Western Governors University Questions and Answers / Threads related to WGU

SteveO86

Hey guys I have a question.. I spoke with one of WGU's reps last night.. After I mentioned I have an A.S. and a few of my existing Certs.. He's estimated I would only need 40 CU's (it's only an estimate though)

My question would be.. How does the class structure work since it's all online. Do I take class finish it and jump right into the next one? (So I would more or less be setting my pace?) Or is their still a set schedule.. and I would find myself twidling my thumbs after I finished a class?

demonfurbie

As fast a you want ,you set the final

Hypntick

So okay, got the application done. Going to do the assessment test. What do I have to expect out of that? Thanks.

erpadmin

Hypntick wrote: »

So okay, got the application done. Going to do the assessment test. What do I have to expect out of that? Thanks.

If you can read and count...you will pass that exam. It is just a test of really basic skills.

Hypntick

erpadmin wrote: »

If you can read and count...you will pass that exam. It is just a test of really basic skills.

Well reading I can do, but counting? Man they ask a lot huh?

petedude

Hypntick wrote: »

Well reading I can do, but counting? Man they ask a lot huh?

High school math. Having taken basic algebra might be helpful, but that's as far as I remember it getting. Might have had some geometry.

Hypntick

petedude wrote: »

High school math. Having taken basic algebra might be helpful, but that's as far as I remember it getting. Might have had some geometry.

Took it and passed it last night. I did see some wacky equations on there that I really don't remember from high school or even the college level math classes I had to take. Luckily Google is available to help me out with such things. Just waiting on transcripts from my previous college and some financial aid stuff and i'll probably start next month. Couple that with a couple of other calls and emails about jobs and i'm feeling pretty good about the new year.

myedjo24

Since this site is for tech stuff. I was kind of wondering about the webassessor sentinel security shield program WGU makes people who want to do online proctoring download on their computer. According to the guidelines, they want the camera to be able to see your face, hands, and keyboard but do not mention the screen at all. So, I can only assume that the webassessor program is some kind of remote desktopish program that they can monitor with out having to look at the screen with the camera. Now, what if a person were to load up a system in a virtual machine and were to use the webassessor on that system? I'm pretty sure the program only will be able to see the virtual desktop and won't know whether or not it's being minimized to the actual machine it's running on. Does any one have any thoughts on this?

Alif_Sadida_Ekin

myedjo24 wrote: »

Since this site is for tech stuff. I was kind of wondering about the webassessor sentinel security shield program WGU makes people who want to do online proctoring download on their computer. According to the guidelines, they want the camera to be able to see your face, hands, and keyboard but do not mention the screen at all. So, I can only assume that the webassessor program is some kind of remote desktopish program that they can monitor with out having to look at the screen with the camera. Now, what if a person were to load up a system in a virtual machine and were to use the webassessor on that system? I'm pretty sure the program only will be able to see the virtual desktop and won't know whether or not it's being minimized to the actual machine it's running on. Does any one have any thoughts on this?

Since the camera can see your hands, I'm pretty sure they'll see you using your mouse and keyboard excessively. The questions are multiple choice, so if they see you do a lot of typing I'm sure they might stop the test.

myedjo24

Alif_Sadida_Ekin wrote: »

Since the camera can see your hands, I'm pretty sure they'll see you using your mouse and keyboard excessively. The questions are multiple choice, so if they see you do a lot of typing I'm sure they might stop the test.

I thought of that as well, but using the keyboard is not that necessary because most information gathering can be completed with the mouse not to mention virtual keyboards. Also, I'm not trying to **** but only trying to point out that it may be possible and may cause validity issues in the future.

Alif_Sadida_Ekin

I'm sure the amount of mouse clicks and movement it takes to operate an on-screen keyboard may raise red flags as well.

myedjo24

Alif_Sadida_Ekin wrote: »

I'm sure the amount of mouse clicks and movement it takes to operate an on-screen keyboard may raise red flags as well.

