Student Experiences at Western Governors University (WGU)

NOLAJ

Psoasman wrote: »

This exam is easier than the CompTIA exams. If you actually read through all the study materials, you are more than prepared

I absolutely agree!!

Psoasman are you walking in ATL?

Nemowolf

Psoasman wrote: »

This exam is easier than the CompTIA exams. If you actually read through all the study materials, you are more than prepared

This is my first certification since i did my A+ and that was a challenge since i was doing the messer videos and only got time to study maybe 1/3 the material. I just don't want to shatter my confidence walking into the test and thinking its going to be cake then have that slap in the face as i bomb the test.

-hype

Hey guys I wanted to know how long it will take me to graduate with a bachelors from WGU?

Im gonna be graduating with an associates in May. And I already have A+, Sec + and should have MCITP, possible even CCNA and server 08 - 3 exams done by Fall.

Soooo, I was wondering how many credits I will need. I'm assuming all my credits from current college will transfer and the certs will waive off some of the nooby classes required with the bachelors.

Anyone have any experience coming in with some advanced MS certs and CCNA. And if so, how many credits did you need? I really dont wanna take the BS MTAs.

Also as an add on: How many retakes are you permitted? Also If I were to enroll can I select to enroll in some of the advanced classes. Say I wanna take the CCNA - security. Will there be prerequisites or will I be able to do it?

Tnx in advance!

Psoasman

NOLAJ wrote: »

I absolutely agree!!

Psoasman are you walking in ATL?

Nope, I am in Washington and they have theirs on May 18.

Psoasman

@hype - I transferred in my AAS and some certs, for a total of 64 CUs. My degree cleared the MTA's for me. I did my degree in just under 14 months.

If you were to have the CCNA and the server exams done and transferred in, you could probably finish up in a term, if you did the Network Admin emphasis. Best bet is to apply and then have them an evaluation for you.

WGU pays for the first 2 attempts, but if you fail the first attempt, you must wait 14 days before taking it again.

You could probably enroll in the B.S IT security, if you have the CCNA, then do the security portion.

Reseven

-hype wrote: »

Hey guys I wanted to know how long it will take me to graduate with a bachelors from WGU?

I transferred 82 credits with my AAS and certs. If all goes well, I'll be finished by the end of February which makes it 5 months for me.

-hype

Psoasman wrote: »

@hype - I transferred in my AAS and some certs, for a total of 64 CUs. My degree cleared the MTA's for me. I did my degree in just under 14 months.

If you were to have the CCNA and the server exams done and transferred in, you could probably finish up in a term, if you did the Network Admin emphasis. Best bet is to apply and then have them an evaluation for you.

WGU pays for the first 2 attempts, but if you fail the first attempt, you must wait 14 days before taking it again.

You could probably enroll in the B.S IT security, if you have the CCNA, then do the security portion.

Yeah I was just using the CCNA - sec as an example. I was aiming for the B.S. Net Admin.

Reseven wrote: »

I transferred 82 credits with my AAS and certs. If all goes well, I'll be finished by the end of February which makes it 5 months for me.

If you don't mind me asking, which certs did you have at the time?

PurpleIT

-hype wrote: »

Hey guys I wanted to know how long it will take me to graduate with a bachelors from WGU?

Im gonna be graduating with an associates in May. And I already have A+, Sec + and should have MCITP, possible even CCNA and server 08 - 3 exams done by Fall.

I'm not trying to be smart, but it all depends on you. I transferred in 90 credits and I expect to take under 5 months. I could do it in less, but I am trying to keep a good school/work/life balance.

If I were to do the minimum per term it could take me almost 1.5 years.

Soooo, I was wondering how many credits I will need. I'm assuming all my credits from current college will transfer and the certs will waive off some of the nooby classes required with the bachelors.

Anyone have any experience coming in with some advanced MS certs and CCNA. And if so, how many credits did you need? I really dont wanna take the BS MTAs.

It depends on what exactly you transfer in. Look at the classes required for your degree program and then look at https://kb.wgu.edu/utility/getfile.aspx?rid=1021 to see what your certs will cover. It is fairly safe to assume your Associates will cover the general ed.

Also as an add on: How many retakes are you permitted? Also If I were to enroll can I select to enroll in some of the advanced classes. Say I wanna take the CCNA - security. Will there be prerequisites or will I be able to do it?

Tnx in advance!

Theoretically as many as you can pay for I suppose. WGU only pays for the first two (three?) attempts and from what I gather they get really pushy if you keep failing and will require a lot more effort to get each subsiquent retake approved. As for taking "advanced" classes, I read that to mean "classes not required for you to graduate" and I honestly have never heard of anyone doing that, but I doubt they would allow it as it would cost them money.

-hype

I left you guys a multi quote message, but this forum thinks its spam :O

Reseven- I wanted to ask which certs did you had at the time you enrolled in WGU, so I know which ones to get on my own time.

