Student Experiences at Western Governors University (WGU)

NOLAJ

Nobylspoon wrote: »

AHV1 is complete. I have about 6 weeks to complete QLT1 and AIV1. I think AIV1 will be easier for me since I am more familiar with networking than AD. QLT1 doesn't look too hard. I have already submitted my first task.

Congrats on the AHV1 (Active Directory)!! For what it's worth, AIV1 (Network Infrastructure) is a beast!! Don't take it too lightly. If you do your due diligence, you'll be fine. Best of luck!!


**Edit confused Win 7 & Active Directory!

Nobylspoon

Hypntick wrote: »

Honestly, who uses a server as a router? .

Actually, I have had to do this before on a 2K3 server in a lab environment. Not sure what production use it would have though.

NOLAJ wrote: »

Congrats on the AHV1 (Windows 7)!! For what it's worth, AIV1 (Network Infrastructure) is a beast!! Don't take it too lightly. If you do your due diligence, you'll be fine. Best of luck!!

AHV1 was the Active Directory exam. I didn't have to do the Win7 exam since I transferred in my Vista cert. I will be hitting the books hard starting tomorrow. I have the same resources I used for 70-640 - Testout, uCertify, MSPress, Unleashed, Sybex, Self-Test Software, MeasureUp, CBTNuggets. I'm looking forward to getting started

NOLAJ

Nobylspoon wrote: »

AHV1 was the Active Directory exam. I didn't have to do the Win7 exam since I transferred in my Vista cert. I will be hitting the books hard starting tomorrow. I have the same resources I used for 70-640 - Testout, uCertify, MSPress, Unleashed, Sybex, Self-Test Software, MeasureUp, CBTNuggets. I'm looking forward to getting started

Ooops, confused the 2, congrats none the less!!

N2IT

Just wanted to throw some props out for WGU. The task have been really mind opening. They really force me to think through concepts and real world experiences. I really like this program and feel it's a good fit. I have been a banshee lately with my assignments. I found that being involved in the MBA program it really takes a lot of time away from frivolous time wasting activities.

Certs kind of ran their course and it was time to move up and on. I am currently taking Human Resource Management and have turned in one task already and I am about to turn in task 2 here shortly. I need to build out my reference page. It should be tomorrow or Tuesday.

The last task looks like there are a lot of elements to it so it could prove to be tricky. I'll cross that road once I get the second one turned in.

I really am looking forward to getting my MBA - Strategy degree from WGU. Ironically enough one of my instructors from Webster University works for WGU now. Small world huh? I ended up dropping that graduate course for several reasons. Immaturity and lack of confidence being the main factors.

I won't keep posting my progress, but I wanted to let you know I have nothing but respect for this University. One of the best academic decisions I have ever made. Including my certifications......

Hypntick

Task 1 and 2 for LAT1 came back with no issues. Submitted task 3 yesterday evening. Will be working on 4 and 5 this evening, the wife works tonight so i've got a solid 5-6 hours alone time. Should be able to knock both of those out and put this bad boy behind me. Took the preassessment for GAC1, ended up scoring higher than I thought I would. I've requested access to the learning resources for that, if I can score as high as I did with no practice, I should be able to knock it out with minimal study.

Nobylspoon

You guys just reminded me that LAT1 was the course I was pushing off until after my MCITP:EA. I'm going to have sooo many papers due next term

NOLAJ

LAT1 transferred in for me. By the sounds of it, I'm thankful!

Need some advice....

I just received approval to take my TSV1(Sec+) exam, I have about 7 weeks left in this term. Should I go for ORC1 or MGC1 1st? Can I knock both out before the end of this term?? What are you guy's experience with the 2 courses?

erpadmin

NOLAJ wrote: »

LAT1 transferred in for me. By the sounds of it, I'm thankful!

Need some advice....

I just received approval to take my TSV1(Sec+) exam, I have about 7 weeks left in this term. Should I go for ORC1 or MGC1 1st? Can I knock both out before the end of this term?? What are you guy's experience with the 2 courses?

ORC1 is pretty much common sense nonsense, you should be able to knock that out depending on how you do on the preassessment. (Which is almost like the test itself.)

MGC1 has concepts you would have learned in Project+ (like formation of groups) but also discusses things that if you weren't familiar with in your preassessment, Google can help you out (like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg Theory...both of which came back in my grad school studies....)

Honestly, if you read Darril Gibson's Security+ guide (I guess the new 301 guide for the 301 exam) you should be able to pass....after that, ORC1 and MGC1 will be cake for you since you have Project+. Minimal study required (if you have work experience as well.)

