Western Governors University Questions and Answers / Threads related to WGU

nosoup4u

Hi All I originally posted in February but my company got bought out and put everything on hold.

Luckily I made it through and managed to get them to pay for New Horizons training for 70-680 MCTS: Windows 7 Configuring and 70-685 MCITP: Windows 7, Enterprise Desktop Support Technician and the training courses next week and the following week.

I am starting on the regular B.S. IT line after deciding to I don't want to deal with the Cisco stuff during this but my question is when I pass these, what classes am I looking to test out of or get CU hours I should say? I was hoping I could get out of some of the MTA related courses they have on the regular B.S with these...

Thanks!

Jasiono

Yeah. I have a huge whiteboard in my basement used for organizing.

I scheduled the exam and I'm excited to get it out of my way. Cheating has never been an option for me because in reality I would be cheating myself. I'm an honest person.

I received a study guide to fill out by the course mentor in an email the other day. I'm going through the chapters to answer the questions and I'm skimming all the chapters in the program every moment I can. The skillsoft modules put me to sleep.

Management to me is very boring. I would rather be doing things hands on. I keep putting my company into the book that I'm reading for mgc1. I feel that it helps keep it more interesting. Not by much, but just enough

Nemowolf

Thanks for the reply, i called in on thursday to the main number and spoke with someone who informed me that my recruiter is currently on family emergency leave and wont be expected back until next week. Looks like i have to wait for my next scheduled time to talk to her and get more details worked out. I may try to set my start date for next year so i can get through the holidays without having school to worry about too.

mikeybikes

Has anyone had experience transferring credits from a traditional four year university into WGU?

I have about 100 credits from a local university and no degree. I do have 35k in debt to show for it. I am just not interested in racking more debt.

I was pursuing a civil engineering degree (at a requirement of 145 credits too), so my credits won't directly translate to something IT related.

bmwwife

Hi! I found this forum when I was searching for some information of the classes I'd be taking at WGU. I am hopefully starting the Health Informatics BS program in Oct. I have my admission interview tomorrow. I've already had my transcripts reviewed and my resume approved. If I can't make it for the Oct semester I will have to wait for the December one because of a vacation at the beginning of Nov.

This is going to be a career change for me. I am excited but really nervous. I am currently a Respiratory Therapist in a large community hospital. I am choosing the Health Informatics program b/c getting my BS in Respiratory Care is pointless and I want to have the option to get out of clinical care if I so choose. I don't have any IT background at all. I did work in Health Information Management in High School and College.

I will be transferring in 40 credits so almost all of my Gen Eds are done. The only Gen Eds I have to take LWC1 and LWT1 b/c they are not satisfied by my AAS in Respiratory Therapy. I'm just worried about the fundamentals of IT classes. Everyone on here talks about them being a breeze but you all have IT background. Are the materials WGU supplies enough for me to learn this on my own or are the more of a review for people who already have a IT background?

kgb

bmwwife wrote: »

... I'm just worried about the fundamentals of IT classes. Everyone on here talks about them being a breeze but you all have IT background. Are the materials WGU supplies enough for me to learn this on my own or are the more of a review for people who already have a IT background?

The materials provided are more than enough to learn without prior experience. It just might take you longer than someone that already knows some of the information.

It's all about expectations. As long as you realize that a lot of the threads that you read that detail people completing a ton of credits each term are those people that have prior experience. Not to say you can't be that statistical anomaly and does crazy credits on all material you've never seen before, but the odds are it's not going to happen like that and you will more than likely be setting yourself up for disappointment.

erpadmin

bmwwife wrote: »

I'm just worried about the fundamentals of IT classes. Everyone on here talks about them being a breeze but you all have IT background. Are the materials WGU supplies enough for me to learn this on my own or are the more of a review for people who already have a IT background?

The WFV1 class is a breeze for those of us in IT because the exam just asks about stuff that would be found in A+, Network+ and Security+. That's why many of us can take the exam without hardly any study.

HOWEVER...if you have NO experience in IT, then just go through the material that WGU provides you. The material you will receive I believe are books (maybe they're ebooks now?) that come from CIW itself. The material DOES match up what's in the exam. It may take you a few weeks/a couple of months to go through them, but once you do, you will be ready for the exam.

However, if you did have A+, Network+ and Security+...with a little project+ because you are asked like one project management question, then you could schedule the exam tomorrow.

Best of luck.

bmwwife

Thank you both for your reply. I know it will be a challenge, but I'm looking for a challenge in my life right now. My plan is to start with one or two non- IT classes until I get use to how WGU does and wants things and then tackle a subject matter that is foreign to me. I can't wait to be done with admission counselors and move onto mentors. I have had a nightmare of a time dealing with my admission counselor and have moved onto someone else who is slightly better. Finger cross that I make the October cutoff.