What I meant by advances classes were the tougher classes, Im thinking the curriculum works from the bottom up. The bottom being the MTAs and the top being CCNA and MS stuff. To clarify, I was wondering if they would let me pick any class on day one. Having proven with certs that I knew my way around the block.

My goal is to be in and out in one Term. Which shouldn't be that hard for me, as I got the comptia certs with a week or two of studying. But the MS 70-680 took a month. Who knew windows was so complicated?

Reseven

-hype wrote: »

Reseven- I wanted to ask which certs did you had at the time you enrolled in WGU, so I know which ones to get on my own time.

A+, Net+, Security+, Project+, and my MCSA. Everything under my avatar minus the CIW stuff. All those came from WGU.

swild

-hype wrote: »

I left you guys a multi quote message, but this forum thinks its spam :O

Reseven- I wanted to ask which certs did you had at the time you enrolled in WGU, so I know which ones to get on my own time.

What I meant by advances classes were the tougher classes, Im thinking the curriculum works from the bottom up. The bottom being the MTAs and the top being CCNA and MS stuff. To clarify, I was wondering if they would let me pick any class on day one. Having proven with certs that I knew my way around the block.

My goal is to be in and out in one Term. Which shouldn't be that hard for me, as I got the comptia certs with a week or two of studying. But the MS 70-680 took a month. Who knew windows was so complicated?

Once you get more posts, this forum gets less sticky with it's spam filtering.

I would recommend getting the Cisco and Microsoft MCITP and MCTS certifications out of the way before enrolling. After that it shouldn't be a problem to finish in one term. After transferring in 60 CUs, I did one term including my CCNA and it wasn't easy. I transferred in A+, Network+, Security+, Project+, and 70-680, along with a bunch of college credits.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

PurpleIT

-hype wrote: »

I left you guys a multi quote message, but this forum thinks its spam :O

Reseven- I wanted to ask which certs did you had at the time you enrolled in WGU, so I know which ones to get on my own time.

Personally, I would look at studying on your own time and taking the test once you are enrolled - let WGU pay for the exams. Your mentor will have to give the OK, but that doesn't seem to be an issue. You may have to space them out a little (one a week while studying some other class or such), but the savings could make it worth the trouble.

What I meant by advances classes were the tougher classes, Im thinking the curriculum works from the bottom up. The bottom being the MTAs and the top being CCNA and MS stuff. To clarify, I was wondering if they would let me pick any class on day one. Having proven with certs that I knew my way around the block.

Theoretically they would allow that, but you may have to convince your mentor that it is better to start with the advanced classes and finish with the easy ones that give you the foundation for the more advanced classes. You have to admit, it seems a little backwards.

My goal is to be in and out in one Term. Which shouldn't be that hard for me, as I got the comptia certs with a week or two of studying. But the MS 70-680 took a month. Who knew windows was so complicated?

That is because MS creates evil, twisted tests... and their software is pretty complicated too.

NOLAJ

NOLAJ wrote: »

I'm struggling internally on whether to pursue the Masters or the MBA.

Decided today, after discussing it with 2 H.R. Directors, that I'm going to pursue the MBA in IT Management!

Madmd5

I plan on enrolling at WGU in the fall of 2013 and was curious what do you think would be the safer degree? Network Administration or Security? My long term goals include working in network security.

Amonix

Just curious, how hard was the math classes?

Psoasman

Madmd5 wrote: »

I plan on enrolling at WGU in the fall of 2013 and was curious what do you think would be the safer degree? Network Administration or Security? My long term goals include working in network security.

What do you mean by "safer"? If your long term goals are network security, then I'd do the Network admin and then do the Security exam for the CCNA after WGU, as it'll probably be cheaper. If you are not planning to start until the fall, you could work on certs that will transfer in.

Madmd5

I've considered that yes. Safer I mean I think i have a solid plan for me in the next couple of years:

CISCO: CCENT, CCNA, CCNA:Sec
Microsoft: MTA:Windows OS, MCTS:Windows 7, MTA:Networking Fund., MTA:Security Fund.
CompTIA: A+, N+, Security+

I hopefully think these certs will give me a good foundation into the networking world. I mean if I do Network Administration, the only certs I'd need to get that I'd like to obtain are N+ and CCNA:Sec

Psoasman

The only way I'd do any of the MTAs, would be if I had to. They won't give you much ROI.

Let's say you get the CCNA and then apply to WGU and do the Network admin emphasis. Your CCNA would transfer in, giving you credit for 2 courses, which are 6 CUs total. If you had some server certs done ( the 640, 642, or 646) you could transfer those in, saving a ton of time.

I think your best bet is probably the Network admin emphasis, with my reason being both courses will either earn you the CCNA OR allow you to transfer in the CCNA. The Security emphasis includes 2 Java courses, which are a PITA.

