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

NikeUnlimited

Just submitted my capstone. Little worried, I thought the capstone was just the technical writing paper with a few changes in word tense. I added the sections asked for in the capstone like project development and how I actually did the project which added about 25 additional pages (none which were highlighted in turnitin), but I still ended up with a 61% on turnitin

boredgamelad

Don't worry about TurnItIn for your capstone. I'm pretty sure they know that most of the content will be copied from your Technical Writing paper and they take that into consideration when reviewing. Mine was a 46% match, for example.

arwes

Looks like scheduling is backed up this week. Had my weekly mentor call earlier today, and she said two other students mentioned the same thing about them being slow. I turned my request in Monday, hoping to take an OLP assessment this Saturday and have yet to hear back. I don't know what anyone else's experiences are, but I usually hear back from them by the next day unless I submit the request in the evening.

Hypntick

Everything is backed up, I submitted my score for CHFI on the 16th and it's still not showing as passed on my portal. My mentor did mention they've been a victim of their own success a bit recently. It's getting to the point where they're starting to overwhelm taskstream as well.

PurpleIT

My TPV1 took 18 calendar days to get posted (tested on the 8th, it just showed up on Monday) and it's no surprise that my BOV1 from the 18th hasn't shown up yet.

psiebert

Well I finally decided to take the leap, BSIT software track. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

theanimal

arwes wrote: »

Gotta love waking up to see an email titled "Notification of Evaluation Completion" versus "Notification of Work Sent Back"! LUT1 is done, so glad I don't have to record that all over again. Looks like I'll be taking the BVC1 assessment this weekend, hopefully on Saturday because Sunday is going to be hectic with Easter stuff and Monday my dad's going in for sinus surgery. My mentor's out today, but I'm going to get her to enroll me in BNC1 tomorrow and I'll probably take the preassessment for it sometime this week after a quick material run through.

The last week and a half has been fun. My boss went to the Philippines (and won't be back for another week) on a church trip around the same time we got in 8 new workstations. So I've been working on getting a common image made up, and I'm constantly distracted by other things. And our training department is my "backup" (the IT department is just me & my boss). They got really testy when I floated the idea of driving 60 miles to take the DFV1 test, so my mentor was nice enough to put it on the back burner to let me do things that can be done via OLP.

Speaking of DFV1, I did a quick Google search for a 98-363 study guide and came across one on the Certiport site of all places. Have any of you used it in your studies?

I'm still trying to figure out my topic for LUT1.

edit: Also I'm sure this has been asked a million times, but how does everyone go about their courses at WGU? Do you guys multi-task and study for 2-3 classes at once or do you guys go all out on one class and try to bang it out as quick as possible? Right now I'm doing both WFV1 and LUT1 at the same time and I think I may be better off just spending a solid 3 days knocking out LUT1.

Bundiman

I plan on focusing on one technical and one general class at a time.

Hypntick

@theanimal I normally do one class at a time. Study, do assessment/taskstream/cert, and after submitting everything move on to the next. Now I don't wait on taskstream to finish grading before starting the next class, but I do make sure to submit everything. I just find it easier to focus on a single class at a time.

Edit: JIT2 submitted last night. Gonna take them forever to hear back, so FXT2 starts this weekend. Hope to finish up the 2/3 tasks this weekend.

demonfurbie

im just starting jit2 my self im about done with part a, but im thinking thats the easy part of it

Hypntick

I actually found part A to be the worst aspect of it. Since parts B and C, you pick a single risk and go with that. So rather than breaking down 8 risks that I either have little experience or interest with, I can pick one risk that I know a lot about which makes it easier to articulate the responses. It's a lot of writing, but it's not bad.

Edit: Just got off the line with the mentor. Was told of the impending removal of the FYV2 (GIAC ISO2700) exam from the curriculum, already knew but tonight was the first serious discussion of it. I got the impression that there was strong pressure from the higher-ups to the mentors to discourage students from attempting the class. Obviously due to the cost of the exam and the learning resources provided, they're looking to save that cost. However, in order to not take this exam, I would need to move into the new ISA program that has done away with it, and added two separate classes, which I would only be able to do at the start of a new term.

I am almost 1 month into term 2, with 1 class done, 1 pending taskstream (99% certain done), and at most 1.5 weeks for the next class to be completed. This would leave me with FYT2 (still required under the new program) and LQT2/Capstone, both of which at the very most would have me done with 5 out of 6 classes by the end of month 2. This leaves 4 months to study for the FYV2. Why would I wait for the end of term, with no official school work to do, and pay another 2800 bucks, just to avoid a test? Especially a test, that while it may have low resume visibility, provides me with information that I do not already have. I haven't met a cert yet that I couldn't pass even if it's not on the first try.

Have to weigh the options I suppose.

xocity

AGC1 ... COMPLETE, now onto INC1. This science class is really boring. =\ any tips on the INC1 test and what should i be studying specifically since I dont want to read more chapters then I need too, Ive been really motivated but this this class puts me to sleep =\. But happy I finished 3 classes so far , trying to knock this science one out in 2/3 weeks.

Hypntick

Hate to respond again to the thread so quickly but, JIT2 is done and passed. Whee!

arwes

Barely squeaked by on BVC1 this morning with a 72%, but hey a pass is a pass! Went ahead and took the BNC1 preassessment a while ago just to get a feel for it and got 55% (cut score is 51%). Looks like I'll be taking that one sometime next week.

zidian

arwes wrote: »

Barely squeaked by on BVC1 this morning with a 72%, but hey a pass is a pass! Went ahead and took the BNC1 preassessment a while ago just to get a feel for it and got 55% (cut score is 51%). Looks like I'll be taking that one sometime next week.

