Western Governors University Questions and Answers / Threads related to WGU

CoolAsAFan

Sounds good. For those who transferred, did all of just some of your credits transfer over? Thanks for the help!

qwertyiop

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Did you mean Davenport? LOL

yea, looks like i was real tired when i typed that out

erpadmin

CoolAsAFan wrote: »

Sounds good. For those who transferred, did all of just some of your credits transfer over? Thanks for the help!

You don't transfer a degree.....you transfer credits.

You get accepted to a MS program based on a degree. You transfer credits if you want to do another undergrad somewhere.

If we're speaking of a WGU BS going to a MS at a school of your choice, then the WGU BS should help get the job done.

Yogi32

I completed EWB yesterday. I guess now I just wait for my newly assigned mentor to contact me?

Psoasman

Yogi32 wrote: »

I completed EWB yesterday. I guess now I just wait for my newly assigned mentor to contact me?

Your mentor will be in contact with your around the end of the month, look for an email from them in your WGU account.

thall860

I am looking into starting the IT - network admin program with WGU all because of this forum but looking around I was left with questions. Sorry if this was asked already I did not read the 2000 other posts.

Does this program provide "Course work" or do they just say go pass your CCENT? I know what schooling is all about but I have not seen anything like this.

Hypntick

thall860 wrote: »

I am looking into starting the IT - network admin program with WGU all because of this forum but looking around I was left with questions. Sorry if this was asked already I did not read the 2000 other posts.

Does this program provide "Course work" or do they just say go pass your CCENT? I know what schooling is all about but I have not seen anything like this.

Well, yes and no. They provide you with the resources to use to pass the cert, after that you're on your own. Now in regards to the non-cert based classes there is course work, and a good bit of it.

thall860

Hypntick wrote: »

Well, yes and no. They provide you with the resources to use to pass the cert, after that you're on your own.

What type of resources are we talking about here? Sorry, just a big life step and I am very curious.

LinuxRacr

Completed EWB yesterday. My updated transfer evaluation yielded 37 CU's that are transferred in! I'm working on my sig with details now.

petedude

thall860 wrote: »

What type of resources are we talking about here? Sorry, just a big life step and I am very curious.

They give you:
1. A course of study
2. Learning resources (eBooks, test prep exams, etc.)
3. A course mentor and discussion boards

To each of these--
* The Course of Study (COS for short) gives you a rundown of what WGU wants you to learn out of the course, how to tackle the study and the resources, and sometimes exercises plus some encouragement. It's like a short overview eBook. Some COSes are better than others (the OLD Project+ COS was fantastic, the new one sucks).
* Learning resources. . . I hear they use LabSim and uCertify now, which would be a step up from MeasureUp and ExamForce they had me on a year ago.
* The course mentor. . . some are awesome, some not so much. They're usually part-time employees, so your mileage will vary in getting in touch with them for help. The discussion boards are not that great, but they exist. I imagine the discussion boards are more useful on objective assessment courses (e.g. the ones with MCITP exams) than they are for performance assessments (where you do papers and such).

manny355

Interested in doing the MBA program in Information Systems...anybody got any feed back on this program good? bad?

Hypntick

I noticed that the Labsim for the 70-646 does not include the R2 updated material. I even had no luck finding the 2nd edition of the MS press book on Amazon and had to order it elsewhere. I know by looking at the MS site that this exam has been updated to include R2 material, but I wonder how much and what differences are there between the two. To anyone who has taken this exam, any suggested resources aside from Technet and the usual things available? Thanks!

erpadmin

manny355 wrote: »

Interested in doing the MBA program in Information Systems...anybody got any feed back on this program good? bad?

You may want to post that question to the WGU Alumni group on Linkedin:

Western Governors University Students and Alumni

There are some pros and cons to it, but you might have a better idea from those who have discussed the MBA in that group.

cruffin

Hello, Newbie here that spent a few days reading/rereading many of the WGU threads.

I just graduated this month with an AA in CIS and would very much like to begin at WGU. I really like the idea of getting certs and earning your degree at the same time. I do well learning on my own and I'm really excited to get thing s started at WGU.


