28 years later, I have my degree!

[Junco]

I graduated from high school in 1995 and jumped into a rewarding career. No one in my family went to college, so I navigated the system (and the costs) on my own. Over the years I attended over ten colleges, failed A LOT, and learned a ton. A few years ago, I enrolled in a few classes at a state university and began to feel incredibly disenchanted and impatient. After all, I was over 40 and still plodding through traditional classes that felt like a huge waste of time and money. I started looking for alternatives, though I wanted to remain with a public college. I learned about UMPI after finding this message board, and just a few months later, I was enrolled!

I took the second fall session and completed 33 units during that time. I’ll list the courses I took at the end of this message and will add my reviews/feedback to the main course thread. I absolutely loved the pacing, the course platform, the access to University of Maine resources such as the library catalog, and the courses themselves. Even though I transferred in over 135 units, I still had a few general education gaps, so I took those via Sophia the week before classes started and while I was concurrently taking UMPI classes. I’ll list those below, as well.

My degree is a Bachelor of Liberal Studies with minors in Management, Social Studies, and History. The history courses were my favorite part of my UMPI experience and I am considering returning to complete the history degree. I was not really impressed by the content of the business courses, especially some of the theories and methods. Overall, UMPI was an excellent choice for me and I am elated that I finally finished my degree!

I have applied to the NAU MAOL program (another degree I discovered via this group!) and then I am hoping to complete a traditional online MA in community development. 

A few things I learned at UMPI:

1. Be ready to write…and write…and write. 
   
2. Have fun with the assignments when you can. You’ll find the assignments more enjoyable and your instructors will appreciate it. For example, for the MAT 140 final assessment, I pretended like I was working at Jurassic Park. I had a great time with a super dry subject. For the BUS classes, I related the course material to my own experiences whenever possible.
   
3. Be patient with Jessica and the rest of the team. They are swamped and deserve kindness. At the same time, be sure to advocate for yourself. Ask for prior work to be evaluated to fulfill requirements, and nudge Jessica if she forgets to get back to you. 
   

Thank you to everyone in this group for your endless insight and encouragement. You are the best!

UMPI courses, 2nd Fall term:
BUS 141
BUS 240
BUS 260
BUS 321
BUS 415
ENG 121
FYS YP1
HTY 350
HTY 370
HTY 400
HTY 401
MAT 140

Sophia courses, taken during UMPI Fall 1 and Fall 2 terms, to satisfy UMPI GE requirements:

• Ancient Greek Philosophers
  
• Art History I
  
• Human Biology
  
• Human Biology Lab
  
• Spanish I
  
• U.S. History I
  

Summary: 
Total transferred in: 

• CLEP: 3
  
• Sophia: 16
  
• ACE (Google Project Management on Coursera): 9
  
• University course units: 108
  

Total transfer: 136
UMPI courses: 33
Grand total: 166

[Jwheels27]

I graduated from high school in 1995 and jumped into a rewarding career. No one in my family went to college, so I navigated the system (and the costs) on my own. Over the years I attended over ten colleges, failed A LOT, and learned a ton. A few years ago, I enrolled in a few classes at a state university and began to feel incredibly disenchanted and impatient. After all, I was over 40 and still plodding through traditional classes that felt like a huge waste of time and money. I started looking for alternatives, though I wanted to remain with a public college. I learned about UMPI after finding this message board, and just a few months later, I was enrolled!

I took the second fall session and completed 33 units during that time. I’ll list the courses I took at the end of this message and will add my reviews/feedback to the main course thread. I absolutely loved the pacing, the course platform, the access to University of Maine resources such as the library catalog, and the courses themselves. Even though I transferred in over 135 units, I still had a few general education gaps, so I took those via Sophia the week before classes started and while I was concurrently taking UMPI classes. I’ll list those below, as well.

My degree is a Bachelor of Liberal Studies with minors in Management, Social Studies, and History. The history courses were my favorite part of my UMPI experience and I am considering returning to complete the history degree. I was not really impressed by the content of the business courses, especially some of the theories and methods. Overall, UMPI was an excellent choice for me and I am elated that I finally finished my degree!