I got a similar score on the preassessment as well. I read the entire book over a weekend and took the test one week after the preassessment. I got in the mid 70s. I'd say you could probably do the same.

PurpleIT

zidian wrote: »

I got a similar score on the preassessment as well. I read the entire book over a weekend and took the test one week after the preassessment. I got in the mid 70s. I'd say you could probably do the same.

You were able to read that book? I hated it!

That and project management just jumped into the technical jargon and kept is coming page after page! The tests weren't too hard, but the studying was rough!

Jasiono

Does anyone have any notes for the humanities courses (IWC1 and IWT1)?

I am wondering how intense these classes can get as far as notes are concerned. These are the only 2 gen ed courses I have to take and they are EXTREMELY boring to me.

Jasiono

Oh, and my mentor is going to find out wether you can take the Linux exams on WGU's dime if you already took the Microsoft certs they are getting rid of. I will repost once I hear back from him, if I remember. He asked himself that question and said he would let me know the answer to it.

xocity

SO i passed the pre-assessment for INC1, That test was no joke, I failed the first time but passed with a 73 the second time. How about i did tasks 1 and 2 and waited for today to submit, then I realized that INT1 was waived with my transfer credits. I thought the tasks were part of INC1. I waisted a weekend on them. It did give me a reinforcement on some stuff though. Anyway, Scheduled my exam for this sunday... going to study all week.

amcnow

Hypntick wrote: »

Edit: Just got off the line with the mentor. Was told of the impending removal of the FYV2 (GIAC ISO2700) exam from the curriculum, already knew but tonight was the first serious discussion of it. I got the impression that there was strong pressure from the higher-ups to the mentors to discourage students from attempting the class. Obviously due to the cost of the exam and the learning resources provided, they're looking to save that cost. However, in order to not take this exam, I would need to move into the new ISA program that has done away with it, and added two separate classes, which I would only be able to do at the start of a new term.

I took a peak at How to Renew Your GIAC Security Certification. Unless I'm missing something, renewal requires at least $399 every 4 years. G2700 would go great with (among other things) my ITIL and (eventual) CISSP certifications. I'm just not sure the hefty price tag to maintain the G2700 would justify me pursuing it over the in-house replacement course.

EDIT: LKT2 is also getting replaced (from 3 written tasks to an in-house exam). So instead of 2 new classes being added in place of just FYV2, LKT2 and FYV2 are getting 1-for-1 replacements. Good thing I already completed LKT2...

Jasiono

In case you guys were curious, if you already took the Microsoft exams, you cannot get enrolled into the linux course to take the test on their dime. Just a heads up in case you were wondering.

Also, my mentor confirmed that the programming courses are being revamped. He told me to hold off until they change it unless I want to deal with a headache.

I appreciate the heads up in this thread in regards to the programming courses.

Psoasman

Jasiono wrote: »

Also, my mentor confirmed that the programming courses are being revamped. He told me to hold off until they change it unless I want to deal with a headache.

That would be the understatement of the year. I really hope they make these courses more workable in the future.

Jasiono

Psoasman wrote: »

That would be the understatement of the year. I really hope they make these courses more workable in the future.

Damn, how BAD was it?

I'm seriously struggling with humanities. It's not the subject itself that is the pain, it's the wording. My vocabulary isn't up there and it's an extremely tough read for me. I keep looking up the meaning of every other word.

Psoasman

I had zero java experience and that factored into my comment. I had zero interest in programming going in and my goal was to just make it through the course. KET1 wasn't too bad, only 2 tasks. The Deitel programming book helped a lot, especially with the code samples. KFT1 was ok for the first 3 tasks, but task 4 took months to do. the java new boston java videos were good, too.

As far as humanities goes, it helps to type up some study notes for the vocabulary, then read through 'em each day. The pre-assessments are pretty good for getting you prepared for the final test.

Jasiono

You're not the only one that complains about the java courses. So far everyone I have spoken to that has taken it really disliked the way it was organized, and it caused a lot of confusion.

xocity

I just got access to the "new student portal". It is a MUCH nicer and "cleaner" for lack of a better word. Everything is more organized and convinient. Thumbs up to WGU for the new look. If anyone wants to see it, I can take screenshots. It says that I was "invited to try it" so idk if everyone has access to it right away.

nosoup4u

I noticed the little green arrows near the top left to try it but I haven't yet, might check it out now

xocity

It seems to be a little buggy when on the "Home" page sometimes. Might be the browser. But it looks nice i think

Iristheangel

AWESOME WGU MOMENT TODAY:
Walked into the office wearing my WGU shirt. The CDW Senior Network Engineer we have onsite gives me a surprised look and says, "Wow, I just started at that school with the IT - Security degree. How did you like it?"

Small world

demonfurbie

Iristheangel wrote: »

AWESOME WGU MOMENT TODAY:
Walked into the office wearing my WGU shirt. The CDW Senior Network Engineer we have onsite gives me a surprised look and says, "Wow, I just started at that school with the IT - Security degree. How did you like it?"

Small world

ive had similar stuff like that come up ... i think wgu is getting a good rep at least in the IT world