol Addiction Abuse Behavior - General elective
3 - PSY 216 Lifespan Human Development - GEC
3 - PSY 215 Abnormal Psychology - General elective
3 - CMP 101 Into to Computers - General elective
3 - HMS 200 Community Service Skills - General elective

Ah yes sorry I confused those terms up, i see what you mean about GEC vs Gen Ed. Thanks for clarifying.

That is great to hear about the papers! Puts my mind in a big way. 

Thanks so much for going through the classes like that. Will update my list. 
Any suggestions for what courses to take on Sophia, Study, etc?

[LevelUP]

I agree with you that BA in Business Admin with a concentration in project management is best considering your career.

Use this Wiki and ss20ts guide to what is GEC to make a spreadsheet
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...egree_Plan

Then upload the spreadsheet to this thread that contains your degree plan, and someone will likely look it over to see if there are any errors or suggestions.

As far as the timeline, it appears you would be on pace to start UMPI on 07/05/22 and graduate around September. So in 5-7 months, that degree could be yours!

[LookMaIMadeIt]

I agree with you that BA in Business Admin with a concentration in project management is best considering your career.

Use this Wiki and ss20ts guide to what is GEC to make a spreadsheet
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UM...egree_Plan

Then upload the spreadsheet to this thread that contains your degree plan, and someone will likely look it over to see if there are any errors or suggestions.

As far as the timeline, it appears you would be on pace to start UMPI on 07/05/22 and graduate around September. So in 5-7 months, that degree could be yours!

Thanks! I thought I saw a wiki page for BABA PM concentration but couldn’t find it. This is exactly what I needed. Kinda sad I suffered through college algebra for nothing lol well for another elective. 

Hope you nailed it with that timeline, 5-7 months would be amazing! 

Il be posting that spreadsheet in a few! Thanks for the suggestions.

[bjcheung77]

Hey OP, there are a few various variables that haven't been mentioned in your post, without them, it's somewhat hard to determine if competency based degrees are a better option or going with the Big 3 instead would fit you more... How young are you, which state are you in? What is your budget (tuition reimbursement?), commitments (kids?), other time constraints such as volunteering/work? Most importantly, how much energy/time can you dedicate to your studies? These may determine your choice...

First off, you shouldn't go for UMPI just because of the non proctored exams, I also see you understand that there are writing assignments, you shouldn't be too worried about these either as long as you follow instructions and complete them as per the rubric. Secondly, I also agree the BABA Project Management and Info System would be a great match for you, since you're wanting to go into Project Management within a Tech (Health) based company, it's a great fit for your skill set.

I would not rush things at this time, 5-7 months would be great, but I would put more on getting it done at YourPace, as it's not a race... You should start with Sophia.org as the price will change in 1 day, sign up and invest in a second monitor. Once you complete the recommended courses in the link provided earlier with Sophia.org, you can complete courses at InstantCertCredit for your American Government course (and anything else that you may be interested in). Once done, update this thread and we'll further provide you instructions... Good luck, have fun, keep us updated!

[LookMaIMadeIt]

Hey OP, there are a few various variables that haven't been mentioned in your post, without them, it's somewhat hard to determine if competency based degrees are a better option or going with the Big 3 instead would fit you more...  How young are you, which state are you in?  What is your budget (tuition reimbursement?), commitments (kids?), other time constraints such as volunteering/work?  Most importantly, how much energy/time can you dedicate to your studies?  These may determine your choice...

First off, you shouldn't go for UMPI just because of the non proctored exams, I also see you understand that there are writing assignments, you shouldn't be too worried about these either as long as you follow instructions and complete them as per the rubric.  Secondly, I also agree the BABA Project Management and Info System would be a great match for you, since you're wanting to go into Project Management within a Tech (Health) based company, it's a great fit for your skill set.

I would not rush things at this time, 5-7 months would be great, but I would put more on getting it done at YourPace, as it's not a race... You should start with Sophia.org as the price will change in 1 day, sign up and invest in a second monitor.  Once you complete the recommended courses in the link provided earlier with Sophia.org, you can complete courses at InstantCertCredit for your American Government course (and anything else that you may be interested in).  Once done, update this thread and we'll further provide you instructions...  Good luck, have fun, keep us updated!

Great points, let me address some of that now. 

Age: 30
Location: CT, USA 
Family: I am married with a 2.5 year old
Budget: It will be all if not most of out of pocket, I don't want to take out loans and don't believe i will qualify for any if not much financial aid. Started conversations with my employers on reimbursement, seems like their model is only for Masters level but my direct supervisor is trying to negotiate $500-1000 a year since he is given a skills and certifications budget for our projects team. For example, they pay for my coursera membership and classes i took for Salesforce, they have also agreed to pay the fee for my salesforce admin certification exam. Ideally as cheap as possible since most is coming from my end. Would love to stay under 10k, even better if under 8k. 
Time/Other Commitments: I work full time but my schedule is my own i usually work about 30-35 hours a week at my salary job, I also started working as a consultant as tech/operations pm for a new telehealth practice. I don't sleep much and that's fine with me. On a good week i can give school 25 hours, on a bad week I would say 10. I have proven to myself these past few years i can "do it all" as long as i stay organized and do it for the right reasons. 

As for my comment on non proctored I just hate being on camera and prefer a more open book model, plus my school time is looking like 10pm-2am. I have also read of a lot of horror stories with proctored exams about WGU here and on FB. 
I use my work set up currently have a laptop and 2 monitors plus my iPad if needed. 
Signed up for Sophia last week, completed College Algebra and Environmental Science so far. Also working on Intro to Ethics.  
I have 45 credits from CC most of which will be taken as electives and since the degree i want has less electives compared to lets say the BLS i am really hoping for some guidance. I really dont want to take all these courses that might be in excess but do want to capitalize on Sophia, etc if it fits. I know there is a separate thread for degree plans but i have added it here in the interest on continuity. Hoping to get your thoughts as well as advice from others.  Would it be good to also share in the other thread?

Thanks!

[ss20ts]

You need to list out the courses not just a total number of credits. That's meaningless. Each course transfers individually. The BLS will have more general electives, but a good number of them are UL courses.

[LookMaIMadeIt]

You need to list out the courses not just a total number of credits. That's meaningless. Each course transfers individually. The BLS will have more general electives, but a good number of them are UL courses.

I think you are only looking at the totals tab. There’s 4 sheets. 1.  General Education 2.  Business Core. 3 Pm concentration and 4. Totals. 

Yeah the BLS would be great to get it done slightly faster but I want the BA as most job postings I see require BA or BS
Thanks !

[ss20ts]

The GEC is a MINIMUM of 40 credits. You can be over. Sophia's Principles of Finance class does NOT transfer in for Financial Management. Take it at UMPI. You need to complete the majority of your UL's at UMPI anyway. I don't think BUS359 will be an option. I was told last session that the class is now inactive on YourPace. Operations Management is 1 paper at UMPI. You might want to check on how many assignments there are on the Study.com course.