Besides courses in the degree plan do you have to take courses at UMPI like capstone?

[rachel83az]

A lot of good questions, some of which are a bit complicated, so let's see if I can answer them:

Can I use YourPace to satisfy the requirement to take 10 courses at UMPI or requirement to do UL courses at UMPI?

YourPace is a UMPI program. No other school has YourPace. UMPI does not distinguish on its transcript or diploma whether you took classes in-person or through the YourPace program. So, yes, all YourPace classes will count toward your UMPI requirements.

The guide here doesn't seem to tell you which courses to do at UMPI: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pi...egree_Plan. How do I find out which courses I can do at UMPI and online to get a bachelor's degree from there without ever going to the physical campus? The Area of Emphasis in the guide that I'm thinking of doing is Information Systems.

https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:UMPI

This is the official YourPace website where you'll apply eventually: https://online.umpi.edu/ It goes into more depth regarding exactly what YourPace is, when you can apply, etc. All of the YourPace degrees can be completed entirely online; there is no on-campus requirement.

It sounds like there's a foreign language requirement. The guide, if you scroll down, mentions something called an ACTFL exam. I was born in Pakistan and I can speak the main language of the country Urdu pretty good, I speak to my family members over the phone in it just about every day, but I can't read or write in it at all. I could learn to read/write in it if necessary, but in an ideal world it'd be easier if I don't have to since I don't plan on ever living in Pakistan and the interaction with family members is fine without it, but it'd be easier for me to learn reading/writing in this language than another language. Another easy language I could learn seems to be Spanish.

Is there also any way to have the foreign language requirement waived totally? I've only gone to one brick-and-mortar school that had a foreign language requirement, and before I started with them I made sure they waived the requirement for me, and I've always avoided schools that have a foreign language requirement.

Edit: If I just have to do an interview like this to satisfy the foreign language requirement, it doesn't seem like I would have a problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK3aYYt8uWg.

You're in luck. The ACTFL exam is taken through this site: https://www.languagetesting.com/ and Urdu is only available as an OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview). The OPI involves you conversing with another person for around 15-30 minutes. The OPI is worth 3-12 credits, depending on how well you do. 3 credits is all you need for UMPI; if you score 12 credits, the rest will go into electives.

Lastly, do the graders/teachers at UMPI grade harshly or can they be easy or okay graders? If you make a small mistake will they let it go? Do you get to pick the professors for classes at UMPI, maybe even if you're doing it through YourPace, and can you find reviews on them on sites like RateMyProfessor.com? Would you say UMPI classes are easier than WGU or UMGC? Thank you.

There is one YourPace professor for each class, but some professors teach multiple classes. For instance, you'll often find references to a "Dr. Z" when reading threads. He teaches a lot of history classes. He's very enthusiastic about the subject, grades quickly, and gives good feedback. Even students who hate history have enjoyed taking his classes because of his positive attributes.

On the other hand, the reason why we recommend that students complete their science and foreign language requirements elsewhere is because those classes are long, the professors don't give good feedback, and grading can be slow.

We don't have a lot of feedback about UMGC, in general, so I can't compare anything directly. However, I do believe that WGU is going to be more difficult compared to UMPI. For WGU, it is theoretically possible to get a degree in a single 6-month term. But, even with maximum transfer, a lot of students are going to need at least 2 WGU terms. I'd go so far as to suggest that most WGU students will need at least 2 terms. On the other hand, most UMPI students are able to complete their degrees in 2 or 3 sessions of 2 months each - 4-6 months total. A few of the degrees may require 4 terms, due to the difficulty of the subject matter, but that's not common.

A few students have enjoyed YourPace so much that they willingly stayed enrolled for 4-5 terms in total just to add additional minors/concentrations. Or they've gotten one degree and then re-enrolled for a second. I don't think that this is possible at WGU, but I don't remember hearing anyone wishing that it were, either. Students go to WGU for a Bachelor's degree and then they might continue on to a WGU Master's degree, but they don't necessarily enjoy it. It's simply a means to an end and a way for them to get their degree(s).

Based on what we see in this forum, I would guess that UMPI is easier for most students who attend than WGU is for students who attend there instead. You might want to go to the WGU Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU/ and make a post asking how much people are enjoying the degree or degrees that you're interested in. Sometimes, "easy" things can be painful to complete and "difficult" things can be enjoyable to complete. So, I wouldn't bother asking about the difficulty; ask about how enjoyable the process is.

One thing to keep in mind about WGU vs. UMPI is that WGU has a lot of live proctoring for their classes. For a lot of students, the proctoring itself can be more painful and difficult than the exam(s). The proctoring used by Study.com is completely different from the proctoring used by WGU. UMPI has no proctoring at all; all classes now have a paper or a project that needs to be completed for a grade.