Student Experiences at Western Governors University (WGU)

bryanthetechie

Congrats, man... way to go!!

veritas_libertas

@Excellent1: Congratulations! What next?

Turgon

bryanthetechie wrote: »

I agree on every point.

Certs are academically irrelevant unless you are getting credit for them from a program like WGU, Excelsior College, etc.

I worked my way into IT by first getting a job in the foreign language lab in college helping students with the language software for 1.5 years (Mac and PCs). After college I worked in a warehouse stocking shelves and talked them into cross-training me on everything... which lead to learning to batch process orders on and AIX system and supporting Lotus Notes running in a NetWare environment. From there got a job building PCs for Compaq as a temp through ManPower. Wtih all that experience I was able to get a sweet desktop support job for a Fortune 500 company, which really started my career. No certs and no degree yet. Certs came later, then the degree. The best way to break into the IT world is by hard work and looking for opportunities everywhere.

Yea, man... CNE in NetWare 4. Ahh, the good ole days.

I worked with Netware 3.12, became CNE in Netware 5 and 6. Yup the good old days

Hypntick

Excellent1, nicely done! Just about to finish my second term with 1 more planned. The end is in sight for me as well. Congrats on your success!

demonfurbie

That's just inspiration to hurry my butt up

Excellent1

Thanks all for the congrats and well wishes. I plan on pursuing a Master at some point--I'm still debating when and where. I want to make sure I'm doing it for the right reasons and that it makes sense for where I'm at in my career.

It's almost a little surreal being done. I'm so used to starting the next class when I finish the previous one that I feel a little bit guilty for not diving into the next one. Still, I've been working on ROUTE in my "free" time, so I think I'll keep pursuing that until I decide definitively on the next move academically.

Nothing like a relaxing read on manipulating eigrp k values to help you rest after a day's work.

Turgon

Excellent1 wrote: »

Thanks all for the congrats and well wishes. I plan on pursuing a Master at some point--I'm still debating when and where. I want to make sure I'm doing it for the right reasons and that it makes sense for where I'm at in my career.

It's almost a little surreal being done. I'm so used to starting the next class when I finish the previous one that I feel a little bit guilty for not diving into the next one. Still, I've been working on ROUTE in my "free" time, so I think I'll keep pursuing that until I decide definitively on the next move academically.

Nothing like a relaxing read on manipulating eigrp k values to help you rest after a day's work.

Gotta love k values. Poorly documented and not understood well by many people. Knowing precisely what delay value to use to accomplish a given objective is a borderline art form.

Psoasman

Excellent1 wrote: »

Capstone graded, 4.0/4.0, I'm done. 133 CU's in 17 months (last month of my 3rd term wasn't needed), while working full time. As many others have said and shown here, it can be done.

Thank you to everyone who has shared their experiences in this thread and on this site. It's a huge help to compare strategies and ideas for tackling the various courses and I've definitely benefited from the different perspectives shared here.

Glad to be done, still deciding what comes next. Good luck to all of you.

Congrats!

ben503j

I am trying to get enrolled there. But they said I need at least an A+ Certification to get enrolled. And that is what brought me here!

joehalford01

ben503j wrote: »

I am trying to get enrolled there. But they said I need at least an A+ Certification to get enrolled. And that is what brought me here!

I don't think you necessarily "need" a certification. Any documented IT experience should do, I'd revisit that with an enrollment counselor.

NOLAJ

IWC1 done! Thank goodness.

erpadmin

Excellent1 wrote: »

Capstone graded, 4.0/4.0, I'm done. 133 CU's in 17 months (last month of my 3rd term wasn't needed), while working full time. As many others have said and shown here, it can be done.

Thank you to everyone who has shared their experiences in this thread and on this site. It's a huge help to compare strategies and ideas for tackling the various courses and I've definitely benefited from the different perspectives shared here.

Glad to be done, still deciding what comes next. Good luck to all of you.

I would bow down and kiss your ring, Your Excellency, but I would be too afraid of myself smacking me around hard for doing such things. LOL.

CONGRATULATIONS AND WELL DONE!!!!!!!! Welcome to the club. I will toast to your honor while I hit the Buckhead scene in Hotlanta (and to the rest of the TE-WGU family )


EDIT: For what's it worth....you have officially earned your name!

NOLAJ

Excellent1 wrote: »

Capstone graded, 4.0/4.0, I'm done. 133 CU's in 17 months (last month of my 3rd term wasn't needed), while working full time. As many others have said and shown here, it can be done.

Thank you to everyone who has shared their experiences in this thread and on this site. It's a huge help to compare strategies and ideas for tackling the various courses and I've definitely benefited from the different perspectives shared here.

Glad to be done, still deciding what comes next. Good luck to all of you.

Congrats!! I know it has to feel good!!

Psoasman

ben503j wrote: »

I am trying to get enrolled there. But they said I need at least an A+ Certification to get enrolled. And that is what brought me here!

This is from the WGU site:

Special requirements for WGU’s IT programs

Demonstrate IT experience either through:
An associate’s degree in IT or equivalent (A.S. or A.A.S. acceptable).
High-level IT coursework completed within the last five years:
Two or more upper-level Networking courses OR
Two or more upper-level Object-Oriented Programming courses (Java, C#, etc.) OR
One or more upper-level Operating Systems course OR
One or more upper-level Information Security and Assurance course
Transferable IT certifications earned within the last five years.
A resume showing three-plus years of IT work experience.

veritas_libertas

ben503j wrote: »

I am trying to get enrolled there. But they said I need at least an A+ Certification to get enrolled. And that is what brought me here!

Welcome to TE!

Have you worked IT before? If not then you will need at least the A+ or an AA or AAS in IT, etc.

petedude

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Welcome to TE!

