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.

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usagent27

If it was me i would take BNC1 and TPV1 next. Both courses have alot of overlap. BNC1 is a test with the webcam or proctored. It's fairly straight forward. If you have ever worked in a corporate environment you will be fine. TPV1 is Project +. The test isn't hard but the material can be boring. That was another read the book to reinforce some of the topics learned in BNC1. I was able to complete both course in 10 days.

lelei

I probably will do those two next. I started preparing on my own for project+ last year so I am leaning towards doing that one first. However, I already do have the technical writing paper completely done already, and I hate having to sit on it due to the Taskstream lag time.

I don't expect instantaneous grading, or even same day grading, but it would be nice if you could turn in stuff for additional courses if they see all the current coursework sitting there pending grading.

CBaer

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

Wow! Well done, man. I'm in a similar boat as you -- as I have about 85CU's to complete. If you don't mind me picking your brain -- do you have any advice on managing the term? I'm going to try shooting for a one term completion so that I get as many classes as I can knocked out -- and if I don't manage, then the second term will be minimal. Do you have any tips about class management, working with the mentors, how much time a night you were putting in? Are you working? Commitments?

I'm putting in about 30-35 hours per week on top of the full time job and family, on pace to knock out the first four classes in the first 5 weeks. I know once that is done though it's deep into the web programming and CISCO, which will take more time per class. If you want to PM me, or share here -- I'd be grateful to hear your story. All the other posters were mostly those with associates, left with only 50 or so credits. I'd like to hear from someone more parallel to my journey.

CBaer

usagent27 wrote: »

Yes that can be a pain. What i normally did was as soon as was 25% into the course i would schedule the exams.

Did your mentor not force you to take the pre-assessments first? Mine seems like she's a good mentor, and willing to work with me, but won't let me schedule the exam ahead without posting a pre-assessment grade for the WFV1 that I'm working through. I'm concerned that I will end up finishing, being ready to go, and then having to wait for vouchers AND a schedule time at a proctor which could be weeks out (looking for saturdays)... Which would seriously derail my progress.

Hypntick

I don't think I had to actually take a single pre-assessment for any of my classes. I did however choose to take some of them.

erpadmin

N2IT wrote: »

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.

(Quote is short enough.)

I didn't plan my Taskstream assisgnments based on where in the month the assignment fell. If it happened to fall in the beginning of the month and I was done, so much the better, if it was done at the end, then I would just wait my 3-5 days. The longest assignment that felt real long was the last task for INT1. My temporary mentor then "made a call" to see if it could get graded quicker. I believe I had a revision, but after talking with a nice gentleman who was of African descent, I was able to make sure that my experiment made sense.

In any event, my advice is to just do Taskstreams and fit them in your schedule...not the other way around. You lose a lot of time that way...especially if you do tasks/classes in a sequential order (as opposed to doing everything at once like at a traditional school...my WGU courses were done [for the most part] one at a time.)

spiderjericho

My mentor has been a little wishy/washy when it comes to approving my exams. He says he wants to see me attempt and get a good grade on my pre-assessments, but will usually approve the exams anyway.

Things have been pretty slow on my end. I just started BOV1 after taking a 2-week break due to my and my daughter's medical issues. So far, it's pretty dry. I don't like the labs. I get that they're requiring you to think, but it seems like they can be like classic learning examples of a walk-through lab then a challenge, since the material doesn't really give great examples so it's like you're working in the dark. Hopefully, I can test out tail end of next week. My interest in CUV1, DFV1 and BOV1 are low. I'm always willing to learn something new, but I guess I like the router/switch or security stuff more.

usagent27

Yes! Capstone has been accepted with a 3.88 score!

Down to my last 2 classes. DFV1 will be taken by next Friday and Programming will be completed within 2 weeks.

Krones

usagent27 wrote: »

If it was me i would take BNC1 and TPV1 next. Both courses have alot of overlap. BNC1 is a test with the webcam or proctored. It's fairly straight forward. If you have ever worked in a corporate environment you will be fine. TPV1 is Project +. The test isn't hard but the material can be boring. That was another read the book to reinforce some of the topics learned in BNC1. I was able to complete both course in 10 days.