CBaer

XeeN wrote: »

I recommend that once you enroll and begin preparing for your first cert test, benchmark how quickly you can read and retain information from the material, buffer in some extra study/review/rest days, and then schedule your test.

I keep having to come back to this question because students keep mentioning this. How are you doing this? Doesn't your mentor require you to complete the pre-assessment, etc? I'm in the DC area, work in Richmond, and can only test on weekends. I would like to schedule in advance for the proctored certification exams for two reasons 1) so I have something to study for, a hard time line, and 2) Because DC area testing centers book up fast on the weekends. I had to wait two weekends to schedule my WFV1 testing. What is everyone else's experience? Is this not the norm?

str8outtajerzy

All I have is my A+, I have been in IT for at least the past 10 years doing help desk and such, do you think WGU would be a good fit for me?

Nemowolf

str8outtajerzy wrote: »

All I have is my A+, I have been in IT for at least the past 10 years doing help desk and such, do you think WGU would be a good fit for me?

Have my A+ as well and doing Help Desk for the last 6 years. I know i want to do more with my career and i need a bachelors to get ahead so im willing to put in some leg work to get through the initial calls and apply. Hoping to get my post count up so i can get a referal to waive the App Fee so the initial investment that scares me goes away and i have nothing left but to apply and start working on getting accepted.

nosoup4u

str8outtajerzy wrote: »

All I have is my A+, I have been in IT for at least the past 10 years doing help desk and such, do you think WGU would be a good fit for me?

I don't even have that I'm trying to get in so I'd say your a better fit!

Zena84

Great to know so many people are interested and love WGU. I stay posted on this forum, I think I read the entire forum in one day and I practically learned so much. Thanks for everyone's posts.

Scamceno

I have a few WGU question for admissions(about me personally though). I am aware they don't have a specified GPA required to get in. But my transcript is not as pretty as it could be considering my past experiences as a student. I have 1 D, 1 F, and 2 W's on my tranny(only 1 W is recent due to me and a terrible schedule I thought I could handle). I'm curious do those W's count as F's towards my GPA(as I know some Cal-states and Uni's do), or are they overlooked?

I'm trying to raise my GPA and finish strong (2.0 right now) as I have an assortment of A-Cs other then the previously mentioned grades. I've been considering transfering to WGU sometime next year after I get all my gen ed done and my Associates in IT(sadly no networking courses here). I just want a realistic evaluation of what i'm up against right now and how much harder i'm going to have to make myself work if I wanna get into the school(knowing there Competency requirements for passing courses).

Psoasman

You'll probably have to check with your enrollment counselor, once you've applied to see about the W's. Once you are done with your A.S. degree, that should get you in.

If you applied without finishing up the A.S. degree, WGU would do a class by class evaluation and the grades would probably have more of an impact.

Scamceno

Psoasman wrote: »

You'll probably have to check with your enrollment counselor, once you've applied to see about the W's. Once you are done with your A.S. degree, that should get you in.

If you applied without finishing up the A.S. degree, WGU would do a class by class evaluation and the grades would probably have more of an impact.

Alright I figured I might have to speak to one of them, but I don't plan on going until next year so I won't be applying anytime soon. I plan on finishing up the A.S. for sure, thats my current goal, WGU is one of my desirable locations to get my B.S. atm, and if the A.S. can basically get you in thats quite reassuring. I'll just focus on my A.S. for the moment and worry about WGU later then I suppose.

kgb

Scamceno wrote: »

Alright I figured I might have to speak to one of them, but I don't plan on going until next year so I won't be applying anytime soon. I plan on finishing up the A.S. for sure, thats my current goal, WGU is one of my desirable locations to get my B.S. atm, and if the A.S. can basically get you in thats quite reassuring. I'll just focus on my A.S. for the moment and worry about WGU later then I suppose.

If WGU is indeed your end goal, I don't understand the logic behind waiting to finish the A.S. A motivated student with above average intelligence can complete more than 1 semester of classes from a traditional school in 1 month at WGU. Obviously, I don't know all your goals, other than a BS from WGU. Like mentioned above, I'd call WGU, it costs nothing(free referral) to get an application started and see where you stand exactly.

theanimal

I hope I have no issues getting in.

I wasn't mature enough in highschool and didn't care, my grades reflected. Went to ITT Tech(worst mistake of my life) and still was immature and didn't put forth much effort, my grades reflected, it's pretty bad. I decided I needed to turn my life around, I joined the USMC and now I love studying and learning. I got my A+ and I'm currently a NOC for a large retail company and am looking to learn.

I plan on not mentioning ITT Tech, I don't think any of those credits will transfer, and honestly, I want to learn the material, not just slide by.