The thing is that I don't really have IT job experience, just my own personal experience and my educational exp.

In my AA degree I had a concentration in databases (Oracle mostly but also SQL Server) and I am interested in WGU's BS IT-Databases.

In my reading of many threads here, I did notice a lot of advice to just take the regular IT degree if one didn't have real world experience because of the difficulty of some of the exams.

I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me regarding taking the Databases emphasis as opposed to the base IT degree?


Thanks in advance!!! I am really happy I found this site and this community!!

jcole4lsu

Cruffin: do you think you can obtain a Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Database Developer certification on your own via self study? If so then you should probably be fine in the database curriculum at WGU.
Most of the advice I have seen on here regarding situations such as yours (and mine, different discipline) is that the certs are what will be the most difficult part. Other than the MCITP, the database certs on the degree page appear to be fairly entry level.

rep21

cruffin wrote: »

Hello, Newbie here that spent a few days reading/rereading many of the WGU threads.

I just graduated this month with an AA in CIS and would very much like to begin at WGU. I really like the idea of getting certs and earning your degree at the same time. I do well learning on my own and I'm really excited to get thing s started at WGU.


The thing is that I don't really have IT job experience, just my own personal experience and my educational exp.

In my AA degree I had a concentration in databases (Oracle mostly but also SQL Server) and I am interested in WGU's BS IT-Databases.

In my reading of many threads here, I did notice a lot of advice to just take the regular IT degree if one didn't have real world experience because of the difficulty of some of the exams.

I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me regarding taking the Databases emphasis as opposed to the base IT degree?


Thanks in advance!!! I am really happy I found this site and this community!!

I have an AAS in networking/systems administration. I plan to be a database admin in the next couple of years. I have four months of help desk experience and no knowledge of databases or programming (the main focus points of the database degree at wgu). I am doing the database degree because I want to fill in those knowledge gaps specifically, and I know that I can successfully self study for cisco or microsoft systems admins certs after I finish. Really, you won't have any problems with any of the degrees. The materials are really good and you get second chances at taking the certs, which are the hardest parts. It comes down to what you think you want to learn from your degree. If you want to keep your focus going with databases, then go for it! If you want to round out your education with some networking or systems admin type of certs, then go that way. If you just want to learn a little of everything, then go with the generic one.

Hypntick

Hypntick wrote: »

I noticed that the Labsim for the 70-646 does not include the R2 updated material. I even had no luck finding the 2nd edition of the MS press book on Amazon and had to order it elsewhere. I know by looking at the MS site that this exam has been updated to include R2 material, but I wonder how much and what differences are there between the two. To anyone who has taken this exam, any suggested resources aside from Technet and the usual things available? Thanks!

Well just heard back from Testout - [FONT=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial]
The 70-646 update is actually scheduled to be released tomorrow, Dec. 28th. This will automatically be updated and will be available through the browser LabSim which can be accessed from our website at www.testout.com. You should see more information regarding this when you access your account on the 28th.

Good news for those of us that will be doing this test soon. Unfortunately i'm 3/4 through the Labsim already, guess I get to go back through it lol.[/FONT]

phaneuf1

Hi, is it reasonable to think that I can complete 20 CUs per semester while i'm working full time?

petedude

phaneuf1 wrote: »

Hi, is it reasonable to think that I can complete 20 CUs per semester while i'm working full time?

Several people on here have done just that.

phaneuf1

I try to access the WGU central library but I'm getting the page cannot be displayed.
here's the link: https://www.jonesgloballibrary.com/wgu_library

Does it work for you?

erpadmin

phaneuf1 wrote: »

I try to access the WGU central library but I'm getting the page cannot be displayed.
here's the link: https://www.jonesgloballibrary.com/wgu_library

Does it work for you?

See below:

Our site is unavailable at the moment.
We are performing unscheduled maintenance.
Please check back shortly.

ajs1976

I have been reading through the WGU threads, but haven't found what i'm looking for on transferring classes. Is there an age limit on previous college courses? Is it different for IT and non-IT courses?

