Student Experiences at Western Governors University (WGU)

bwcarty

uhtrinity wrote: »

General Disclaimer: Please realize that people like this are not typical as most of us are not super human. Don't go into a WGU expecting to do 30+ credits a term or you will be sorely disappointed.

To bwcarty, Grats!!

Excellent point.

I went into WGU very experienced and highly motivated to complete my degree as quickly as possible, and I'm used to dealing with a lot of pressure and tight deadlines. I have 12 years of professional IT experience in large corporate and academic environments, and when I was attending brick and mortar universities, I maintained close to a 4.0 GPA. My experience may not be typical for the average WGU student.

petedude

bwcarty wrote: »

. . .I went into WGU very experienced and highly motivated to complete my degree as quickly as possible, and I'm used to dealing with a lot of pressure and tight deadlines. I have 12 years of professional IT experience in large corporate and academic environments, and when I was attending brick and mortar universities, I maintained close to a 4.0 GPA. My experience may not be typical for the average WGU student.

My situation is very similar to that described. Given refined study habits and heavy cert background, I've cleared 20+credits in the first three months of my term. Not everyone is able to do this, though.

thenjduke

petedude wrote: »

My situation is very similar to that described. Given refined study habits and heavy cert background, I've cleared 20+credits in the first three months of my term. Not everyone is able to do this, though.

Same situation with me. I can dig into the books and knock out those certs. WGU is good just for this cause.

erpadmin

Well folks, I just finished meeting my mentor. Nice guy. We'll be talking every week from now until graduation. He seems genuine in wanting to help me graduate as quickly as I possibly can. He made it a point to mention bwcarty's success (not by name, but by deed "I had one student who knocked out 31 CUs in a term"...) I told him I had no expectation of attempting that feat, but I would do as much as I could that was above bare minimum.

Unless I get hit by lightning and die, I'll be doing EWB on Sunday and hopefully knock it out same day.

Probably too, I am considering setting up a blog in between now and Sunday to document the journey and keep me self-motivated. If and when I do, I will put it in my siggie. I'm gonna try to keep it just on WGU and my studies and how I'm doing it. I'll see.

Best of luck once again to everyone starting this Sunday. I personally can't wait and I need to make sure I keep the excitement going when things get hard.

earweed

@erpadmin- once you get going most mentors cut it down to once every 2 weeks unless you feel like you need more. The mentors are usually available via email and phone during their office hours if you have any questions/problems.

veritas_libertas

earweed wrote: »

@erpadmin- once you get going most mentors cut it down to once every 2 weeks unless you feel like you need more. The mentors are usually available via email and phone during their office hours if you have any questions/problems.

Mine is to the point where he says, "Do I need to call you in another week?" I finished a month early so we generally don't talk unless one of us has something urgent to say

never2late

The intial meeting with my mentor isn't till Tuesday but I start EWB Sunday. Hope to have it done before our meeting so we can jump immediately into the AAP.

Good luck to all starting Sunday.

jmasterj206

I met with my mentor last night. I think I am going to have to push a bit to get my goal of a year and a half to finish with the mentor, but overall it was good. Good luck to everyone tomorrow and see ya on the other side.

erpadmin

jmasterj206 wrote: »

I met with my mentor last night. I think I am going to have to push a bit to get my goal of a year and a half to finish with the mentor, but overall it was good. Good luck to everyone tomorrow and see ya on the other side.

Woot, Woot!

Good luck to everyone tomorrow!

earweed

Just wanted to "bump" this so that new students could find it.

petedude

snokerpoker wrote: »

Has anyone taken 1D0-520 (CIW Site Designer) test yet? I was wondering if it is significantly harder the foundations exam. I want to knock it out soon but am just curious to see if anyone here has passed it.

Posting my reply here as this is a more appropriate thread, and bumping to get a response as I'm also wondering about this exam. It looks like a fairly comprehensive web design skills test, so I'm worried it might be a bit time-consuming to study for.

uhtrinity

petedude wrote: »

Posting my reply here as this is a more appropriate thread, and bumping to get a response as I'm also wondering about this exam. It looks like a fairly comprehensive web design skills test, so I'm worried it might be a bit time-consuming to study for.

