Student Experiences at Western Governors University (WGU)

jmasterj206

I've never had to prove I'm ready either. I just tell my mentor I am ready and she approves it.

Chris:/*

I believe it may be the way you are representing yourself to your mentor. If I sounded tepid when stating I was ready my mentor would probably want more proof or if I had failed anything in the past.

demonfurbie

yea no issues with mine on tech classes at least

still hate taskstream or what ever they call it now

chmorin

Chris:/* wrote: »

I believe it may be the way you are representing yourself to your mentor. If I sounded tepid when stating I was ready my mentor would probably want more proof or if I had failed anything in the past.

It could be that, but you never know who they are dealing with. They could just have someone who should not be a mentor.

I know with mine after I passed my first semester in a little over a month with good grades, he does not ever second guess my judgment but just gives advice on how to follow my track. I'm very happy, he helps alot too.

citinerd

What can I expect during the intake interview? Do they discuss the classes that are transfered in with the certs and degree?

My enrollment counselor is OK. But he always answers my emails with call me. When I ask him to call me he replies "Call Me". Other than that he is actually pretty good.

Excellent1

erpadmin wrote: »

I hope to some higher power that you're wrong. Every pre-assessment that I had to take for my certs (CIWv5 and Security+) has been been in MeasureUp. Matter of fact, I'll e-mail my mentor within the next week that I want a MeasureUp in TPV1 (Project+) so that I can get my Project+ voucher. I'm hoping I don't have to take ExamFarce! I'll know soon enough though.

This is copy/pasted from the email I received from my mentor:

I have checked with Wendy Campbell, the COS mentor for TSV1, and she recommends using the ExamForce pre-assessments in TSV1 rather than MeasureUp. WGU is moving away from using the MeasureUp pre-assessments.

I'd appreciate hearing any feedback you all receive.

demonfurbie

i know they are leaning more to labsim but some stuff out there has no labsim =(

eansdad

demonfurbie wrote: »

i know they are leaning more to labsim but some stuff out there has no labsim =(

LabSim is missing the CIW stuff which isn't needed, the Project+ and CCNA:Security. It does have SSCP and CISSP so maybe they could swap CCNA:Security with one of them...wishful thinking...

RoadwarriorsLive

I am starting ORC1 today. Any thoughts on the test or what to focus on?

eansdad

I took ORC1 and MGC1 together since they looked similar. I just answered the question with common sense. Take the pre-assessments and see where you stand. One of the books i was able to find and older edition on google books but didn't really read any of it. Depending on how you do on the pre-assessments you may or may not want to buy the books.

RoadwarriorsLive

eansdad wrote: »

I took ORC1 and MGC1 together since they looked similar. I just answered the question with common sense. Take the pre-assessments and see where you stand. One of the books i was able to find and older edition on google books but didn't really read any of it. Depending on how you do on the pre-assessments you may or may not want to buy the books.

I got a 70 on the preassessment. I am brushing up on the the stuff I missed. Maybe I can knock this one out real quick.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for my Gen Ed's just need to get through a couple more before I start the fun stuff.

Excellent1

Excellent1 wrote: »

The pre-assessment has nothing to do with the CoS, to my knowledge. Understand that I am not talking about practice exams, but about the pre-assessment that is taken ostensibly before the CoS is even looked at or the course even assigned to AAV. Previously, these pre-assessments have all been via MeasureUp. Now it appears they are moving away from that, according to what my mentor says.

No big deal, but I was wondering if everyone was seeing the same thing. Perhaps I am the only one even clicking the pre-assessment link and requesting it prior to taking the class. I try to get a true pre-assessment of where I'm at, knowledge-wise, before I start reading the course material. It doesn't matter, just wanted to know what others are being told.

Quoting and correcting myself here: after reviewing with more care, the CoS does call out the pre-assessment, and it specifically calls out MeasureUP as the pre-assessment format. Quoting from the CoS for Security+:

MeasureUp Preassessment

Take the MeasureUp technical assessment.

