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

Ivanjam

@geekoncall - Yes - you should be able to do all that in 1 term. The ones that I found most straightforward from that list were: BNC1, IWC1 and I hear LAE1 and IWT1 are not too difficult, so you could start from these to get some motivation.

geekoncall

Thanks so much, I sincerely appreciate it. Can you tell me if all above courses are proctored? I never did online testing and just trying to understand if one course has 4-5 exams, all of those exams would be on webcam?

One more question, if you don't mind, I asked already in another thread. My credit evaluation is for BS-Business-HR but I just changed Major to BS-Business-IT-Management, would I be able to use same evaluation or they will re-evaluate?

Thanks again, your reply was very encouraging.

Ivanjam wrote: »

@geekoncall - Yes - you should be able to do all that in 1 term. The ones that I found most straightforward from that list were: BNC1, IWC1 and I hear LAE1 and IWT1 are not too difficult, so you could start from these to get some motivation.

Ivanjam

The proctored ones seem to be: IWC1, CLC1 and TPV1. The first two can be done by online proctoring (webcam) and the third must be done at a Pearson VUE test center. I am not familiar with LWC1 or EGC1, so I can't comment on them. The rest are assessments that you submit through Taskstream - LAE1 has 1 assessment (an essay), not too sure about the rest.

N2IT

Strategy 1 & 2 passed turning in 3 tomorrow. If this passes leadership is next.

Psoasman

Passed KET1 today. Just have the Capstone and the "dreaded" KFT1 to go.

DPG

I have BNC1 scheduled at a test center down the street later this week. DHV1 is up next which seems to be very easy.

Has anyone else noticed layout problems on the My Degree Plan tab? I am using Firefox.

Psoasman

My layout looks ok. I am at version 17. What issues are you having?

MSP-IT

DPG wrote: »

I have BNC1 scheduled at a test center down the street later this week. DHV1 is up next which seems to be very easy.

Has anyone else noticed layout problems on the My Degree Plan tab? I am using Firefox.

DHV1 literally took me 5 days. I would compare it to a thin slice of the 70-680 cake. It's almost the exact material covered in the 680 (minus deployment), but just a small layer of it.

ThePrimetimer

Well, looks like life has caught up with me. Me and the misses have agreed that I need to step down from WGU. I spoke to my mentor today on the process of withdrawing. I hate to do this as I only have about a year or less left, but we need to pay down some major debt and I'm going to be taking another job to start working on it. Plus over the past couple of months with the new little one and the move back to to my hometown, I've been really struggling to keep up with studying and finding the time to put into WGU, as I failed CUV1 by four points a few weeks ago.

I'm taking a small hiatus from WGU, but definitely plan on coming back after fully completing The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. I checked this thread out daily as there was some wonderful advice and tips here.

I wish all my fellow WGU students and TE members the best wishes in finishing. I'll be there( just not for awhile).

Nemowolf

ThePrimetimer wrote: »

I wish all my fellow WGU students and TE members the best wishes in finishing. I'll be there( just not for awhile).

You will be back at in no time! Thank you for the best wishes and happy holidays to you and yours!

Ivanjam

@ThePrimetimer - sorry to hear that, man - I wish you all that's best and hope you'll be back at WGU soon!

CenturionMario

How long does it take to get an assessment approved so I can take the test at a test center? I've been approved for scheduling by my mentor, but it has been almost 2 days.

geekoncall

OK, I got switched from BSB-HR to BSB-IT. I have to do now following "WFV1, CWV1, TPV1" in addition to other requirements.

Are these 3 Certification exam? if some one can help me to understand, how it works.. do I need to pass any assessment before I can schedule those certification exams or I can take in advance such as CompTIA Project+ ( TPV1) ?

How long should take all of three in case studying full time?

Thanks for your input.

kgb

My suggestion is to spend some time in your Degree Plan/Course of Study, everything you are asking for is contained right there.

As for time,that varies between people. I studied and passed for each of those exams 7-10days start-to-exam pass.

