Western Governors University Questions and Answers / Threads related to WGU

srabiee

I don't believe so. Your best bet is to speak with an enrollment counselor and ask him/her to look into it for you.

H3||scr3am

I'm curious if anyone knows whether or not they accept applicants from other countries? I have some college credits from Kingwood College in TX, and lived in the states for a year on a student Visa, but am a Canadian citizen, I was curious if I could still apply and get a degree since it's all online, anyways. Does anyone know? Furthermore, does anyone know if it's a recognized degree up here, since it's from an accredited university I believe it would, but I'd love to know if any other Canadians have experience with it.

Final question, if they accepted me, and I went through the course, would I be charged a higher tuition due to the fact that I'm Canadian (International student)?

H3||scr3am

TurK-FX

International Students

Thank you for your interest in WGU. At the present time, WGU is only accepting applications from individuals living in the U.S., Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as from U.S. military personnel and their families at overseas installations. WGU is also now accepting applications from Canadian residents in certain select geographic areas. (An Enrollment Counselor has more information about which areas are eligible to submit applications.)
Unfortunately, we have discovered that we cannot always guarantee that the educational experience for students living outside the United States will meet our high standards for quality and convenience. It is our expectation that these issues will be resolved in future years. We wish you well in your educational pursuits and regret that we cannot help you at this time.

Their website says they accept applicants from some part of Canada. YOou should get in touch with them.

crboone

Could someone post the Course Codes (course numbers) for the following:

Data Structures
Data Management For Programmers
Software Engineering
Client-Server Application Development
Mobile Application Development
Software Development Capstone

The classes above were not included in the Transfer Eval, which lists the course numbers for all of the other classes in the track, and I couldn't find them in the general course catalog.

I'm researching each course online to see what kind of comments/experiences students have had & what resources are available for them. So far there has been a good amount of helpful information for the ones that I've found matches.

Thanks!

TurK-FX

How long did your transfer eval take? I got the email on Thursday morning stating they received my transcript. I am trying to figure out when would my transfer credits would be available to see.

crboone wrote: »

Could someone post the Course Codes (course numbers) for the following:

Data Structures
Data Management For Programmers
Software Engineering
Client-Server Application Development
Mobile Application Development
Software Development Capstone

The classes above were not included in the Transfer Eval, which lists the course numbers for all of the other classes in the track, and I couldn't find them in the general course catalog.

I'm researching each course online to see what kind of comments/experiences students have had & what resources are available for them. So far there has been a good amount of helpful information for the ones that I've found matches.

Thanks!

crboone

TurK-FX wrote: »

How long did your transfer eval take? I got the email on Thursday morning stating they received my transcript. I am trying to figure out when would my transfer credits would be available to see.

It really was not long at all. Maybe a week or two tops. I did take the Readiness Assessment as they were doing the eval so that may have influenced the time frame.

wahrheit

They don't...I had several that weren't on the list and had to do a resume review to get in.

wahrheit

Could someone post the Course Codes (course numbers) for the following:

Data Structures - C189
Data Management For Programmers - C192
Software Engineering - C188
Client-Server Application Development - C193
Mobile Application Development - C196
Software Development Capstone - C199

TurK-FX

TurK-FX wrote: »

How long did your transfer eval take? I got the email on Thursday morning stating they received my transcript. I am trying to figure out when would my transfer credits would be available to see.

Ok thanks for the quick response. I was told that since I have 2 prior degree and CCNA, I do not have to take any assessment test. Just awaiting on the transcript eval, so I can have the bill generated and get it paid by my work

crboone

wahrheit wrote: »

Data Structures - C189
Data Management For Programmers - C192
Software Engineering - C188
Client-Server Application Development - C193
Mobile Application Development - C196
Software Development Capstone - C199

Thanks! Much appreciated.

crboone

Apparently, there's not a lot of info/discussion online for quite a few of the Software Dev courses -- I suppose since the track so new. I read a blog the other day where someone dropped out of their WGU program because they just couldn't make it past the Oracle Java Programming cert. Granted, with WGU you can't just get a "D" and move on, or even fail and select another course, as you could in a typical institution. You have to pass every course with a minimum competency of "B". Was or is anyone concerned they might make it 90% through the program just to hit a wall and have to drop out? Seems like a big risk -- and I will have to take a full 29 courses if I pursue the program. I'm able to skip all of the Gen Ed stuff (except English Comp II) with transfer credits, but I'd have to take everything else. Thus, I'm trying to get as much info on each course as I can so I can prepare.

