Student Experiences at Western Governors University (WGU)

lelei

It was really easy. Just make sure you memorize the elements and standards of reasoning. The rest is basically common sense. I used only the modules, did the vocab quizzes and then the practice tests. Was quick and easy. Only thing that was inconvenient was going to the testing center to take the exam.

Jasiono

Logged on and saw that everything is open and ready to go.

Made my morning and I'm so eager to start.


It seems that the school is very well organized and they don't throw you to the wolves with just eText and call it a day. I'm very pleased with the interface.

Lets get this show started

lelei

I would get as much as possible done before your start date as you can. I did the pre-assessments before my start date and was able to submit two of my courses for scheduling on the first day of class. If you look at the rubrics, you have everything you need for the papers too. I was also able to contact the course mentor for QBT1 and get my thesis reviewed before my first day as well. If you can't access any materials, ask your mentor and they can open them before your start date.

If you don't like the order they are assigning the courses in, you can get that changed as well. I just switched to a new mentor and he is very supportive of me finishing courses as soon as I am ready. He looked at my score on the BNC1 preassessment and opened the class for me immediately and told me to go ahead and schedule the exam so I can get that one out of the way too

They are pretty awesome at getting you set to start right away and start knocking the classes out ASAP. I am really enjoying the experience and I am already debating staying for my masters.

Jasiono

So I have to take them in the order from top to bottom in my degree plan link?

lelei

Nope, they can open the courses for you in whatever order you request, you just have to be pretty clear about your requests. For example, I already have the tech writing course opened for me.

Jasiono

Gotcha. Thanks!

Ive been studying for my security+ and I would hate to switch gears now since its pretty low on the list haha.

Jasiono

Damn. I messed up my financial aid. I've never used it and ended up only giving myself half the tuition. Emailed the finaid department. Hopefully they can help me straighten it out. I would hate to get dropped.

JDimmock

Jasiono wrote: »

Damn. I messed up my financial aid. I've never used it and ended up only giving myself half the tuition. Emailed the finaid department. Hopefully they can help me straighten it out. I would hate to get dropped.

I hope you get it figured out. Try calling the finaid dept maybe?

usagent27

Just a quick update DFV1 is done!

One course left and i will have completed my program in one semester!

Drovor

usagent27 wrote: »

Just a quick update DFV1 is done!

Grats on the pass! Any tips for DFV1 that you would like to share?


EDIT: Guess if I looked a little harder I would have seen your other thread:

http://www.techexams.net/forums/other-microsoft-electives/77032-mta-98-363-a.html

usagent27

Drovor wrote: »

Grats on the pass! Any tips for DFV1 that you would like to share?


EDIT: Guess if I looked a little harder I would have seen your other thread:

http://www.techexams.net/forums/other-microsoft-electives/77032-mta-98-363-a.html

Biggest tip...Buy the MeasureUp practice exam!

N2IT

Passed Risk Management.

Financial Analysis, Decision Analysis, Leadership, Strategic Management and Capstone and I will have my MBA! Org is the last course for this semester which ends the end of September.

TLeTourneau

Great job, keep it up!!!

boredgamelad

KET1 is in the books. 11 CUs in my first 19 days! Hoping to knock out CUV1 (CIW Web Design Specialist exam) and RIT1 (a handful of 2-3 page papers) by the end of the month.

biggene

Congratulations. I found out later Friday that my start date is Oct 1. I am very excited to get started and see how quickly I can finish my degree,

lelei

Did anyone else find the BNC1 exam strangely similar to the practice test? I swear I had many of the same questions.

That one was another easy course, I took the preassessment, got a 79, scheduled the exam and got a 79 on that too with no study. Was nice to knock out another easy one!

Psoasman

Same here. About 1/2 of my questions were so close to the practice exam. This is a course where you basically do the pre-assessment and study for the 5 days you have to wait for the real exam.

This was a nice course to keep up SAP and OTP.

lelei

Has anyone taken the INC1 test recently? I have it scheduled for tonight, but I am getting a bit nervous.

Is it similar to the preassessment? Normally, I enjoy science but the sheer scope of what's covered is making me pretty nervous.

Jasiono

Just got off the phone with my mentor. Nice guy. He said since my first term was a little tough for a first term he was going to split it up and toss in an easier class. I had him move out the programming class and put in management concepts. He also opened up all my resources for my web design class and told me to get a head start if I wanted, and to take the management pre assessment test to see what my score is compared to the cut score.

taternuts666

Jasiono, I see you are starting WGU on 9/1 as well. What program are you in?

lelei, I took the BNC1 pre-assessment and didn't do quite as well as you. I got a 53% (which somehow is a passing score). I had already set up my classes for the term and I didn't include BNC1 but my mentor is pretty awesome so I think she will probably make a change for me. I'm pretty confident that if I schedule the exam and I use the 5 days to study I should be just fine.

My AAV we set up is CLC1, IT Fundamentals 1,2,3. Unfortunately I'll have to wait until late October to take the A+ exam since my testing center is booked solid until then. My mentor said I could work on other classes while I'm waiting though. She seems to be really awesome and told me that I can work on multiple classes at once. So far having a good experience. I believe I have 79 CU's and my goal is to complete everything in 2 terms. I was also told that if I complete my program and still have at least 3 months left in a term then I can take 12 CUs towards my Masters. Anyone else heard of this?

lelei

You should be able to knock out the CLC1 and IT fundamentals pretty quickly. That's unfortunate about your testing center- makes me feel pretty silly for being upset about having to wait a week for my INC1 appointment. The passing scores do seem pretty darn low on some of the exams- it was quite a surprise to me. I think if you just read the chapters you will pass no problem.

