BA in English – Professional Communication & Journalism Concentration

[ss20ts]

I'm not against UMPI at all - ignoring the pseudo-marketing campaign on the board here, I feel quite positive towards the possibilities with UMPI.
But I'm getting increasingly wary of some of the comments here single-mindedly in favour of one sole approach at UMPI, and how often these comments seem to put an end to getting a better understanding of how alternatives to taking UMPI courses.

There are many possibilities when someone is interested in alternative credit pathways. Perhaps some might want to take a Business Communications course through another provider, and instead take a Gen Ed course through UMPI. Maybe they don't like Sophia, but absolutely love SDC.

People have a variety of histories and leanings and interests, and we're doing this board a disservice by not exploring alternative pathways and possiblities with UMPI. (And for the one or two posters who are seriously gung-ho about UMPI - you're also doing UMPI a disservice, because it's turning people off UMPI.). I'm here because I want information so I can make my own decisions about the educational pathway I take, and I doubt I'm alone in that.

Just my two cents.

The problem is that the course descriptions really have to match up or I'm not going to recommend a Study course. I did recommend the Business Communications course from Study to someone interested in a degree from UMPI where Business Communications is a required course. You won't see that conversation because it was in my pm's. I have hundreds of pm's about specific courses. I tell everyone I can only share what I have experienced and I share ashkir's experience. We talk a lot with each other. There's a few other students I talk with as well. Sophia has been the easiest thing to bring in along with InstantCert. If you hate the Sophia format, you may not enjoy UMPI because their formats are very similar. It's not like Study's format at all. I'm happy to hear other's experiences with UMPI. As far as I know, I'm the first on this forum to complete a degree from UMPI. There was nothing to go by when I applied last summer. I was all there was. If anyone else was attending, they weren't sharing anything. I am the one who opened the dialogue. 

One thing to consider and it's huge is how many UL courses you must complete at UMPI. Every degree has a different number of UL requirements and how many must be completed at UMPI. I don't have access to the degree eval forms for every degree - just mine. So anything that's UL I recommend you take at UMPI because of this requirement. Sophia fills most of the GEC and some general electives. Some courses there just isn't a class on an alternative site available. 

If one wants to complete the Project Management concentration or minor, I HIGHLY recommend taking UMPI's project management course. There's a reason. It's not to just take another UMPI course. It's because this course is the foundation for 2 UL courses which cannot be transferred in. Your entire project for those 2 courses is based on your project you complete in the LL project management course. These are BIG projects and you need to understand the formatting and the process the professor wants. She actually goes over your LL project with you in a meeting for those 2 courses. Again, this is often a conversation I have in a pm not on the forum because this question hasn't come up on the forum. 

Additionally, you're paying the same tuition if you take 2 classes a term or if you complete 8 classes in a term. It's the same amount out of your pocket at UMPI. You're also earning RA credits which if you want to transfer to COSC or TESU helps you out with their RA credit requirement.