Student Experiences at Western Governors University (WGU)

This thread is intended for students to write about their experiences at Western Governors University.

Please keep it civil, and do not spend your time bashing the school, and its policies. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but if you have a problem you need to take it up with your professor or mentor. Please no Flaming on this thread.

You can ask for help with a referral (used to avoid paying the application fee) on the following thread: http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/55634-wgu-refer-friend-thread-those-seeking-referral.html

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Comments

kgb

Jasiono wrote: »

I'm extremely motivated. My post was more directed towards the fact that I'm a little nervous.

I have ample time to spend reading and studying for the courses.

Sweet man.

Nervousness is natural. You are in a good position, you have motivation and ample time.

Jasiono

Well I got the enrollment process done up to the point of taking the assessment tests.

A spark of excitement just filled my body. I'll be doing this tonight when I'm at home

djfunz

N2IT wrote: »

I wish WGU would create a Computer Science degree.

What exactly is the difference? I see lots of job postings requesting a CS or EE degree. WGU offers an IT degree. It's accredited but I never see requests for an IT degree. Some clarification from WGU members and perhaps those here with a CS or EE degree would be appreciated.

I generically answered my question with a simple Google search; an action I quickly forget to do sometimes.

CS = Programmer / Developer
IT = Sys Admin / Network Admin / Management

kgb

djfunz wrote: »

What exactly is the difference? I see lots of job postings requesting a CS or EE degree. WGU offers an IT degree. It's accredited but I never see requests for an IT degree. Some clarification from WGU members and perhaps those here with a CS or EE degree would be appreciated.

I generically answered my question with a simple Google search; an action I quickly forget to do sometimes.

CS = Programmer / Developer
IT = Sys Admin / Network Admin / Management

I see a lot of jobs list, "Computer Science" or "Computer Science or Equivalent Degree". In this area (southern Virginia) anyways. Personally, I will apply for any developer job with my eventual IT degree. I won't mask the fact it's an IT degree though.

N2IT

@DJ you nailed.

Electrical Engineer EE
Computer Science CS

Most of the CS majors I know have the ability to script and develop. Even if they go into system adminstration or something "IT", they are usually far superior with their ability to automate and develop interfaces and applications.

One of the best sys admins I know has a CS from Virginia Tech. He is always being asked to create interfaces. Infact just recently he built a application interface that allows the helpdesk to push application from a VB form. It's pretty slick, you just select the appliction, type in the machine name and launch it. Instead of the techs having to plod around SCCM they can just use the developed tool.

He created reports in VB like that as well. Having those skills from a solid CS degree are very helpful.

Jasiono

Took 2 of the assessment tests.

When do the results come back and where can I see them?

CBaer

Quick introduction and question. I've been reading this thread, and am impressed by the fraternity you have going here. Not one ***** in sight... generally. I am starting WGU in August in the IT Sec track. I am an IT Director -- C&A, policy/planning and IA -- and want to shore up my technical skills. I'm hoping I can knock out 30 or more CU's a term in order to get the degree as soon as possible. I don't have a ton of transfers as I was working my way through a Homeland Security degree; but was in an accelerated program where I did 15 credits every nine weeks. Here's my question:

In a traditional edu setting, even in the accelerated environment I was completing, you have 12 credit hours -- which equals four classes -- scheduled at once, and you progress through those "assignments" weekly in order to complete the class. How are you guys managing the WGU environment? Are you concentrating on one class at a time, blazing through it, and trying to check them off the list before you move on; or are you progressing through several classes at once, like a traditional study, in order to manage the term. Ultimately I want to get through as many competency units per term as I can. In my accelerated program it was 12 credits per 9 weeks, which would be approx 36 per six months. Doable?

