Western Governors University Questions and Answers / Threads related to WGU

Jon_Cisco

volume wrote: »

You can take a 1, 2, or 3 month break between terms, but longer than that and they make you withdraw and go through admissions again.

http://sh.wgu.edu/articles/StudentHandbook/2102

Thank you. I was trying to search for this information earlier but didn't really know what to call it. I expect to finish my associates degree next year and I am considering my options from there. I would like to give WGU a try but would definitely want a break between terms. 3 months seems like more then enough time to unwind between courses.

Danielm7

Oh, yeah if you finish your 12 credits in a term, you can take the rest of the term off, that's not really "taking a break" exactly. All depends on how you want to do it, for me I would have gone nuts in those last 3 months just knowing that I could have been done the entire program in half the time if I didn't spend half of it in break mode. If you're not in a rush (and don't mind spending 2x as much), then by all means enjoy the off time.

Jon_Cisco

Danielm7 wrote: »

Oh, yeah if you finish your 12 credits in a term, you can take the rest of the term off, that's not really "taking a break" exactly. All depends on how you want to do it, for me I would have gone nuts in those last 3 months just knowing that I could have been done the entire program in half the time if I didn't spend half of it in break mode. If you're not in a rush (and don't mind spending 2x as much), then by all means enjoy the off time.

I don't think I interpreted that the same as you.
As I read it it says you can take your 6 month term then request a 3 month term break. So every 9 months I would enroll and pay for a single term.

I am not in a hurry. I'm not even really trying to save a lot of money but cost always matters. I am more focused on the fact that I will have a lot of other things in life that I would like to do at the same time. Since they don't have a part time option breaks between terms seems to be the way to manage that. I did contact school so I'll see what they say.

Thanks again for the feedback.

myworld

Do everyone receives the provisional acceptance email ???

As i never received any email from WGU.

FYI.. I never did the Readiness Assessment exams as i have transferable certificate as per WGU guideline. My EC told me i do not need to do readiness assessment exams.

My transcript evaluation came back yesterday and i got the CUs for all my certs. I try to reach my EC but he is not available.

So what is the next step after you receive transcript evaluation?? When do i know i am accepted or rejected?

thanks.

cyberguypr

When everything clears you should receive a "Congratulations on your acceptance to WGU!" email. I received mine two days after they verified my CISSP.

myworld

Thanks cyberguypr. They already verified my CISSP and MCSA/MCSE and finished my transcript evaluation which i got yesterday.

So let's hope i hear from them something in day or two.

kurosaki00

Questions for students/alumni:
How did you guys approach the studying and classes? Like... you finish one class, move to the other one. Or did more than one at the time?

Danielm7

I went one at a time. I tried to group classes together that made sense, like CCENT, CCNA, CCNA:Security, etc. I found it easier to really 100% focus on a specific topic until I was done vs jumping around 5 different classes. I know some people like to do a few together so they can change it up when a section gets too annoying, but in my mind you'll have to deal with the annoying parts eventually anyway might as well just push through them.

swattz101

Jon_Cisco wrote: »

I don't think I interpreted that the same as you.
As I read it it says you can take your 6 month term then request a 3 month term break. So every 9 months I would enroll and pay for a single term.

I am not in a hurry. I'm not even really trying to save a lot of money but cost always matters. I am more focused on the fact that I will have a lot of other things in life that I would like to do at the same time. Since they don't have a part time option breaks between terms seems to be the way to manage that. I did contact school so I'll see what they say.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Correct, Term breaks are after your 6 month term. They are frowned upon, but if you need them, you need them.

The other idea, WGU is like an all you can eat buffet. You sign up for your first 12 CUs at the beginning of the term. When you finish those, you talk to your Mentor and sign up for 1 or 2 more. You can do this until about the mid of month 5. After that, mentors get a little antsy that you won't finish any newly added classes. You should have everything for all of your classes turned in by the 15th of month 6 to give the graders time to grade before end of term.

Instead of taking a term break, you can sign up for your initial 12 CUs, complete them in the first 3 months, and then coast for the other 3 months until the next term starts.

kurosaki00

Thanks! I will do this. I'll just focus 100% on one class, finish it and move to the next one. Hoping to finish in one year, maybe 3 terms @ most.

