Student Experiences at Western Governors University (WGU)

veritas_libertas

I had the exact opposite happen. I wrote a good paper for LAC1 and it took them a couple days to tell me that I needed to fix the paper.

themagicone

Anyone do INC1 yet? The way I read the COS and message board it seems that it is a very very hard class. I ordered a hard copy of the text and plan on just reading it straight through. Got IT I down I think (passing practice exams at 80 to 85 %) so INC1 is next.

jahsoul

Yep....still waiting on taskstream..

motogpman

Earweed, am I understanding you correctly? You have to take a measureup/assessment test before they will send you a voucher? Your mentor has to deem you "ready" before the voucher is sent?

I was wondering how that works with WGU. I think I read somewhere that they give you up to 2 vouchers for one test. After that it is on you if you fail.

earweed

Yes, you refer for the assesment and your mentor then has to approve you. I know with your give em hell attitude your mentor will probably just approve you whenever you want
I had to do a measure up because for some reason the exam force "got lost in the mail" and my mentor requires some type of preassessment be taken before referring. I only scored a 60% and still got approved
WGU uses Examforce usually although some mentors don't require it. The examforce tests are basically the same tests that are in the examcram books and they even include a PDF version of the ExamCram book with the practice test.
You get 2 chances from WGU. If you fail a test twice then you have to pay for a third try (student price though) so if you mess up twice you're out $60 to take the test a third time.

motogpman

Excellent, thanks for the heads up. Now that the second house sold...YEEHAAAAWWWWW, I can now move forward. A ton of weight off of my mind and plate.

LOL, I must be getting a reputation then, eh? I try to conduct my live with the philosophy that money doesn't make a man, morals do. I try to take people at face value and only get "ruffled" when they force my hand or act unprofessional. This guy had more than a few times to get it together. The new advisor is pretty squared away, so all is well in my world now. I should be a WGU student very soon.

Everyone has a boss and when all else fails, especially when dealing with people over the phone, a quick reminder to that person that "distance" is not relevant, the problems is usually resolved. It all boils down to respect, IMO, either that or I am just getting to that age where I grow tired or people's BS.

petedude

earweed wrote: »

. . .WGU uses Examforce usually although some mentors don't require it. The examforce tests are basically the same tests that are in the examcram books and they even include a PDF version of the ExamCram book with the practice test. . .

I wish WGU would be a bit more consistent about this. If they're going to put the adaptive drills in the COS, why not have every mentor require them? (And from an academic perspective, it DOES provide some mandatory activity toward the "grade").

(and yes, I know, I'm being a spoilsport on this one.)

Not to mention, I fear for those who are not turning in their ExamForce drills. What if you go all MotoGPMan on someone during your term( ), and they decide to mess with your grade because you didn't fulfill that part of the COS?

earweed

Go to the WGU Community and see what my opinion of Exam Farce is. It ain't pretty. Most students that have posted on the community over there aren't against having something like that required but would like something of better quality. I'm doing the examfarce for 70-642 now and I have never seen such a useless collection of questions. They go from ridiculously easy to the really obscure and don't touch much in between.

motogpman

LOL, I am going to have to remember that one. Usually I just look at em side ways, one eye squinting, and get the "nervous tick" going into overtime. If that doesn't work, then I tell them "are the voices in my head to loud four you?" People usually get the hint and problem solved.

I can see where WGU would want to make sure that a student was fully prepared for the exam. I guess it boils down to being consistent and at what standard/prep test method they are using. I am assuming that is for certification exams only? I really want to finish my MCSE, Project+, and CIW tests before hand so that I can focus on the general reqs.

What's ya'lls advice? The deadline is Dec. 31st for the MCSE 2k3 to be accepted ( in place of the MCITP), so I think I should have more than enough time to finish all of the above in that time frame.

veritas_libertas

motogpman wrote: »

What's ya'lls advice? The deadline is Dec. 31st for the MCSE 2k3 to be accepted ( in place of the MCITP), so I think I should have more than enough time to finish all of the above in that time frame.

Get er' Done!

earweed

motogpman wrote: »

LOL, I am going to have to remember that one. Usually I just look at em side ways, one eye squinting, and get the "nervous tick" going into overtime. If that doesn't work, then I tell them "are the voices in my head to loud four you?" People usually get the hint and problem solved.

I can see where WGU would want to make sure that a student was fully prepared for the exam. I guess it boils down to being consistent and at what standard/prep test method they are using. I am assuming that is for certification exams only? I really want to finish my MCSE, Project+, and CIW tests before hand so that I can focus on the general reqs.

