Western Governors University Questions and Answers / Threads related to WGU

nmdotcom

I got in with my CompTIA A+ Cert and I should be startin Feb 1st if everything keeps goin smoothly

Hypntick

Planning to start on March 1st. I start a new job on Monday with 4 weeks of training on their proprietary systems. Didn't want to many things going on at once and want to be sure I learn their stuff the best I can.

RockinRobin

Hello all! Brand new here, and I must say that this is the most helpful group of folks I've seen in quite awhile! This board is GREAT!

Quick question. I will be enrolling with WGU-Indiana in the BS-IT/NDM or BS-IT/NA program after I obtain as many certs and straighterline classes as possible (late '11/early '12). Just wanted to know, which classes with SL directly correspond with which classes at WGU? Is there a chart available somewhere?

Thanks, and I look forward to being a very active participant here!

erpadmin

RockinRobin wrote: »

Just wanted to know, which classes with SL directly correspond with which classes at WGU? Is there a chart available somewhere?

First of all, welcome to TE.

Second, here ya go:

Transfer College Credits To Western Governors University - StraighterLine

RockinRobin

Thanks for the link, and the welcome!

Deathgomper

I am thinking about starting the IT Security degree in March. I noticed that all of sudden the CCNA Security was taken off the IT Security web page. My question is when you start is your program "locked-in" to what you originally signed up for or is it dynamic? I am just wondering about those who took the time and effort to get the CCNA: Security just to see that all of a sudden it's not a requirment anymore.

Online IT Security Degree | Information Security Degree | WGU College of Information Technology

lenell86

oh man, they removed the CCNA: Security?? wow, that was the highlight of the emphasis...might as well do general IT degree and just do CCNA on your own.

Excellent1

Deathgomper wrote: »

I am thinking about starting the IT Security degree in March. I noticed that all of sudden the CCNA Security was taken off the IT Security web page. My question is when you start is your program "locked-in" to what you originally signed up for or is it dynamic? I am just wondering about those who took the time and effort to get the CCNA: Security just to see that all of a sudden it's not a requirment anymore.

Online IT Security Degree | Information Security Degree | WGU College of Information Technology

I noticed that, but the PDF still has the exam and cert listed, so I'm not sure if it has been taken out or not. I've been debating switching over to the security track next term, so I'll be asking to find out what the deal is.

eansdad

In regards to CIW 1D0-435 JavaScript Specialist exam I found THIS page on their site. Question 18 under Web Development Series they have 1D0-535 listed.

Jagged

eansdad wrote: »

In regards to CIW 1D0-435 JavaScript Specialist exam I found THIS page on their site. Question 18 under Web Development Series they have 1D0-535 listed.

Nice find.

Still confusing on the timeline. It implies that the new exams should have been out since August. However they are not listed anywhere. Not even in the Prometric or PearsonVue systems.

The other implication is they will be out in June, but this FAQ again explicitly only refers to the retiring certifications.

Hmm... checking the certification site I only see this:

CIW JavaScript Specialist ( v.1) Complete All.

• (1D0-435) CIW JavaScript Specialist. Valid beginning 07/30/2010.
• Candidate Agreement? (v.1) The required response is [Yes].
  

CIW JavaScript Specialist (Prior to 7/30/2010) ( v.1) Complete All.

• (1D0-435) CIW JavaScript Specialist. Valid until 07/29/2010.
• Candidate Agreement? (v.1) The required response is [Yes].

No sign of 535 showing up but looks like it was supposed to last July.

myedjo24

Last night I was browsing Netflix and saw the documentary College, INC.. I watched it and it's basically about for profit colleges. I know that WGU is a non-profit college, but in one of the stories of the documentary an investor made a deal with a non-profit college that is regionally credited, that basically if the non-profit college doesn't meet a certain quota (I'm unsure what the quota was, I'd have to rewatch it) then the investor has the right to turn the non-profit college to a for profit college. I am kind of curious if WGU is kind of in a similar situation with investors, and since WGU is rapidly growing and also regionally accredited I could imagine the investment value would be extremely high. Does any one think that in the future WGU could potentially turn to a for profit model, which could potentially increase fees? One of the executives of a for profit school made a point that making a school seem more of a traditional school, such as adding mascots, gives potential students a more homey feeling in deciding to attend which WGU recently decided to do. Another thing I've noticed is that WGU frequently posts articles that get made by newspapers on how great WGU is. Why would a schoold do that unless they're seeking potential investors? It's all just speculation, but I'm just kind of curious since I'm enrolled and don't really want to see the prices raised even though they're not that bad.

