Western Governors University Questions and Answers / Threads related to WGU

petedude

Scott LaRock wrote: »

I know I've been a major ***** at times and I've came out with some weird posts but after speaking to family and friends and already having almost 30k in school loans that need to be paid back, I was advised to make something of my degree and get more certs before I take out more loans.

So I think that's a smarter idea than to get into more debt, a bachelors would help and I was going to go for health Informatics which isn't a high paying field, it's not worth it at this time to take out more loans...

Don't feel bad. Every TE newbie has to start somewhere.

As for not getting into more debt, it's actually sound advice. If you're still interested in WGU-- any chance you could self-pay your way through WGU and still make the student loan payments?

To the thought of tacking on more certs to your infomatics degree, that should be helpful, but you should also start looking for entry-level jobs in Healthcare that will make use of any skills you already have.

dt3k

I got sick and missed an exam at VUE for ICND2 (BSV1). I rescheduled my 2nd attempt but I don't feel like I'm ready for it and the class deadline is near. I'm already in good standing for the term, what happens if I don't finish this course? I feel like I need to start over and retake this class and go through the material again, how does that work?

drew726

Turned in my TWA1...Should I just start on my Capstone before the TWA1 is graded?

ooolala

I'm thinking about enrolling in WGU's BSIT Databases program. I plan to complete some IT certificate (fast and cheap - suggestions?) to meet admissions prereqs before applying. It's easy for me to understand and retain information. So, even though I don't have an extensive background in DB I'm a very fast and motivated learner.

My problem is that I have a job related sponsor that's only willing to guarantee ONE 6 month term. I may be able to receive an extension (TWO terms MAX). But, since the extra term is not guaranteed I need to know how realistic it would be for someone without a recent or extensive programming background to complete this degree within 6 months? Has anyone done this that would be willing to share their experience (planning: coordinating assessments & waiting for grades etc. )?.

Psoasman

The CIW:Foundations will probably be the easiest cert to get. Basic A+, Net+, and Security+ stuff, with some HTML thrown in. Looking through the database degree, you'd have to work very fast to get done in 6 months.

sheckler

How many previous college classes would you be transferring in? If you have to do the general education classes also, there's no way to do it all in 1 term. Especially with a full time job.

erpadmin

drew726 wrote: »

Turned in my TWA1...Should I just start on my Capstone before the TWA1 is graded?

Yes. Yes, you should.

erpadmin

sheckler wrote: »

How many previous college classes would you be transferring in? If you have to do the general education classes also, there's no way to do it all in 1 term. Especially with a full time job.

(Based on anectodal evidence, mind you...)

It is not impossible to complete a WGU in one term or two if you had to do 124 CUs, but it is very difficult. You would have to commit more than 20 hours and have no life, but it can be done.

I don't recommend it of course, because burnout is definitely possible. However, some folks can do it. I am proud enough to say that I'm not one of them. However, I'm glad I didn't do it, because the pace I went through will be the exact pace I use for graduate studies.

wills2468

So exactly how manageable is the work here you think? If this is too long just read the BOLDED.

I have a new full time job which is everyday 4pm-12:30am.. I get home at ~1am with me being off on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I need about 3 more semesters to have my bachelors in MIS but as it stands right now the times that my classes are given just doesnt fit with my job hours at the moment.

So at this point after looking at the classes for next semester I determined it was necessary for me to do online courses instead (it would be 3 semesters if I could manage to take 5 classes a semester and that would be impossible right now due to the times classes are given, maybe 2 and that would make my graduation time so far off that I'm weary of it)

Now, I'm very much interested in graduating quickly, I am still starting out in the field and am more just looking to complete my bachelors with an IT related field. All my gen eds are done except SCIENCE (is this really done online as well??? lab and all??). I have about ~75 credits and believe all I need to do is take technical classes If i were to transfer

