Western Governors University Questions and Answers / Threads related to WGU

HLRS

Its CU's not College credits. thats the downside of WGU not a GPA system.

Jasiono wrote: »

Question

When receiving your transcript from WGU, at the end of each semester, is everything calculated as Competency Units or is everything converted over to college credit?

My HR department is giving me a hard time a out this.

swild

Technically, Competency Units are college credits just like semester hours or quarter hours are college credits. WGU is a college and CUs are their credit system. A CU is equivalant to a semester hour. I finally found where they said it, but I don't remember where exactly. I don't think it was in the handbook and if you pointed it out to them, they would probably change it as quickly as they could. The problem that my HR had with it is that there is no grade assigned, just a pass/fail. Since they don't have a piece of paper saying that you received a "B" or better, they can't claim the tax write-off for reimbursing your education.

Also, if you research their grading scale (can't remember what it is called at the moment) a pass is equivilent to a B. It is possible to convince your HR dept, but not all of them go for it. If you talk to your enrollment councilor about it, I bet he will direct you to all of their info. They want you to attend after all.

Drovor

Drovor wrote: »

For the financial aid students, when did you get awarded your funds? I started July 1st but I am still waiting for financial aid to go through. I already spoke to the financial aid office and they make it seem like it was normal to take a month or so to clear. I just don't understand since I had applied to the school and financial aid a few months before my start date.

I was told to hold off on accepting my AAV until the award was processed just in case I am not on the hook for more than originally thought. I have access to the learning resources for my first class, WFV1, but I can't schedule the test which kind of throws off my original plan for this class.

Update: I didn't receive any award so I called again to financial aid. After they looked closer at my status they noticed that it was cleared but they never updated my financial aid verification. So now everything looks good now and I asked that they changed my start date to Aug 1st so I wouldn't have had to spend over a month and still not have WFV1 passed It actually took a lot of calls to have my start date changed. My mentor told me to call admissions, they send me to my enrollment counselor, he sent me to records, and then from records back to my mentor. The person from records contacted my mentor to go over the process since it is actually the mentor who starts the process of changing the start date. Then the enrollment counselor follows up on the request to change start dates.

So in the end I was able to get a free month of looking at material and also received a new mentor due to the change in start date. It was somewhat of a hassle but dealing with my wife's past financial aid it never seems to be a smooth process.

arwes

I've got a bit of a dilemma and I need some advice. When I first heard of WGU, I only had 70-270 taken care of. I decided I would try to finish it out before enrolling. Well then comes MCITP:EA, and WGU **** the MCSE 2003 stuff in favor of it. I trudged along and finally finished my MCSE. Now I'm in the middle of upgrading my MCSE to MCITP:EA (only passed the Win 7 exam so far), and the threat of WGU yanking MCITP:EA in favor of the new MCSE stuff is looming. Plus, I heard recently that if you upgrade to MCITP:EA, WGU still requires you to take the other exams. Is that right?

If that's the case, I wonder if I ought to just go with the standard BS:IT degree and do my MCITP:EA on my own. I've been wanting to enroll for the longest time, and I hoped that upgrading to MCITP:EA would cut out a good chunk of the BS: IT ND&M path. I don't get paid the greatest, but in my area you pretty much have to have a degree to be taken seriously. It's probably the same elsewhere, though I can't say I've really been looking at moving out of the area.

hiddenknight821

@arwes: I honestly think you should do the regular BS:IT track. Why don't you do yourself a favor? Here's a small homework you can do. Print out the PDFs for the ND&M and regular IT degrees from their website and compare to see if you will be missing anything from the ND&M path in case you decided to do the regular path. From there, you can make a firm decision. Personally, I don't blame WGU for upgrading the Microsoft exams to the newer version since the last time I checked, the current one will expire at the end of next July. I can see how that will create problems for new WGU students. So, blame M$ for that.

lelei

I just transferred in with MCITP:EA and they waived all the system admin courses. They can send you a PDF that details which certs waive which classes. I actually sat for an extra MS web tech exam to waive all the dev classes as well. They did not seem to look at the individual exams for the EA, it looks like they just waive based on the title. I would see if you can request the transfer info PDFs for both programs and then compare which classes the cert waives for each degree.

georgemc

For those of you who have already completed one or more of the MTA exams, do they have to be taken at a "Certiport" testing center or can they be proctored via webcam or at some other testing center.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

eansdad

swild wrote: »

Technically, Competency Units are college credits just like semester hours or quarter hours are college credits. WGU is a college and CUs are their credit system. A CU is equivalant to a semester hour. I finally found where they said it, but I don't remember where exactly. I don't think it was in the handbook and if you pointed it out to them, they would probably change it as quickly as they could. The problem that my HR had with it is that there is no grade assigned, just a pass/fail. Since they don't have a piece of paper saying that you received a "B" or better, they can't claim the tax write-off for reimbursing your education.

