Western Governors University Questions and Answers / Threads related to WGU

earweed

That test is very broad in scope and not very deep. It is a very good intro for IT noobs and even surprises some experienced people by the scope of the knowledge required. Usually the main thing experienced IT people have to review is HTML because so few seem to have a grasp of the basics of HTML.

erpadmin

I wrote my fraternity's web page using Frontpage Express (that should give you an idea of the last time I dealt with just pure HTML, no Flash, no PERL, Java, etc...[actually, there might have been a little java, but that was a copy/paste job].

I personally look forward to it. I just read on here how it seems to be a waste of time for us experienced folks, but hey maybe getting that broad understanding of IT can't be a bad thing.

SephStorm

BAM!

Took the readiness assessment today, feeling good about it.

EDITED: PASSED!

At what point should I release my certifications to the school?

erpadmin

SephStorm wrote: »

BAM!


At what point should I release my certifications to the school?

ASAP. With my Comptia certs, it was just a matter of logging into the site and sending the transcripts to my enrollment counselor. He then forwarded it to the whoever was going to review them. Then you get an email saying that he received your transcript of the certs.

snokerpoker

erpadmin wrote: »

ASAP. With my Comptia certs, it was just a matter of logging into the site and sending the transcripts to my enrollment counselor. He then forwarded it to the whoever was going to review them. Then you get an email saying that he received your transcript of the certs.

Not a bad idea to get them sent in soon. WGU was very quick during the review process of my transcripts. Good luck! Hope everything works out.

never2late

Here it is, Wednesday, July 28th, and I have not heard about my transcripts nor have I heard from a mentor. Maybe I'm just nervous but seems that WGU would have the transcripts cleared and a mentor assigned by now since I start EWB on Sunday. :

Anyone else starting August 1st that still has not been contacted by their mentor? I will be calling my enrollment counselor this afternoon.

uhtrinity

never2late wrote: »

Here it is, Wednesday, July 28th, and I have not heard about my transcripts nor have I heard from a mentor. Maybe I'm just nervous but seems that WGU would have the transcripts cleared and a mentor assigned by now since I start EWB on Sunday. :

Anyone else starting August 1st that still has not been contacted by their mentor? I will be calling my enrollment counselor this afternoon.

They hadn't finished evaluating my transcripts until roughly a week after I finished ewb. Back then you also had to write a few papers for ewb. The delay was due to one of the colleges I had attended and their lack of speed in sending out official transcripts. Also, I think I was introduced to my mentor near the time I completed ewb which took 3 weeks back then.

earweed

I'd be calling WGU directly and finding out what's going on.

uhtrinity wrote: »

They hadn't finished evaluating my transcripts until roughly a week after I finished ewb. Back then you also had to write a few papers for ewb. The delay was due to one of the colleges I had attended and their lack of speed in sending out official transcripts. Also, I think I was introduced to my mentor near the time I completed ewb which took 3 weeks back then.

3 weeks!!! Mine took roughly 4 hours.
They've changed it again since I took it and now I hear people basically retake the entrance exam as one part of EWB. I also didn't get a mentor until I finished EWB. I've been really lucky with the mentor as mine has been really good.

erpadmin

Anyone ever requested their WGU ID card (from the Resources tab in their portal login)? How long did it take to get yours?

Only reason I wanted mine was so I could parlay any student discounts on stuff like travel, or anything else I would need a student ID for.

veritas_libertas

erpadmin wrote: »

Anyone ever requested their WGU ID card (from the Resources tab in their portal login)? How long did it take to get yours?

Only reason I wanted mine was so I could parlay any student discounts on stuff like travel, or anything else I would need a student ID for.

I have mine. I think it took about a month to get it. If you have problems with the program, call IT Help Desk for WGU and they will walk you through it.

petedude

erpadmin wrote: »

Oh my! I was under the impression that EWB took no more than a couple of hours!

Retaking the entrance exam?! I hope I'm not boinked on the math......lmao.

If you're weak in stats, grab a copy of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Statistics in case you need to brush up. Don't know if they have a Kindle edition, tho'.

SephStorm

Statistics?!

*kills self*

petedude

SephStorm wrote: »

Statistics?!