Note: Ask your mentor to provide you with a MeasureUp key for the Security+ Technical Assessment.

The MeasureUp preassessment is used as a diagnostic tool. Estimate what you think your score will be before you take the preassessment. As you take this preassessment, your goal is not to show how well you can do. Your goal is to find out what you know and what you do not know. Do not use any resources, do not look anything up, and do not guess. Compare the score you estimated before the test with what you actually accomplish. Did you know as much as you thought you did? The goal of this preassessment is to help you figure out which areas you need to spend the most time in.

Anyway, looks like they are cutting costs by doing away with this. Maybe they'll update the CoS to reflect the change, but I would imagine that will be a while.

themagicone

Finally got the CU mystery figured out...

"Stop thinking of CUs as Credit Hours. They have nothing to do with how long it takes to learn something, it’s just about how much competency you gain. LAT1 for instance, you only learn how to write 1 type of research paper. It’s one of the longest courses, but it only gives you 2 CUs, because there are more than 5 ways of doing it and you only learn one"

I kept thinking of them as regular credit hours and kept getting mad at the fact some classes are 6 CU's and are done in a day while a 1 CU class takes 3 weeks. But my mentor set me straight, it's based on what is being taught not how long it will take.

veritas_libertas

themagicone wrote: »

Finally got the CU mystery figured out...

"Stop thinking of CUs as Credit Hours. They have nothing to do with how long it takes to learn something, it’s just about how much competency you gain. LAT1 for instance, you only learn how to write 1 type of research paper. It’s one of the longest courses, but it only gives you 2 CUs, because there are more than 5 ways of doing it and you only learn one"

I kept thinking of them as regular credit hours and kept getting mad at the fact some classes are 6 CU's and are done in a day while a 1 CU class takes 3 weeks. But my mentor set me straight, it's based on what is being taught not how long it will take.

That should clear up some confusion for folks starting out

chmorin

themagicone wrote: »

Finally got the CU mystery figured out...

"Stop thinking of CUs as Credit Hours. They have nothing to do with how long it takes to learn something, it’s just about how much competency you gain. LAT1 for instance, you only learn how to write 1 type of research paper. It’s one of the longest courses, but it only gives you 2 CUs, because there are more than 5 ways of doing it and you only learn one"

I kept thinking of them as regular credit hours and kept getting mad at the fact some classes are 6 CU's and are done in a day while a 1 CU class takes 3 weeks. But my mentor set me straight, it's based on what is being taught not how long it will take.

I never thought of credit houts as 'long it will take'. I had taken 3 and 4 credits worth of classes that last the same amount of time. I just thought of it as how much the class was 'worth'.

I thought CU's as the same thing. That made LAT1 tick me off, since while I am VERY good at writing, if I have to write a 15 page research paper and a number of other small exercises I had better be getting more than 2 CU's.

Now, I'm not. So I won't complain much more. I'm melding it with a goal to do one task of that a week while still going through my accelerated rate. So hopefully in five or six weeks I'll have LAT1 done, and still have done my normal classes.

Also on the 'what is being taught' logic, I'd say there is much more to networking than what Network+ has, but it is still 6 CU's. There is not much more to research papers than LAT1, yet it is 2 CU's. I complained to my mentor as well, and pretty much worked out a 'tough nuggins' result of it all.

I have probably written nearly 50 research papers as I was very English heavy during high school and even when I was at my jr college. The value they have for this 15 page research paper upsets me to no end.

I guess I had to get that out XD. I'm a big fan of writing, so seeing the amount of work be 'worth' so little is almost like a blow to my hobby. But I still love WGU, so I'll get over it XD.

erpadmin

While I don't disagree with what the value of LAT1 should be, I do understand the logic. Most schools have an English Composition 1 and English Composition 2 course that is the equivalent of 6 credits, which is the equivalent of LAE1, LAT1 and LAT1. Though in addition to that, there is a separate requirement for a Public Speaking course. I think some English Composition II courses do have a public speaking component; I'm not sure though

In that sense, they probably do need to bump the amount of CUs by 1 each and make them 9 CUs. In essense though, it probably won't matter much, as I think that would matter if you were trying to transfer the classes to another school. Only good way that's happening, from what I've read, is if you earned the degree first if you wanted a second BS (or BA) somewhere else.

