Western Governors University Questions and Answers / Threads related to WGU

petedude

Did some digging around on the alumni pages out of curiousity, and came across this list of schools WGU grads have applied and been accepted to:

American Military University WV
Baker University MI
Baylor in Waco TX
Boise State University ID
Boston University MA
Bowling Green State University OH
Brigham Young University UT
California InterContinental University CA
Capella University
Concord Law School (part of Kaplan University)
Cornell University
Crown College
Devry
Kansas State University KS
Keller Graduate School of Management IL
Lamar University TX
Lewis & Clark OR
National University CA
North central University AZ
Northeastern University, Boston MA
Northern Illinois University IL
Norwich
Nova Southeastern
Oklahoma State University OK
Portland State University PO
Strayer University FL
University of North Carolina at Charlotte NC
Union Institute & University
University of Houston TX
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Minnesota
University of New England ME
University of New Mexico NM
University of Northern Colorado
University of St. Louis MO
University of the Cumberlands
University of the Pacific - McGeorge School of Law CA
University of Utah UT
University of Washington Tacoma WA
Villanova University online
Walden University
Warner Pacific College OR
Wharton Business School

thenjduke

Well all count me in on attending WGU. I have officially withdrew from Devry. Now I am going to get all my certifications and credits transfer. Hopefully I do not have too long at WGU. I had three years left at Devry because alot of my credits did not transfer.

earweed

What concentration are you going to go after?
Your MCITP:EA and/or CCNA wil knock out a lot of your IT classes. The Gen ed classes will probably be most of what you'll have to do.

thenjduke

TheDailyMel wrote: »

Hi everyone. I'm in the process of getting enrolled at WGU and just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Melissa and I live in southern California. I'm currently working in IT (senior network systems support) in the aerospace industry. I never finished my degree when I was a kid, but I've been working in IT for the past 22 years as both network admin and support. I'm now in line for a promotion into management with my current employer, so I decided it's a good time to finish up my degree (BSIT). Once that's completely, I then hope to start working on my Masters (MBA-ITM).

I've already applied and passed the assessment at WGU. I'm still waiting on my transcripts from my two previous schools to arrive and be evaluated. From an initial conversation with Scott, my enrollment advisor, I think I'll have most of my GenEd stuff knocked out already. I'm also in the process of submitting all the paperwork for tuition reimbursement through my employer, but those wheels can sometimes turn slowly. If all goes well, I hope to start classes on July 1.

I currently hold a couple of certifications, but neither of them apply toward my degree. I have a Support Center Team Lead certification from HDI, and I'm also an Apple Certified Support Professional. I'm currently studying for my A+ certification and really want to try and knock it out before starting classes in July, if possible. Of course, I'm also doing a half marathon in 2 weeks with Team in Training for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, so that has me a bit preoccupied at the moment.

I guess that's it for now. I'm really looking forward to getting started at WGU and getting connected with other students in the IT program.

Welcome aboard. I am in the same process as you. I am looking forward to WGU.

thenjduke

earweed wrote: »

What concentration are you going to go after?
Your MCITP:EA and/or CCNA wil knock out a lot of your IT classes. The Gen ed classes will probably be most of what you'll have to do.

I am going for Network Management and Design. I am looking forward to getting rid of IT Classes. I have alot of credits for General Education Classes too.

earweed

You'll probably only have to take Project+, Foundations (CIWV5 Associate), Sec+ (If you don't have 2009 Sec+), JavaScript, and the Capstone/Technical Writing classes in IT. Foundations is very basic but will be a good review for you.
If you want a referral PM me or Veritas, or someone else can refer you to save the application fee. The info you need to give is in the link, first page of this thread, titled refer a friend.

thenjduke

I actually already signed up and starting August 1. Sec+ is fulfilled from the 70-298 exam I took for my security for MCSE.

tomahawkeer

You can add me to the list of new students to WGU as well. I am currently set to start on July 1 barring no issues with my intake interview which is set for tomorrow. My focus is going to be Network Design and Management.

My experience so far with my admissions advisor has been very smooth, and if I ever send him an email, I normally get a call back from him that same day. Looking forward to hitting the grind and finally knocking out a BS degree. Ive been working in IT for 9 years as an Administrator, and a lack of education / certs, has held me back from advancing my degree. Its time for me to put an end to that!

earweed

thenjduke wrote: »

I actually already signed up and starting August 1. Sec+ is fulfilled from the 70-298 exam I took for my security for MCSE.