In regards to certs all I have is my A+ which I got in May of this year. I'm more or less ready to take the Security+ but I put it on hold to finish network+ first (seemed logical but put it on pause right now). In the long run I want to get myself into Networking Security but after looking at the Security program at WGU I think it may be a little too much for someone thats still somewhat entry level? (My job is level 2 helpdesk but it is the first official technical job I've held, though I am very well rounded in terms of knowledge)

The Network Admin degree looks appealing (if not I'll do the regular IT degree) but my question is how manageable would it be with my schedule? I dont know how things work here but I would love to cram in as much as I can so I can graduate asap without killing myself

sheckler

It's definitely management, a lot of people have completed the program while working full time. A good thing with the classes is that there are no hard deadlines to finish things. Semesters are 6 months long, you just have to complete your enrolled classes in that time period. If you finish them all and there's still time left in the semester, you can keep adding more. You can graduate as fast as you want if you dedicate a lot of time to it.

drew726

Hey guys, how long did it take your technical writing to be graded and how long was your Capstone? I think I'm going to be close to 20 pages and I'm scared it's too short.

sheckler

Mine was graded in 3 days, they're fairly quick about grading. My capstone was only 18 pages including the cover page/table of contents/references/matrix. The length doesn't matter as long as you hit all the requirements.

drew726

sheckler wrote: »

Mine was graded in 3 days, they're fairly quick about grading. My capstone was only 18 pages including the cover page/table of contents/references/matrix. The length doesn't matter as long as you hit all the requirements.

How I've been doing it is just changing the tense on my technical writing and then adding details on each objective. Is that okay?

bibletumpr

Hi folks,
I enrolled this past summer in a state univeristy for a bachelor's degree Information Systems - systems analyst, but I don't think that I'm really young enough to start out in that type of career (46). But I really enjoy anything tech and networking especially, so I want to go to WGU IT - security, but because I have no job experience and my only real world experience is playing around with all things/subjects tech do you think I could make it at WGU.

I know that it is up to the individual and the effort, but some folks talk about getting through subjects in a week (exam stuff) and I wonder how? I am tech minded/savvy but no work world experience.

I'd appreciate any and all comments.

Thanks

NOLAJ

sheckler wrote: »

Mine was graded in 3 days, they're fairly quick about grading. My capstone was only 18 pages including the cover page/table of contents/references/matrix. The length doesn't matter as long as you hit all the requirements.

So size doesn't matter??

petedude

drew726 wrote: »

How I've been doing it is just changing the tense on my technical writing and then adding details on each objective. Is that okay?

You're asking a lot of this crowd to throw out a question like that. Very few folks, especially current WGU students, are going to get into that level of detail with you.

I will say this, though-- your TWA1 is about reporting what you WILL do, while the Capstone is about reporting what you DID. So, obviously, what you DID happened in the past, but. . . what else do you have to say for it? Do you have any benchmarks (before/after), data that could be put in graphs, project documentation showing how you did with your schedule (on time? late? why?). Besides some potential restatement of the value of your project, have you come across anything else that helps bolster or justify what you did that you can add to the report?

Imagine you were performing your project for a live entity-- a business or something (which is what will happen for most folks). What sort of report would you put in post-project ("post-mortem"). That's what you'd put into your Capstone report to one degree or another, generally speaking.

swild

[FONT=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]So it looks like I will have a total of 17 classes to take. I will be starting CCNA studies next week with Lammle's book to get myself ahead. If I can take my CCNA test as the very first thing, I will only have 15 classes.

Saying that I have 17 classes and want to finish in one term means that I will have 10 days per class with 12 extra days throughout the term. I have somewhere between 40 and 70 hours a week to dedicate to my studies, depending on how busy I am at work. That gives me 50 to 100 hours per class.

How doable do you think it is to get all the way through in one term?

