Western Governors University Questions and Answers / Threads related to WGU

eLs

I am interested in obtaining the Masters degree in either MS in NM or MBA IT.

Question is which program would be best considering the school?

Im wondering why one would not get the MBA title if network management MS degree is a management type and MBA sounds better for it?

demonfurbie

eLs wrote: »

I am interested in obtaining the Masters degree in either MS in NM or MBA IT.

Question is which program would be best considering the school?

Im wondering why one would not get the MBA title if network management MS degree is a management type and MBA sounds better for it?

i did the networking masters, the degree wasn't to heavily into networking but it had more of a department management direction. I think i only had 1 or 2 networking classes. Most of the classes were along the lines of policy, procedure, some legal and managing people directly under you.

stryder144

Doyen wrote: »

This was some VERY great information that I am going to look into. Thank you very much for sharing this +rep

You are quite welcome! Glad to be of service.

jtoast

eLs wrote: »

I am interested in obtaining the Masters degree in either MS in NM or MBA IT.

Question is which program would be best considering the school?

Im wondering why one would not get the MBA title if network management MS degree is a management type and MBA sounds better for it?

I had the same thought and have decided to go with the MBA IT. I requested re-admission yesterday.

zidian

slatkin wrote: »

...how long does it usually take for your mentor to contact you/have info loaded into the Student Portal? I completed Orientation on Sunday the 16th, received the confirmation email that I have completed the course, but nothing else has changed as far as the look of the Student Portal.

You won't have access to the rest of the portal until the 1st (unless it's changed in a year). My first mentor contact happened on the second day after the term started.

Cora5

Hi all,

I am planning to enroll into MSISA program at Western Governors University, and need a referral to avoid the application fee. Please feel free to PM me if you need more information.

I appreciate everyone here for sharing their experiences. I have learned a great deal and would like to thank everyone for taking time to share and help where needed.

NOLAJ

I posted this on the Student Experiences page, but couldn't hurt to post here....

Anyone out there currently enrolled in the MBA: IT Management program?

eLs

Still thinking about it if I should choose MBA here or MS in either InfoSec or Network Management.

Have to hear from people how the MBA IT program is.

Sucks it is not AACSB or ACBSP at all which puts a hold on me to do MBA in WGU.

NOLAJ

eLs wrote: »

Still thinking about it if I should choose MBA here or MS in either InfoSec or Network Management.

Have to hear from people how the MBA IT program is.

Sucks it is not AACSB or ACBSP at all which puts a hold on me to do MBA in WGU.

I think it depends on ultimately which direction you want to go. I chose the MBA because I am interested in Director and/or CTO positions.

markulous

Anyone have any experience running into pending disbursements being cancelled by a previous school in order to get into WGU? I went to Kaplan to get my associate's and these guys have dropped the ball twice and I'm not sure if I can make the deadline. It still hasn't been cancelled out yet and the deadline is noon EST tomorrow. I really don't want my start date pushed back a month and it's frustrating that this wasn't taken care of earlier. I graduated back in December, there is no reason I have anything pending when I've shown zero interest in going back there.

NOLAJ

markulous wrote: »

Anyone have any experience running into pending disbursements being cancelled by a previous school in order to get into WGU? I went to Kaplan to get my associate's and these guys have dropped the ball twice and I'm not sure if I can make the deadline. It still hasn't been cancelled out yet and the deadline is noon EST tomorrow. I really don't want my start date pushed back a month and it's frustrating that this wasn't taken care of earlier. I graduated back in December, there is no reason I have anything pending when I've shown zero interest in going back there.

Ouch. That's a tough spot to be in! I hope it works out. Just bug the heck out of them(Kaplan). I'm sure you probably have been.

Antonio72

I'm currently dealing with that exact same issue. In the beginning of February I decided it was time to get back in school so I started calling around. CTU was VERY excited to get me started right away. So much so that I filled everything out and was actually supposed to start on Feb. 16th. Then I found out about WGU, I quickly realized it was a much better option and canceled everything with CTU. After finally getting everything approved and being accepted at WGU I get a call from my enrollment counselor this past Friday saying that my financial aid wouldn't go through because there was a pending disbursement with a previous school. I called up CTU and they said everything was cancelled, well 4 calls later I discovered that they hadn't canceled the disbursement for a Pell Grant. They finally did that but I'm still waiting on it to complete.

Though I was told that the deadline was Saturday the 22nd? Hopefully I was wrong and something went through without me knowing, I've pretty much accepted that I wouldn't be able to start until April.

Good luck.

markulous

I bugged the heck out of Kaplan and they got it cancelled, however it didn't show on the website that WGU checks because it doesn't always appear right away.