Congrats on all your success! What order would you recommend to complete the following classes for someone that has no experience with the terminology: TPV1 > BNC1 > MGC1? Thanks.

usagent27

Thank you!

I would do BNC1 and MGC1 at same time or back to back then finish with TPV1. Thats what i did anyway. BNC1 and MGC1 will get you used to some of the terms used for Project +. Good Luck!

lelei

Congrats on the capstone! Its gotta feel great to have the end so close!

CBaer

How long does it take to get the vouchers? I would like to get the vouchers going while I study so I can schedule an exam and meet a target for the class, as well as stay on term target; as opposed to studying then taking the pre-assessment to qualify for the voucher, then waiting days for the voucher, then trying to schedule a test for a week or weeks later. That would seriously put a dent in my plans.

Melika635

Could use some encouragement-- I've been studying my tail off for the OS exam- 70-680 Windows 7, but I keep hearing how difficult it is, and I think it's psyching me out! Someone tell me its not as bad as it seems. Please. This is my final course- the only thing between me and GRADUATION!

Hypntick

I didn't find it as difficult as some others, just depends on your background however. To me the 70-642 test was considerably more difficult, but that was mostly due to the fact most people will never use the concepts it covers. The worst that can happen is you fail the test, in which case you go over your score report, take an appropriate amount of time to study and go knock it out. You can do it!

erpadmin

God I can relate to that Melika...I took 643 FOUR times....FOUR! 680 I only took once, but I was always comfortable with client O/Ses. I had prepped for 70-210 many moons ago, but I never pulled the trigger...a lot of my questions were basically NTFS questions and of course Windows 7 deployment. In the very beginning that was rough for me, because we used third party (Ghost) to deploy O/Ses and I had to understand "The Microsoft Way."

Seriously, just keep studying and labbing....when you get tired of it, that's when you study some more.

Best of luck!

Melika635

Thanks for the encouragement. If I don't pass this one the first time (which I know is rare), I'm going to need to be medicated. I don't have enough time in my term for a second attempt, and I am also trying to meet the deadlines for WGU TX commencement. It has to happen on 8/31 or else. So I'm putting in as much time every day as possible-- labbing, reading, practice exams, flash cards, notes. I have three weeks to know this stuff cold.

Last night, I stayed home while my family went to a concert, studied til midnight, woke up at 8 and picked up my laptop again.

This exam will NOT defeat me!

Techgrrl1

Just got my start date! September 1st! Super, super, excited!!!!!

Cisc0kidd

Congrats!

boredgamelad

MGC1 and BNC1 are done. Easiest pair of tests I've ever taken. A good portion of my KET1 studies are done as I'm finding programming to come much more naturally to me than I expected. I might have to look into it more once this whole degree thing is said and done.

I haven't touched CUV1 yet, but plan to start it this week and finish by the end of the month. All things considered, everything is going well.

taternuts666

Has anyone taken QBT1? That's the research paper class I think. Is it something I can start writing as soon as I start. Any info on the required length or anything? This is really the only class i'm not looking forward to taking. Can anyone give any insight?

petedude

erpadmin wrote: »

Seriously, just keep studying and labbing....when you get tired of it, that's when you study some more. Best of luck!

Good advice. M$ has really toughened their exams-- I took 642 twice right after passing the equivalent on the 2003 MCSA side. Second time I bombed by. . . five points. Best to read the threads here in their sub-forums for the particular exams, and just keep at it.

lelei

taternuts666 wrote: »

Has anyone taken QBT1? That's the research paper class I think. Is it something I can start writing as soon as I start. Any info on the required length or anything? This is really the only class i'm not looking forward to taking. Can anyone give any insight?

I am just finishing this one up. Its any subject you like, 15-20 pages. Honestly, I thought the tasks leading up to turning in the final paper were much worse than the paper itself. You'll need to do an annotated bibliography, a summary of one of your sources, a paper outline, a rough draft showing revisions and then your final paper.