Have you worked IT before? If not then you will need at least the A+ or an AA or AAS in IT, etc.

I thought any ol' cert would do.

Getting a small number of certs not only qualifies you for enrollment, but saves you having to complete competencies. A+, MCTS, . . . I can imagine a few others would be acceptable, unless they've specified A+ only.

veritas_libertas

petedude wrote: »

I thought any ol' cert would do.

Getting a small number of certs not only qualifies you for enrollment, but saves you having to complete competencies. A+, MCTS, . . . I can imagine a few others would be acceptable, unless they've specified A+ only.

LOL, I was trying to make it easy and quick

jmasterj206

I know veritas asked this a few days ago, but has anyone finished WSV1 (CIW Web Development) recently? The material is so dry. I've been going through the study guide and watching the videos and also bought UCertify for it, but I am concerned that will be good enough. I thought MCMCSE was a good resource for some of the CIW exams but they have not been updated for this one. Without breaking NDA are there any tips out there?

bryanthetechie

jmasterj206 wrote: »

I know veritas asked this a few days ago, but has anyone finished WSV1 (CIW Web Development) recently? The material is so dry. I've been going through the study guide and watching the videos and also bought UCertify for it, but I am concerned that will be good enough. I thought MCMCSE was a good resource for some of the CIW exams but they have not been updated for this one. Without breaking NDA are there any tips out there?

I'm working on it right now. The tip I got from my mentor is to read the entire e-book, but only do the labs for chapters 1-17 and 30-34. If you want to be a web developer then maybe do them all. If not, those chapters will get you a pass on the exam. Good luck!

erpadmin

jmasterj206 wrote: »

I know veritas asked this a few days ago, but has anyone finished WSV1 (CIW Web Development) recently? The material is so dry. I've been going through the study guide and watching the videos and also bought UCertify for it, but I am concerned that will be good enough. I thought MCMCSE was a good resource for some of the CIW exams but they have not been updated for this one. Without breaking NDA are there any tips out there?

uCertify did work for my Javascript exam, BUT I BARELY got out of that exam alive. However, in my defense, this particular testing center I went to was very noisy and I had to complain to the person who sat me down. Still, between uCertify and the study guide, I did eek out a pass....but I didn't put in 100%.

Reading any CIW text will guarantee a pass though. The only problem with that is that it's so much and dry. (Which was why uCertify was used.) CIW study guides and exams DO match up in content...that much I know. Unfortunately, if one were to depend on CIW, it's gonna depend on how much time you want to dedicate to study to pass that one exam.

simtech

I just got my diploma today. For you guys with the emphasis, does it say that on your diploma?

Mine just said Bachelor of Science Information Technology.

usagent27

I am currently going through the enrollment process and i am looking to start classes on March 1st. I have decided to go for the general BS Information Technology.

Currently i have an A+ that should transfer and maybe some general college courses.

Anyway i have spent the last few weeks reading all of the posts and i appreciate everyone sharing story.

Psoasman

usagent27 wrote: »

I am currently going through the enrollment process and i am looking to start classes on March 1st. I have decided to go for the general BS Information Technology.

Currently i have an A+ that should transfer and maybe some general college courses.

Anyway i have spent the last few weeks reading all of the posts and i appreciate everyone sharing story.

Welcome to the forum. Most, if not all of your questions will be answered in the rather large thread we have here. If not, don't hesitate to ask!

erpadmin

Psoasman wrote: »

Welcome to the forum. Most, if not all of your questions will be answered in the rather large thread we have here. If not, don't hesitate to ask!

You know, I think maybe we should start writing a FAQ, and have Veritas put that in the first post of both stickies. This would probably help out the novice a good lot.

erpadmin

simtech wrote: »

I just got my diploma today. For you guys with the emphasis, does it say that on your diploma?

Mine just said Bachelor of Science Information Technology.

Mine just says Bachelor of Science -- Information Technology

BTW, congratulations!! I think you are the first of my referrals to have finished!! Well done!!

Psoasman

erpadmin wrote: »

You know, I think maybe we should start writing a FAQ, and have Veritas put that in the first post of both stickies. This would probably help out the novice a good lot.

Agreed. It would be beneficial to have FAQs about the actual courses: hints, tips, tricks to succeed. BTW: my mentor said that they are getting rid of LabSim for the Cisco courses and moving to something else. I am very curious as to what. Apparently the course mentors are concerned about students "relying on LabSim too much for the exam"

Psoasman

simtech wrote: »

I just got my diploma today. For you guys with the emphasis, does it say that on your diploma?

Mine just said Bachelor of Science Information Technology.

Congrats! Hoping to be in the same boat in about a year.

usagent27

Psoasman wrote: »

Welcome to the forum. Most, if not all of your questions will be answered in the rather large thread we have here. If not, don't hesitate to ask!

i want to get a head start.

What books should i use for the Project +, Security +, and CIW (WF1) i figure that while i'm waiting i can study and then just bang those out.

also whats the name of the book for LAE1?

Thanks!

cvuong1984

usagent27 wrote: »

i want to get a head start.

What books should i use for the Project +, Security +, and CIW (WF1) i figure that while i'm waiting i can study and then just bang those out.

also whats the name of the book for LAE1?

Thanks!

I used Darril Gibson's book for Security+ (Note: make sure you get the 2012 version, I believe the 2008 Sec+ Test ended 1/1/12)
But I just read the book and did a few practice test, was able to answer about 90% of 2 tests, took the exam and passed.

usagent27

cvuong1984 wrote: »

I used Darril Gibson's book for Security+ (Note: make sure you get the 2012 version, I believe the 2008 Sec+ Test ended 1/1/12)
But I just read the book and did a few practice test, was able to answer about 90% of 2 tests, took the exam and passed.

great thank you. i just ordered this book