Well, I don't know what flags it would raise because an actual click isn't really that visually noticeable (i don't know if any audio is involved, I haven't used the online proctoring) and the mouse movement would be expected because in my opinion a lot of people use the mouse as a point guide in reading. Although, the mouse wouldn't actually be moving on the virtual screen, I still don't think someone observing would notice at all. Also, I'm pretty sure someone isn't just looking at you the whole time. The monitor probably has a few people (I'd guess maybe 4-6) and just kind of has them tiled on the monitors screen. I don't know, it's just speculation and I wouldn't try it myself. Although, I may load it up in a virtual machine just to see if the program catches that it's running virtually. If they caught it and asked why I would just respond that WGU recommended using Windows and I have a Mac so I loaded Windows in a virtual machine to take the test as recommended.

lenell86

fly351 wrote: »

I've done my research on WGU, I thought they were to good to be true. But from everything I see they are amazing.

And like the others said, regional accreditation's are actually better than national. I've seen diploma mills have a national accreditation. Oh and WGU is the only online university that has ever been awarded 4 regional accreditation's.

From my research:


WGU Accreditations
Regional:
NWCCU [FONT=&quot]link[/FONT]
CHEA [FONT=&quot]link[/FONT]
HLC [FONT=&quot]link[/FONT]
WASC [FONT=&quot]link[/FONT]
National:
DETC [FONT=&quot]link[/FONT]

me and a friend last night were debating on the legitimacy on online schools and he was comparing how WGU and UoP are on the same league in terms of accreditation. He says to verify, make sure you go to the Department of Education site and verify the schools accreditation.

Now as you linked above, you show that WGU has 4 regional accreditations and 1 national accreditation. When searching on the department of educations site (Search Institutional Accreditation System), WGU shows only 2 accreditation on their site, 1 regional from NWCCU and the other from the national accreditation DETC. Why doesn't their site show the other 3 regional accreditations?

erpadmin

lenell86 wrote: »

me and a friend last night were debating on the legitimacy on online schools and he was comparing how WGU and UoP are on the same league in terms of accreditation. He says to verify, make sure you go to the Department of Education site and verify the schools accreditation.

Now as you linked above, you show that WGU has 4 regional accreditations and 1 national accreditation. When searching on the department of educations site (Search Institutional Accreditation System), WGU shows only 2 accreditation on their site, 1 regional from NWCCU and the other from the national accreditation DETC. Why doesn't their site show the other 3 regional accreditations?

I can only tell you that NWCCU is the only thing I cared about. That regional body is the equivalent of Middle States in my state. In terms of transferring credits/having a valid degree, that's what's important to getting government jobs/obtaining a Masters at a Brick and Mortars school. As long as the regional accreditation is the same one for BYU, Gonzaga, and all the top schools in that part of the country, then that's what's good with me. Not to mention that it has a Liberal Arts component to show that you will be a "well rounded graduate that can solve real world problems..." as opposed to being a mere tech that can replace a motherboard or switch out a network component.

Thxlbx

Question for you WGU'ers out there...which email address do you use to communicate with? My labsim logs in with useraname@my.wgu.edu. I have copied emails to myself at username@wgu.edu and they have gone through. Was curious since both emails seem to go to the same inbox.

petedude

Thxlbx wrote: »

Question for you WGU'ers out there...which email address do you use to communicate with? My labsim logs in with useraname@my.wgu.edu. I have copied emails to myself at username@wgu.edu and they have gone through. Was curious since both emails seem to go to the same inbox.

I stick with the "my.wgu.edu" address. I got burned by the whole "which one" early on, and it seems like the "my.wgu.edu" is a safe bet.

erpadmin

petedude wrote: »

I stick with the "my.wgu.edu" address. I got burned by the whole "which one" early on, and it seems like the "my.wgu.edu" is a safe bet.

I have had no problem with the @wgu.edu as of now. The only time I have to be mindful of the @my.wgu.edu is when I sign on to taskstream...but I have always used @wgu.edu when I refer to my email there.

