+- Online Degrees and CLEP and DSST Exam Prep Discussion (https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb)
+-- Forum: Main Category (https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Forum-Main-Category)
+--- Forum: Degree Planning Advice (https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Forum-Degree-Planning-Advice)
+--- Thread: Degree Plan Help Please (/Thread-Degree-Plan-Help-Please--49398)
Degree Plan Help Please - Sevenfold8558 - 04-17-2025
Your Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Your Age: 27
What kind of degree do you want?: Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts (Liberal Studies), General Studies, or Political Science
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 61 credits (Associate of Arts in English) from Bucks County Community College
Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits: 43 credits (all from Sophia) though there are some credits that are the same courses from my CC. So it's really 37 credits, but I'll list all the classes that I've done so far:
- Art History II
- College Readiness
- Environmental Science
- Human Biology Lab
- Introduction to Business
- Introduction to Ethics
- Introduction to Information Technology (repeat)
- Introduction to Nutrition
- Lifespan Developent
- Project Management
- Spanish II (I took French I and Spanish I at CC for the 6 credit foreign language requirement whatever reason)
- U.S Government
- US History I
- US History II (likely repeat)
- Visual Communications
Budget: No real budget if it means getting the degree done as fast as possible.
Commitments: Part-time job, possible move to full-time job, but nothing set in stone.
Dedicated time to study: A decent amount of time, I work only 3 days a week, every other day I have free time, but I'd rather not study as much as actually getting the work needed to get the courses completed. (28 hours a week, but ideally, only a fraction would go towards studying)
Timeline: Finishing the courses required for the degree as fast as possible would be ideal (copied from template). Maximum time, Spring 2026, but would like to get the degree finished by the end of 2025.
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: None.
I'm not sure whether I prefer test-out or competency based because it's been a while since I've taken a legit test without it being open book. I do get overwhelmed/stressed somewhat easily, so I'd rather do classes one or two at a time. My hope is to get to a university with 114 credits and take the final 2 classes there, or 90 credits that can be done in two sessions (in exchange for the longer time, the classes are ideally not as intensive).
Help figuring out what classes that need to be done via Sophia, Study.com, or other means to get to 114 credits or knocking out upper-level classes for the 90 credits plan would be appreciated.
RE: Degree Plan Help Please - bjcheung77 - 04-17-2025
Welcome to the board, great initial post with the addendum and template, you can do the UMPI BLS with a minor or two of your choice, plus the 3-4 classes towards the MAOL if you ever wanted to do the MAOL later. It'll take the 90+ credits you have, but only 90 will go towards the degree, you need the 30 credits for residency purposes to finish off the degree, you can also add the AALS and forget it as the classes taken for the BLS will complete the AALS as well. Taking 30 credits at UMPI would be cheaper, easier, faster, than completing just the capstone at EU or TESU alone...
UMPI WIKI: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/University_of_Maine_at_Presque_Isle
UMPI Plans: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:UMPI
RE: Degree Plan Help Please - Sevenfold8558 - 04-17-2025
(04-17-2025, 06:10 PM)bjcheung77 Wrote: Welcome to the board, great initial post with the addendum and template, you can do the UMPI BLS with a minor or two of your choice, plus the 3-4 classes towards the MAOL if you ever wanted to do the MAOL later. It'll take the 90+ credits you have, but only 90 will go towards the degree, you need the 30 credits for residency purposes to finish off the degree, you can also add the AALS and forget it as the classes taken for the BLS will complete the AALS as well. Taking 30 credits at UMPI would be cheaper, easier, faster, than completing just the capstone at EU or TESU alone...
UMPI WIKI: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/University_of_Maine_at_Presque_Isle
UMPI Plans: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:UMPI
Thank you for the response!
Alright, so looking at the UMPI minors, Social Studies would take 24 credits to get and then I would only need to take 6 upper level credits outside of the minor or if I go Political Science minor it would be 18 credits then 12 upper level credits outside the minor. Am I reading it correctly? Is there no capstone for BLS?
RE: Degree Plan Help Please - bjcheung77 - 04-17-2025
(04-17-2025, 06:52 PM)Sevenfold8558 Wrote: Thank you for the response!
Alright, so looking at the UMPI minors, Social Studies would take 24 credits to get and then I would only need to take 6 upper level credits outside of the minor or if I go Political Science minor it would be 18 credits then 12 upper level credits outside the minor. Am I reading it correctly? Is there no capstone for BLS?
That's correct, the undergraduate degrees - BA, BABA, BAS, BLS do not have a capstone... and the graduate MAOL does have a capstone, but it's more of a course instead of a capstone. I would venture to say, the graduate capstone isn't as lengthy as the undergraduate EU or TESU capstone.
RE: Degree Plan Help Please - Sevenfold8558 - 04-18-2025
(04-17-2025, 09:26 PM)bjcheung77 Wrote:(04-17-2025, 06:52 PM)Sevenfold8558 Wrote: Thank you for the response!
Alright, so looking at the UMPI minors, Social Studies would take 24 credits to get and then I would only need to take 6 upper level credits outside of the minor or if I go Political Science minor it would be 18 credits then 12 upper level credits outside the minor. Am I reading it correctly? Is there no capstone for BLS?
That's correct, the undergraduate degrees - BA, BABA, BAS, BLS do not have a capstone... and the graduate MAOL does have a capstone, but it's more of a course instead of a capstone. I would venture to say, the graduate capstone isn't as lengthy as the undergraduate EU or TESU capstone.
Thank you again for the response!
For BLS, I looked at the Degree Forums wiki, it says for the BLS I need 24 UL that aren't from my minor or Gen Ed to get the BLS. Unless that's been updated, I would think going for Political Science would be faster since I wouldn't have that requirement. Let me know if I'm wrong.
RE: Degree Plan Help Please - bjcheung77 - 04-18-2025
There are some minors that don't have upper level requirements, you'll still need to select enough UL to do... Thus, you're getting the Political Science minor and you can get another one of your choice. Apply, send all transcripts, see what you have remaining, update us when you get a highlight of remaining classes left for your degree...