Thanks guys. Looking forward to getting to know you all. If there's any "must have" web links, material, recommendations, etc you want to refer to a new ITSEC student; I'd love to have your insight about books, websites, organziation, etc.

swild

I had 3 or 4 classes assigned to me at a time, but only worked one at a time. Here's the way that worked for me and allowed me to finish 60 CUs in one term:
Start with classes 1,2,3. Request all of the learning resources and start whichever one you get the learning resources opened up first. Blaze through class 1 and as soon as you get that pass, open up class 4 and request all those learning resources. Start class 2. By the time you finish class 2, you should be through all the red tape to get to the resources for class 4. Start on class 3, request class 5. I got stuck on one class and ordered a book off of ebay. While I was waiting on that, I started on class 4. Pass class 4, request class 6, go back and finish class 3. Start class 5, request class 7 etc.

This way you never have to wait on learning resources to come available, which can sometimes take 3 or 4 days, or be stuck doing nothing while waiting on TaskStream to grade your submission, which can take up to 5 days.

However, any classes that are not passed by the end of your term, are technically failed. That doesn't really mean much at WGU, except for the fact that it can put you on probation for financial aid, which also doesn't matter unless you do it 2 terms in a row.

Hypntick

Had my initial call with the enrollment councilor for the MS:ISA. Sent in my Cisco transcript and my preferred mentor. He said I should hear back from him next week. Ready to get this party started!

CBaer

swild wrote: »

I had 3 or 4 classes assigned to me at a time, but only worked one at a time. Here's the way that worked for me and allowed me to finish 60 CUs in one term:

Thanks swild. It's going to be an interesting change to try to unilaterally decide when I, as a student, feel that I am ready for testing. We're so conditioned to wait for those ubiquitous watermarks in US education, with someone else dictating the rules.

Going to be interesting to see how much basic knowledge of the more technical subjects I've picked up as an IA manager... Here's to winds at my back, hopefully.

Jasiono

Hypntick wrote: »

Sent in my Cisco transcript and my preferred mentor. He said I should hear back from him next week. Ready to get this party started!

Cisco transcript? I went to Cisco academy through my local community college.

I took all the assessments yesterday and passed them. I had a tough time with passive vs active. I've never heard of these terms before so before answering that question I had to do a little research.

Silly military school!

My essay was about a challenge I had in my life and how I overcame it. That was pretty easy and took 10 minutes.

I wrote about how I went to a German school and how different it is compared to DoDDs schools.

Hypntick

Yeah, just to prove that I do in fact have the cert in order to waive a class. Since I ended up with the CCENT in my BS program, it covers a class in the MS program.

TemperingPick

Hey guys, few questions if you don't mind.

I'm fresh out of high school and I'm looking at WGU for the BS in IT:Network. On the admissions page it says that you must have:

Have earned an associate’s degree in IT or equivalent (A.S. or A.A.S. acceptable)

Have completed the following high-level IT coursework 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

Hold transferable IT certifications earned within the last five years

Submit a resume showing three-plus years of IT work experience

Being fresh out of high school I don't have any of those. The closet thing I have that would be even close to it is taking Cisco's Networking Academy in high school. Other than that the only thing I have to prove my IT knowledge is some 2nd and 3rd place medals in SkillsUSA's Computer Maintenance Technology competition which is basically A+ practice test and hands on stuff. That's all. Would any of those qualify for the requirements?

Oh and I have some of those Office Certifications that say I'm Word and Powerpoint Certified. Do those count? :P

Jasiono

I would call and see. And dont forget to get a friend referral to save 65 bucks and enroll for free.

TemperingPick

Yeah, I requested for more information and left my number. If they don't call by Friday I'll give them a call back.

I'm just trying to see if it's worth my time to plan for it. I'm stuck between 2 options, community college then transfer to a university or do WGU. Both of them are about the same price but I think I could get done with WGU faster. I enjoy working at my own pace. Plus getting certs while in college is a very nice thing.

dcren21

jober wrote: »

dcren21 I am in the same position as you. Longtime lurker. I also will be starting on August 1st. Nice to find someone else starting with me. I wish you the best of luck and thank all who post in here for their posts. Quite motivational whether you all realize it or not.