NOLAJ

erpadmin wrote: »

ORC1 is pretty much common sense nonsense, you should be able to knock that out depending on how you do on the preassessment. (Which is almost like the test itself.)

MGC1 has concepts you would have learned in Project+ (like formation of groups) but also discusses things that if you weren't familiar with in your preassessment, Google can help you out (like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg Theory...both of which came back in my grad school studies....)

Honestly, if you read Darril Gibson's Security+ guide (I guess the new 301 guide for the 301 exam) you should be able to pass....after that, ORC1 and MGC1 will be cake for you since you have Project+. Minimal study required (if you have work experience as well.)

Thanks for the info!! I'm ready for the Sec +, just waiting for the voucher to be approved! I used the LabSim and Darril Gibson book to prepare.

erpadmin

NOLAJ wrote: »

Thanks for the info!! I'm ready for the Sec +, just waiting for the voucher to be approved! I used the LabSim and Darril Gibson book to prepare.

You should be fine then...provided you went through that who book, plus the end-of-chapter questions, plus the final exam at the end of the book.

With Labsim, I focused on cryptography. I did that before reading DG's book....DG just made everything click.

Hypntick

NOLAJ wrote: »

LAT1 transferred in for me. By the sounds of it, I'm thankful!

Need some advice....

I just received approval to take my TSV1(Sec+) exam, I have about 7 weeks left in this term. Should I go for ORC1 or MGC1 1st? Can I knock both out before the end of this term?? What are you guy's experience with the 2 courses?

For what it's worth, ORC1 and MGC1 took me a week to do the both of them, 7 weeks should be overkill. Having worked in the corporate world for a while, they were super easy. Your mileage may vary of course.

NOLAJ

Hypntick wrote: »

For what it's worth, ORC1 and MGC1 took me a week to do the both of them, 7 weeks should be overkill. Having worked in the corporate world for a while, they were super easy. Your mileage may vary of course.

Just took the ORC1 pre-assessment, scored 78%. The cut is 51%, this course shouldn't be an issue.

Nobylspoon

Same here, I did ORC1 and MGC1 in about 1-2 weeks. Then about 3 weeks for Project+.

Anyone notice that the 70-642 objectives on Microsoft.com add up to be over 100%?

NOLAJ

Nobylspoon wrote: »

Same here, I did ORC1 and MGC1 in about 1-2 weeks. Then about 3 weeks for Project+.

Anyone notice that the 70-642 objectives on Microsoft.com add up to be over 100%?

I never noticed that.

erpadmin

In my opinion, this is what I rank all of the "Leadership" courses [and I put Project+ in here, regardless if its part of the domain:]

From hardest to easiest:

LET1->Project+->MGC1->ORC1

However, I liked that I did Project+ before those courses, as it gave me a good foundation on a course like MGC1 and even ORC1. The LET1 textbook was real helpful as well.

Psoasman

erpadmin wrote: »

In my opinion, this is what I rank all of the "Leadership" courses [and I put Project+ in here, regardless if its part of the domain:]

From hardest to easiest:

LET1->Project+->MGC1->ORC1

However, I liked that I did Project+ before those courses, as it gave me a good foundation on a course like MGC1 and even ORC1. The LET1 textbook was real helpful as well.

I'm working on the Project+ and am finding after doing the BNC1 / MGC1, there are a lot of concepts from those courses in the Project+

Nobylspoon

NOLAJ wrote: »

I never noticed that.

I assume it was because of rounding. Perhaps two objectives are actually worth x.5% so they both rounded up. (Giving MS the benefit of the doubt of course).

usagent27

Wrapped up Security Fundamentals and Security + today. on to Windows OS Fundamentals

petedude

erpadmin wrote: »

From hardest to easiest:

LET1->Project+->MGC1->ORC1

For me, it was Project+>LET1>ORC1>MGC1, in large part because I had taken a Principles of Management CLEP some years ago. The thing that got me about Project+ was getting the material down well enough to answer the vague CompTIA questions. You really had to filter out what the correct answer was on some questions, because some of them came down to subjective judgments as to the "right" answer.

N2IT

@ ERP and Pete not to but into your conversation, but I thought Project + was hard when I first took the exam. I had very little experience in the field. By the time I took the CAPM I had at least 1 year of experience at the coordinator role or equivalent.

In fact I failed project + the first time with a 390 then scored a ~750, 2 rereads later and hand written study notes. I was taking the 2003 objectives though.

petedude

N2IT wrote: »

@ ERP and Pete not to but into your conversation, but I thought Project + was hard when I first took the exam. I had very little experience in the field. By the time I took the CAPM I had at least 1 year of experience at the coordinator role or equivalent.

