Student Experiences at Western Governors University (WGU)

dt3k wrote: »

The search feature isn't very useful whenever the thread is 143 pages long.

Yes, that's true.

However, you only owe it to yourself to start reading the threads. In the time it takes to wait for someone to respond, you'd have already found what you are looking for if you just started reading at a minimum a year's worth of posts. That's what I did when I started and by then this thread was already getting large.

Not trying to sound like a d--k, but just saying the answers you're looking for are already here.

dt3k

erpadmin wrote: »

Yes, that's true.

However, you only owe it to yourself to start reading the threads. In the time it takes to wait for someone to respond, you'd have already found what you are looking for if you just started reading at a minimum a year's worth of posts. That's what I did when I started and by then this thread was already getting large.

Not trying to sound like a d--k, but just saying the answers you're looking for are already here.

Haha, I've been looking since you last responded bro.

spiderjericho wrote: »

It's kind of irritating me, but it's okay since I don't plan on starting until January. I'm going to try to knock out the Windows 7 exam. I tried to look up study materials for those M$ fundamental exams, but there aren't any. I'm wondering what WGU will use as study materials.

You should check out the born to learn blog. I remember the MTA exams being discussed there and from what I remember, they were offered to high school students going to some technology high schools or something. But you might find what you're looking for there.

I got my transfer evaluation done, almost there. I'm excited to see how many credits I received. I'm trying to figure out what RS stands for though under transfer status. I had too classes come up like this. Anyone know?

LinuxRacr

They did my transfer evaluation last year when I was going through the enrollment process last year, but the enrollment person told me that they would probably have to do it again... I have a meeting Wednesday with them, and I hope to find out if anything changed for the better.

simtech

Anyone has sample for Network Design TWA/capstone? I found one from the WGU resources and wondering if you guys have another one? I know some students got it from Dr Vence, but he told to contact another mentor. I checked with course mentor and she said she doesn't have it. Thanks.

simtech wrote: »

Anyone has sample for Network Design TWA/capstone? I found one from the WGU resources and wondering if you guys have another one? I know some students got it from Dr Vence, but he told to contact another mentor. I checked with course mentor and she said she doesn't have it. Thanks.

Do you have the ones that talks about Data Deduplication? That's what I used for mine.

If you need it, PM me your email address again, and I'll get them both to you. Once you follow the format, you'll be good to go.

simtech

erpadmin wrote: »

Do you have the ones that talks about Data Deduplication? That's what I used for mine.

If you need it, PM me your email address again, and I'll get them both to you. Once you follow the format, you'll be good to go.

Great. I just PM'd you. Thank you.

joehalford01 wrote: »

I got my transfer evaluation done, almost there. I'm excited to see how many credits I received. I'm trying to figure out what RS stands for though under transfer status. I had too classes come up like this. Anyone know?

Yeah, it says it on the first page: Requirement Satisfied. You don't have the exact thing they are looking for in one class but possibly parts of several classes gave you credit.

My financial aid isn't packaged yet so I decided to put off starting until January. This way I will also get to try for a few scholarships. My Pell Grant wasn't quite as big as I had hoped, so I still have over half to pay out of pocket. Going to try for the SMART Grant, Go Further Scholarship, and IT Pro Scholarship. They also said on their wesite that there may be grant assistance through the Arkansas dept of higher ed. I called them and left a message but no word yet. There isn't anything listed on the ADHE website about online schools. Everything says that you have to go to a school in Arkansas.

Cpl.Klinger

Well, intake interview set for Tuesday of next week, transcript appeal has pretty much been sown up as a done deal (asked to exclude three in progress classes that certs/previous classes will cover/supersede). On track for a January 1 start. Can't wait a bit.

swild wrote: »

Yeah, it says it on the first page: Requirement Satisfied. You don't have the exact thing they are looking for in one class but possibly parts of several classes gave you credit.