I spent about a month prepping for this exam and did great and I only do some web master duties. If you already do web design on a daily basis it should be easy.

earweed

I was studying for that test and getting a head start on the Java class when they both got bumped from the Network Design and Management program. I have the books and was thinking about pursuing the cert when I have the time later as it seemed pretty interesting. Graduating 6 months earlier seemed even more interesting to me though.

uhtrinity

earweed wrote: »

I was studying for that test and getting a head start on the Java class when they both got bumped from the Network Design and Management program. I have the books and was thinking about pursuing the cert when I have the time later as it seemed pretty interesting. Graduating 6 months earlier seemed even more interesting to me though.

Same here, but they offered to drop it just as I was getting ready to schedule it. Glad I took the exam as I passed it the first time and it gave me a web design cert.

earweed

I was halfway through the books already. I don't plan on doing web design so it would just be an extra cert that I probably wouldn't even list on the resume. I'm not listing the Javascript as I don't feel I really know javascript well enough and don't really want to be a programmer anyway.

apena7

Congrats, bwcarty! Feels awesome, doesn't it?

uhtrinity wrote: »

General Disclaimer: Please realize that people like this are not typical as most of us are not super human. Don't go into a WGU expecting to do 30+ credits a term or you will be sorely disappointed.

Quite right uhtrinity. Adding some contrast, here's a breakdown of my CU's earned while working towards my IT degree.

Term 1 - 19
Term 2 - 21
Term 3 - 16
Term 4 - 27

I was able to transfer in most GenEd courses, so it didn't take me long to complete my program.

erpadmin

Guys, I have scheduled my classes today. EWB is definitely behind me, and I'm now scheduled for the following:

LAE1, BAC1, TSV1

That equals 12 with EWB, plus I am now under the gun to pass Security+ before the end of the year.

I didn't realize that BAC1 wasn't a class, but just a test that I have to pass. If I fail the test, then it's a class. Hopefully my time in LAE1 will help me out with BAC1. The webcam should be coming in days, from what the mentor said.

I just spent a good 3.5-4 hours just trying to navigate through LAE1 until I finally got the hang of it. I'm not even done with module 1 yet But LAE1 definitely seems easy; just a crapload of busywork. (Just like any other college. LOL)

I'm not trying to go for bare minimum; just want to make sure I get the hang of what I got before I pile on more. Security+ should be the hardest thing I have, and I am confident with enough study I will pass that sucker. Depending on how far I go with LAE1, I'll either go into overdrive with TSV1 either this weekend, or next weekend. I'll know in a couple of hours. I'm gonna take a quick nap and then try to at least finish module 1 before I go to work.

So far the reading is interesting. I like how the one author says we "share our lives on Myspace.com." Then I realized it was published in '08...lmao. I don't know anyone who uses Myspace anymore.

uhtrinity

earweed wrote: »

I was halfway through the books already. I don't plan on doing web design so it would just be an extra cert that I probably wouldn't even list on the resume. I'm not listing the Javascript as I don't feel I really know javascript well enough and don't really want to be a programmer anyway.

Even though I don't plan on doing web design I act as webmaster as part of my duties and have done so for 4 years. I might also have an opportunity to teach some web design classes among other IT related courses at the high school level. The cert will help when it comes to getting the occupational teaching cert to do so.

petedude

uhtrinity wrote: »

I spent about a month prepping for this exam and did great and I only do some web master duties. If you already do web design on a daily basis it should be easy.

Did a bit of reading over at mcmcse.com. Looks like a broad exam, so it will take some study. I don't do daily web design, so I'll probably actually have to break down and read the books.

powerfool

I applied for the MS in Information Security and Assurance last week and will hopefully be starting on 01SEP2010. I am hoping to do 20+ CU per term and to be done in a year. I have been a certification machine for the past couple of months, taking Microsoft exams at a pace of one every ten days. I hope to finish up my MCSE 2003 update and take the 70-649 before September and then focus on the program.

I have a couple of questions for others.

1) If your degree program contains the Network+ and you completed it over 5 years ago, how willing are they to go ahead and waive it? For myself, I have several other recent exams that cover networking material (CCNA, CISSP, several Microsoft exams). Just don't want to waste my time dealing with it. I completed it nine years ago.