You'll probably graduate right after I do..lol
I've been at WGU since Sep 2008 but had to do all the IT and some gened classes. I'll be done by Feb 2011.

veritas_libertas

kriscamaro68 wrote: »

Also has anyone tried to take out student loans to go to WGU? If so was it a pain to get them for WGU because its not a traditional type of school?

No, I had literally zero problems. In the end I chose not to take out a loan because my company will be paying for my education.

erpadmin

I am almost there. I signed in the portal (if you're having problems signing into the portal, you have to "Claim you login". They have updated their security, and all that. They got my SAR and I had to fill out my MPN (Master Promissory Note) through Direct Lending. I think I will end up using loans, because as a public employee, I can pay for ten years and whatever is left will get forgiven. If I'm not borrowing that much, I may just pay it off by then. We'll see.

At this point I'm just waiting for my enrollment counselor to get back to me as to when I'm doing the intake. I may do July 1 or August 1. I think the one cert I want to do is Sec+ as that seems doable. Download Gibson's book on the Kindle and then go to town. Then get a discounted Transcender and see how well I do. If I get 90% three times in a row, I'll schedule it before I accept enrollment.

The good news is, it looks like despite the new policy, my enrollment counselor told me my A+ and Network+ might still count even though their within the 5 years. I might also get some GE classes knocked out even though that's old too. I won't know for sure until sometime after the intake and I say yes to enrollment and pay with loan. But once I start, this time I gotta finish.

I also have to finish spec'ing out a server so I can put some guest VMs on it. In addition to installing a MS network the "Micorosft way", I want it to double up as a practice PeopleSoft lab when I'm done with studying for the MS certs. Work has been getting hectic, but the way it is it's never going to stop, so I have to just suck it up and do it. I've let work get in the way of my education for the last 13 years...lmao. I'm ready for my degree.

Will definitely keep all posted on how stuff is going.

thenjduke

earweed wrote: »

You'll probably graduate right after I do..lol
I've been at WGU since Sep 2008 but had to do all the IT and some gened classes. I'll be done by Feb 2011.

Lets hope. I love to be finish by then.

TheQGuru

Saw TE while researching WGU. Pretty nice site 1st of all. Reminds me of CCCure that I followed through my CISSP, CISA, and CISM. Wish I found TE earlier since I've been working on my MCSE track. I only have the 294 and an elective to get yet for my MCSE.

Anyways all you WGU students. I've been debating a Masters Program with WGU in Security Assurance. My problem is that most of their Certs that you need to accomplish for the Masters seem to be a step down from the ones I've been taking. CEH, CWNA, Network+, an Audit Exam from Sans and 2 other EC Council Certs. I think I could rip through those rather quickly.

Anybody outh their in the Master Track that might be a couple months or a semester or so in?

veritas_libertas

TheQGuru wrote: »

Anybody out there in the Master Track that might be a couple months or a semester or so in?

Check with Tpatt100 or Msteinhilber. They are both in that program.


Welcome to TE!

bcarroll76

I would like to hear more also from the users here that are attending WGU's Masters program. I am very interested in this program and would like to hear your thoughts. I currently hold no certs but have years of experience in IT and have a BS in Info Tech. I am currently an IT Manager for a hospital. I would realy like to get my foot in the door with a govt. job.

erpadmin

bcarroll76 wrote: »

I currently hold no certs but have years of experience in IT and have a BS in Info Tech. I am currently an IT Manager for a hospital. I would realy like to get my foot in the door with a govt. job.

I would like to hear your opinion on what's so special about jobs in government. You haven't said anything I could respond to about that, so I'll have to wait until I hear your take (I work in government...and have gotten 2 of 3 governments jobs through a hook-up, the last job, was all skill, all me. ).

You being in health care, I would imagine that it is just as safe...unless your hospital is looking to do some cutting? Management does seem to be the first to go...but would definitely want to hear your take so that I can help with a proper response.

petedude

kriscamaro68 wrote: »

. . ..If so was it a pain to get them for WGU because its not a traditional type of school?. . .

I hear the issues are more on the WGU side. . . it is not uncommon to hear of lags in FA paperwork. That is one of the reasons I elected not to use financial aid myself.

asurania

Reading people are going from TE to WGU

What is TE, and there website please?

veritas_libertas

asurania wrote: »

What is TE, and there website please?

http://www.TechExams.net <::::: You Are Here!