I have heard of people doing much more in that amount of time but not sure if they had to work full time as well. Also, I would be happy to hear which classes will be a breeze and which ones I should expect to take more time. Look at my sig and see which ones I have to complete. They are also in the order I plan on taking them in. Anything I should rearrange?[/FONT]

sheckler

I found KET1 and KFT1 pretty hard since I don't like programming. Some of them are really easy like WFV1, MGC1, and BNC1 which you could do in less than 10 days and give that allotted time to other classes.

drew726

hehe my capstone was graded already Pete. I ended up being around 30 pages.

petedude wrote: »

You're asking a lot of this crowd to throw out a question like that. Very few folks, especially current WGU students, are going to get into that level of detail with you.

I will say this, though-- your TWA1 is about reporting what you WILL do, while the Capstone is about reporting what you DID. So, obviously, what you DID happened in the past, but. . . what else do you have to say for it? Do you have any benchmarks (before/after), data that could be put in graphs, project documentation showing how you did with your schedule (on time? late? why?). Besides some potential restatement of the value of your project, have you come across anything else that helps bolster or justify what you did that you can add to the report?

Imagine you were performing your project for a live entity-- a business or something (which is what will happen for most folks). What sort of report would you put in post-project ("post-mortem"). That's what you'd put into your Capstone report to one degree or another, generally speaking.

swild

sheckler wrote: »

I found KET1 and KFT1 pretty hard since I don't like programming. Some of them are really easy like WFV1, MGC1, and BNC1 which you could do in less than 10 days and give that allotted time to other classes.

I really hate programming as well and that's why I dropped out of the comp sci program. I do have C++ and DOS experience so I think it will not be too bad. How long did those 2 classes take you?

sheckler

A few weeks for each one. The second class you had to make a program that could read and write to a MySQL database, that gave me some trouble.

petedude

swild wrote: »

I really hate programming as well and that's why I dropped out of the comp sci program. I do have C++ and DOS experience so I think it will not be too bad. How long did those 2 classes take you?

It took me months to get through the first task of GTT1 (Intro to Programming) given that I was nearly reinventing the wheel. I spent a lot of time trying to learn GUI programming in Java, spent lots of time researching GUI development tools and alternate layout managers. The default layout managers in Java drove me nuts, but in the end I found an old shareware GUI design tool that gave me clean code. Most folks can do all this stuff in NetBeans, but I hated the messy code generated by NetBeans.

Task 2 of GTT1 I burned rubber through.

Tasks 1-3 of the second course (GUT1 and equivalent) are pretty manageable. That task 4 is almost as ominous as it looks, and I'm still pounding away on it.

swild

petedude wrote: »

It took me months to get through the first task of GTT1 (Intro to Programming) given that I was nearly reinventing the wheel. I spent a lot of time trying to learn GUI programming in Java, spent lots of time researching GUI development tools and alternate layout managers. The default layout managers in Java drove me nuts, but in the end I found an old shareware GUI design tool that gave me clean code. Most folks can do all this stuff in NetBeans, but I hated the messy code generated by NetBeans.

Task 2 of GTT1 I burned rubber through.

Tasks 1-3 of the second course (GUT1 and equivalent) are pretty manageable. That task 4 is almost as ominous as it looks, and I'm still pounding away on it.

I don't have any Java experience but 10 years ago I did some HTML programming used notepad and hated everyone that used Dreamweaver because of the bloat and sloppyness of the program. Don't know if it is still that way but I can relate. GUI programming is never as good as it could be. Hopefully, I can work with it for long enough to get the classes out of the way.

petedude

sheckler wrote: »

I thought KFT1 was pretty hard, but I don't like programming. The first 3 tasks are easy, there's no actual code you have to turn in. But in task 4 you have to make a student records program that can add/update/delete data in a SQL database. If you use the search you can find other people talking about it. There was one guy talking about how he had 3000+ lines of code, but mine was only about 650. Took a few weeks I think.

Funny, how I was chuckling at this post originally, thinking no way could that go into 1000+ lines of code.