myedjo24

myedjo24 wrote: »

Last night I was browsing Netflix and saw the documentary College, INC.. I watched it and it's basically about for profit colleges. I know that WGU is a non-profit college, but in one of the stories of the documentary an investor made a deal with a non-profit college that is regionally credited, that basically if the non-profit college doesn't meet a certain quota (I'm unsure what the quota was, I'd have to rewatch it) then the investor has the right to turn the non-profit college to a for profit college. I am kind of curious if WGU is kind of in a similar situation with investors, and since WGU is rapidly growing and also regionally accredited I could imagine the investment value would be extremely high. Does any one think that in the future WGU could potentially turn to a for profit model, which could potentially increase fees? One of the executives of a for profit school made a point that making a school seem more of a traditional school, such as adding mascots, gives potential students a more homey feeling in deciding to attend which WGU recently decided to do. Another thing I've noticed is that WGU frequently posts articles that get made by newspapers on how great WGU is. Why would a schoold do that unless they're seeking potential investors? It's all just speculation, but I'm just kind of curious since I'm enrolled and don't really want to see the prices raised even though they're not that bad.

I found the part of the interview from Frontline that got my attention for this post.

"
Interviewer:
It was important to you ... that they agree that this could be a for-profit school. Why?

Investor:
We're keeping everything nonprofit at this point. But in the event we are jointly with Patten, Dream Center and my charity called Ministry.com, if we are unable to raise the donations from donors to fuel this vision, a fallback for me is Wall Street. I could always go to the investment community, because our business model will be the same. It will be the same, and it will be very attractive to the investment community to invest in this. So we have a fallback plan, but we're proceeding with the hope that the community will support it from a nonprofit standpoint.

Interviewer:
Why not just go to the for-profit model?

Investor:
Because when you do move into the for-profit model, you have to select investors who will buy into a longer-term vision. This particular project is going to take a long time, and it's going to be slow to be able to get it to where it's sustainable. ...

eansdad

PBS This is the link to the PBS Frontline special.

drew726

I was wondering. I applied for WGU 2 weeks ago and its taking forever for my transcripts to come in from my old school. I took all my College level English classes before and took Calculus 3 and Discrete Mathematics. Are those in any way transferable?

I also might start being a system admin intern at an IT consulting firm. I was wondering how would I be able to use that to help me do my Capstone project because I'm not exactly how sure it works. Or should I even bothering interning while I'm trying to get my degree?

jtoast

The capstone is basically a chance for you to use the project management cert you earned earlier in the course. The technical writing course (capstone proposal) is your project plan and the capstone itself is the project after action report. I did mine on the home networking upgrades I had to do in order to drop my satellite TV subscription. There seems to be a lot of leeway on what is an is not allowed.

As to the transfer, their transfer guidelines seem.....flexible I guess is the best way to put it. I had them evaluate the same transcripts 3 times via the appeals process and each time I got a different result. It took almost 2 months but I eventually got them to agree that my associates degree should waive all of the general education requirements. My situation was somewhat unique though in that I could not provide transcripts for one of the schools I had previously attended (not the one that awarded the degree.)

For the schools that I had transcrits for they took pretty much everything.

skelldog

I would like to put off math and math related items for a bit
(not my best subject)
I am going to be taking NTDM
I have completed All off the certs except for 1d0-435
I have transferred in
BBC1, LAE1, SSC1 and SST1
As I understand it I have some leeway with requesting what I would like with my advisor
Would anyone like to offer a suggestion as to what to what I should ask for as my first 12 credits? I know I need to take EWB2
Would AKV1, CLC1 and INC1 be a good idea?

Thanks for any suggestions I am really hoping to get through twice that much in 6 months but I would like to start with 12 to make sure I make the numbers

erpadmin

skelldog wrote: »

I would like to put off math and math related items for a bit
(not my best subject)
I am going to be taking NTDM
I have completed All off the certs except for 1d0-435
I have transferred in
BBC1, LAE1, SSC1 and SST1
As I understand it I have some leeway with requesting what I would like with my advisor
Would anyone like to offer a suggestion as to what to what I should ask for as my first 12 credits? I know I need to take EWB2
Would AKV1, CLC1 and INC1 be a good idea?

