Does UMPI feel rewarding? Does it feed the soul.

[dfrecore]

     I have read stories about people taking 30+ credits in one session (8 weeks) and finishing their degrees in less than a year. To me, that sounds very hard to believe, not that it is not impossible, but rather do you learn anything? When you complete a class in UMPI do you feel that you gained skills and knowledge? Is there a sense of accomplishment and you're not just doing busy work to get a degree? Personally, I want to go to school for History or English, because I LOVE both subjects, but writing is not my strong suit. I look forward to the struggle and practice of writing in school, but I fear at UMPI I will not improve as much as I would in a more traditional school.

So, first about writing: you could probably benefit from a couple of courses in writing outside of UMPI; a local CC, or one of the cheap ones we suggest here, or any number of options.  I agree that if you're not a strong writer, becoming better before you enroll at UMPI is all upside - you literally cannot go wrong in becoming a better writer.  So, take English Comp I from TEL, or Study.com, or whatever, and take your time and get as much out of it as you can.  Then do Comp II, and if your experience at wherever you took Comp I was good, take II there; and if it wasn't good, take II somewhere else.

Second, if you rush through the courses in a history or English degree, you will probably not get a lot out of them.  That being said, you have 2 options: 1) take your time, which means taking longer to finish your degree (an extra term or even 2); or 2) find another way to get the knowledge that you'd like from other sources AFTER you graduate.  If you love English, there's nothing stopping you from joining a Great Books book club, or joining a Creative Writing group, or getting a subscription to The Great Courses and watching the content.  There's nothing stopping you from taking courses at your local CC, or an inexpensive online school.  And there's a plethora of free stuff available everywhere, including your local library.

So, decide what's more important to you; if it's getting your degree quickly and cheaply, then you can spend a year building up your knowledge while saving up to pay for a master's program.  You may even decide you don't want/need a master's degree because you're having too much fun learning all the things you WANT to learn (and not spending time on things some professor wants you to learn).