I am Back, But I messed up

[learningthehardway]

Hi everyone!

I hope everyone has been good. SOOO It has been a while since I been here.  A lot has happened. I was enrolled in UMPI and I messed up. I didn't take ANY classes or finish rather. Soon as I went to start, wedding season (I am a wedding photographer) kicked off CRAZY. Then my wife had emergency surgery and I was working full time and taking care of her, Then right when docs said she was okay after a month, She got hit with Covid and I was back to taking care of her for another month! By this time 1st Semester is over. Then I got the infamous letter from UMPI basically saying I was done. I was going to reach out, well I did, but of course, I couldn't get anyone by phone. Then life hit me some more with other stuff I can't go into.

At this point what are my options? Am I burned with UMPI? Should I start looking elsewhere?  I was going to UMPI because of its quick pathway and financially it was the best option but I am open to alternatives. My scenario is I just need a bachelor's Degree for a position I was going for and that was all. I considered HR masters in the future but I will drop that idea for now.

I have a decent amount of credits from Study and from my tech school. I was able to get the AAS BOG from Pierpoint last year with your help. 

Courses from Sophia Are:
Intro To Chemistry
Art History I
Art History II
Intro To Statistics
Intro To Ethics
Environmental Science
Business Law
US History
Project Management
Foundations of Statistics
College Readiness
College Algebra
Intro To IT
Principles of Finance
Visual Communication
Human Biology
Spanish I
Developing Effective Teams
Micro Econ
Macro Econ
Foundations of College Algebra
Financial Accounting
Essentials of Managing Conflict
Intro To Web Development
Work Place Communication

Tech College:
Intro To Business 101
Intro To Computers 101
Music Appreciations 105
American History 202
English I 101 
Beginning Algebra 101
Freshmen Seminar 105



I noticed yesterday there are a few more classes on Sophia I can take. I am considering getting a 1-month membership and knocking out Spanish II and a few other things if it is worth it.

Any recommendations or should I talk to UMPI. I was doing the BLS program. I am open to any other liberal arts or general studies bachelor's, again, only needing it for a job move.

Thanks, sorry to have wasted anyone's time previously with all the mess-ups.

[origamishuttle]

Thanks, sorry to have wasted anyone's time previously with all the mess-ups.

You've been through a dramatic example of life happens! Please give yourself grace and respect for getting back on the horse. Welcome back!

[rachel83az]

Advice that only applies to UMPI: Because you already have Spanish I, I wouldn't bother with Spanish II unless you're going to try for a History degree at UMPI. The other UMPI degrees only require 3 credits of foreign language. Assuming you didn't take BIO101L from Study.com, however, I would absolutely recommend getting either Human Biology lab or Intro to Chemistry Lab from Sophia.

I would definitely talk to UMPI to see what they say. You might not be able to get anyone on the phone without arranging something via email first. Perhaps they'll readmit you as a non-degree student provisionally until you can prove that you're able to complete the work.

Another option would be to do TESU or Excelsior, where you can transfer in most of the required credits. It would cost a bit more to do this, but there would be fewer academic/financial penalties if life hits you hard again. TESU has a BSBA HR/Org. Management that you might be interested in. Trying to get a Business degree from Excelsior is a bit trickier these days, but possible. Since you mention possibly wanting an HR Master's in the future, I'd try to get a Business degree of some kind (whether at UMPI, TESU, Excelsior, or elsewhere) to make the potential future admissions process easier. A Liberal Studies degree might work for now, but it might not work as well later when you try to get into grad school.

[allvia]

I recommend talking with UMPI as well - especially since part of your issue was related to Covid. But if you return you need to commit to getting it done (& again we're back in wedding season, is now a good time for you?). If it doesn't work out with UMPI then Excelsior BLS would likely be your best bet. I know there are a few people here who could help you plan out what you need for that.

[davewill]

The nice thing about TESU is that tuition is per credit, not per term, and you can extend a course (for a fee) if life happens. The overall cost is more, but it will be easier to work around interruptions.

[ss20ts]

When you say you've contacted UMPI, who did you try to contact? Since you were enrolled, I would email your academic advisor from your MaineStreet account and follow that up with a phone call to them. If you don't hear back in a few days, try again. Keep in mind that many people take vacations this time of year. We just had a major holiday where everything was closed for a day. It's summer so UMPI is pretty much closed on Friday as are many colleges. If after a week or so you hear nothing back from your academic advisor, then I would contact the YourPace admission office. Shea should be able to guide you to who you need to speak with. I would really try to reach UMPI and get this sorted out instead of transferring elsewhere first. Since you were enrolled, then you were registered for classes, correct? If you didn't do any work and didn't withdraw, then you received all F's for whatever you were registered for. You'd want to repeat those courses so you no longer have a GPA of 0 especially since you want to go to grad school.

[bjcheung77]

@learningthehardway, life happens, stuff comes up all the time due to unknown reasons... Your best bet right now is to contact UMPI for a possible resolution. My suggestion is continuing on with the UMPI BLS Management minor in your signature. If you have the 90 credits transferred already, then you only have to complete the remaining requirements there.

[dfrecore]

"Life happens" is one of the reasons it's not always a good fit to do a CBE program. I would probably try something else, or else wait until wedding season is entirely over before going back (if you can). Say, wedding season winds down around September, you do all you can to get whatever credits you need, and enroll in August, knowing that you won't start until October (this is all just an example of timing).

Your other option is to switch to TESU or Excelsior.

[allvia]

"Life happens" is one of the reasons it's not always a good fit to do a CBE program.  I would probably try something else, or else wait until wedding season is entirely over before going back (if you can).  Say, wedding season winds down around September, you do all you can to get whatever credits you need, and enroll in August, knowing that you won't start until October (this is all just an example of timing).

Your other option is to switch to TESU or Excelsior.

I agree with this, but I would not wait to talk to UMPI to see about rejoining the program once 'time is on your side'. I suspect they will work with you (especially since it would your out of pocket expense and doesn't impact financial aid rules), but there is no reason to not learn that now (in case you do need to move to TESU or Excelsior, you can plan accordingly)

[dfrecore]

"Life happens" is one of the reasons it's not always a good fit to do a CBE program.  I would probably try something else, or else wait until wedding season is entirely over before going back (if you can).  Say, wedding season winds down around September, you do all you can to get whatever credits you need, and enroll in August, knowing that you won't start until October (this is all just an example of timing).

Your other option is to switch to TESU or Excelsior.

I agree with this, but I would not wait to talk to UMPI to see about rejoining the program once 'time is on your side'. I suspect they will work with you (especially since it would your out of pocket expense and doesn't impact financial aid rules), but there is no reason to not learn that now (in case you do need to move to TESU or Excelsior, you can plan accordingly)

I didn't mean not to talk to UMPI until then, just to plan on enrolling then.