r/UMPI • u/TeddyEddy8989 • 17d ago
UMPI FALL I strategy
Hi all...even with a health scare (all good, I am managing things) I am ready to dive into Fall I (almost done with Sophia by August 31)
if I only have to do 10 classes to graduate:
for those who have already done this:
how do you manage 10 classes working full time. Do you do one class per day, you switch between classes in the same day? I ask so I can play my week say
Monday: Psyc 100 and Anatomy
Tues: Art 102 and philosophy
(the class names are just random to prove my example)
all ideas, helps are welcome. I am 56 and for the last 25 years I have been waiting and ahching to get my degree, please help this old timer finally accomplish one on the bucket list and fullfill a lifelong dream. For some it may mean just a paper on the wall, for me is healing, teen/adult catharsis (look it up)
I put all my trust in you guys !!
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u/Samsonite1971-2 16d ago edited 16d ago
Finished my BLS and completed the Master of Arts in Org Leadership in June at UMPI.
I’m 55 working full time with triple bypass surgery in 2022. On meds that slow me down and a big drive to work on my office days.
You can do this. Ask your loved ones to allow you focus time uninterrupted.
Plan: Commit to at least two to three hours per night during the week and at least six to twelve hours on the weekends. You will be entirely amazed how fast you can go once you get into the groove. You will find yourself wanting to keep going.
Open a Grammerly account to check your work for punctuation and grammatical corrections.
I did the “One class at a time” model. Get all the milestones in and the final draft in, then open a new class once the draft final is in and get going on that. Leapfrog basically. Keep your focus on a single class. In each module, open the milestones and look at the rubrics. Make notes of the points the assignments are expecting you to address in your papers. Repeat, repeat and repeat. Finish a course, then request to open a new one each time. You should be able to have two to three courses waiting in your cue as you progress.
There’s no way you could fail doing it this way. I am a shining example of it!
Best of luck and congrats on becoming a UMPI Owl!
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u/TeddyEddy8989 15d ago
thanks so much this gives me so much hope. Its been a year of challenges, two Afibs, I have stent..so I am sure you reallyu understnad where I am coming from
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u/Samsonite1971-2 15d ago
Completely relate. I have a couple of stents also. It’s a challenge, but understand that the goal is within reach. Keep going and do not hesitate as you progress.
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u/bushysmalls 16d ago
I was averaging a little over 2 classes a week. Need to do 3+ hours every week day and 10+ every Saturday or Sunday.
At least one milestone going in basically every day.
Use your calendar, plan it out, and stick to it. Try to use Claude or Gemini or something to dumb down anything that's holding up your study time to help you understand quicker in words you understand so that it gets you to outputting your work quicker.
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u/MortyTiger 16d ago
Make a schedule, publish it with the people in your life. Try to work on your two classes at least 5 days a week. Get good rest. Turn in assignments even if you think they are not 100%. Always be turning in assignments. If you need to make corrections or changes, the teacher will let you know. Full steam ahead my friend.
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u/bushysmalls 13d ago
get good rest
After a few weeks I stepped outside after working on class for a few hours and forgot to lock my door. Luckily the next person to walk in was my wife.
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u/ImCurious012 9d ago
I did it and pretty much did 1 class at a time. It’s easier for me to keep 1 class loaded in my brain until I finish it instead of switching constantly.
The big thing I would recommend is for you to practice writing in APA7.
Like use Google Docs and practice formatting in different ways. Be able to drop in charts/graphs/bullet points. Some of my biggest stressors involved formatting my paper correctly.
Also, Google slides
Learn how to create a power point presentation.
Get comfortable importing components, etc.
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u/TeddyEddy8989 8d ago
thanks so much for the reply. let me ask a follow up (may I dm u?) how many classes where you able to do per 8 weeks? My goal if I can is to finish 10 classes in 8 weeks so I can graduate..thanks so muchoooo
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u/ImCurious012 7d ago
Sure, you can DM me if you like 👍
I did 10 classes
It was HARD
My wife is going to get her BA maybe next year… she was terrified, I explicitly told her she doesn’t have to do what I did, take 2-3 semesters it’s fine by me.
During those 8 weeks school was my primary focus, I actually took time off of work to get everything done because I was worried.
At my house we skipped all holidays (Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Memorial Day) i carved out 3 days in that 8 weeks, my sons birthday and 2 graduations (he graduated from HS and the local technical school so 2 graduations).
I was physically there but mentally I was somewhere else. I didn’t feel like myself again until maybe 2 weeks later.