Sorry, I couldn't resist...

asurania

So Just waiting for my Transcipt Evalution.
Currently have:

BA in International Relations, Minor in Managment & Society (Awared May 2007)
Business Admin Diploma - Financial Services Major (Awarded May 2004)
A+ Certification (Awarded May 2007)
MCITP:Enterprise Administartor (Awarded March 2010)
MCITP: Enterprise Support Techincian (Awarded July 2009)
MCTS: Windows 7 Config (Awarded Jan 2010)
MCTS: Exchange 2007 Config (Awarded April 2010)


I am figuring I will have to do the following courses below once the Transcipt Eval comes back. Just wondernig if the below looks right with what I have, and what I think i will get credit for and what i will have left.

Also do u guys think it is possible to finish the below 45 credits in one semester. I figured best case 1 term, worse case 2 terms.

I start July 1st, and so dam anxious to get my Transcipt Eval

Program : BSIT in Network Design & Managment

EWB2 - Education Without Boundaries - 2
WFV1- IT Fundamentals I - 3
AKV1 - Web Programming - 3
LET1- Leadership Concepts and Applications - 4
TPV1 - Project Management - 6
TSV1 - Security I - 6
MGC1 - Principles of Management - 4
ORC1 - Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior and Leadership - 4
TWA1 - Technical Writing - 4
CPW3 - IT Capstone Project - 9

Total Credits Needed - 45

Alif_Sadida_Ekin

I think I remember this being answered somwhere in this gigantic thread, but how long does it take to receive the voucher for an exam after you've put in the request? My mentor just advised that it could take 2 weeks. Does it really take this long?

qwertyiop

Alif_Sadida_Ekin wrote: »

I think I remember this being answered somwhere in this gigantic thread, but how long does it take to receive the voucher for an exam after you've put in the request? My mentor just advised that it could take 2 weeks. Does it really take this long?

I received all of my vouchers in about 2 days

tpatt100

I got my transcript evaluation for my masters and I see:

GIAC Certified ISO-17799 as a requirement

Will the school get me the training materials for this? I always thought the GIAC exams required attendance to their training or purchasing expensive as hell training materials.

veritas_libertas

tpatt100 wrote: »

Will the school get me the training materials for this?

They will provide you with all the study materials that you will need, though not the official materials.

tpatt100 wrote:

I always thought the GIAC exams required attendance to their training or purchasing expensive as hell training materials.

No you can challenge the certification without attending the classes. Work hard to get in the 90s so you can be on the advisory board!


Related post:

http://www.techexams.net/forums/security-certifications/53809-giac-certifications.html

earweed

They'll provide you with materials, the books will probably be on Books 24x7 and your video training may only be skillsoft so you may feel (or actually require) you need to purchase more study materials. What's the class identifier(ie VUC2 or CYT2) for the class. My skillsoft account (actually everyones at WGU in IT) can access all the MSISA skillsoft courses and one of us could tell you if that class has a skillsoft course.

EmpoweredBizTech

Is there learning at WGU video based, Audio, Or reading and text etc.. ? I may have missed in the thread but I haven't been able to find that.

earweed

EmpoweredBizTech wrote: »

Is there learning at WGU video based, Audio, Or reading and text etc.. ? I may have missed in the thread but I haven't been able to find that.

You pretty much learn in the method that most suits you. WGU provides access to video training (learnkey, Labsim/Testout, Skillsoft) for IT classes and provides some of the books, others are available through skillsofts Books 24x7. Some form of practice test is provided for all of your IT classes to gage how well you are grasping the material.
It is basically self teaching, you are responsible for how well you learn the material.
For the gened classes WGU has a variety of different methods they use.

EmpoweredBizTech

So it's like using CBT Nuggets just with a degree at then end?

earweed

You use books, too. It's just that you don't have an "instructor" in a classroom. Some of the gened classes are set up differently where you have asssignments you'll submit into a service called Taskstream where the grader will grade your assignment.
For all of the classes you have a Course of Study (COS) that is like a syllabus to follow as you go through your studies.
If you follow the COS and heed the advice given in it you will learn more than just what is required to pass the course, you'll learn enough to actually use what you've learned. If you just do enough to pass the test then you'll be in trouble further down the road when you don't remember material you've previously studied.
For the IT classes most of the IT classes you will need to lab stuff. You are responsible for labbing everything and providing your own lab materials.

veritas_libertas

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