What's ya'lls advice? The deadline is Dec. 31st for the MCSE 2k3 to be accepted ( in place of the MCITP), so I think I should have more than enough time to finish all of the above in that time frame.

Sounds like you've got a good plan.

thomAZ

themagicone wrote: »

Anyone do INC1 yet? The way I read the COS and message board it seems that it is a very very hard class. I ordered a hard copy of the text and plan on just reading it straight through. Got IT I down I think (passing practice exams at 80 to 85 %) so INC1 is next.

I completed it last term and as long as you do well on the practice quizzes for every chapter you'll do fine. Just be sure to review everything you've missed. The final test was long and covered a lot of information but it didn't go into great detail. You just have to understand the general theories and concepts explained throughout the books.

themagicone

Well I got 52% on the pre-assessment so I guess I know some of the INC1 stuff. But the way those are set up (117 items I think) to get 60% I have to get 20 more items right. I ordered the book and will be heavily reading it once it gets here.

petedude

earweed wrote: »

Go to the WGU Community and see what my opinion of Exam Farce is. It ain't pretty. . .

Trust me, I know.

ExamForce is not the highest quality product out there, that's for sure. However, some of their products have worked as advertised for me (the 290 and 291 exam preps were useful, although 291 was really buggy). I think the problem lies in cost, however. Given how ExamForce is partial to large bulk purchases, they're probably giving WGU a steal of a deal. WGU just needs to go back to the table with other vendors to get something better, and ExamForce needs to tighten their quality control. . . significantly.

The other thing to keep in mind is that even though WGU has demonstrated their competency model works, they are a lone entity in a sea of colleges appraised by the accrediting agencies. The expectation of the accreditors is going to be that you perform at least a minimum amount of prescribed paperwork in the process of completing credits. So, technically speaking, to make up for papers and lectures, you should probably be reading and. . . drilling. And have something to turn in to validate that drilling. So whether it's "ExamFarce" or uCertifyInOtherLanguages or something, you'll probably end up doing the drill thing. Unless WGU can demonstrate it's not needed, then enforce such a stance consistently amongst the mentors.

veritas_libertas

So far I think that ExamForce has actually helped me with studying for the 70-680. I will be able to tell you for sure in a couple of weeks

tpatt100

I am looking forward to starting next month. The certs I will get for the Masters are actually very useful for me since I work in Security. The CEH track is becoming more recognized in the security field.

earweed

petedude wrote: »

Trust me, I know.

ExamForce is not the highest quality product out there, that's for sure. However, some of their products have worked as advertised for me (the 290 and 291 exam preps were useful, although 291 was really buggy). I think the problem lies in cost, however. Given how ExamForce is partial to large bulk purchases, they're probably giving WGU a steal of a deal. WGU just needs to go back to the table with other vendors to get something better, and ExamForce needs to tighten their quality control. . . significantly.

The other thing to keep in mind is that even though WGU has demonstrated their competency model works, they are a lone entity in a sea of colleges appraised by the accrediting agencies. The expectation of the accreditors is going to be that you perform at least a minimum amount of prescribed paperwork in the process of completing credits. So, technically speaking, to make up for papers and lectures, you should probably be reading and. . . drilling. And have something to turn in to validate that drilling. So whether it's "ExamFarce" or uCertifyInOtherLanguages or something, you'll probably end up doing the drill thing. Unless WGU can demonstrate it's not needed, then enforce such a stance consistently amongst the mentors.

I totally agree with you about there needing to be some proof that students are actually doing the work. I actually think it should be more than just Exam Force. Even if students were only required to show proof they had passed all of the Skillsoft modules it would be better than just Exam Force.
My opinion of Exam Force wasn't as bad until seeing the trainwreck they produced for the JavaScript class. It actually was pretty good for the Net+ and Sec+. For the Vista Client exam it wasn't very good but I got Transcender ($$) to help me out.

earweed

veritas_libertas wrote: »

So far I think that ExamForce has actually helped me with studying for the 70-680. I will be able to tell you for sure in a couple of weeks

Quite likely it is. IMO they tend to push a lot of questions that the Exam Cram book covers and the MS Press books don't. There's not an ExamCram book for this exam yet.
You'll do OK, your study methods are better than a lot of the students at WGU who have done so poorly on the exam. You actually use practice exams the way they were meant to be used.

themagicone

I'm working on the CIW Foundations Cert and have to say Examforce is a POS. I read 2 of the 4 books and then started on taking some test to see where I was at. Examforce put me at around 75%, Vcampus (from CIW, and better representation of what is on the test) put me at 60%. I worked through Examforce, completing all 3 passes. I took the final test on there and go 96%. Go into Vcampus, none of the questions asked on examforce are asked on the cert test, nor do they line up really. I only got 77% on a final practice test, passing but just barley. I'm really nervous for my real thing on the 24th. I'm going to reread the exam study guide and do a few more practice tests just before so it's fresh in my mind.

earweed

The VCampus practice tests are the best for the Foundations and for the JavaScript test. There is also a good study guide and some free practice exams on MCMCSE for the foundations which may help some MC MCSE: CIW Foundations Certification Resources

Thxlbx

Well, almost done with the enrollment process. WGU sent me a pair of emails saying they had gotten my transcripts, and I have filled out my FAFSA online. Now I just have to get the financial aid/student loan finished and do the intake interview. Hopefully on pace to start July 1st!