Danielm7

crboone wrote: »

Apparently, there's not a lot of info/discussion online for quite a few of the Software Dev courses -- I suppose since the track so new. I read a blog the other day where someone dropped out of their WGU program because they just couldn't make it past the Oracle Java Programming cert. Granted, with WGU you can't just get a "D" and move on, or even fail and select another course, as you could in a typical institution. You have to pass every course with a minimum competency of "B". Was or is anyone concerned they might make it 90% through the program just to hit a wall and have to drop out? Seems like a big risk -- and I will have to take a full 29 courses if I pursue the program. I'm able to skip all of the Gen Ed stuff (except English Comp II) with transfer credits, but I'd have to take everything else. Thus, I'm trying to get as much info on each course as I can so I can prepare.

Not really. I had done a lot of traditional B&M classes, I had required classes for my major and if they were too hard I wasn't able to just skip them and move on. You're going to find people who hit a wall here and there, they are also going to be the ones that talk the loudest about it. You aren't going for find 40K blogs written by people talking about normal day to day experiences, you're going to find a few of people complaining and a few of people praising, its hard to use that as a even comparison.

If you are really stuck there are tons of resources available through the school and even free online in general. No one should get so stuck on one class that they drop out of the entire school and give up on college.

crboone

Excellent response, thanks! That is pretty much what he did -- maybe the guy got burned out or something. His ultimate complaint, though (which I didn't mention), was that he took the cert twice thinking he did well on it. But when he failed, there was no way to know what he got wrong so he couldn't just go back and study his weak areas. He didn't know what his weak areas were.

I am taking a couple of no-credit Java courses now so I can have some leisurely exposure to it prior to the WGU program. With coding, you can't just cram a bunch of terms, you have to know what you're doing.

Danielm7

Yep, some certs will give you a rough breakdown of the areas, I guess some don't, but it still isn't a great reason to give up on college. I had some trouble with the programming classes too (I did the security program) as it was completely new to me and a bit frustrating. I got on the phone with the course mentors, asked friends of mine for explanations, did another java course outside of WGU to pickup different areas, etc, then I finished and I couldn't have been happier as outside of the final capstone paper it was the only thing keeping me from finishing my degree.

crboone

Danielm7 wrote: »

Yep, some certs will give you a rough breakdown of the areas, I guess some don't, but it still isn't a great reason to give up on college. I had some trouble with the programming classes too (I did the security program) as it was completely new to me and a bit frustrating. I got on the phone with the course mentors, asked friends of mine for explanations, did another java course outside of WGU to pickup different areas, etc, then I finished and I couldn't have been happier as outside of the final capstone paper it was the only thing keeping me from finishing my degree.

Cool...that's what it takes to finish. And it gives me the encouragement to dive in. When you took the course outside of WGU, did you go on break?

Danielm7

No, I didn't do full courses for credit or anything What happened was I was having some trouble with a java class and found external resources like courses on youtube, one on lynda.com, etc. For the other classes like the security specific things, Cisco classes and such I did lots of outside research.

PC509

crboone wrote: »

Was or is anyone concerned they might make it 90% through the program just to hit a wall and have to drop out?.

It was tempting a couple times! One of the math classes was a ***** for me. I was so frustrated, I ended up taking a couple weeks off and coming back. Did well, passed the exam and moved on. That was around the 85% mark. I'm 2 classes away from graduation now.

Sometimes, it gets to the point where you're ready to give up. You just have to keep going. That wall has a top that you have to climb over and finish. The satisfaction of passing that math class did wonders for me. After that, I slaughtered several classes in a row (accelerated).

TurK-FX

I got 58 credits tranferred, disputed for 7 more. If everything goes well, I will need to take 14 classes 57 credits.

crboone

Now that I've sent my official transcripts and passed the Readiness Assessment, I'm wondering if I should just try for the 6 certs myself and see if they'll still accept them before starting the program. 29 classes is a lot to take while working full-time (yes, in IT) and having family at home, etc. Hard decision. I seriously doubt I'll knock out 29 classes at any accelerated pace.

