Student Experiences at Western Governors University (WGU)

Psoasman

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.

Sorry to hear. Seems like this test is a beast of its own.

Psoasman

Had my initial interview with my mentor. Tomorrow, I've got my AAV meeting and I can finally get started.

Psoasman

Had my AAV meeting today. Talked my mentor into letting me do the 640 first term, as I've been studying for it since late July.

NOLAJ

Psoasman wrote: »

Had my AAV meeting today. Talked my mentor into letting me do the 640 first term, as I've been studying for it since late July.

Welcome and good luck!!

LinuxRacr

Just finished my Readiness Assessment Exam like 30 minutes ago.... Not too bad, but definitely nothing to sneeze at...

veritas_libertas

sheckler wrote: »

I got my diploma, if anyone wants to see what they look like:

Curiosity. Did it come with the frame?

sheckler

Nope, it just comes in a thick cardboard type envelope that says "do not bend" on it. Luckily the mailman brought it to the front door instead of stuffing it into the mailbox. Took it to a framing store and got it framed under museum glass which keeps it safe from fading and other damage.

swild

I'm starting Jan 1 and was told today that I shouldn't expect to hear from my mentor before the 5th because of the holidays. I can start WFV1 but will have to have the rest of my plan approved by my mentor before I can continue. Still in verification after a month.

themagicone

sheckler wrote: »

Nope, it just comes in a thick cardboard type envelope that says "do not bend" on it. Luckily the mailman brought it to the front door instead of stuffing it into the mailbox. Took it to a framing store and got it framed under museum glass which keeps it safe from fading and other damage.

I kick myself in the butt for not doing that... I got something on mine from laying on my desk. Now it's sitting in between a book somewhere in my bookcase.

joehalford01

So, what class did everyone start with? I opted to start with INC1 Integrated Sciences. Talk about a ton of information, this class is overwhelming. A lot of it looks familiar from all of the science in high school and grade school though, so hopefully it shouldn't be too bad.

Also, I ended up ordering the text books through amazon, they do offer the books free as e-books but you can only view them on a computer. I was hoping I could download them to my Kindle fire or print them out. There's no way I could read all this material on a computer screen. On the plus side to that, the books are older, so I was only out $70 for both books used.

Psoasman

joehalford01 wrote: »

So, what class did everyone start with? I opted to start with INC1 Integrated Sciences. Talk about a ton of information, this class is overwhelming. A lot of it looks familiar from all of the science in high school and grade school though, so hopefully it shouldn't be too bad.

Also, I ended up ordering the text books through amazon, they do offer the books free as e-books but you can only view them on a computer. I was hoping I could download them to my Kindle fire or print them out. There's no way I could read all this material on a computer screen. On the plus side to that, the books are older, so I was only out $70 for both books used.

I am starting with the 640 exam. Going to try and finish that up this month and the hit the humanities courses, and do the Organizational behavior and leadership.

bryanthetechie

For the first half of my first term (and current one), I took the CIW Foundations, the two A+ exams, and the Org. Management exam. For the second half of the term I've been studying for Database I, Security+, and Web Technologies. I'll take all three of those exams within the first half om my new term in January. Then I'm on to Project+, Web Programming, and Leadership for the rest of the term. Hopefully those will be easy enough so that I can take the management class.

That'll leave me with Database II and III, Intro to Programming, Object-Oriented, Tech Writing, and my capstone remaining.

Hypntick

Started with CLC1, pretty much the order listed in my sig is the order i've gone in. Working on the 70-640 now, planning on the 17th as my test date. Ended up getting a week behind because of the Holiday and being on call this last week, hard to get work done with family and people calling you at 3 am because the server is down.

LinuxRacr

My enrollment counselor forwarded me for admission today. The only hurdle now is the financial aid...

swild

I had my intake on Nov 1 and I am still waiting on Fin Aid. I pushed back my enrollment until Jan and it's still not cleared up. I asked my EC to check on it on Monday but haven't heard back from him. I have been told by my EC that I will be starting with WFV1 and that I may not hear from my mentor until Jan 5th because of the holidays. By the 5th I should be ready to take the exam. I am starting to study for my CCNA since I have had Lammle's book for a good six months and have only got to chapter 6. Hopefully I can go on to that after WFV1.

tekalon

I just got my transcript evaluation. It transferred the IT Fundamentals classes and all of the MTA cert classes. If after starting, can I have my mentor open up the MTA classes or do I need to ask them to open them upfront? I plan on getting the IT Fundamentals opened anyway (A+ cert). Does anyone suggest getting the MTA certs?

bryanthetechie

None of the class content is opened automatically unless your mentor formally enrolls you in a course. However, you can request that they open up some content without enrolling you in the course. Some mentors will do it, some are more reluctant to do it.

veritas_libertas

tekalon wrote: »

I just got my transcript evaluation. It transferred the IT Fundamentals classes and all of the MTA cert classes. If after starting, can I have my mentor open up the MTA classes or do I need to ask them to open them upfront? I plan on getting the IT Fundamentals opened anyway (A+ cert). Does anyone suggest getting the MTA certs?