I looked 20 times before I asked....oh well...two more classes I don't need to take. No geography or network fundamentals. Sweet!:D

So, I decided to put off starting until January. I thought that wasn't any big deal. I could still get a couple more certifications before my start date and have a little work out of the way. Well, it looks like they have changed their policy. Instead of having all of your certification documents in by the 25th, they now have to all be in by the 10th. That only gives me time to get one more cert before I start.I have my Project+ exam scheduled for 12/8. That gives me two weeks to prepare for it. I have the Sybex guide and just ordered the Transcender practice tests. I was going to try for the 70-432 test as well, but that was probably a stretch to get that done in time. I have moderate Access experience and no real SQL experience aside from working with premade scripts and making them work for my needs.

swild wrote: »

So, I decided to put off starting until January. I thought that wasn't any big deal. I could still get a couple more certifications before my start date and have a little work out of the way. Well, it looks like they have changed their policy. Instead of having all of your certification documents in by the 25th, they now have to all be in by the 10th. That only gives me time to get one more cert before I start.I have my Project+ exam scheduled for 12/8. That gives me two weeks to prepare for it. I have the Sybex guide and just ordered the Transcender practice tests. I was going to try for the 70-432 test as well, but that was probably a stretch to get that done in time. I have moderate Access experience and no real SQL experience aside from working with premade scripts and making them work for my needs.

It only took me two weeks to prepare for Project+ and pass the first time. The Sybex guide is in the same format as Darril Gibson's Security+ Guide. Unfortunately, that's where the similarities end; Project+ is extremely boring, and you will need to muster your focus to read through it if you are going to pass it. I was fortunate to have Kindle TTS to me the book while I followed along (and turned it off so I could do the practice questions.) If not for that and Demonfurbie's flashcards, I would still be going for Project+.

I would put off the SQL exam and focus solely on Project+. It's not a difficult exam, but because the subject matter is dry, you will need to focus 100% of your energies toward it. In fact, it was about a year ago I've had the PK0-003; this is a good time to gun for it.

petedude

The more I use Books24x7, the more I appreciate it.

There's an interesting book out there called "how to be a rock star DBA" or some such. While much of it is known territory for anyone with IT experience, it's entertaining and covers a lot of ground about life in IT even though it's written by/for DBAs. I think it's also a good read for folks interested in IT who want to know what the field's like, even if they're not going into databases.

I've also found a number of books on technologies that I'm playing catch-up with-- surprisingly enough, even some Dummies books can be a good overview on technologies and on Books24x7 they're free.

phamel

Nice to find a thread here with other folks from WGU. A lot of people say they go to WGU because of talk here, but I wandered over here because of the talk at WGU.

Courses Completed at WGU :
EWB2, TSV1, WFV1, LET1, ORC1, AKV1, ABV1, TTV1, TEV1, BGV1, WSV1
Courses Required For Me To Graduate WGU with BS - IT: NDM (in order): MGC1, GTT1, GUT1, TPV1, WDV1, BLV1, TWA1, CPW3

Has anyone starting Dec 1st heard from their mentor yet ? I left a message for my enrollment counselor; she won't be in until tomorrow though. The 1st is coming up quick.

petedude

joehalford01 wrote: »

Has anyone starting Dec 1st heard from their mentor yet ? I left a message for my enrollment counselor; she won't be in until tomorrow though. The 1st is coming up quick.

I haven't looked at the Roll Call thread lately. . . anybody mention signing up for 12/1 there?

kriscamaro68

swild wrote: »

My financial aid isn't packaged yet so I decided to put off starting until January. This way I will also get to try for a few scholarships. My Pell Grant wasn't quite as big as I had hoped, so I still have over half to pay out of pocket. Going to try for the SMART Grant, Go Further Scholarship, and IT Pro Scholarship. They also said on their wesite that there may be grant assistance through the Arkansas dept of higher ed. I called them and left a message but no word yet. There isn't anything listed on the ADHE website about online schools. Everything says that you have to go to a school in Arkansas.

Where do you find this "IT Pro Scholarship" that you speak of?

Psoasman

joehalford01 wrote: »

Has anyone starting Dec 1st heard from their mentor yet ? I left a message for my enrollment counselor; she won't be in until tomorrow though. The 1st is coming up quick.

I haven't heard either. My EC said I would be emailed before the 1st with that information.

spiderjericho

I got sidetracked a little to having all of my administrative and financial aid tasks completed to get into WGU. I neglected (forgot) to send the transcript for the community college I attended Biology through so my transfer evaluation was cancelled until I get it to WGU. But I do have time, since I'll be starting in January to get it all done.