Thanks for any suggestions I am really hoping to get through twice that much in 6 months but I would like to start with 12 to make sure I make the numbers

I would suggest getting LAT1 and LUT1 out of the way as part of your first classes then. LAT1 is just a PITA, but the sooner you deal with it, the better. Once that's gone, you can deal with AKV1, CLC1 and INC1. So for your first classes, you can enroll in EWB2, LAT1, LUT1, AKV1 and CLC1. Once you're done with those, deal with INC1 and your math courses. Sounds like you could get all of that done your first term. CLC1 is passable in the first try....it's mostly common sense stuff, but you want to take a preassessment just to be sure you're comfortable with it.

Look at my sig, to get a better idea of what you might want to do...

drew726

Do you guys think this class will waive my need to take LUT1? I took this in community college and got a C to transfer to a state college a 8 years ago.

SPCH 1A. Elements of Public Speaking (3)
Lec-3 P/NP Available
PREREQ.: ENGL 96
Mastery of the research, organization and delivery of extemporaneous speeches. Focus on rhetorical theory, critical audience analysis, speech outlining, evidence testing, and use of visual aids. UC/CSU

I also took these classes which I got a B and an A. I hope I don't need to take LAT1 and LAE1 because I really hate writing.

ENGL 96. Academic Writing and Reading (3)
Lec-3, lab-1
PREREQ.: ENGL 93 or 94, or placement in ENGL 96
College-level training and practice in critical reading and in writing argumentative essays. Emphasis is on reading and writing analytically and developing research and documentation skills.

ENGL 1A. University-Parallel Reading and Composition (3)
Lec-3, lab-1
PREREQ.: ENGL 96 or placement in ENGl 1A through CCSF English Placement Testing or the English Placement Test Waiver process
University-parallel reading, writing, and critical thinking with a major research component. Reading, writing, and research assignments are based predominately on non-fiction texts. UC/CSU

Arysta

Deathgomper wrote: »

I am thinking about starting the IT Security degree in March. I noticed that all of sudden the CCNA Security was taken off the IT Security web page. My question is when you start is your program "locked-in" to what you originally signed up for or is it dynamic? I am just wondering about those who took the time and effort to get the CCNA: Security just to see that all of a sudden it's not a requirment anymore.

Online IT Security Degree | Information Security Degree | WGU College of Information Technology

Like someone said before, the CCNA: Security is still in the pdf, so hopefully they mistakenly removed it from the main site. It would almost be pointless to do the security focus without it! The CCNA would basically be the only thing that differentiated it from other programs (in terms of certs), and that's not security focused.

Also, from my experience at other schools, your program is locked in once you start, unless they **** a class and directly replace it with something else (like a math class changing it's name or something) -- and then they usually give you a term's worth of warning so you can take the old class and have it count in place of the new one. That actually happened to me at my old school when the colleges of Engineering and Applied Science merged, and I had a quarter to take the "easier" applied science math class before they switched over to requiring the more engineering-focused math classes. I assume that's how WGU does it as well.

eruanion

Has anyone here gone through the BS Software Emphasis program? I've read the thread and there seems to be hardly any discussion on it. WGU looks good to me, but I'm just wondering about the strength of the programming portion of the program.

I'm considering going into computer programming; I have very little IT experience (took one intro programming course when I got my first Bachelor's degree). Looks like you learn Java and Perl in the Software Emphasis program at WGU. Is this a good start, and is learning only two languages normal for an IT or computer science degree? I realize that I will likely need to learn additional programming languages (I've seen ones like C# and Ruby in job postings), and I think I've read that learning programming languages can be easier once you've learned a couple. So, would WGU be a good start for me, or should I look elsewhere?

Pishof

Hello all, techexams.net lurker here just now registering.

I'm currently employed as an assistant tech coordinator for a small school corporation in Indiana going on three years now.

I was hired in during my last semester at ITT Tech (Wish I went with State Uni but that's OT) where I finished with an A.A.S with focus on Networking in 2008.

I've spoken to a counselor and he said that he thinks WGU have a good track record with transferring some classes but I'd like to know if anyone here has any knowledge or experience transfering with a degree from ITT. Thanks!