You'll also need to find at least 10 sources. I did 12 and have gotten excellent remarks on everything so far. I'm just waited for my final paper to get graded.

The whole writing process thing was a pain in the butt for me, but if you struggle a bit with writing you might actually find it very helpful. I've also noticed they don't really look at your content until the final paper. For my bibliography, I read Amazon reviews for the books, and then wrote up fluff about each book and author. I didn't even read each source and still got remarks about how excellent the assignment was.

Pick a subject you either like or know you can ramble on about and you'll do fine. I would also suggest you make up your thesis asap and send it to the course mentor for review. They suggested I add the phrase "research suggests" to mine to make sure it made it through Taskstream easily. Looks like it worked!

Honestly you don't even have to wait til you start the course to start your writing. I started my paper before my first day and it really helped speed the process along. Form your thesis and make sure you have 3 different ways to support it, then start finding sources. The bibliography was the longest part of the process for me (aside from waiting on Taskstream.)

taternuts666

Thanks lelei, that is a big help. It's been a long time since I've written a research paper so I may have to wait until I actually start the class before I start the paper so I can get a little guidance. That is really awesome news that I can write about anything though. Knowing this I can at least go ahead and pick a subject, form a thesis, and starting finding sources. I wrote my high school research paper on Metallica so maybe there will possibly be a repeat of that?

Jasiono

Oh wow. I'm glad I got my requirement for qbt1 satisfied via degree.
Not to rub it in or anything lol. I tend to babble when typing up reports.

lelei

Jasiono wrote: »

Oh wow. I'm glad I got my requirement for qbt1 satisfied via degree.
Not to rub it in or anything lol. I tend to babble when typing up reports.

You'll still have to write a paper for IWT1

I thought that one was harder than the research paper, because it is so subjective. With the research paper, you could just pick a tech topic and ramble. With IWT1, you have to pick two different art periods and -shudder- interpret things.

Still, even that one was not too tough. I just picked 2 of the subjects off wikipedia and went to town with them. For IWT1, I didn't even include references and still got excellent comments on the paper.

Jasiono

Nooooooooo!!

I love Wikipedia for these things! They even have references I can look at on the bottom the pages.

Is there anything I can do now to get a head start in it before the semester starts?

lelei

The paper will be basically comparing two different periods of art and comparing two different works from those periods. How they are similar, how they are different, how one builds on the other, and how they reflect humanity during those times. For my paper I picked a romantic painting and a Picasso and talked about how the first industrial revolution was influencing those in the romantic period to explore and embrace nature, and then in the cubism period mankind was influenced by the technology revolution and even further removed from nature.

It was a pretty flowery paper, heavy on interpretation and the "plight of mankind." I was nervous when I submitted it, but got incredible feedback. I went in detail describing each painting and then tied the themes of each painting to the corresponding revolution. Guy looking out at the sea seeking to explore and understand nature during the industrial revolution, blocks and squares corresponding to mankind's move to urban cities with square blocks and apartments during the technology revolution. I just read the two Wikipedia articles about the ages and filled in the gaps with my "interpretations." I didn't include any references, just the names of the two paintings.

If your looking for a head start, scope out a couple artworks from the major art periods and start forming how they are similar and different, etc. They didn't seem to care too much about hardcore facts, they seemed to really like the interpretations for this one.

For me, that's much harder than writing a long research paper on malware

taternuts666

LeLei, I also see that you have completed CLC1. I have to take that class as well. I'm assuming that since you've already completed it and you just started on 8/1 I'm guessing that it was pretty easy. I've heard some people don't even read the book at all and just use the modules. Would you agree with this?

kgb

taternuts666 wrote: »

LeLei, I also see that you have completed CLC1. I have to take that class as well. I'm assuming that since you've already completed it and you just started on 8/1 I'm guessing that it was pretty easy. I've heard some people don't even read the book at all and just use the modules. Would you agree with this?

I read like...5-10% of the book, if that. I went through the modules and I watched their recorded "Practice Test" Webinars. The pre-assessment is totally on par with what to expect from the final exam.

taternuts666

Awesome, I'll allocate myself about 1 week for that class then.