Thanks

petedude

ajs1976 wrote: »

I have been reading through the WGU threads, but haven't found what i'm looking for on transferring classes. Is there an age limit on previous college courses? Is it different for IT and non-IT courses?

Thanks

This is my rough recollection-- technical coursework < 10 years old, certs < 5 years old, general ed < 20 years old.

Someone else might be better aware of the current transfer rules than I.

Psoasman

petedude wrote: »

This is my rough recollection-- technical coursework < 10 years old, certs < 5 years old, general ed < 20 years old.

Someone else might be better aware of the current transfer rules than I.

That sounds right. I received credit for English classes taken in 1994/1995, got credit for my certs, since they were all under the 5-year mark.

mbarra

I had a bunch of general ed classes from the mid to late '80's accepted for transfer.

swild

Computer/Programming classes that are a part of your major have to be less than 5 years old to transfer, same as certs. I just went through that. It was never listed anywhere until I received the actual transfer determination. I was told when signing up that it didn't matter for coursework, but I guess that changed in the 3 months I was waiting on financial aid.

Zislatik

Ok, First. Hi! I am new to TE and I found this board while I was researching WGU. I have applied to WGU, taken the four starter test and passed. I am transferring in some community college credit (I have 59 hours but not sure what will apply) and my transcripts are on the way. I have sent my resume for evaluation and just waiting for everything to catch up. I took the four test last night and found out I passed this morning and I must say I am JAZZED. I am looking forward to starting the program and I have a question.

I have worked in the IT field for many (24) years and I have done just about everything (except collect paper ~ certs). I was recently laid off from my job of 15 years and found myself in an interesting situation. Close to a degree (but no degree), a lot of knowledge (but no certs to back it up) so I decided to go back to school. I found WGU and did some research to find it might be a good fit for me since I am older. I have since found work as a project manager so I am paying the bills again (thank god) and want to move on with my education.

I am considering the BSIT with Software Emphasis since I like web development and do it part time. You guys seem kinda partial to the networking emphasis and I was wondering if I am making the right decision. I like that the software emphasis has 18 certifications attached but I realize they are not considered "top tier" certifications. Any good reasons to reconsider one of the networking emphasis lines? I really could go either way. With my own plans I will be adding other certifications to which ever I do? So for example if I stay with the software emphasis I will add cisco and some of the higher tier Microsoft. If I go networking I will add some software/web type certs probably different than the WGU ones.

Thanks,
Zis

jmasterj206

Zis,
I would say do what interests you. No matter what emphasis you take the degree is still BS Information Technology (emphasis is not listed). With your experience I wouldn't think you'd have too much trouble getting additional certs on your own.

I guess the other thing to consider is if you are paying for it yourself. If you are you may want to take the path that is easiest for you so it will take less time. That part depends on your situation.

demonfurbie

i suggest to all new students to wgu just to get the normal degree and get certs after and get the required certs before wgu

once you graduate you still get books 24/7 that has alot of good cert books and before you leave im sure you can get student discounts on labsim if you wanted

erpadmin

Zis, welcome to TE.

As someone who is in a similar situation as yourself (been around IT and PCs for more than two decades myself...started out as a PC hobbyist) I can tell you that you are probably better off going for the regular IT degree. Knowing what I know now, if I had done that, I would have been a graduate by now. The degree, to me, is much more important than the certifications.

Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of the certs I hold and I am prouder that I got them legitimately. But I worry that the one exam I have left (MS 70-643) might not get passed...even though I've been constantly reading, labbing and studying. I am so stressed right now, you have no idea.

You'll probably think that won't be you.....and maybe that is so. But after seeing at least three people on this forum who are long-term IT professionals switching to the regular IT degree...I can now understand why the regular IT degree would have been better off. As others have said, if you really want to get a MCITP:EA, SA, CCNA, etc, you could do that on your own, and NOT feel rushed. I plan on making time this year for the MCITP Database Administrator 2008 cert myself. I'm gonna give myself months and make a schedule to give myself time for reading for it. It will not be done in the rushed timeline that the EA was done....but I'm not going to procrastinate on it either.

Take it from a Network Design & Management guy who's been in IT for a long time....do the regular degree!