Right now I'm looking at CLEP and trying to determine whether I want to use Straighterline or not. I'm just curious, looking at the course load for the B.S. IT Security it looks like it only has 2 math courses and nothing near calculus level, why is that?

Also why is it that people prefer to take the Straighterline coruses over the WGU courses for gen ed? Does it just end up being cheaper?

erpadmin

theanimal wrote: »

Also why is it that people prefer to take the Straighterline coruses over the WGU courses for gen ed? Does it just end up being cheaper?

It can be cheaper, because you get a discount for every course you take; you can find that on the Straighterline site.

In my case, I would have liked to have utilized Straighterline for my courses, but if I had, I would not have been able to transfer in A+ and Network+ (I would have missed WGU's 5 year cert policy and would have had to take A+ and Network+ again....) The way I figured, I wouldn't have saved any time going with Straighterline anyway, though I probably would have liked to have done them if I didn't have any constraints.

theanimal

erpadmin wrote: »

It can be cheaper, because you get a discount for every course you take; you can find that on the Straighterline site.

In my case, I would have liked to have utilized Straighterline for my courses, but if I had, I would not have been able to transfer in A+ and Network+ (I would have missed WGU's 5 year cert policy and would have had to take A+ and Network+ again....) The way I figured, I wouldn't have saved any time going with Straighterline anyway, though I probably would have liked to have done them if I didn't have any constraints.

So you got the A+ and Network+ 5 years ago and that time clock was running out, so you had to enroll before that happened?

Just trying to make sure I understand your situation right :P

Legacy User

Passing several Clep exams is a good way to get credit since for the majority its only one test. Downside is if you fail you have to wait 6 months to retake it.

erpadmin

theanimal wrote: »

So you got the A+ and Network+ 5 years ago and that time clock was running out, so you had to enroll before that happened?

Just trying to make sure I understand your situation right :P

It was more coincidence than anything else. After I had done my own research on WGU after I saw how highly regarded WGU was here, I had to see how really legitimate WGU was. The regional accreditation had sold me, because that means I could then use it to get into a graduate school of my choosing. However, in my own case, I saw that while A+ and Network+ were valid certs to transfer in to WGU, WGU has a 5 year policy on certs. I had started my WGU process around May, 2010. I earned my A+/Network+ at the end of Dec. 2005, so I was within the 5 year cut-off, but if I didn't act soon, I would not be and would have to take A+/Network+ again. While I am sure I could pass them again, why would I waste my time on that? This was also before CompTIA's own CE policy, which is really for those in fields that are DOD 8570. Since I don't plan on renewing A+/Network+ (all of my CompTIA certs are "lifetime"), I figured I would forgo Straighterline and just deal with the GE requirements at WGU. It only took me 7 months to complete the GE stuff at WGU, so I was ok with that.

Between A+/Network and past college work, I only had 28 CUs transfer in. I had a lot of work to do, but in the end it paid off.

theanimal

Thank you both for the input

I'm still wondering why the math load seems so light in terms of gen ed courses. My girlfriend is currently working on her B.S. in early childhood development and she has a lot more math courses, granted it is teaching, but they're just little kids.

Legacy User

For whatever reason thats how WGU does it very light on the math courses for BSIT but I'm not mad at it. Looking at the course description I think its equivalent to Discrete Mathematics. It really depends on what school you go too. If you were taking the BSIT anywhere else it probably be calculus 1, 2 and statistics.

erpadmin

The science courses are the ones that are joke. The sciences....I could have paid some grade school kid money to do the work and it would have passed Taskstream. WGU really needs to revamp the science courses (INT1, specifically.) I can't see how doing a couple of powerpoint presentations AND some kid's science fair project would pass for a general science requirement. As compared to LAT1/QBT1, where there was a lot more work involved...

Legacy User

Yea I read somewhere that the lab consisted of ingredients from the supermarket. I told my gf that and she looked at me like I was an idiot because I told her I plan on finishing my b.s. there.

erpadmin

I think I'm going to write to WGU at some point over the quality of INT1...it really is embarrassing.

Legacy User

Did they require you to get a lab kit?

sgarza85

Nope, my final project (for the science classes) was using a wifi analyzer from android market to compare wireless signals at baseline(no interference), with 2.4 GhZ cordless phone being used, and with an old microwave running. Other examples I saw were to grow 2 seeds, water one (or give 1 sun and not the other) and see which grows faster..... Pretty rediculously easy class. Hoping the MS ISA program's classes are a little more challenging (and I hear it definately is).

Legacy User

Thats what I figured. It seems that the straighterline chem with lab seems like a better class. They require you to get a science kit which looks legit for some basic labbing. Here's the lab they require esciencelabs .com Intro chem version 4
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