Student Experiences at Western Governors University (WGU)

JDimmock

Starting Sept 1 on the BS-IT track.
I've been inspired by this board to do a blog on the experience start to finish: jeffdimmock.com/blog

N2IT

Good luck Jeff I'm sure you will do great.

N2IT

Social Responsibility and Supply Chain have been completed. Working on Risk Management now, time to really get at it.

snapdad

Knocked out CLC1 - Reasoning and Problem Solving over the weekend. That was a pretty easy class.

usagent27

My end date for the semester is looming... i am down to 4 classes. Techwriting was submitted but requires revisions. 3 out of 4 java tasks are done

passed DJV1 today....

it's a race to see if i can finish in one term... i think i can do it

JDimmock

N2IT wrote: »

Good luck Jeff I'm sure you will do great.

Thanks! I'm hoping to go from none to done in 3 terms.

Raidersfan81

usagent27 wrote: »

My end date for the semester is looming... i am down to 4 classes. Techwriting was submitted but requires revisions. 3 out of 4 java tasks are done

passed DJV1 today....

it's a race to see if i can finish in one term... i think i can do it

Grats!

Just channel your inner Usain Bolt and you will finish that race this term!

Raidersfan81

snapdad wrote: »

Knocked out CLC1 - Reasoning and Problem Solving over the weekend. That was a pretty easy class.

Congrats! Yeah it wasn't that bad of a class at all. I did it over a couple days too.

usagent27

briandy81 wrote: »

Grats!

Just channel your inner Usain Bolt and you will finish that race this term!

Thanks!

Tech Writing was accepted...that was the fastest i have seen taskstream turn a paper back. less than 6 hrs!!!!!

down to 3!

Psoasman

Nice! TaskStream seems quicker at the beginning of the month. I had all 4 papers for RIT1 returned within 18 hours.

usagent27

good! i hope they keep that up. Submitting my Capstone tonight

lelei

I wish my stuff was getting through task stream that quickly! I've already submitted parts 1-3 of the research paper for QBT1 and it feels like I have been waiting forever. I have 4-5 finished but I'm worried about revisions on the first 3 affecting the finished product.

I also have the paper for the arts class submitted too, waiting to get that one back before I do the powerpoint. Has anyone else done the powerpoint for IWT1? It just seems like an unlikely medium for this project, I think it would be much easier to present as another paper.

My mentor isn't letting me accelerate until I have the current batch of classes done, so this is getting frustrating. I'm ready to sit for Project+, but can't until these classes are finished.

On your capstone, how much did you worry about the APA format and grammar? Do they look heavily at those things, or is it more based on how well you understand and present the material?

erpadmin

lelei wrote: »

On your capstone, how much did you worry about the APA format and grammar?

Considering that English was my first language, not much. I had done LAT1 (or whatever they called the "research paper") prior to Capstone, so I made sure I followed that format when doing both Tech Writing and Capstone. Capstone was essentially the same paper + a couple of pages....

lelei wrote: »

Do they look heavily at those things, or is it more based on how well you understand and present the material?

Ummm...yes, yes and yes. What helped me out a lot was the sample capstone and techwriting paper I had as a guide. Since the topic (data dedupe) was different from mine (ERP) I had no problem reading it...especially since WGU themselves provided it. I also got to learn a little about data dedupes, but I wasn't going to use it in my paper...if I had to mention backups at all, I would have gone tape.

lelei

They let you reuse your material from the research paper for the capstone? That's pretty awesome... Did you have to go through and heavily reword it, or was it just adding to it?

erpadmin

Tech Writing...not research....(that's LAT1, QBT1 or whatever they call it now) and yes, you do reuse the material...they don't "let you" it's what you're supposed to do...

demonfurbie

i think capstone/tech was my shortest group of classes both were taken with little issue

N2IT

It seems that more people wait to the very end of the month or close too it and punt off a bunch of assignments. I agree in the beginning of the month and middle it is much faster.

usagent27

Capstone has been submitted!

All that is left is task 4 of programming and DFV1 Web Dev Fundamentals which i should be taking next week!

Then i will have completed all of my courses in one term!
(21 classes, and 76 CUs)
My next step if to enroll in the WGU masters programs. I am considering both Security and Network design. So i may do both masters programs back to back

Drovor

Congrats, very impressive!

usagent27

Thank you. It has been a busy 6 months. It will be well worth it in the end though.

snapdad

usagent27 wrote: »

Capstone has been submitted!