That's interesting about the Masters... Do they charge you tuition again for that?

Jasiono

Tater

I'll be going for IT with emphasis on security. I just took my MGC1 pre assessment and passed it right on the cut off. I'll have to read about 30% of the stuff I couldn't we common sense on.

I just had CSV1 opened up completely so I'll be starting on that first.

CSV1 first, MGC1 after and then CUV1.

taternuts666

lelei, actually the way my mentor explained it was that the 12 CUs were free as long as you completed them within that term. Takes a little pressure off of me actually in case I don't get finished in 2 terms I can finish in 2.5 terms and go right into the Master's. But you may want to ask your mentor about that as well but mine made it sound like it was something new they just started doing.

CBaer

Started on Aug 01, and am about to take the WFV1 and CLC1 assessments. Anyone have any tips for either test? It seems like the CLC1 could be a bit of a frustrating test based on the practice exams. Multiple choice questions with multiple answers. Some of them had 6-8 selections, with a requirement to pick all the best ones. Seems too easy to get wrong based on the question style.

Also, I'm a little dissappointed at my pace. I feel like I haven't figured out how to manage the AAV yet. Finished the WFV1 pre-assessments on a friday night and requested a review from the mentor, she didn't get to it until monday, now I have to wait a couple days for a voucher, then wait a week or more to find an appointment. Frustrated that most others seem to be able to pace quicker. Any suggestions? How do any of you full time workers manage your week? I'm commuting/at work from 630-1830, then sitting down for class work at 1900-2230, doing 0800-1700 on the weekend days, and still dont' feel like I'm moving fast enough.

Anyone who's been through something similar with some words of wisdom would be appreciated!

lelei

I will be bringing it up It would be pretty awesome if that's the case. I could probably completely finish up before mid-September if I really put my mind to it.

lelei

I would tell your mentor that you are frustrated with the slow pace and feel that it is holding you back from success. You might even want to request a change. I got frustrated when mine told me she could only open one additional course at a time, and that is not the case. I switched mentors and my new one is super attentive and has things opened pretty much immediately after I request it. Does your mentor happen to have the initials VK?

For CLC1, how are you doing on the practice assessments? If your doing pretty well, then don't sweat the exam. Also, you might want to memorize the elements and standards of reasoning, if you have those down, you are in a much better position to pass. I do remember some of the questions seeming a bit subjective to me, but its not overly hard and I think that one has a fairly low cut rate anyways. For WFV1, I found that the materials here were much more difficult than the actual exam.

Personally, I use any and all downtime I get at work to knock stuff out and I often spend my lunch break working on stuff. If your taking the train to work, maybe you can use that as study time too?

CBaer

lelei wrote: »

Does your mentor happen to have the initials VK?

NO, but it's funny I've seen those same initials in similar replies. Lol.

lelei wrote: »

I do remember some of the questions seeming a bit subjective to me, but its not overly hard and I think that one has a fairly low cut rate anyways. For WFV1, I found that the materials here were much more difficult than the actual exam.

Thank you. I thought the same thing, seemingly subjective -- but wants a combination of answers to get it right. Its like a critical thinking jedi mind trick or something. My mentor actually seems really good, and I like her, so I'm not sure if she's the problem or if I'm just not putting in enough time. I thought WFV1 would be quick to push through, but didn't want to overlook any important info. With only 3 shots at the pre-assessment, are people using one up front just to do a gap analysis then concentrating on the gaps, then saving one to qualify? I think maybe I'm just still uncertain about how to manage the WGU structure...

Thanks for picking me up though!!

snapdad

CBaer wrote: »

Started on Aug 01, and am about to take the WFV1 and CLC1 assessments. Anyone have any tips for either test? It seems like the CLC1 could be a bit of a frustrating test based on the practice exams. Multiple choice questions with multiple answers. Some of them had 6-8 selections, with a requirement to pick all the best ones. Seems too easy to get wrong based on the question style.

Also, I'm a little dissappointed at my pace. I feel like I haven't figured out how to manage the AAV yet. Finished the WFV1 pre-assessments on a friday night and requested a review from the mentor, she didn't get to it until monday, now I have to wait a couple days for a voucher, then wait a week or more to find an appointment. Frustrated that most others seem to be able to pace quicker. Any suggestions? How do any of you full time workers manage your week? I'm commuting/at work from 630-1830, then sitting down for class work at 1900-2230, doing 0800-1700 on the weekend days, and still dont' feel like I'm moving fast enough.

Anyone who's been through something similar with some words of wisdom would be appreciated!

For the courses that require an outside vendor assessment I usually request to schedule the assessment immediately, then once they send me the voucher I can schedule the assessment at my convenience. I try to get everything up front so I don't have to wait on my mentor or the scheduler. Good luck!

CBaer

snapdad wrote: »

For the courses that require an outside vendor assessment I usually request to schedule the assessment immediately, then once they send me the voucher I can schedule the assessment at my convenience. I try to get everything up front so I don't have to wait on my mentor or the scheduler. Good luck!

My mentor seems adverse to that. She wants to see a pre-assessment score before releasing the voucher. I guess I might need another mentor, though I don't have any other complaints about her.

lelei

You could try bringing it up with her before you switch to see if she will loosen up. But, this might just be the way she handles her students. My first mentor kept telling me I could only accelerate one course at a time, but after I asked to change mentors, the new one was able to open multiple courses at once for me. So, I do think some of them might follow "official" guidelines more stringently than others.

I think chances are good that if you switch you find someone who is more willing to work with you in the manner you personally need in order to succeed. If your already getting frustrated, its probably best to just switch now instead of waiting.