All of my wgu.edu email gets forwarded to my yahoo address, so I always get it. In addition, whenever I get a TaskStream email, it will also go to my non-smartphone (until June....when my current contract is over...then we're going Droid-whatever is the hotness at that time...). That is so useful for when I'm waiting for a response to a submission...calms me down a lot.

demonfurbie

im waiting on that let1 book hopefully i can get let1 and orc1 done by the end of the month

any suggestions on the next class(s) i was thinking ssc1 and sst1 my mentor said they normally can be done in a week

snokerpoker

I was wondering if anyone here has had issues with Taskstream courses getting loaded on the site. It seems that every time I add a performance assessment in my AAP, it takes a week or longer for it to show up on Taskstream. I was wondering if this happens to you guys as well.

erpadmin

snokerpoker wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone here has had issues with Taskstream courses getting loaded on the site. It seems that every time I add a performance assessment in my AAP, it takes a week or longer for it to show up on Taskstream. I was wondering if this happens to you guys as well.

You should give Student Services a call...I had a similar experience with LAT1 when that happened. They had it up within 24 hours....it was almost my fault though for waiting around Labor Day to enroll though. But Student Services got me rolling.

Arysta

lenell86 wrote: »

me and a friend last night were debating on the legitimacy on online schools and he was comparing how WGU and UoP are on the same league in terms of accreditation. He says to verify, make sure you go to the Department of Education site and verify the schools accreditation.

Now as you linked above, you show that WGU has 4 regional accreditations and 1 national accreditation. When searching on the department of educations site (Search Institutional Accreditation System), WGU shows only 2 accreditation on their site, 1 regional from NWCCU and the other from the national accreditation DETC. Why doesn't their site show the other 3 regional accreditations?

I believe most colleges only have one accreditation. I don't think having multiple accreditations count for anything extra.

ltgenspecific

Arysta wrote: »

I believe most colleges only have one accreditation. I don't think having multiple accreditations count for anything extra.

This is largely true. Most colleges will settle on either regional or national accreditation. These two are specifically controlled by regionally located bodies (not to be confused with the actual regional accreditation itself).

Both are difficult to earn and maintain and dictate to an enormous capacity, the direction which the education provided by the institution takes. Generally, either one of those accreditations, regardless of the granting body will indicate a level of quality in the education. It also dictates whether or not the curriculum for a specific degree program has more/less general education credits and core courses.

Most private colleges that are not traditional brick and mortar maintain at the minimum a national accreditation. Most traditional colleges and universities that are traditional brick and mortar maintain a regional accrediation.

There are obvious exceptions (i.e. WGU is regionally accredited).

It is wise, when entering school, to make sure that the place you plan on attending meets two requirements.
1. Your educational needs are met, based on professional goals. (i.e. Many people are happy with an AA in Accounting from a Community College because that is where their goals reside.)
2. The accreditation matches up with your continuing educational goals. (i.e. If you want to go to a traditional brick and mortar grad. school, make sure they accept degrees from the institution you plan on attending for your bachelors degree.)

Suffice it to say, it's all about the choice that best suits your needs. Many people have found success in many different avenues of study. Accreditation is simply an industry baseline. The most important thing is that you have the drive and the focus to succeed in whatever environment you choose. (Getting into CalTech isnt worth a damn if you fail out. )

Hope that helps! Now hit the books!

erpadmin

ltgenspecific wrote: »

It is wise, when entering school, to make sure that the place you plan on attending meets two requirements.
1. Your educational needs are met, based on professional goals. (i.e. Many people are happy with an AA in Accounting from a Community College because that is where their goals reside.)
2. The accreditation matches up with your continuing educational goals. (i.e. If you want to go to a traditional brick and mortar grad. school, make sure they accept degrees from the institution you plan on attending for your bachelors degree.)

Suffice it to say, it's all about the choice that best suits your needs. Many people have found success in many different avenues of study. Accreditation is simply an industry baseline. The most important thing is that you have the drive and the focus to succeed in whatever environment you choose. (Getting into CalTech isnt worth a damn if you fail out. )

+1 and the rep for that. Your post is full of wisdom though and should be heeded.