*kills self*

Not much, just a few basics-- the stuff you learned in HS or junior high might cut it. Don't want to go into it beyond that.

If you're good on algebra/geometry, then you could probably ignore the stats.

erpadmin

petedude wrote: »

If you're weak in stats, grab a copy of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Statistics in case you need to brush up. Don't know if they have a Kindle edition, tho'.

Brush up? Ummmm......

The 2nd Edition is available on Kindle. Guess I better do some of between now and then. I'm going to need this anyway, so better to get this out of the way.

I really thought this was going to be an introduction on how to navigate WGU...not a rehash of basic skills.

I am definitely going to state one HUGE advantage of having a Kindle. "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Statistics, 2nd Edition" is a Text-To-Speech enabled book. I have never used this feature, but figured I'd give it a whirl as I would rather have back-to-back root canals than dealing with anything related to math (in a academic setting).

The Text-To-Speech feature is actually not terrible, if you don't mind Stephen Hawking reading to you (and I always find his robot voice funny, and enjoy when it's parodied). In other words, the voice is very robotic and is not too far from Professor Hawking's voice.

This will definitely assist me in going to this quicker than usual, as I could always google anything that I might want more in depth info. Hopefully I'll be done before Saturday or at the latest, Sunday midnight.

Thanks Pete.

petedude

uhtrinity wrote: »

In all it was a bunch of busy work designed to weed out those students who couldn't or didn't want to write. They had dropped the writing portion by 2008.

That's much like what I was told about the two new assessments at the end of EWB2-- they're intended to weed out the students who can't cut the program.

Would be nice, though, if all of that screening took place during the application process.

SephStorm

petedude wrote: »

Not much, just a few basics-- the stuff you learned in HS or junior high might cut it. Don't want to go into it beyond that.

If you're good on algebra/geometry, then you could probably ignore the stats.

Problem is I never did statistics in high school... I barely did pre-algebra... Geometry, forget about it.

petedude

SephStorm wrote: »

Problem is I never did statistics in high school... I barely did pre-algebra... Geometry, forget about it.

Not that much geometry in there-- just enough to annoy.

never2late

I got a reply from my enrollment counselor promising a mentor assignment by August 1st. Also got my transcripts within a hour of sending an email to WGU. They transferred 28 credits, including the 6 for my Sec+. About what I expected since many have said that an AAS doesn't waive as many classes as a traditional AS.

l have to take a Lit:Presentation class, which I hoped to be one that would transfer. Public speaking is definitely one of my weaknesses. How is this class proctored\graded?

Still have not received my financial aid award letter or my WGU packet by mail. Supposed to have a web cam for the proctored test. Hope to have those by Friday\Saturday.

thenjduke

petedude wrote: »

Not that much geometry in there-- just enough to annoy.

I did not do much either but I am in the process of the math course and it really is not all the bad. It is more refresh of things actually. I have been out of school for over 20 years and you forget things like that.

jmasterj206

never2late wrote: »

l have to take a Lit:Presentation class, which I hoped to be one that would transfer. Public speaking is definitely one of my weaknesses. How is this class proctored\graded?

If you have a class that you think should have transferred you can appeal it. I had to for the same class and had to contact my tech school to get the syllabus and was able to get it waived.

msteinhilber

Semester two coming up. Man have I completely slacked off for the entire first semester both in school and professionally

Getting on-board for the second semester though and will have to really knock things out to complete all my units to avoid being dropped (as I will be on probation for not completing enough units in semester one). I should be doing fine this time around though. A LOT less stress outside of school and work now that certain issues in my personal life have mostly passed entirely. Got my living situation handled and sold the house and got a nice apartment. Overall kind of starting over with life and looking forward to it, without all of the added stress around I should have very few issues moving forward!

veritas_libertas

msteinhilber wrote: »

Semester two coming up. Man have I completely slacked off for the entire first semester both in school and professionally

Getting on-board for the second semester though and will have to really knock things out to complete all my units to avoid being dropped (as I will be on probation for not completing enough units in semester one). I should be doing fine this time around though. A LOT less stress outside of school and work now that certain issues in my personal life have mostly passed entirely. Got my living situation handled and sold the house and got a nice apartment. Overall kind of starting over with life and looking forward to it, without all of the added stress around I should have very few issues moving forward!