I have applied to the NAU MAOL program (another degree I discovered via this group!) and then I am hoping to complete a traditional online MA in community development. 

A few things I learned at UMPI:

1. Be ready to write…and write…and write. 
   
2. Have fun with the assignments when you can. You’ll find the assignments more enjoyable and your instructors will appreciate it. For example, for the MAT 140 final assessment, I pretended like I was working at Jurassic Park. I had a great time with a super dry subject. For the BUS classes, I related the course material to my own experiences whenever possible.
   
3. Be patient with Jessica and the rest of the team. They are swamped and deserve kindness. At the same time, be sure to advocate for yourself. Ask for prior work to be evaluated to fulfill requirements, and nudge Jessica if she forgets to get back to you. 
   

Thank you to everyone in this group for your endless insight and encouragement. You are the best!

UMPI courses, 2nd Fall term:
BUS 141
BUS 240
BUS 260
BUS 321
BUS 415
ENG 121
FYS YP1
HTY 350
HTY 370
HTY 400
HTY 401
MAT 140

Sophia courses, taken during UMPI Fall 1 and Fall 2 terms, to satisfy UMPI GE requirements:

• Ancient Greek Philosophers
  
• Art History I
  
• Human Biology
  
• Human Biology Lab
  
• Spanish I
  
• U.S. History I
  

Summary: 
Total transferred in: 

• CLEP: 3
  
• Sophia: 16
  
• ACE (Google Project Management on Coursera): 9
  
• University course units: 108
  

Total transfer: 136
UMPI courses: 33
Grand total: 166

Congratulations Junco!! You're a college graduate!!! I felt the same way about the business courses at UMPI, the History/Poli Sci was much more interesting to me. That's why I switched to that major. Zaborney is the man!! Just curious, what made you go with the NAU MAOL instead of UMPI's or even WGU's MSML(I hear you can knock this one out quick)?

[mr_peanutbutter]

Congratulations!!

[ltw900rr]

Congratulations!!

I also graduated high school in 1995, and hope to finish my Bachelor's degree by the end of May 24'

Thanks for inspiring the rest of us!

[jg_nuy]

Congratulations!

[StudiousTraveller]

This is awesome! Congratulations and well done. You really knocked out the courses!

[bjcheung77]

@Junco, Congrats, great work! You may want to continue on with the MAOL at UMPI or the MSML at WGU, if you need the MBA, you can always do the one at WGU as it has about 5 courses that overlap with the MSML. In the event you do go UMPI, you can decide either WGU or the HAU MBA at $3K if they still have that scholarship discount going...

[FM1]

Congrats Junco, very inspirational!

[staceydiane]

Congrats!!!

[Junco]

Congratulations Junco!! You're a college graduate!!! I felt the same way about the business courses at UMPI, the History/Poli Sci was much more interesting to me. That's why I switched to that major. Zaborney is the man!! Just curious, what made you go with the NAU MAOL instead of UMPI's or even WGU's MSML(I hear you can knock this one out quick)?

Thank you!!
Funny thing...the NAU program is no more, so back to UMPI I go! I wanted to do the NAU program because I could enroll pretty much as soon as the UMPI degree was conferred. At UMPI, I have to wait until March, which feels like an eternity.

---

Congratulations!!

I also graduated high school in 1995, and hope to finish my Bachelor's degree by the end of May 24'

Thanks for inspiring the rest of us!

You've got this! Jump in there and do it!

---

@Junco, Congrats, great work!  You may want to continue on with the MAOL at UMPI or the MSML at WGU, if you need the MBA, you can always do the one at WGU as it has about 5 courses that overlap with the MSML.  In the event you do go UMPI, you can decide either WGU or the HAU MBA at $3K if they still have that scholarship discount going...

Thanks for all of your guidance, @bjcheung77! It does indeed look like I am going back to UMPI since the NAU program is ending. I really wanted to stay with a state school like UMPI or NAU. I don't know why; it's just important to me.