*Edit* Didn't see the study full time. I work full-time. I could see being able to do them in 5 days full time maybe. Even then though, you can only effectively study for so long.

geekoncall wrote: »

OK, I got switched from BSB-HR to BSB-IT. I have to do now following "WFV1, CWV1, TPV1" in addition to other requirements.

Are these 3 Certification exam? if some one can help me to understand, how it works.. do I need to pass any assessment before I can schedule those certification exams or I can take in advance such as CompTIA Project+ ( TPV1) ?

How long should take all of three in case studying full time?

Thanks for your input.

Ivanjam

kgb wrote: »

I studied and passed for each of those exams 7-10days start-to-exam pass.

@kgb - you are a beast!

Nemowolf

Ivanjam wrote: »

@kgb - you are a beast!

Same thing i was thinking!

geekoncall

Thanks so much, highly appreciated. Actually, I didn't get any study plan etc yet as I am waiting my financial papers to enroll. I sent one financial aid form to admission department which need to be fill/stamped. I am ready to start by Feb 1st 2013.

Thanks again, brand new to online Study and just found this forum where you guys are helping me just like people in any traditional school ( Thanks a Million), so sorry if I ask a lot

nosoup4u

Glad to see so many excited to start i know I was

kgb

I assumed (which is bad), that you had access. My apologies.

Those are certifications. Depending on your student mentor(faculty adviser) you might have to pass some practice exams before they issue you the vouchers to take the real exam. All that is supplied with the learning resources you get for each class.

If you hadn't already read through the 2 stickied posts on WGU, definitely take the time and read through them. Also, take the time to read through the many "Finish in 1 term", etc threads that students have made on here.

I recommend making a document that lists all your classes you have to take. Then cut and paste below each class all the tips/advice that are here and on the internet from other forums. I simply did a Google search on the class code and title. This way, when you get to a class, you will already have some helpful advice to assist you in your studies. I know it helped me out a lot.

Another tip is buy Visual Cert . I got that for my pc and android tablet. I spent the time and created exams from all the books/learning resources for every exam, even non certification classes. Most exams are multiple choice so it gets you totally acclimated with the style of testing.

geekoncall wrote: »

Thanks so much, highly appreciated. Actually, I didn't get any study plan etc yet as I am waiting my financial papers to enroll. I sent one financial aid form to admission department which need to be fill/stamped. I am ready to start by Feb 1st 2013.

Thanks again, brand new to online Study and just found this forum where you guys are helping me just like people in any traditional school ( Thanks a Million), so sorry if I ask a lot .

geekoncall

Thanks so so much Sir, great tips to follow and Visual cert is really excellent source. I have downloaded their light version just to have a feel, I like it and definitely gonna buy it. I am reading one by one all post and getting motivated each day, I would say that this form is the reason I signed up and decided to go with WGU, otherwise I was afraid of Online Only Study

. Thanks again to you and all other forum members. I will keep posting/asking.

DPG

Passed BNC1 this morning. Glad that one is over with.

Amonix

I figured I would post here. Maybe someone here has some advice. I have been reading these forums for the last month while waiting for an admissions determination at WGU. I have loved hearing the stories of success and how a lot of you all are doing well. It gave me a lot of hope.

2 weeks ago I got word back that my admission to WGU was denied. I was SHOCKED. I couldn't really believe it. From the email:

"Our analysis indicates you will have difficulty with college studies at WGU Texas, and we cannot offer you admission at this time"

I was rather surprised as behind the fact that while in the community college here I have maintained a 3.67 GPA (prior to the last 2 semesters I was a 4.0 but due to the death of my Grandmother, some of my grades slipped to a

. I called my enrollment counselor who just said the decision is out of his hands and he has no way of doing anything further. He said he was given no more information than I would have access to. Wished me the best of luck. I sent an email to Admissions requesting them to review their decision now that my official transcripts were on their way from the community college.