All that is left is task 4 of programming and DFV1 Web Dev Fundamentals which i should be taking next week!

Then i will have completed all of my courses in one term!
(21 classes, and 76 CUs)
My next step if to enroll in the WGU masters programs. I am considering both Security and Network design. So i may do both masters programs back to back

Nice work! I'm shooting for completing all my courses in one term too, but having to wait 5 days to take an assessment is kinda slowing me down. Do you have any tips for knocking classes out faster?

usagent27

snapdad wrote: »

Nice work! I'm shooting for completing all my courses in one term too, but having to wait 5 days to take an assessment is kinda slowing me down. Do you have any tips for knocking classes out faster?

Yes that can be a pain. What i normally did was as soon as was 25% into the course i would schedule the exams. WGU has changed the policies a bit so i'm not sure if this approach would still work. You need a good mentor that isn't going to hold you back. Remember they work for you. Also now that you can schedule your own cert test like TPV1, it's easier. If you have courses that overlap complete those back to back. I had to take Network Funamentals and Networks so i just scheduled both exams on the same day. 7 credits done. It's a great feeling when that happens.

I am proof that this can be done. The key is having a support system at home and having a great mentor. If you need anything else feel free to shoot me a pm.

lelei

For those who have accelerated- were you allowed to begin more than one course at a time after finishing your initial courses for the semester?

I'm just about finished up with my first set of courses and I have the technical writing paper done, but with how slow Taskstream has been for me, I am worried about telling my mentor to open that course for me next.

usagent27

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I can only speak for myeslf but yes. There were many times i would be working on 2-3 courses at once. It depends on your mentor. My first mentor was horrible. She would not unlock materials/tests unless ichecked the boxes in the course of study. She really was slowing me down. So i complained and requested a new mentor. My new mentor rocks! i will be sad to work with another when i switch to the Masters program.

Hypntick

usagent27, what you can do is request your same mentor, provided they are a masters mentor. However if they are not a masters mentor, mine wasn't, they can possibly suggest a mentor for you to request. I spoke with the mentor I requested a couple of months ago before even finishing the BS degree, and I already have a good feeling about him. Since he's in the same mentor group as my BS mentor they've already spoken about me and how I progress through classes.

hiddenknight821

Hypntick is right. I was fortune enough to keep the same mentor since she's also my mentor. I plan to attend the graduation ceremony after I'm done with MSISA. I hope to see her there, and that's my wish.

lelei

I wonder if I should try to request a new mentor. To be completely honest, the one I have irritates the heck out of me. Her voice is like nails on a chalkboard when we talk and she has this completely fake cheerfulness about her. Can you tell I am already frustrated only a week into my courses?

She seems to have unlocked materials for me, but I would like to be able to schedule other exams while I'm stuck in the Taskstream queue. Is that outside the realm of possibility?

I already have all the materials done for QBT1 and IWT1, but I am stuck waiting for Taskstream responses now. It's getting frustrating because I am mentally ready to move on, but I am stuck waiting instead.

Hypntick

lelei, generally you have to complete your first 12 CU before they will allow you to open additional classes. However, you may request access to the learning resources early. If your mentor is nice, they will usually do that for you.

usagent27

lelei wrote: »

I wonder if I should try to request a new mentor. To be completely honest, the one I have irritates the heck out of me. Her voice is like nails on a chalkboard when we talk and she has this completely fake cheerfulness about her. Can you tell I am already frustrated only a week into my courses?

She seems to have unlocked materials for me, but I would like to be able to schedule other exams while I'm stuck in the Taskstream queue. Is that outside the realm of possibility?

I already have all the materials done for QBT1 and IWT1, but I am stuck waiting for Taskstream responses now. It's getting frustrating because I am mentally ready to move on, but I am stuck waiting instead.

are her intials LH?

And my Mentor doesn't mentor the masters programs. I will ask him for someone like him though. Thank you.

lelei

Nope, VK. On the bright side, the first of my QBT assignments finally made it through Taskstream and got rated as excellent overall. That makes me less nervous about the other 5 assignments I currently have pending in there.

I think I wouldn't be as frustrated if the courses I had left weren't so heavily dependent on waiting through the Taskstream process. The writing is easy for me, but the waiting isn't!