Danielm7

crboone wrote: »

Now that I've sent my official transcripts and passed the Readiness Assessment, I'm wondering if I should just try for the 6 certs myself and see if they'll still accept them before starting the program. 29 classes is a lot to take while working full-time (yes, in IT) and having family at home, etc. Hard decision. I seriously doubt I'll knock out 29 classes at any accelerated pace.

Or, you could just study for a few of them, then start school and take the tests right away and let WGU pay for the certification costs?

earonw49

Danielm7 wrote: »

Or, you could just study for a few of them, then start school and take the tests right away and let WGU pay for the certification costs?

This.

One thing to note is that WGU analyzes your certifications, experience and transcripts simultaneously once they collect all 3 pieces of information. When you're past that part of the process, you cannot add any more certs, credits or experience.

You mind as well study for those exams, start WGU and have them pay for the vouchers.

crboone

earonw49 wrote: »

This.

One thing to note is that WGU analyzes your certifications, experience and transcripts simultaneously once they collect all 3 pieces of information. When you're past that part of the process, you cannot add any more certs, credits or experience.

You mind as well study for those exams, start WGU and have them pay for the vouchers.

I'm not sure that's the case in my situation. I haven't started the first term as yet, so per my enrollment advisor it may be possible yet to have them re-eval my qualifications. And I'm under no pressure to "start right now" from WGU, fortunately. That doesn't mean that your suggestion isn't a good one (study now and have them pay for the vouchers) -- but am I really saving money at $x for the exams out-of-pocket vs $3,000 for tuition? Plus -- if I study for the certs now but then don't take the courses for 2 years (depending on where they fall in the process), I will basically be starting over with those courses.

Maybe the direction of my thinking is overkill -- I was just wondering if it might help to go this route, but maybe not.

wahrheit

earonw49 wrote: »

This.

One thing to note is that WGU analyzes your certifications, experience and transcripts simultaneously once they collect all 3 pieces of information. When you're past that part of the process, you cannot add any more certs, credits or experience.

You mind as well study for those exams, start WGU and have them pay for the vouchers.

This isn't completely correct. If you obtain a certification 'after' they analyze your certifications they will give you credit via "Requirement Satisfied" vs the "Pass" you would have otherwise gotten.

At least that's my understanding...

Also according to my student mentor I can take the courses in any order I'm comfortable with...so in theory you could do all the certs you pre-studied for first, assuming your mentor is ok with it.

crboone

wahrheit wrote: »

This isn't completely correct. If you obtain a certification 'after' they analyze your certifications they will give you credit via "Requirement Satisfied" vs the "Pass" you would have otherwise gotten.

At least that's my understanding...

Also according to my student mentor I can take the courses in any order I'm comfortable with...so in theory you could do all the certs you pre-studied for first, assuming your mentor is ok with it.

Thanks, this info is good to know.

rcsoar4fun

Has anyone transferred in a PMP certification? I was thinking of taking it this month. When I asked my advisor she said it wouldn't give credit for TPV1. Honestly I find this a little odd.


Anyone know what happened to WGUstudents.com?

earonw49

wahrheit wrote: »

This isn't completely correct. If you obtain a certification 'after' they analyze your certifications they will give you credit via "Requirement Satisfied" vs the "Pass" you would have otherwise gotten.

At least that's my understanding...

Also according to my student mentor I can take the courses in any order I'm comfortable with...so in theory you could do all the certs you pre-studied for first, assuming your mentor is ok with it.

The information I posted was directly from my EC. To be honest, my experience with this certain EC was less than enjoyable. Also from researching it seems that there are EC's out there who give false info on the regular.

After speaking with a Supervisor EC this past week, I can confirm the information you posted is indeed correct.

Thanks for confirming this!

xtopher

rcsoar4fun wrote: »

Has anyone transferred in a PMP certification? I was thinking of taking it this month. When I asked my advisor she said it wouldn't give credit for TPV1. Honestly I find this a little odd.


Anyone know what happened to WGUstudents.com?

I was able to transfer in my PMP certification when I enrolled 2 years ago. I received the 6 CUs for TPV1 as a result of this.

Chadius

Does anyone know what classes in the IT-security degree, allow you to satisfy other classes when taken?

Chadius

Tech classes btw. My gen ed is taken care of with my associates.

ksijur

EUP1 and EUC1 when CUV1 is completed
DHV1 when C220 and C221 are completed