TheDailyMel

I finally got my transcript evaluation, and it pretty much went as I expected. I got transfer credit for all the Gen Ed classes with the exception of BAC1, BBC1, and CLC1. I'm still waiting on the final approval from my employer for my tuition reimbursement request, but I should be a go for my July 1 start date.

rurouni_song

themagicone wrote: »

I'm working on the CIW Foundations Cert and have to say Examforce is a POS. I read 2 of the 4 books and then started on taking some test to see where I was at. Examforce put me at around 75%, Vcampus (from CIW, and better representation of what is on the test) put me at 60%. I worked through Examforce, completing all 3 passes. I took the final test on there and go 96%. Go into Vcampus, none of the questions asked on examforce are asked on the cert test, nor do they line up really. I only got 77% on a final practice test, passing but just barley. I'm really nervous for my real thing on the 24th. I'm going to reread the exam study guide and do a few more practice tests just before so it's fresh in my mind.

Idk it was the inverse for me for my ciw foundations and comptia A+ exams. I did really badly on my exam force ( alot of the questions on exam force are not covered in the books) like 65-75% range and when i did my actual exams i got around 85-90% on both ciw and comptia A+. To me examforce questions where alot harder then the actual exams. But my method of studying for the exams was mainly just reading the books then doing exam force and ready on the explaination for any questions I wasn't sure if i answered correctly. So far it worked pretty well

earweed

Examforce does have a few decent sets of tests. I didn't use the A+ or WFV1 because WGU still used measure up then. Examforce was actually not very bad for the Net+ and Security+ except they seemed to be very easy for me after I had already done the practice tests on the Labsim video we had.
For other classes it doesn't seem to be as good. It tends to throw out a lot of really easy questions and then a lot of really hard questions. The quality of the writers is sporadic also. Some questions are worded so poorly that you have no choice but to guess at the answer. For the JavaScript class there were a lot of errors in the test, I found a few in the 70-642 also.
In the 70-642 exam force most of the IP addressing area questions look like recycled Net+ questions they were so easy, and no questions at all on IPv6. The only really hard questions in the whole exam bank are the poorly worded ones and the questions on Print and File services. They seem to concentrate a lot on file and printer permissions.
A lot of examforce's problem seems to be that they don't really cover the material well. They miss a lot of areas totally and overemphasize others.

themagicone

I've lost all of my motivation lately and it sucks. I got done with my first 12 CU's in 1 month and I was working on another 8 for June but I just can't seem to get in the mood... I needs to focus.

earweed

Could be a case of burnout. It's why I don't go for more than 21 CUs a term. Take a break and then jump back in. Trying to focus when you need a break is hard.
I usually watch a few movies or something.

cablegod

whew.... 3 classes left: CLC1 (joke), TWA1 (technical Writing), and CPW3 (The Capstone project).

My term ends July 31, but my mentor is having it extended to August 31 because I will finish CLC1 in 2 weeks (only because you have to refer 2 weeks out before you want to take it), and that will leave only 2 classes for a whole term. So, she's having my term extended for another month so I can get the Technical Writing class and Capstone done without having to pay for another term. Seeing as how the Technical Writing class is the actual proposal for the Capstone, it should be easily doable in a month or less.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

earweed

Congrats on being so close.
This term ends for me Aug 31st and I'll then have 1 term left. I take 70-642 next week then I'm going to try to do the 70-643 before this term ends (2 months should be enough) which will leave me with only the 70-647 and TWA1 and CPW3 for my final term.

Birdiechic

Hey all. I start for security on July 1st. I am super excited to start. Do you guys have any tips for me or some things I should know before I start. Thanks
I am happy to find this forum! yay

earweed

Welcome to TE and welcome to WGU!
Get to know your mentor, when it's best and how to contact him/her. You'll have a LOT of online learning resources, keep them organized.
Since you're in the security track you may want to get familiar with the Cisco forums here. They can answer a lot of your questions or at least point you in the right direction. Don't be afraid to ask questions.