Also, if you research their grading scale (can't remember what it is called at the moment) a pass is equivilent to a B. It is possible to convince your HR dept, but not all of them go for it. If you talk to your enrollment councilor about it, I bet he will direct you to all of their info. They want you to attend after all.

The last page of the transcripts has this information on it.

kgb

georgemc wrote: »

For those of you who have already completed one or more of the MTA exams, do they have to be taken at a "Certiport" testing center or can they be proctored via webcam or at some other testing center.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

Everything I read they have to be proctored by someone that is "certified"/"approved" as one of their official proctors. I see you are in Guam, I have a feeling there's no testing centers located there? I have a testing center near me, so I never looked deep into it.

The way the exams work for me:

1) I log into the certiport website on the testing centers 1 allocated certiport box
2) I select my test
3) The proctor then has to enter her credentials
4) I can begin the exam

2 and 3 might be reversed, don't really remember. My point in describing it is to let you know that it's all handled through your login/account.

TLDR: Probably need to contact WGU

Jasiono

swild wrote: »

Technically, Competency Units are college credits just like semester hours or quarter hours are college credits. WGU is a college and CUs are their credit system. A CU is equivalant to a semester hour. I finally found where they said it, but I don't remember where exactly. I don't think it was in the.....

Yeah

I totally understand their system and I had the HR department here contact them. Everything is coming together now and I start in two weeks. Im currently going through the orientation now.

unandig

Anyone know when WGU will start using the M$ 2012 exams.

Jasiono

I've been searching all over but who knows what email address I have to send a message to for access to dreamspark?

TLeTourneau

I used my @wgu.edu account. You may need a verification code from WGU.

boredgamelad

You don't get DreamSpark access until your term starts, AFAIK. From the e-mail I got announcing access to DreamSpark:

Students are batch loaded each Friday after 3:00pm Mountain time (for all students who have accepted AAV during the week). Students are given 4-years access and they will receive an auto-generated email from Microsoft e-Academy containing their username and initial password; this often goes into the spam folder and is mistaken for junk mail.

I accepted AAV on the 1st and got my e-mail from e-Academy on the 3rd, so this seems to be accurate. It's also accurate in that the e-mail from e-Academy ended up in my spam folder.

spiderjericho

Jasiono wrote: »

I've been searching all over but who knows what email address I have to send a message to for access to dreamspark?

If you look in the forums and stickies, there are two thread for how to get access to Dreamspark and the VMware stuff. You'll send an email, and they usually respond in 48-72 hours.

Dreamspark is no Technet though. I just went on there to see if they had Win8. Maybe it'll be on there in a few weeks after the retail is released.

CenturionMario

Is there anyone here that is doing (or has done) the Computer Science program? I wanted to know what the classes were like, what projects did you have to do, how long it took those projects to be completed, and how much you enjoyed it. Thank you. I want to go to WGU by the end of the year, but I'm debating between going for a General IT degree and a CS degree.

Legacy User

There isn't a computer science program only information tech in WGU. I suppose you meant the I.T. with emphasis on software..

CenturionMario

Yeah, that is what I meant. If anyone is in or graduated from that program, can anyone go into detail on what it was like?

demonfurbie

all degrees in the end from wgu just say bs-it

the gen degree is the fastest/cheapest way

rep21

CenturionMario wrote: »

Is there anyone here that is doing (or has done) the Computer Science program? I wanted to know what the classes were like, what projects did you have to do, how long it took those projects to be completed, and how much you enjoyed it. Thank you. I want to go to WGU by the end of the year, but I'm debating between going for a General IT degree and a CS degree.

I was in the Database emphasis, but starting October 1st I will be switching to the Software emphasis. I unofficially switched last month due to the fact that WGU is essentially dropping the database emphasis.

The major courses for this degree are the three Java courses, one of which is an Oracle Certification as well as a CIW Pearl Certification. I'm studying all three of the java courses right now as well as the Pearl course in order to finish them, and the rest of my degree, right as I officially switch in October. I've finished most of the projects for the first two Java courses. I'm just really going through everything over and over as I want to be the best entry level java developer I can be when I graduate. I'd say in the past month and a half I've put over 125 hours in and I figure it will take me at the very least 300 hours to be competent enough to land an entry level position. I'm still not sure how I will land an entry level position without an internship, but I'm going to try to work on some public projects at like github and elsewhere to get more exposure.

If you want, feel free to send me a PM and I can tell you more about them. But overall, my advice will be pretty simple. Unless you plan on being a programmer/developer, then select the generic IT degree. I feel almost 99% of students should choose the generic IT degree in order to finish faster. The certs you get from the various emphasis will only delay your progress and you can pick those up later on your own time.