2) I know that WGU is pretty generous with the cert vouchers, giving you two per exam. For the Microsoft exams, I know that they get them for $60/each, as they are an IT Academy Partner. Has anyone tried to do any exams that are not part of their degree but are within the overall scope of WGU's programs? I am just thinking that if I complete my stuff early, I wouldn't mind knocking out some other exams. In addition, I have about a year to update my CCNA, so I need to do the CCNA:Security exam.


Thanks.

never2late

I just started WGU this month. As far as the certs go, if they are more than 5 years old they will not transfer. You have to take those certs again. CompTIA tests passed this year are lifetime certs. After Jan 1, 2011 you have to re-certify every 3 years.

I'll have to let someone else answer the second part of your question.

Good luck

earweed

MS currently offers student discounts where you would take the 72-xxx version of the test. It's still $60.

tpatt100

I have to take the CWSP cert for my next class. What I find odd is they don't require the CWNA which is required to earn the CWSP. So I will have to allocate some time to knock out the other cert

powerfool

earweed wrote: »

MS currently offers student discounts where you would take the 72-xxx version of the test. It's still $60.

Yes, they do, but there are some limitations. If you goto Prometric.com/Microsoft and select the 072 series, not all of the exams are available. For MCSE 2003, they essentially only offer 072 exams for those that would count towards MCSA and exclude 293, 294, and design exams. For MCITP, they are actually more generous as the offer the upgrade exams, but they do exclude the capstone PRO: Enterprise Administrator exam itself.

If you look at the IT Academy series that they offer (cannot remember what the number series is), they offer all of the exams for MCSE and MCITP. These are always $60, but they are limited to students of MS IT Academy partners.

themagicone

Has anyone done the CCNA exam yet through WGU? Just curious on if what they provide is enough to pass the exam. I'm trying to do Security+ before the end of the year but it's just way beyond me and people told me to try some networking before hand. But if the CCNA is going to require me to buy a bunch of stuff I can't do that at the moment. Thanks

earweed

I've seen a couple people on the WGU community who did it with just what WGU provided.

powerfool

themagicone wrote: »

Has anyone done the CCNA exam yet through WGU? Just curious on if what they provide is enough to pass the exam. I'm trying to do Security+ before the end of the year but it's just way beyond me and people told me to try some networking before hand. But if the CCNA is going to require me to buy a bunch of stuff I can't do that at the moment. Thanks

The Todd Lammle Sybex book for the CCNA has been the best book for a very long time. In addition, the Cisco Press books are very good. I am not sure what WGU provides for study, but if it is one of those, it is more than adequate.

veritas_libertas

Talked to my mentor this evening and this is the initial plan for next semester:

1. QLC1: Quantitative Literacty: College Algebra, Measurement, and Geometry
2. TPV1: Project+
3. MGC1: Principles of Management

The Project+ and MGC1 should be able to be breezed through relatively quick, and the math I am honestly not looking forward to. From there I have the following plan:

• ORC1: Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior and Leadership
• AHV1: 70-640
• AIV1: 70-642

I think that six classes should be plenty for now. I am also going to try to fit the 70-646 in between the next two semesters if possible.

I have done the math, and in order to get done by the end of next year I need to complete six classes each semester. My mentor is convinced that I will be done in the next two semesters, but I'm doubting it.

bwcarty

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Talked to my mentor this evening and this is the initial plan for next semester:

1. QLC1: Quantitative Literacty: College Algebra, Measurement, and Geometry
2. TPV1: Project+
3. MGC1: Principles of Management

The Project+ and MGC1 should be able to be breezed through relatively quick, and the math I am honestly not looking forward to. From there I have the following plan:

• ORC1: Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior and Leadership
• AHV1: 70-640
• AIV1: 70-642

I think that six classes should be plenty for now. I am also going to try to fit the 70-646 in between the next two semesters if possible.

I have done the math, and in order to get done by the end of next year I need to complete six classes each semester. My mentor is convinced that I will be done in the next two semesters, but I'm doubting it.

ORC1 and MGC1 weren't too bad, IMO. I dealt with most of the topics covered in those classes in my corporate job. Knocking out both in a month shouldn't be a problem. I spent 2-3 weeks on them combined, and I took the tests on consecutive nights.

If they're still using the Organizational Behavior 12th edition book and someone needs a copy, make me an offer.

jmasterj206

IT Fundamentals I
Languange and Communication:Research
Web Programming
Reasoning and Problem Solving

Hope to knock these out in 2 months and get my science and math done as well this semester.