Good Luck! I was just wondering about your classes yesterday. Are you going to be pursuing any certifications this semester?

earweed

If anyone needs any math help PM me or IM me on WGU messenger. I usually have WGU messenger on and available when I'm on this comp.

msteinhilber

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Good Luck! I was just wondering about your classes yesterday. Are you going to be pursuing any certifications this semester?

More than likely I will be. I have to touch base with my mentor today and plan out what units to take for this upcoming term. I have the CWSP course left from this semester, but depending on what I'm looking at for units I may or may not attempt that one this upcoming semester. I want to ensure whatever my course load looks like that I will have what I feel would be ample time to complete the CWSP during the term in full as the WGU program only incorporates the PW0-204 exam only and I would also want to finish out the PW0-104 as well to actually earn the CWSP designation.

veritas_libertas

Makes sense. If I decide to go for that after my BS than I will knock off the CWSP and CWNA before hand so that I will have less classes to complete.

arwes

Hmm, anyone have credits transfer from a COE accredited school?

Council on Occupational Education

I went to school at a vo-tech about 12 years ago in their "Computer Support" associates degree program, and left after a year. My former teacher got a job elsewhere, and lost the grades on a few of my classes. They apologized but told me I had to retake them. Yeah. Anyways, it'd be nice if this could knock out some of the gen ed classes.

Edit: Just looked on the WGU site, and if I'm reading this right they won't even consider any coursework done more than 5 years ago.

WGU requires that official transcripts of previous academic work completed at other colleges or graduate schools within the last five years be submitted for evaluation.

Oh well.

jmasterj206

arwes wrote: »

Hmm, anyone have credits transfer from a COE accredited school?

Council on Occupational Education

I went to school at a vo-tech about 12 years ago in their "Computer Support" associates degree program, and left after a year. My former teacher got a job elsewhere, and lost the grades on a few of my classes. They apologized but told me I had to retake them. Yeah. Anyways, it'd be nice if this could knock out some of the gen ed classes.

Edit: Just looked on the WGU site, and if I'm reading this right they won't even consider any coursework done more than 5 years ago.



Oh well.

That is poorly worded and I asked about that when I first enrolled. Your college credits aren't based on the 5 year statement just your certifications. Regardless, don't expect a lot of your vo-tech classes to transfer.

bwcarty

jmasterj206 wrote: »

That is poorly worded and I asked about that when I first enrolled. Your college credits aren't based on the 5 year statement just your certifications. Regardless, don't expect a lot of your vo-tech classes to transfer.

My first term was 8/2009, and I had college credits from as far back as 1992 transfer to WGU. The only credits that they enforced the 5 year rule on were my Java programming classes that were 5+ years old.

All of my credits came from 4 year universities, so I'm not sure about how well other school credits transfer over.

petedude

arwes wrote: »

Hmm, anyone have credits transfer from a COE accredited school?
. . .
Edit: Just looked on the WGU site, and if I'm reading this right they won't even consider any coursework done more than 5 years ago.
. . .

If WGU won't take your credits, I'd suggest looking at:

http://www.excelsior.edu
Charter Oak State College - Finish Your Degree Online
Thomas Edison State College

These schools have generous transfer programs. You could transfer in to them to finish an associate's, then move on to WGU and only have a year left.

uhtrinity

arwes wrote: »

Hmm, anyone have credits transfer from a COE accredited school?

Council on Occupational Education

I went to school at a vo-tech about 12 years ago in their "Computer Support" associates degree program, and left after a year. My former teacher got a job elsewhere, and lost the grades on a few of my classes. They apologized but told me I had to retake them. Yeah. Anyways, it'd be nice if this could knock out some of the gen ed classes.

Edit: Just looked on the WGU site, and if I'm reading this right they won't even consider any coursework done more than 5 years ago.



Oh well.

I started in 2007. At that time they transferred all of my generals from 1994 - 1998. They even took 1 credit from a speech class in 1989 and combined it with a 2 credit speech course in 1998 to meet WGU's 3 speech credit requirement.