Years long lurker finally ready

[Monkeynerd]

Loooooong time lurker here looking for some guidance and direction. I'm a 36 year old U.S. Citizen working in Korea, I've been in the F&B/Hospitality industry since my early 20's, previously owning my own business for about 5 years then closed and moved on to become a General Manager at a new restaurant. I'm not necessarily looking to stay in the service side of the restaurant business so I'm interested in finishing my degree in something business related. UMPI seemed to be the best fit since it seems like there are more choices of classes rather than the typical BSBA path. I also plan to pursue an MBA sometime afterwards.

Budget wise less is better of course but ease and speed is more important, I also actually enjoy learning so I don't think testing out of classes is effective for me or available given my location as I have no access to the military bases. Timeline wise the faster the better, there will be days/weeks where I will
be able to power through a bunch of material especially the lower level courses and maybe the upper level ones I'll deliberately take my time to full understand the material.

I work long hours 5 days a week but I can usually manage a couple hours during the day and on 2 full days off I have the whole day.

No tuition assistance from work and I haven't looked into FASFA or Pell grants.   

Kapiolani Community College
FSHE 103 Sanitation and Safety, 2, A
FSHE 185 The Science of Human Nutrition, 3, A
ENG 100 Compostition I, 3, A
PSY 100 Survey of Psychology, 3, B
HIST 151 World Civilizations I, 3, B
ICS 101 Digital Tools Info World, 3, A
REL 150 Intro to World's Major Religions 3, A
HWST 107 H-Hawai'i: Center of the Pacific 3, A
MUS 170 Music as Therapy, 3, A
BLAW 200 Legal Enviroment of Business 3, A
KOR 202 Intermediate Korean II, 4, B
Math 100 Survey of Mathematics 3, C
ENG 209 WI-Bus & Managerial Writing 3, D
My transcript says GPA 2.42 because of some classes I failed   how will this effect later down the road for applying to an MBA program?

Sophia
Developing Effective Teams 1
Microeconomics 3  

Certifications
Global Coffee School - Techno Barista Level 1
Wine & Spirit Education Trust - Level 2 Distinction
Currently working on the French Wine Scholar certification

Thank you all

[bjcheung77]

@Monkeynerd, Welcome to the board. I think UMPI is a good choice for the BABA or BLS with a concentration or minor of your choice.  You're missing a science course with lab, I would invest in a second monitor, complete Sophia.org classes that fit into your degree plan and then complete courses from Study.com that also go into the degree.  

University of Maine at Presque Isle Wiki and UMPI Plans - Degree Forum Wiki | Create a spreadsheet template of a degree you're interested in to keep reference/track of your studies.  Here's an example spreadsheet template for UMPI BLS with a triple minor: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid365771

[Vle045]

Your GPA could limit your MBA school choices, but some offer alternate pathways. There are some schools that don’t seem too picky. If you can get at least a 2.5, it can improve your options.

[ss20ts]

When I was researching MBA programs, all of them required a minimum of a 3.0 for admissions. You definitely need to bring that GPA up. UMPI has graded courses so that would help you.

[dfrecore]

UMPI is going to be your only real inexpensive option in order to get your GPA up. The easiest way to check this is to go to an online GPA calculator, put in the total number of credits you've attempted (don't count anything the school doesn't count towards that) and the overall GPA on a single line; then on the next line, put 30cr at a 4.0, and see if that will raise you to a 3.0; if not, keep adding 3cr until you hit the magic 3.0, and that will tell you how many credits you'd need at an A to raise your GPA. It may be less than 30cr.

Conversely, you could opt to choose a school that doesn't require a 3.0 to get in (WGU doesn't although you have to live in the US). But there are plenty of schools that don't require a 3.0.

Your best bet for a fast degree is UMPI's BLS. You have some of the needed courses, but will have to take a bunch at Sophia, and at least 2 at Study.com (a lab science and then 1 additional course like American Government). But it's definitely doable.