Danielm7 wrote: »

I went one at a time. I tried to group classes together that made sense, like CCENT, CCNA, CCNA:Security, etc. I found it easier to really 100% focus on a specific topic until I was done vs jumping around 5 different classes. I know some people like to do a few together so they can change it up when a section gets too annoying, but in my mind you'll have to deal with the annoying parts eventually anyway might as well just push through them.

myworld

So i had my intake interview yesterday..and my EC says everything looks good. I am admitted in program BUT I did not receive any email from WGU which says I am Accepted / Admitted or Provisionally accepted in BSIT program.
I asked EC and he said he can see in system that everything is good and he is not sure why I am not receiving any email about accepted admission.

So today i logged in to my student portal and when i go to resources --> View and make payment, It shows account balance of $3025.00 now. It was $0.00 yesterday.

So Does that mean I am officially admitted in program??? I think yes...but it would be nice to get a email...

tprice5

You're in. I know emails feel all official and everything but your EC wouldn't lie to you.

matts5074

Agreed. You are in. Congrats!

I started the BS IT track on September 1st and I'm so glad that I did. It's a long journey, but you have to start some time!

myworld

Thanks tprice5 and matts5074 for confirming it.

I am going to do a Payment plan for term so i have to wait till Payment Plan for November opens up in wgu site. right now it only shows sept and oct plans.

So I will make my first payment next week sometime and see if that's final and i can start on Nov 1.

It is long over due...so It will be interesting journey.

Codyy

So I'm taking my first OLP exam at home today and am a bit confused on where I actually take the exam. I followed all of the steps in the WGU prep email, downloaded webassessor sentinel, and the steps say that a shortcut to the sentinel program should be added to my desktop but I've ran the setup several times and cannot find a file anywhere on my computer related to kryterion/webassessor/sentinel ..nothing. It runs, installs, says it's finished, then no trace of it anywhere. I did see on the webassessor site that it says to please come back closer to the exam time when I hover over the exam name ..does that mean it'll be taken through the browser? The instructions made it sound like you launch the program.

I'm probably overlooking something here but I feel like a complete newbie not being able to find any trace of this program.

zidian

You'll be taking the exam from the browser. It will have a link that launches the sentinel program about 5 minutes before the start time.

Codyy

zidian wrote: »

You'll be taking the exam from the browser. It will have a link that launches the sentinel program about 5 minutes before the start time.

Just took the exam and it launched like you said. I spoke to tech support earlier and they told me that I must have found old directions, gave them the link on their site and they confirmed that those directions were no longer valid and should be editing/removing the link.

Doyen

I am curious how WGU presents BS:IT on their diploma. Do they list the concentration or does it just say "Bachelors of Science: Information Technology"? The reason why I am asking is because I have seen some Google images that say either. However, I am not sure if the images that only had BS:IT, without a concentration, were older images.

bugzy3188

Quick question, albeit subjective. I am going to be starting my first semester in a month and want something that will serve me well as a tablet. With that said I am also in need of a phone replacement. I am interested in a phablet, likely either the Note 3 or Note 4. Does anyone here have experience using a 6" or smaller screen as a tablet for school? Would this be recommended or would you recommend a 7" to 8" tablet? Like I said, I know this is subjective but I am looking for others' experiences....Thanks!

Danielm7

Doyen wrote: »

I am curious how WGU presents BS:IT on their diploma. Do they list the concentration or does it just say "Bachelors of Science: Information Technology"? The reason why I am asking is because I have seen some Google images that say either. However, I am not sure if the images that only had BS:IT, without a concentration, were older images.

Those are older, I finished the Security concentration less than 6 months ago and my diploma says IT : Security on it.

ksijur

bugzy3188 wrote: »

Quick question, albeit subjective. I am going to be starting my first semester in a month and want something that will serve me well as a tablet. With that said I am also in need of a phone replacement. I am interested in a phablet, likely either the Note 3 or Note 4. Does anyone here have experience using a 6" or smaller screen as a tablet for school? Would this be recommended or would you recommend a 7" to 8" tablet? Like I said, I know this is subjective but I am looking for others' experiences....Thanks!

+1 this would be usefull info

Doyen

Thanks for the clarification Danielm7.