Main Event

How hard is the coursework at WGU? If I don't get hired soon I'm taking up Health Informatics.. however I failed college algebra in 2010 when i went, I'm good at english but not good at math at all. How hard would you rate the coursework from 1 to 10 for those who aren't really gifted academically?

Jasiono

It's all up to date from what I see.

Depending on your motivation it can be easy or tough. You just have to stick through it until the end.

The classes are very well organized and they guide you through what needs to be done to gain competence. They don't just throw you to the wolves. The support system is also fantastic.

demonfurbie

personally i think the course work is a little bit harder than ive taken in reg schools

djfunz

Finally went off to take the GAC1 objective assessment this past Saturday. I passed with an 80%, but I must say that class was not easy for me at all. My mentor suggested that I knock out the math courses because she thought Finite Mathematics was easier than Foundations of College Mathematics. It isn't. In fact it's markedly harder. Euler paths and Truth Tables? This class was only 2 CUs? I was very surprised by this course and very glad it's over.

The last step is the Finite Mathematics application essay and I can finally close the door on Math.

My question is what do do after that? My girlfriend suggested that I steer clear of Gen Ed for a couple of courses and focus on something IT related. I tend to agree. My idea was to perhaps take the DEV1 Security Fundamentals course. What do you guys think?

Hypntick

I generally swapped my classes up. Did a block of gen-ed and then a block of IT. Worked well for me, might work well for you. Then again you could just be burnt out on math, I know I was by the end of things.

kgb

djfunz wrote: »

Finally went off to take the GAC1 objective assessment this past Saturday. I passed with an 80%, but I must say that class was not easy for me at all. My mentor suggested that I knock out the math courses because she thought Finite Mathematics was easier than Foundations of College Mathematics. It isn't. In fact it's markedly harder. Euler paths and Truth Tables? This class was only 2 CUs? I was very surprised by this course and very glad it's over.

The last step is the Finite Mathematics application essay and I can finally close the door on Math.

My question is what do do after that? My girlfriend suggested that I steer clear of Gen Ed for a couple of courses and focus on something IT related. I tend to agree. My idea was to perhaps take the DEV1 Security Fundamentals course. What do you guys think?

I would take DEV1 and Sec+ at the same time. The main reason is you get Labsim with Sec+ and I found Labsim to be one of the best learning resources so far. In the Elibary section in WGU you can read Darril Gibson's book on DEV1 MTA exam.

I would purchase Darril's Sec+ book, it's only $9.99 kindle version. It is an awesome resource. I also recommend the MeasureUP practice exam for DEV1.

I took both exams, back to back. No prior security knowledge and DEV1 took like 15minutes. Sec+ took a little longer though.

djfunz

Thanks for the suggestion. The combo of Sec courses sounds like a good plan also considering I have 3 months of my first term still remaining. My goal was to knock out 2 per month and so far, that's held true. I have really only enrolled in gen Ed courses up to this point, so lack of experience in those areas has taken some additional time. Thanks again for the insight guys.

lelei

djfunz wrote: »

Finally went off to take the GAC1 objective assessment this past Saturday. I passed with an 80%, but I must say that class was not easy for me at all. My mentor suggested that I knock out the math courses because she thought Finite Mathematics was easier than Foundations of College Mathematics. It isn't. In fact it's markedly harder. Euler paths and Truth Tables? This class was only 2 CUs? I was very surprised by this course and very glad it's over.

What was your method for studying for this one? I am not a math person and scored horribly on the pre-assessment. I don't like math and I honestly just want to learn enough to pass the exam so I can go back to pretending that math beyond the basics does not exist. I found QLT1 much easier than this course and haven't had much issue with the tasks, but this one is a nightmare for me.

djfunz

For both math courses, I found that simply doing the homework assignments for each lesson is the approach that worked for me. Once in a while I would use the videos that accompanied the lesson, but rarely. If you are struggling with a problem on the homework, just click,"Help me solve this", and you receive a fairly detailed explanation.

I also took all three pre-assessments as advised by my mentor. I passed the first with the cut score of 72%. I failed the second with a 71% and failed the third with a 68% which was pretty demoralizing. The last one I finished at midnight the night before the test after 4 hours of studying though.

I somehow passed the exam with an 80% the next day though, and needless to say, I was enthralled. Best of luck to you.

Ivanjam

Is there a limit to the number of CU's that I can transfer into WGU from examinations only? I already have A+, Net+, Sec+ and 2 CIW's; I would like to knock off a couple more CIW's and 2 or 3 Microsoft MTA's before I apply to WGU. I may end up having 35-40 potential CU's from these exams and about 24 General Ed CU's from Straighterline.com. I know that a number of persons have transferred in a lot of CU's from exams plus associate degrees but I don't know if anyone has transferred in over 60 CU's via exams only.