No! They may be good for learning the concepts, but they have zero value in the IT market.

veritas_libertas

To those of you who have taken and passed WSV1 (CIW Web Design Specialist) what advice can you give me?

bryanthetechie

veritas_libertas wrote: »

To those of you who have taken and passed WSV1 (CIW Web Design Specialist) what advice can you give me?

Man, it's boring... I'm right in the middle of it now and not enjoying it very much... I'd like to hear some wise words from those who have taken it already as well.

Excellent1

veritas_libertas wrote: »

To those of you who have taken and passed WSV1 (CIW Web Design Specialist) what advice can you give me?

There is a lot of PDF information you receive with the course--but I found that there is one PDF, the study guide, that is only 154 pages and covers almost all of the information you need. You can use the Certification Partners - WGU site for practice exams that are very similar to the actual exam. All in all, it's not something I would over-prepare for, but your mileage may vary. Good luck with it.

veritas_libertas

Excellent1 wrote: »

There is a lot of PDF information you receive with the course--but I found that there is one PDF, the study guide, that is only 154 pages and covers almost all of the information you need. You can use the Certification Partners - WGU site for practice exams that are very similar to the actual exam. All in all, it's not something I would over-prepare for, but your mileage may vary. Good luck with it.

Thanks for the advice. I didn't want to over prepare, but I'm not overly knowledgeable about HTML/XHTML/CSS either. So, I guess we will see how it goes later on.

erpadmin

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I didn't want to over prepare, but I'm not overly knowledgeable about HTML/XHTML/CSS either. So, I guess we will see how it goes later on.

http://www.w3schools.com

Helped me with html and javascript for the CIW. (I didn't put in that much time, myself; just enough....YMMV)

col_jakesg1

I'm currently in GUT1 and I'm finding trouble figuring out how to start the program. Programming has never been my strong suit and when I did GTT1 it was a nightmare. Could you provide me with some help? I would appreciate it thanks.

petedude

col_jakesg1 wrote: »

I'm currently in GUT1 and I'm finding trouble figuring out how to start the program. Programming has never been my strong suit and when I did GTT1 it was a nightmare. Could you provide me with some help? I would appreciate it thanks.

I'm in the middle of this one, too, so this is what I can say so far:

This is what I'd recommend to warm up:
1. Spend time building small programs that create objects, and practice extending those objects.
2. Play with MySQL a little, and build some small programs that read/write databases.
3. Download a trial version of Altova Umodel. It may help with some of the paperwork.

erpadmin

Well guys, the good guys have won again today. Got BIV1 down (see here).

Now all that's left is BHV1 and I can finally say I'm done.

For all of you new guys who are starting WGU/have started/will start, I am going to replace my signature with a link to the Master post I started that highlighted all of my successful endeavors at WGU. I work more than 40 hours a week, and have been able to pass all of my terms with 100% SAP (with BHV1 passed, presumably, I would have averaged ~35 CUs a term.) Well let me not jinx that.....

Hopefully I can finish this month so that all I have to do is concentrate on my first semester at NJIT as a grad student, AND head down to Atlanta to walk!

bryanthetechie

erpadmin wrote: »

Well guys, the good guys have won again today. Got BIV1 down (see here).

Now all that's left is BHV1 and I can finally say I'm done.

For all of you new guys who are starting WGU/have started/will start, I am going to replace my signature with a link to the Master post I started that highlighted all of my successful endeavors at WGU. I work more than 40 hours a week, and have been able to pass all of my terms with 100% SAP (with BHV1 passed, presumably, I would have averaged ~35 CUs a term.) Well let me not jinx that.....

Hopefully I can finish this month so that all I have to do is concentrate on my first semester at NJIT as a grad student, AND head down to Atlanta to walk!

erpadmin, you are certainly an inspiration to all of us still working through our WGU programs. Great job and good luck in your graduate studies!

Lemonade727

Finished up WDV1 over the weekend and it was my final certification course. 9 more courses to go, should be finishing up INT1 within the next day or so as well.

bryanthetechie

Lemonade727 wrote: »

Finished up WDV1 over the weekend and it was my final certification course. 9 more courses to go, should be finishing up INT1 within the next day or so as well.

How did the exam for WDV1 go? I'm studying for that one right now as well and hope to take the exam in a couple of weeks. Any pointers?

Lemonade727

bryanthetechie wrote: »

How did the exam for WDV1 go? I'm studying for that one right now as well and hope to take the exam in a couple of weeks. Any pointers?

It went pretty good. I found most of the questions pretty clear cut and easy to determine the correct answer from those listed (much like the other CIW courses I tested for). I had to put most of my study time into normalization and relational algebra for it to start to click and I'm glad I did, there was plenty of it on the test.