At the moment, I know for sure I'll be taking the organizational behavior, technical writing, capstone, Microsoft fundamentals (grumble, grumble) and the Javascript.

You December 1sters if you happen to take any of the Microsoft fundamentals tests, please share your experience on the student materials and the difficulty of the tests.

kriscamaro68 wrote: »

Where do you find this "IT Pro Scholarship" that you speak of?

Information Technology Professionals Scholarship | Western Governors University

The person I talked to from the scholarship department said that it is that same amount as the go further scholarship and you can only get one scholarship from WGU.

Psoasman wrote: »

I haven't heard either. My EC said I would be emailed before the 1st with that information.

Ok, good to know I didn't slide under the radar. Thanks!

CmptrFrk

joehalford01 wrote: »

Has anyone starting Dec 1st heard from their mentor yet ? I left a message for my enrollment counselor; she won't be in until tomorrow though. The 1st is coming up quick.

Just heard from mine.

themagicone

swild wrote: »

So, I decided to put off starting until January. I thought that wasn't any big deal. I could still get a couple more certifications before my start date and have a little work out of the way. Well, it looks like they have changed their policy. Instead of having all of your certification documents in by the 25th, they now have to all be in by the 10th. That only gives me time to get one more cert before I start.I have my Project+ exam scheduled for 12/8. That gives me two weeks to prepare for it. I have the Sybex guide and just ordered the Transcender practice tests. I was going to try for the 70-432 test as well, but that was probably a stretch to get that done in time. I have moderate Access experience and no real SQL experience aside from working with premade scripts and making them work for my needs.

Why would you do this? Just study for it and once you start get the voucher from WGU for free. Why put out $100-$200 to take the test when it's paid for with your tuition? Just saying...

themagicone

swild wrote: »

My financial aid isn't packaged yet so I decided to put off starting until January. This way I will also get to try for a few scholarships. My Pell Grant wasn't quite as big as I had hoped, so I still have over half to pay out of pocket. Going to try for the SMART Grant, Go Further Scholarship, and IT Pro Scholarship. They also said on their wesite that there may be grant assistance through the Arkansas dept of higher ed. I called them and left a message but no word yet. There isn't anything listed on the ADHE website about online schools. Everything says that you have to go to a school in Arkansas.

Smart grant is only for 3rd and 4th year students BUT no matter that as this program has ended. I got it for my 3rd term as I had enough credits to count as year 4. But now the program has been discontinued. Was nice as I got a $3000 pell grant and a $2000 smart grant. Got my tuition paid for and an extra 2 grand in my pocket.

Psoasman

Finally got my email from my mentor, appointment set for tomorrow to go over the AAV.

jmasterj206

Well I failed the 70-642 for the 4th time today, so it is time to change emphasis. I've got 50 hours in Labsim. I have read the 2nd edition MS Press book several times. I have read the Windows Server 2008 r2 unleashed several times. I have spent several hours in technet. I have bought CBT Nuggets and watched all the videos several times. I have bought the Kaplan self test and Transcender. I have been labbing like a madman. I still can't pass this test. The problem is that all the questions that are on the test are not mentioned in any of the above resources. I may fight with Prometric for one more voucher since the test was horribly buggy.

The sad part is that at work I have set up my entire domain using server 2008 r2 and use DFS, DNS, DHCP, Print Management, and most of the other stuff on the infrastructure exam except for the routing crap.

demonfurbie

jmasterj206 wrote: »

Well I failed the 70-642 for the 4th time today, so it is time to change emphasis. I've got 50 hours in Labsim. I have read the 2nd edition MS Press book several times. I have read the Windows Server 2008 r2 unleashed several times. I have spent several hours in technet. I have bought CBT Nuggets and watched all the videos several times. I have bought the Kaplan self test and Transcender. I have been labbing like a madman. I still can't pass this test. The problem is that all the questions that are on the test are not mentioned in any of the above resources. I may fight with Prometric for one more voucher since the test was horribly buggy.

The sad part is that at work I have set up my entire domain using server 2008 r2 and use DFS, DNS, DHCP, Print Management, and most of the other stuff on the infrastructure exam except for the routing crap.

i feel your pain ... trust me i do

im switching to the standard IT track and going to more security/linux after