Before WGU and after my own failures in college, I considered schools like ITT Tech and Devry. I even considered UoP. Ultimately, I kind of wanted a college that would meet my educational needs (that would give me a background in liberal arts to show that I am a "well-rounded individaul..." ) as well as continue to a post-grad later in life. With WGU having a regional accreditation and having a liberal arts component, that is something I'm very comfortable with in selling to a prospective employer if I need to (as well as myself). I am very confident that I would have the necessary focus to go through a regular program, when that day comes...and I believe many of my fellow WGU students, here and elsewhere, feel the same.

If WGU was one of those fly-by-night operations like you see when watching daytime TV, I would never have wasted the money or time.

ltgenspecific

erpadmin wrote: »

am very confident that I would have the necessary focus to go through a regular program, when that day comes...and I believe many of my fellow WGU students, here and elsewhere, feel the same.

If WGU was one of those fly-by-night operations like you see when watching daytime TV, I would never have wasted the money or time.

This is precisely why I've settled on WGU for the MS-ISA program. I've graduated out from a large, traditional university already. I've gone back and now am weeks from completing an AAS in IT. Looking forward the program seems to be a great hybrid of exactly what I need to move forward and into InfoSec work at a high level. I'll have to stop back in and share my experiences (and poss. grab a referral from one of you fine folks when the time comes ).

If everything pans out, I should be starting in April.
Cheers!

nmdotcom

So I've originally considered going to WGU a while back but ended up going to my local community college. I was planning on just fighting through the pain but I really didn't like learning Microsoft office for the 15th time in my life lol. So i sucked it up and got through a semester but started looking into WGU again and I think this will be the best option for me. I was wondering if anyone here could give me a referral so when I fill out my application to waive the fee?

demonfurbie

nmdotcom wrote: »

So I've originally considered going to WGU a while back but ended up going to my local community college. I was planning on just fighting through the pain but I really didn't like learning Microsoft office for the 15th time in my life lol. So i sucked it up and got through a semester but started looking into WGU again and I think this will be the best option for me. I was wondering if anyone here could give me a referral so when I fill out my application to waive the fee?

ive tried the local little community college route many times... it never fits my learning style. i like to stick with one subject at a time then move on not like b&m schooling or even some online schools were you have 3 or 4 classes in different subjects. wgu lets you pick one class and do it till its done if thats how you want to do it.

eansdad

In case anyone was wondering about purchasing TestOut Labsims for something other then WGU classes. $79 per course isn't bad at all and might get the Linux+ and SSCP.

If there are other courses you would like to purchase outside of your WGU classes, the student price for purchasing directly from us is $79 for each course. You may call Doug Nelson, the Account Manager for WGU, to make a purchase at ext. 214 or if you are calling this week while Doug is out of town, my contact information is below.

Wendy Edwards
Academic Sales Assistant
TestOut Corporation
800-877-4889 Ext 280
801-785-7900 Outside U.S.
801-785-0575 Fax
LabSim - IT Certification Training With Online Labs

cleanwithit

Hello, everybody Looks like I'll be starting Feb. 1st- If I pass this entrance exam. How bad is it? Math is not my strong suit, so kinda nervous for that.

I'll be doing the B.S in Networks Admin. I already have A+, Net +, Security +, and CCENT; Along with an A.S degree. So, hopefully some of my credits will transfer. How long does it take to review transcripts?

I have been wanting to start this school for a year, so I'm excited to get started. I love how I can set my own pace, and not have to juggle multiple subjects at one time.

jayfitt

Had my first conversation with an enrollment counselor tonight and was told that in order to get into the program I need either an Associates, tech certs or work experience. I do have work experience from 7+ years ago. Apparently I will need to submit a resume.

Has anyone gone this route and had any issues?

I guess what I'm asking is, has anyone NOT been accepted the WGU's IT program?

Thanks!

uhtrinity

jayfitt wrote: »

Had my first conversation with an enrollment counselor tonight and was told that in order to get into the program I need either an Associates, tech certs or work experience. I do have work experience from 7+ years ago. Apparently I will need to submit a resume.

Has anyone gone this route and had any issues?

I guess what I'm asking is, has anyone NOT been accepted the WGU's IT program?

Thanks!

Those entry requirements are new, so I doubt you will be able to get a clear answer here. Hopefully your resume will be enough.