I have called my enrollment counselor again to see if he got my email as he was cc'ed on it. He said he did get the email but hadn't heard anything and again nothing he could do. I called the admissions number for Ashley Huntsman that was listed in the email and left her a voice mail on Tuesday with no word from her. I called the main admissions number and waited on hold for 2 hours before hanging up. To date I have had ZERO response from WGU other than to tell me that they got my official transcripts. I was trying to get into the BS: IT Security program. I have been in IT for the last 10 years and even was an IT Instructor at a private college. I have my I-Net+ and A+ certification from 2002 and 2003 respectively. It is not as if I would have had any problems in the program as it is a field I currently work in. Has anyone else run into this challenge?

nosoup4u

I was initially told no and didn't push it. The biggest issue I found with mine was the lack an IT certification even with 5 years experience. I tried again 6 months later and got in and it's becoming more of a normal occurrence reading WGU boards, the enrollment counselors along with mentors varies greatly. Call WGU and tell them you want to speak with another counselor or anyone about this. Granted is the "holidays" so you may be directed to voice mails but don't give up. You'll need to get into the habit of basically semi harassing people to get stuff done, you need to be your own advocate, especially with WGU.

While there are so many things I love about WGU, the enrollment process was sure has hell not one of them.

DPG

Could this be due to your results on the entrance exam?

Ivanjam

@Amonix - like nosoup4u says, several of us were denied initially, including me - I received a similar letter to yours. I called up my counselor and it turned out that I had indicated on the application that I had no prior college experience (which was true but I had submitted a few certs). They did rectify the matter and I was able to start a month after I had planned. The enrollment process is certainly not WGU's strong point.

@DPG - congrats on the pass! Knock out MGC1 too, it is pretty similar to BNC1

@nosup4u - congrats on hitting 35 CU!

Amonix

I am just surprised that the counselor won't do anything to help me.

I don't know what the results of the readiness exam where. My Counselor said that he said I passed and he would know if I didn't. I don't know why I transferred credit from two universities. They got both transcripts. The one with most of the courses I have in college didn't come in until after the admissions decision.

I will keep calling. Just disappointing because I was really looking forward to this.

kgb

Amonix wrote: »

I am just surprised that the counselor won't do anything to help me.

I don't know what the results of the readiness exam where. My Counselor said that he said I passed and he would know if I didn't. I don't know why I transferred credit from two universities. They got both transcripts. The one with most of the courses I have in college didn't come in until after the admissions decision.

I will keep calling. Just disappointing because I was really looking forward to this.

I realize it's easier said than done, but if it's something you really want to do, keep at it. As already mentioned, the enrollment process is definitely WGU's weakest link.

I know when I went through the process in April, the resume review was what determined it. Make sure your resume accurately portrays at least the minimum requirements for program admission. Even if certs are more than 5yrs old/expired, make sure for the resume you give to WGU they are listed. I had very old NT 4.0 certifications and my counselor told me to put them on there.

Richards90

New to the thread and WGU as well. Been reading this forum for a while now and must say it has helped motivate me to join WGU. I started 1 DEC 12 and am liking it so far. this term i am suppose to do BNC1, RIT1, CUV1, IWT1 in that order, i really want to complete more but these non-technical classes bore me to death. I should be testing out of BNC1 in the next week or so. Like i have said ive been reading this forum for a while now and see people completing CU's like crazy. What is everyone's strategy? What are your study habits/average study time during a week? Just with BNC1 this form has helped me with what to study and how to tackle this class.

Psoasman

My strategy is to do the pre-assessment first, the use the coaching report to focus on weak areas. Keep in mind that if you are going to use the web cam and test at home, you need to schedule 5 days out. So, if you get a 70% on the pre-assessment, then schedule right away and brush up on any weak areas. If I remember right, the BNC1 / RIT1 use the same book. RIT1 is just writing 4 papers.

For the boring classes, just make small goals, like read 1 chapter per day and review the summary.

I did all 4 of those courses in about 9 weeks, with CUV1 taking the most time.

Ivanjam

@Richards90 - welcome to WGU and to TE!