P.S Also, I've filled out my application and have all but paid the application fee hoping I could get a referral. ( I did create a post in the refer thread)

erpadmin

Pishof wrote: »

Hello all, techexams.net lurker here just now registering.

I'm currently employed as an assistant tech coordinator for a small school corporation in Indiana going on three years now.

I was hired in during my last semester at ITT Tech (Wish I went with State Uni but that's OT) where I finished with an A.A.S with focus on Networking in 2008.

I've spoken to a counselor and he said that he thinks WGU have a good track record with transferring some classes but I'd like to know if anyone here has any knowledge or experience transfering with a degree from ITT. Thanks!

P.S Also, I've filled out my application and have all but paid the application fee hoping I could get a referral. ( I did create a post in the refer thread)

I can't speak about what will or what won't transfer from ITT Tech, but if you live in Indiana, AND are seeking financial aid, make sure you go the WGU-Indiana route. At best, you will get both state and federal aid, as opposed to just federal.

Indiana Online Degree | Indiana Online University | WGU Indiana

As far as I can tell though, you will have the same exact resources, mentors, etc, we get, but the Partnership will give you, personally added benefits.

Just FYI.

eansdad

Deathgomper wrote: »

I am thinking about starting the IT Security degree in March. I noticed that all of sudden the CCNA Security was taken off the IT Security web page. My question is when you start is your program "locked-in" to what you originally signed up for or is it dynamic? I am just wondering about those who took the time and effort to get the CCNA: Security just to see that all of a sudden it's not a requirment anymore.

Online IT Security Degree | Information Security Degree | WGU College of Information Technology

Talked to my mentor about this and he found out that it was just left off the website. Both the PDF and the more details still have the class listed.

drew726

I'm trying to look for that scholarship that they give you if you have college transfer units and certifications but I can't find it. Does anyone have the link?

Deathgomper

Deathgomper wrote: »

I am thinking about starting the IT Security degree in March. I noticed that all of sudden the CCNA Security was taken off the IT Security web page. My question is when you start is your program "locked-in" to what you originally signed up for or is it dynamic? I am just wondering about those who took the time and effort to get the CCNA: Security just to see that all of a sudden it's not a requirment anymore.

Online IT Security Degree | Information Security Degree | WGU College of Information Technology

I see that it is back on as well as the CCENT.

Online IT Security Degree | Information Security Degree | WGU College of Information Technology

Psoasman

drew726 wrote: »

I'm trying to look for that scholarship that they give you if you have college transfer units and certifications but I can't find it. Does anyone have the link?

Scholarships | Scholarships Available for WGU Degree Programs | Western Governors University Online

Hypntick

Dear god how long does it take them to process transcripts? They've had them for 2 weeks now and still nothing. My enrollment counsellor has even put in an emergency request and it's been 4 days with nothing. Can't get financial aid started without that info, which is keeping me from buying some gear to study with.

Pishof

Hypntick wrote: »

Dear god how long does it take them to process transcripts? They've had them for 2 weeks now and still nothing. My enrollment counsellor has even put in an emergency request and it's been 4 days with nothing. Can't get financial aid started without that info, which is keeping me from buying some gear to study with.

Ouch, yeah I've heard they are slow at this time. I have a friend who is transferring from a state college that applied in December and just yesterday they accepted/setup an interview with him.

His rep said something about they were migrating to a new system so that is what is slowing things down.

Personally, I'm waiting until I get a referral until I apply. I have the money but $65 is still a chunk of change I'd rather not pay if I don't need to.

erpadmin

Pishof wrote: »

Personally, I'm waiting until I get a referral until I apply. I have the money but $65 is still a chunk of change I'd rather not pay if I don't need to.

If you made a request in the WGU Refer-A-Friend thread, then you should get a response fairly quickly. Otherwise, feel free to send me a PM, if you'd like.

You can get a referral before you apply. It doesn't have to be immediate.

Pishof

erpadmin wrote: »

If you made a request in the WGU Refer-A-Friend thread, then you should get a response fairly quickly. Otherwise, feel free to send me a PM, if you'd like.

You can get a referral before you apply. It doesn't have to be immediate.

PM sent. Not sure if it went through so let me know if you haven't received it. Thanks.