[freeloader]

There are plenty of MBA programs that will admit students with below a 3.0 GPA.  Many of these will allow sub-3.0 with work experience and/or a GMAT score. You have one and could easily do the other.

As far as your GPA goes moving forward: your UMPI GPA (if you end up attending there) will only reflect UMPI courses.

I did some quick math and I am assuming you have 15 credits worth of F’s on your transcript to land at that 2.42 (assuming you didn’t have other courses that you passed but didn’t list).  You also listed 39 credits above. If you graduate with exactly 120 credits from UMPI, your total GPA would look something like this:

UMPI GPA.        Total GPA
3.0.                     2.77
3.2.                     2.89
3.4.                     3.01
3.6.                     3.13
3.8.                     3.25
4.0.                     3.37

There is a little guessing/extrapolating, but those numbers are pretty close. A GPA of 3.4+ at UMPI is quite likely if you put reasonable effort into your classes; there are many people on this board who have graduated with GPA’s well above that and done so quite quickly.

My calculations were assuming you completed 81 credits at UMPI. If you follow the path that is typically recommended (maxing out alternative credits like Sophia), you will have a lot less grades/chances to up your total GPA. If, for instance, you did around half as many credits at UMPI (42 for sake of easy math on my part), your total GPA looks more like this:

UMPI GPA.        Total GPA
3.0.                     2.67
3.2.                     2.76
3.4.                     2.85
3.6.                     2.93
3.8.                     3.02
4.0.                     3.11

And if you do 30 credits at UMPI

UMPI GPA.        Total GPA
3.0.                     2.63
3.2.                     2.70
3.4.                     2.77
3.6.                     2.85
3.8.                     2.91
4.0.                     2.99

I don’t think it is essential that you get to a 3.0 total GPA, but just be aware that if you max out Sophia/SDC/etc, that you are going to have a much harder time reaching that goal (if it is possible at all).

[bjcheung77]

By going the UMPI route and completing at least 30 credits from them, when you finish - you've essentially bumped up your GPA already. Generally, Grad/Masters programs that are more competitive/semi-selective will look at the last 30 to 60 credits, the bulk of them just want to make sure you're doing "well" in your studies.

For example, a decade ago you have a 2.42 and now you're getting the 4.0 or close to it, they'll know you've done better and would place more weight on the "now" vs "then". What I would recommend a competency-based masters from one of the MOOC's and try to get up to a 3.0+ GPA solely by doing UMPI courses.

[SweetSecret]

It's probably worth checking to see what GPA requirements, if even required, are at Walden U., WGU, Hellenic American University, American College of Education, and UoPeople.

[Monkeynerd]

Thank you all so much for your effort and replies!

@freeloader thank you for doing the calculations, I checked my transcript and it says earned hrs 39, gpa hrs 54, points 131 and I followed @defrecore's advice and checked on the online calculators. Also taking @bjcheung77's comment into consideration I think its best I at least do half through sophia/study and leave somewhere between the min. 30 or go up to 47 credits it graded from UMPI to ensure the 3.0 gpa. I don't want to get too overwhelmed or discouraged by thinking too far ahead that's kind of what happened way back then. One thing I learned was if I just put my head down and put in the effort without stressing about the future things generally turned out well for me and like @bjcheung77 said I think the work and effort will show if/when I get to applying to MBA programs. Thank you all for letting me know their are other options out there!

For now I will input my classes into @ashkir's template and looking at @fredericojavier's path, my only concern is will my math credit cover the requirement at UMPI?

[bjcheung77]

In regard to the GPA, the 30 required is sufficient, if you really want to get "higher" add a minor to your degree plan and take those courses for that secondary minor instead of just a GPA, you now have a better reason to take more courses.

Basically, I wouldn't worry about the Math requirement, there are so many options, you can do that last if it's a really hard subject for you. You can check if CSM Learn, Sophia.org or Study.com Math options would work for you.