Help Understanding UMPI Pathway

[LukeGlanton]

You're after speed. If thats the case don't forget about WGU, just less bullsh!t to deal with than UMPI. UMPI is flooded with applicants and have high staff turnover. Keep UMPI in mind, but don't forget about WGU.

Maximize your credit transfer. Use sophia, SL and SDC. To answer your question; Yes, it is helpful to have a few more credits than you need because it gives you cushion in case you want to make changes or in case the program you're applying to makes changes.

You're after speed. Frankly, business degrees are easy. But that's not a knock or an insult. I think they are very practical degrees because we all work in businesses, whether our own, the government, or private, or healthcare. Do the business degree then you can double back and do the fancy stuff for your master's. WGU has certifications baked into almost every degree they offer. Certifications are good.

Btw, with WGU, you'll need to bring in everything you need from the beginning. No going back to take credit to transfer in. They have many small scholarships available, apply to the ones for which you will qualify. Every little bit helps, even if its only $100. If you call WGU they will email you a list of scholarships unlike with UMPI you'll get a series of back and forth emails and lot of disorganization that might frustrate you since I'm assuming you're a busy person. (Keep UMPI on the table, I'm simply saying I find them to be disorganized and understaffed).
Complete as much as you can with sophia, then fill the holes with SDC; I see that's how you have it set up on your spreadsheet. Thumbs up for that.
https://partners.wgu.edu/general-transfer-guidelines
https://partners.wgu.edu/home

Hi Indigo, thank you for the alternative view! I checked out the degree plans on the wiki for WGU and didn't see any that really suited me. I see from your "transfers guideline" website that there are more degrees out there, so I may not have the full picture. I do like the idea of dealing with less bullsh!t, but I am hoping there is not much back and forth, to be honest.

Thank you for the reassurance that business degrees are easy and useful. I agree. I really just want a degree so I can be marketable if I want to move up at my agency. Certifications have been great to me! Honestly, I attribute certs and networking (socially, not packets ) to where I am today.

Re: Waiting for degree; Not that big of a deal for me if that's true. I want the course work, time spent studying, and administrative bs to be quick. Like everyone, I am busy, so I appreciate you taking the time to reply. I can dedicate an avg of 2 hours a day to this, if there is a good chance i can get it down within the year.

You're after speed. If thats the case don't forget about WGU, just less bullsh!t to deal with than UMPI. UMPI is flooded with applicants and have high staff turnover. Keep UMPI in mind, but don't forget about WGU.

Where are you getting that UMPI has a high staff turnover? They don't actually. There are several staff members that have been with YourPace for years. One has been there since the beginning. It was only 2 people when it began 5+ years ago. They went on a hiring spree over the last 6 months and every single person is still there. 

WGU isn't always faster for people. I see many people who take 2+ terms at WGU and some never graduate because they get fed up with it. They want speed and don't have the patience to get through the work. WGU isn't necessarily easier to transfer credit too either. Some programs are easier than others. It's very rare to transfer in 90 credits at WGU. On the other hand, it's rare for someone from here not to transfer in 90 usable credits at UMPI.

The rarity that someone cannot transfer in 90 usable credits to UMPI is reassuring. I've started my free trial of Sophia today to check out the structure.

Thank for the insight! No, I do not work for the DoD it's another agency. That BAS from UMPI is intriguing because it could include a bunch of technical certs that look great on resumes and socials. 

At the risk of sounding like a lazy student, I'd really like to get a BA or BS under my belt in the shortest amount of time. The BABA PM & IS had the bonus of being applicable to my career. After that, I'd like to contine getting relevant certs like ITIL SL and PMP to help me in the next step.

If there is an even shorter road map (like Askhir's 6 month BABA for $3,200) I can take to get a BA or BS I'd love to hear it.

Thank you for the help.

Another thing you want to look at is, max transfer of credit and provider you want to get credits from.  If you go the UMPI BAS option, even though some think it may be an obstacle due to going for the Pierpont BOG AAS first and getting 40+ technical credits, you'll have an option for non-proctored from Sophia.org to UMPI.  With the BABA, you need Study.com - thus, it'll be slightly slower and more expensive as you have another subscription.  Here's a read from yesterday comparing UMPI and WGU: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid414945

Basically, if you're more self paced and like to do things individually without too much interaction except for drafts and revisions, etc, UMPI is better. Having said that, if you don't mind weekly or so follow up/meetings etc with a mentor, have exams that are proctored, and a more rigid experience where you need or have more interaction, WGU isn't a bad choice either. You need to look at all variables, if cost, ease, speed is a concern, UMPI is $1500/session about 2 months, WGU is roughly $4K/term of 6 months, you need to 'gauge' how well you work and estimate completion time.

UMPI is now sounding better due to limited interactions and self paced. The less interactions the better, I think. I do see the value in having a mentor, proctored exams, and s more rigid experience but it doesn't seem like what I need at the moment. Time will tell with this transferable credit phase. I believe this will gauge how good I am at self pacing.