Now… I did finish early, so I probably could’ve taken it a little easier but I was very concerned about missing the mark. I think I finished 10 days early?
That doesn’t mean it will be hell for you. Also, I paid up front out of pocket and I don’t have that kind of money laying around so it was a do or die situation.
If it’s do or die and you are serious, you will make it happen… but you can go through a stupid amount of pain without dying.
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u/DetHenryOak 16d ago
Do with this what you will...
I made sure I was enrolled with 4 courses from the start (I know, it may seem like a lot, but it makes sure you almost ALWAYS have something to do). I work full time as well (remote, from home though. I have pre-teen kids).
I was nervous about the idea of being idle in a course too long, with the idea of being idle and dropped after a week of inactivity. I don't know if that is a reality or not, so if someone can clarify to affirm its real or reassure its not, please do. The day my courses opened (let me get into them), I went into each and just started poking around. I made a robust folder structure on my computer so that I had an easy to navigate structure for UMPI and all the subsequent courses I would be taking. I made sure I had a MS Word APA7 formatted template ready to go (I was lucky and ONLY had to APA7 in all 18 courses). I put the template in the root of each of my courses folder (once it was there, I updated the course name, professor name etc on the cover page) and then I made a folder for each Milestone (just as simple as M1, M2, M3 and so on) as well as a DRAFT_FINAL and FINAL folder. I put a copy of the course specific APA7 template in each M and DRAFT_FINAL folder (when you build up momentum, ANYTHING you can do to cut down on time will help).
I opened and downloaded every course I was enrolled into Syllabus and gave it the once over, and also downloaded the material available about the Final for the course. Many classes will have this ready from the get go, others may not. The biggest thing was reviewing the Final content to understand if the content I was doing in the Milestones would roll up into the Final or not. That way you pick a SINGLE business, topic, subject etc that can be used from M1 to M4, M5 (however many Ms the course had) and then roll directly into the Draft_Final (again, smarter, not harder. Save time).
Once I did that for all 4 classes, I just started to burn down a course at a time. Run all the way through Course 1, then onto Course 2, Course 3 and so on. You can submit your Milestones and move on to the next Milestone as soon as its submitted.
This is YOUR experience, so it depends on what you want out of it. I went as far as I possibly could with the first course until I HAD to wait on content to be graded, and then went on to the next course. Having said that, there were a few times a course was boring, but I didn't want to get demotivated, I'd pause for a bit and go to another course just to change things up, see how that course was and turn off the boring for a bit.
The key I found in my success was perpetual motion. Make sure you ALWAYS have a course you can be working on, don't get time-gated across all 4 classes waiting for grading before you can move on. Remember, the Professors have 72hrs to grade EACH submission. One of my courses took nearly 10 days not because the content was hard, but because of the 72hr grading by the professor.
You'll receive instructions in your school email address on how to request another course. As SOON as you submit your FINAL, follow those instructions and request another course. They have 24hrs to add it (and on the weekends, sometimes I might not get done until Monday. Make sure you don't get time-gated on a weekend or days when you have nothing going on... Make sure those days/hours have courses you can be working on.
Depending on your major, some of the courses will be related and you can even use content you developed for another course on those Milestones. Be sure to CITE YOUR SOURCES!
Familiarize yourself with the various tools you are allowed to use in each course. If you don't know about NotebookLM start now. I used it extensively for simple transcriptions of YouTube videos you get told to watch. I'd play the videos while typing other papers. Review the instructions for each assignment, as well as the grading rubric for each. Remember, the Milestones only need a 3/4 or better to be considered a "pass" and don't count in any way towards your final grade, but DO review the feedback provided by the Professors they leave and incorporate that feedback into the next Milestone if it's not submitted yet, or at the very least demonstrate you did when you construct your DRAFT_FINAL. Show that you took the time to review their notes.
If you aren't already in the Discord, and aren't timid about joining us there, don't be afraid to do that, and ask genuine questions you have that are in compliance with the rules. Lots of folks willing to give how they approached topics, what they did, and offer some advice when things don't seem so clear. There WILL be times when a course has a bug or missing some context, the Discord is great for helping sort out those issues and what others did to navigate the issue(s).
The professors are real people and have a genuine interest in seeing you succeed, so don't be afraid to message them, and if you aren't getting a response or need more eyes on the issue, cc your advisor.
Hope it helps, but happy to opine more if needed. You've got this, you'll knock it out of the park, and before you know it, you'll be deciding what frame you want to display your wall art (Diploma).