Madmd5

ahh yeah I know, I dread programming lol not because I'm bad at it i just don't have the patience or interest in it. However, I will be transferring in my Associates degree and one of the courses I have taken already is Intro to Programming: Java which is exactly almost the same as the security emphasis class so I'm pretty sure that would transfer in and I wouldn't have to take it. I don't know though, they are both almost identical until later in the degree so could I really go wrong if I choose one over the other?

Psoasman

If you have an Associates, that should clear a lot of courses. Mine cleared all the MTA's for example. At this point, either emphasis would probably work for you.

arwes

Well, AIV1 is done. I really wish a testing center would open in my town, my usual one (Shreveport, LA) was booked through next week so I went to my backup in Jackson, MS which is a little bit further of a drive. It was like I stepped back in the 90's when I walked into the testing room. Old home built PC, running Windows 98 and a 14" CRT with a crazy low refresh rate. The ball mouse was the icing on the cake. After my eyes got semi adjusted to the monitor and the splitting headache ensued, some large fellow came in to use the cubicle next to me. He was apparently really nervous about his test, because he was bouncing his legs up & down and shaking my cubicle and my chair. I didn't want to say anything though, because I'd hate to drive 250 miles round trip just to get kicked out of a test for talking. He wouldn't hear anyway, because we had to wear earplugs due to the noisy office next door. I think I spent more time on the post test survey than the actual test!

NOLAJ

arwes wrote: »

Well, AIV1 is done. I really wish a testing center would open in my town, my usual one (Shreveport, LA) was booked through next week so I went to my backup in Jackson, MS which is a little bit further of a drive. It was like I stepped back in the 90's when I walked into the testing room. Old home built PC, running Windows 98 and a 14" CRT with a crazy low refresh rate. The ball mouse was the icing on the cake. After my eyes got semi adjusted to the monitor and the splitting headache ensued, some large fellow came in to use the cubicle next to me. He was apparently really nervous about his test, because he was bouncing his legs up & down and shaking my cubicle and my chair. I didn't want to say anything though, because I'd hate to drive 250 miles round trip just to get kicked out of a test for talking. He wouldn't hear anyway, because we had to wear earplugs due to the noisy office next door. I think I spent more time on the post test survey than the actual test!

Lmao. At least you got through it. One of the testing centers I use has a UPS that fires up every 3-5 mins. Not fun.

amcnow

Well, it's been awhile since I last posted. This is becoming increasingly common for me. This time around was because I recently took my brother in until he gets back on his feet. This needed to be done because he really had no where else to go. Unfortunately, this has set me back quite a ways in my studies. With that said, I'm not willing to throw in the towel.

This week, I ran into a down period at work. This allowed me to sneak in some much needed study time. I was able to cram in half of TFT2's reading material (which is a LOT) within the past couple of days. I plan on submitting 1 or 2 tasks this weekend (Super Bowl weekend of all weekends ). Then I will study for CEH (FNV2) concurrently with finishing up TFT2.

That is the plan anyways. Thankfully, I have only 3 courses scheduled for this term (JIT2 being the third). I just hope family problems can take a break for a while.

nosoup4u

We'll it was bound to happen I suppose. Failed 70-640, 672 score, sigh.

I failed my first attempt, contained way to many powershell questions imo. Weak on FS and RMS it seems.

Was my first failed exam at WGU, now I gotta wait for a new voucher and convince my mentor I'm good to go.

Psoasman

Sorry to hear, you are very close, probably 1-2 questions away.

Nemowolf

nosoup4u wrote: »

We'll it was bound to happen I suppose. Failed 70-640, 672 score, sigh.

I failed my first attempt, contained way to many powershell questions imo. Weak on FS and RMS it seems.

Was my first failed exam at WGU, now I gotta wait for a new voucher and convince my mentor I'm good to go.

What kind of questions did they ask about PowerShell? Im curious because ive taught myself so far and im wondering if i know enough.

NOLAJ

nosoup4u wrote: »

We'll it was bound to happen I suppose. Failed 70-640, 672 score, sigh.

I failed my first attempt, contained way to many powershell questions imo. Weak on FS and RMS it seems.

Was my first failed exam at WGU, now I gotta wait for a new voucher and convince my mentor I'm good to go.

Hate to hear that!! Use that score sheet to brush up on the weaker areas.

NOLAJ

Nemowolf wrote: »

What kind of questions did they ask about PowerShell? Im curious because ive taught myself so far and im wondering if i know enough.

Will be pretty hard to answer that without breaking the NDA.

Ivanjam

@nosoup4u - sorry to hear, man. I am sure you will knock that exam out of the ballpark on your next attempt!

Madmd5

I have seen the B.S. IT - Network Administration at WGU and really it only requires two programming classes am i right? (BOV1, DFVI) So does this mean a career in networking administrating doesn't require the use of a lot of programming?