No disruption at all! Chime right in.

I wasn't trying to be argumentative with Erp. I just felt it important to note that different people are going to have different challenges with these courses, as you did.

I used a nicely-written PMP book (used alongside uCertify) to pass the Project+. Lucked out and got the book near-new on eBay for $10 from someone close by. I still think it's one of the best study decisions I've ever made.

erpadmin

N2IT wrote: »

@ ERP and Pete not to but into your conversation, but I thought Project + was hard when I first took the exam. I had very little experience in the field. By the time I took the CAPM I had at least 1 year of experience at the coordinator role or equivalent.

In fact I failed project + the first time with a 390 then scored a ~750, 2 rereads later and hand written study notes. I was taking the 2003 objectives though.

When I took Project+, I was already involved with many of the topics discussed with it. RFPs, vendor conferences, project charters and kickoff meetings, yadda yadda yadda. I was not a PM, but I was a team lead, which I believe counts for PMI's PMP.

The Sybex's PK0-003 format was similiar enough to Darril Gibson's Security+ book, so I decided to go for it. The worst thing that could happen is that I fail the exam the first time. I even had uCertify helping me out, though I suspect it was a waste of time. The best thing that I could remember for the exam was the lines of communication; must have had three questions for it. All I know is that if I didn't have Text-To-Speech on my Kindle....I would not have had a good time reading that book......it really is terribly dry.

At some point, I might prepare myself for the PMP...the Project Management course I'm taking is taught by a PMP and I believe it counts for the 35 hours. Plus the person in my group from one of my classes earned her PMP after taking the course. While I didn't get the best grade ever, I didn't get the worst. But even in an online course, she commanded such a respect from myself and team members, which impressed me a lot. My Project+ cert allows me to tell people, at the very least, that I understand a PM methodology. But to compare it to a CAPM/PMP....sorry but I'm not trying to get laughed at. LOL.

Valsacar

Looking forward to starting my MSISA in May, just finished off CCNA (company offered to pay, so figured why not) so that's effectively one class already cleared!

tpatt100

Interesting, my mentor sent me a newsletter she is working on for her students. Has information for changes to programs, kudos to students who pass the program, and an inspiration page at the end. Thought that was pretty cool.

NOLAJ

tpatt100 wrote: »

Interesting, my mentor sent me a newsletter she is working on for her students. Has information for changes to programs, kudos to students who pass the program, and an inspiration page at the end. Thought that was pretty cool.

Cool!! Nobylspoon and I have the same mentor (T.M.), he also sends out a monthly newsletter. Kinda makes you feel like they are not looking at you like you're "just a number."

N2IT

Well I lost my virginity early! I received my first task back from task stream asking for a revision. No worries only one of the areas I scored a below marks on. They even said the document was done well it just needed a little more information so I will be working on that this weekend. I am actually done with task 2 which is more involved, I was up to 2 am last night. I need to complete the reference page that is all well and proof read it for the nth time.

I think I am going to start on task 3. I feel like reading and less typing tonight.

Quick question what happens if I submit all my task in at the same time? Well one after another on the same date? Is that frowned upon?

petedude

erpadmin wrote: »

My Project+ cert allows me to tell people, at the very least, that I understand a PM methodology. But to compare it to a CAPM/PMP....sorry but I'm not trying to get laughed at. LOL.

I usually think of Project+ as a "baby PMP".

swild

N2IT wrote: »

Quick question what happens if I submit all my task in at the same time? Well one after another on the same date? Is that frowned upon?

Doesn't matter. I submitted the first 3 tasks of KFT1 at the same time and was ok'd.

petedude wrote: »

I usually think of Project+ as a "baby PMP".

I usually think of my Project+ as the ability to work for a PMP, or at the very least, be talked down to by a PMP. By no means do I think a Project+ is able to manage any large project.

Melika635

Need a little encouragement... GUT1 Task 4 is killing me. slowly. painfully. Someone please tell me I will figure it out and it will all be just a memory soon.

erpadmin

petedude wrote: »

I usually think of Project+ as a "baby PMP".

Maybe an unborn baby.....probably a zygote or something.

swild wrote: »

I usually think of my Project+ as the ability to work for a PMP, or at the very least, be talked down to by a PMP. By no means do I think a Project+ is able to manage any large project.

Project+ was never meant to be anywhere like PMP. And you can successfully manage a project without PMP credentials (I've seen it with my own eyes.... It helped that I was a part of those implementations too though.)

I like my Project+ cert, but no one is going to get all excited over it. People tend to reserve that excitement for the PMP...