Good luck and hopefully we both complete this new endeavor. I'm getting too old to keep putting this off, besides I want my kids to see the importance of college or at least the degree with the way the world is going.

Somnipotent

dcren... looks like you and I are gonna start the same time

Jasiono

Me too if everything goes through in time!

dcren21

Somnipotent wrote: »

dcren... looks like you and I are gonna start the same time

Yeah I'm getting excited on one hand, but I know that when I start my free time is going to be severely limited. I probably wont be doing 50+ credits a term like some people, but I'm definitely going to accelerate it. I'm hitting my CCENT hard now so I can take it within a month of starting, and then the ICND2 shortly after that. Hopefully my mentor lets me put those in to my first term since I was doing it anyway for my job. Good luck.

dcren21

Somnipotent wrote: »

dcren... looks like you and I are gonna start the same time

Looks like you have a bunch of certs already knocked out. Is there much left for you to do? Good luck by the way.

Somnipotent

not sure, my enrollment counselor is calling on friday to finalize things. i have my associates as well so we'll see how much i actually have to accomplish

Hypntick

Just picked up a C|EH book to study during my down time. I've got the task stream stuff for the first couple of classes. I plan to knock those out and study for the C|EH and then start the new degree off with a bang.

Melika635

Jumping back in to say hello... I posted 5-6 weeks ago that my capstone passed and I only needed 70-680 to graduate. And alas, I am in exactly the same position right now. I was fortunate to receive an amazing job offer with a great company, and relocated my family from TX to CO. I had gotten a pretty good start on studying, but I'm sure I have forgotten it all by now. I'm ready to get back in gear and get this thing finished!

mattyg0782

Same here...starting Aug 1st. B.S. Information Technology (Network Admin). As long as all the financial aid goes through. Have my intake interview today. Waiting on one more transcript to arrive. Can't wait to hit the ground running! Good luck, and hope to stay updated with your progress.

N2IT

Just added two more courses to my plan. (Social Responsibility and Risk Management) **Currently working on Supply Chain

Somnipotent

Can anyone give some perspectives on the actual capstone project? Do they give you any direction as to what to do or do you actually have to come up with the project yourself? I think that's the only thing that really concerns me as the actual classes will be pretty manageable.

rukisama

Could anyone tell me how important transcripts are from old colleges? I only ask because I had a pretty rough time when I went to school, and did pretty poorly (I have anxiety issues, and going to class every day was pretty tough for me). Does WGU base their admissions decision on the transcripts they get?

Somnipotent

rukisama wrote: »

Could anyone tell me how important transcripts are from old colleges? I only ask because I had a pretty rough time when I went to school, and did pretty poorly (I have anxiety issues, and going to class every day was pretty tough for me). Does WGU base their admissions decision on the transcripts they get?

I would ask your enrollment counselor about this. I went to a George Mason for one semester and withdrew midway do to financial constraints so I didn't even request a transcript for them. I used my Associates degree from my previous school exclusively and didn't run into any issues.

Raidersfan81

rukisama wrote: »

Could anyone tell me how important transcripts are from old colleges? I only ask because I had a pretty rough time when I went to school, and did pretty poorly (I have anxiety issues, and going to class every day was pretty tough for me). Does WGU base their admissions decision on the transcripts they get?

I sent in transcripts from 99-02 when I first got out of High School and was lazy and didn't value College with a handful of F's and D's and it didn't hurt me at all. They aren't going to base you on that, they just want to see what you have completed so far so they can credit you for courses that fall under your degree from WGU.

Jasiono

If my financial aide goes through before Monday I start on the first of August. If not, I will have to wait until september.

My job doesn't pay for the school up front, they reimburse.

My transcripts should be in by either tomorrow or Monday and then I have to wait a week to see what transfers over.

Woohoo