They told me yesterday that the cutoff was actually yesterday at noon EST, but then later informed me that my enrollment counselor (who I have a meeting with in an hour) can give me an extension. If the pending disbursement is still not showing as cancelled, I can either pay a $30 late fee or just front the money for the first payment until financial aid kicks in and they will reimburse me. So hopefully I'm still able to start.

For the above poster, I would recommend getting a hold of enrollment to see if they will extend that date since they have the power to do so. The date normally is the 22nd, but since it ended on a Saturday it was a couple days after.

TomkoTech

So I'm on track to start my degree at WGU the NA track. Are there any free videos/practice tests for the CIW courses? I'd like to get a jump on those so I can just test out the first week.

Certinator

Great question! I am also starting WGU next week in the same degree program so any info on those CIW courses would be great!

Thexzeno

I had question regarding the admissions process

Do you have to have prior experience at a college in order to be granted admissions?

TomkoTech

You need experience in the field or college. If you have no experience and no previous college I believe you can take one of the certification exams that transfer in and if you pass that will fill your entry requirement. However it is best that you speak to an enrollment counselor to be sure.

TomkoTech

Does WGU give access to MSDN for software downloads?

zidian

TomkoTech wrote: »

Does WGU give access to MSDN for software downloads?

They do the MSDN Academic DreamSpark program.

ratbuddy

They offer DreamSpark Premium as well as VMware software. There's pretty much everything you could ask for except Office.

Evoluvin

What all is needed to get into WGU? Also, is it an accredited University? Do you need an AA degree or any college credits for that matter? What if you have some Certs? Thanks in advance for the help.

Danielm7

Yes, it's a regionally accredited school, that's the accreditation that you want meaning it's like regular colleges, not a for profit school.

You don't need your AA, it helps of course. To get into the IT program they want you to have prior college, IT certs within the last 5 years or resume experience in IT. If you have certs within 5 years and they are the ones you would use in your degree program then you will get credit for them and it will satisfy courses that you would have had to take.

There is a TON of WGU info on this forum, sounds like you're just now starting to consider them, it's worth reading a couple of these threads you'll find more info than you know what to do with.

Edit: To actually get in there is an entrance exam, but you don't need SAT scores or anything like that.

Evoluvin

Danielm7 wrote: »

Yes, it's a regionally accredited school, that's the accreditation that you want meaning it's like regular colleges, not a for profit school.

You don't need your AA, it helps of course. To get into the IT program they want you to have prior college, IT certs within the last 5 years or resume experience in IT. If you have certs within 5 years and they are the ones you would use in your degree program then you will get credit for them and it will satisfy courses that you would have had to take.

There is a TON of WGU info on this forum, sounds like you're just now starting to consider them, it's worth reading a couple of these threads you'll find more info than you know what to do with.

Edit: To actually get in there is an entrance exam, but you don't need SAT scores or anything like that.

Exactly the response i was looking for.

WGU is exactly what i am looking for in a college.

I do have about 3 years of IT exp. Also managing an IT department. Plan on getting more Certs this year (By summer). So ill look into maybe starting/applying sometime this Spring.

Ill do some more research on the forum. Thanks again.

olaHalo

Whats the BNC1 exam like? (Organizational and Behavioral Leadership)
I mean how much study time and prep time did it take for you guys on average. Im hoping to knock it out in a week...

Thanks

Danielm7

olaHalo wrote: »

Whats the BNC1 exam like? (Organizational and Behavioral Leadership)
I mean how much study time and prep time did it take for you guys on average. Im hoping to knock it out in a week...

Thanks

I did it in that time frame, you should take the preassessment of course, but learn the terms. I've had a bunch of business classes in the past so I found it pretty easy as long as you know the terms they are using for the questions.

zidian

BNC1 is a pretty easy class. If you can pass the preassessment you can pass the real exam. If you score 10 points over the cut score, schedule the exam a week out and read the book. You should be fine.

Legacy User

How far in advance should I begin to send my transfer information since I know my current college tends to take a long time to do anything. I'm looking for a May start date. I haven't filled the application yet just waiting to wrap a bio lab class at straighterline within 2 weeks then start the applying process.

TomkoTech

You can't really send your transcripts in until after you have applied to the school. Once you enroll you will get a slew of emails from them as well as a phone call from an enrollment counselor. Once that is done you should apply for your transcripts to be sent as well as take the readiness exam.

I know that my experience wasn't standard however I started this process on November 17th hoping to start in February. I wasn't accepted to the school until January 14th. It was January 24th before I had my transcript appeals sorted out and actually able to enroll. Since then it has been red tape issues with the VA, so not on WGU there.

But based on you waiting an additional 2 weeks to apply I don't think May 1st would be feasible.

Legacy User

Ah crap.. wasn't aware it takes that long. Thanks for the heads up!

zidian

It can vary however. I had all of my transcripts delivered from a few colleges in under 3 weeks.