Nightflier101BL

I've begun looking hard at the IT:Security program and was wondering if anyone had done the same type of thing as I'm thinking.

I'm currently enrolled in an A.A.S IT degree at my local community college. I've got about 5 classes remaining. I would like to stop there and enroll in WGU from where I stand, not completing the 2-year. I currently complete 2 classes per semester at roughly $1000 per semester including books. I've already completed most of my liberal stuff such as English Comp I and II, some very basic math, economics, etc. It looks like I'd be able to save some money by making the move.

Is this recommended in my case? I have two-years of experience working in IT (currently working) and one completed cert, soon to be CCNA as well. I still have a couple intro/basic level database and web classes I haven't completed, but would just take them at WGU if I can.

Will I run into any hurdles, problems or should I be able to get in without any issues?

Thanks!

Robert

markulous

Nightflier101BL wrote: »

I've begun looking hard at the IT:Security program and was wondering if anyone had done the same type of thing as I'm thinking.

I'm currently enrolled in an A.A.S IT degree at my local community college. I've got about 5 classes remaining. I would like to stop there and enroll in WGU from where I stand, not completing the 2-year. I currently complete 2 classes per semester at roughly $1000 per semester including books. I've already completed most of my liberal stuff such as English Comp I and II, some very basic math, economics, etc. It looks like I'd be able to save some money by making the move.

Is this recommended in my case? I have two-years of experience working in IT (currently working) and one completed cert, soon to be CCNA as well. I still have a couple intro/basic level database and web classes I haven't completed, but would just take them at WGU if I can.

Will I run into any hurdles, problems or should I be able to get in without any issues?

Thanks!

Robert

You should have no issues getting admitted with all of that. I would be curious what a transcript evaluation would look like though. A lot of my classes got waived because I came in with an Associate's. You may end up having to do more classes if you transferred now (other than the 5 remaining), but hard to say.

AverageJoe

So you're 5 classes from a 2-year degree, and it'll cost about $2,500 to finish. Even if you only need one semester at WGU, from what I can tell, that'll still cost about $3k. Why do you think you'll be saving money?

Based only on what you've told us, I don't think it makes sense to change programs at this point. I'd recommend you finish your current program and then look at WGU for your 4-year degree.

Nightflier101BL

AverageJoe wrote: »

So you're 5 classes from a 2-year degree, and it'll cost about $2,500 to finish. Even if you only need one semester at WGU, from what I can tell, that'll still cost about $3k. Why do you think you'll be saving money?

Based only on what you've told us, I don't think it makes sense to change programs at this point. I'd recommend you finish your current program and then look at WGU for your 4-year degree.

Well, there are some other factors I'm considering. Commute and time traveling to my community college vs all online. Also, there are some problems right now trying to find replacements for a couple of classes that have been cancelled - this may extend my stay there.

I think I could accomplish more in a shorter overall period of time by switching now. The only thing that I'm on the fence about is how it looks to have just a Bachelor's vs a Bachelor's and an A.A.S. Does this really matter to employers?

One more factor is that I'm trying to prepare myself to make a move out of my present employer/position. I'm 33 years old and would like to get all this done sooner than later.

If I need to take a couple extra classes at WGU, that's not a big problem.

Robert

AverageJoe

A bachelor's degree without an AAS is fine. People don't say "Oh, you have a bachelor's degree. Why didn't you get an associate's degree?"

The big advantage of getting the AAS is that if something comes along that sidelines your bachelor's degree plans (life happens) at least you'd already have a degree of some sort. But if you think you can get done faster at WGU then I think that's a good reason to switch. I think you might be overestimating how fast you can complete, though.

tprice5

I was under the assumption that all bachelors degrees have a built in AAS. Not so much, as my undergrad did not. I would move on to WGU. If you finish before the end of the 6 months I believe you are refunded a prorated amount. So you aren't out the full 3k.

Nightflier101BL

Thanks for the help, guys!

Robert

techfiend

I'm considering going to WGU but I have a few questions first:

1. Entering with an A+ cert is there a specific cert that is required next?
2. What MS/cisco certs were part of the design track? Will this be available again?
3. What is the included study material for the MCSA's?
4.. Is it possible to take security and immediately work on just CCENT and CCNA then switch to Admin for the MCSA's and generals? If so, is this sensible to do?