I'm jealous-- I've no idea how you did all that in 650 lines, save that maybe you used Sun-style coding conventions (which would have saved you a few lines of brackets-only, among things). I'm partly through ONE portion of this, and I'm already at 300 lines with the base constructors, a database write module and some user input code. I'm guessing I'll come in at 1500-2500 lines by the time it's done. I'm thinking the guy with 3000+ lines did his in NetBeans and added a GUI-- I can avoid some of that mess by writing this in a text editor (jEdit) and having text-based input screens. I can't bear the thought of having to slap a GUI onto this. . .

Funny how I enjoy working on this when it's going smoothly and I'm learning things, yet I curse the very life of Java and grouse about why I signed up for this when I run into snags.

thalador

Hello all. New here and intrigued by WGU. I do have some questions though.

1. I have about 60 credits from UoP I am hoping to transfer in. Have people xfered from uop? How much did you find came in?

2. I am considering Bachelors in Business—Information Technology Management. I have been in IT 20 years and managing for 10. Can someone share if this is a good course?

3. On the same token, I am considering specializing a bit. If I went with a class that has certifications, are those included in the $2k per 1/2 year cost? What about books? UoP killed me with tuition costs, but all the books were e-books and included.

Thanks!

petedude

thalador wrote: »

Hello all. New here and intrigued by WGU. I do have some questions though.

1. I have about 60 credits from UoP I am hoping to transfer in. Have people xfered from uop? How much did you find came in?

2. I am considering Bachelors in Business—Information Technology Management. I have been in IT 20 years and managing for 10. Can someone share if this is a good course?

3. On the same token, I am considering specializing a bit. If I went with a class that has certifications, are those included in the $2k per 1/2 year cost? What about books? UoP killed me with tuition costs, but all the books were e-books and included.

Thanks!

1. I'd be surprised if most UoP credits don't transfer in-- it's a regionally accredited school. WGU is pretty generous with transfers-- heck, certifications and courses from nationally accredited schools like ITT are often accepted for transfer.
2. I don't have any experience with that program, but a quick glance tells me it's well structured and appropriate for your needs in business. I'd say go for it.
3. Certification study materials are included (flip through the thread and you'll see). On a very forward note, the usefulness/quality of these materials may vary by course, but I seem to be hearing fewer complaints about that now than in the past. Even if you have to supplement those materials out of your own pocket, WGU tuition is still quite cheap and dirt cheap compared to most tech schools.

LinuxRacr

I transferred in credits from both I.T.T. Tech and UoP. Nine credit units from UoP (since I had only done a year's worth of classes), 10 units from I.T.T. Tech, and 6 units from my Security + cert for a total of 25.

uhtrinity

drew726 wrote: »

How I've been doing it is just changing the tense on my technical writing and then adding details on each objective. Is that okay?

That is how I did mine. First I did the Porfolio which contained all of my technical documents on a completed project and the required writing.

Next I did the technical writing portion which was the proposal which contained some of the stuff from the Portfolio. It was written as if the project hadn't been done

The capstone came last and was essentially the first two papers merged with the implementation, results and conclusion. This paper was written in past tense. I spent 3 weeks on these three, plus 3 months on the actual project which had been completed 6 months prior. Of course this only works if you have completed a project that will work for your capstone. Everything passed on first try will 4's across the board and about 1 - 1.5 days turnaround each.

myedjo24

I dropped out of WGU in October to pursue a different school and that school is having difficulty evaluating my courses. The new school wants course descriptions of the various classes that I have passed with WGU. I've searched WGU's website and various other websites and have not found anything vaguely helpful. The closest thing is WGU's own course catalog but it doesn't give individual course descriptions. It just gives domain descriptions. I'm going to contact WGU about getting me a better course description for my classes, but do any of you know off the top of your head where to find this info without contacting them?

swild

I've looked everywhere I could think of for this information and had no luck as well. I think you will have to talk to them. Non traditionally structured courses are notorious for not transferring.