I think we can all agree that LAT1 was the biggest pain in the rear ever...arguably the hardest 2 CU class anyone ever has to take (not so much because of the subject itself, but how it's so friggin particular... ) I did hear that WGU wanted to take away the "cakeness" of LAE1 and make it more LAT1 like...that's what one of the course mentors of LAT1 had explained to me when I was trying to find a LUT1 course mentor.

RoadwarriorsLive

GTT1 Introduction to Programming is coming up on my classes to take next list. While procrastining over more reading for the management class I am taking now I was looking through the GTT1 COS.

I saw this and was wondering what was up.
"The SAI Learning Connection will be available through December 31, 2010. This course of study will be updated with new instructions by that time as these courses are migrated into Oracle Academy."

Does anyone have any insight into this? Should I have my mentor open it for me now or wait till after the migration? I sent her an email for clarification on the change but was wondering if anyone here knew anything about the change.

erpadmin

Well, a couple of things...

I did get confirmation from my mentor that ExamFarce will not be replacing Labsims. If anything LabSims are in the process of replacing ExamForce and MeasureUps in the coming months. That was good news.

Also, I went ahead and enrolled in TPV1. I have decided to enroll in AIV1 and QLT1 and QLC1 for the beginning of next term. INT1 will get enrolled after I'm done with both. I'll have until the end of this month to pass TPV1 and according to the schedule, I'll have to do it on either the 9th or the 17th. More than likely it'll be on the 17th. Cutting it pretty close, but I think the only thing I need to do is brush up on are those formulas. I am using uCertify and I've been given the MeasureUp for the 2003 objectives. This weekend will be busy and I am on vacation next week so it should be more than doable. But 28 CUs will be something I can tip my hat to.

But the last non-MS cert after this will be JavaScript. That will be done by end of Q1 2011 or beginning of Q2 2011.

Excellent1

erpadmin wrote: »

Well, a couple of things...

I did get confirmation from my mentor that ExamFarce will not be replacing Labsims. If anything LabSims are in the process of replacing ExamForce and MeasureUps in the coming months. That was good news.

Interesting. I got confirmation today that MeasureUp is indeed going the way of the dodo, and I cannot, in fact, have a key for Security+, even though it is called out as a specific resource in the CoS.

In any case, it's just a pre-assessment, but that's what I was told via email, and now via phone call with my mentor.

If anyone manages to score a MeasureUp pre-assessment key for anything from this point on, please let me know.

Excellent1

RoadwarriorsLive wrote: »

I got a 70 on the preassessment. I am brushing up on the the stuff I missed. Maybe I can knock this one out real quick.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for my Gen Ed's just need to get through a couple more before I start the fun stuff.

Did you knock these two out yet? I know you've been rolling at an unholy pace, so I wanted to see how you fared on the actual tests. I just took the pre-assessments for the hell of it and was in the mid 70's. If the actual assessment is anything like the pre-assessment, I'm just going to schedule these and get another 8 CU's knocked out.

If you (or anyone that has completed these) can let me know if the actual tests are close to the pre-assessments, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

themagicone

Taskstream is taking forever again. Turned in a paper 2 days ago and yet to get it back. I was able to write another 8 page paper in that time. But I'm done with social science unless they get sent back. Even if they do it won't be too much to fix it. I can see the light at the end of the road but most of my classes that i have left are credit heavy so it's still a long road. Good luck to everyone else.

erpadmin

Excellent1 wrote: »

If anyone manages to score a MeasureUp pre-assessment key for anything from this point on, please let me know.

I did get a MeasureUp for Project+, but they only have the 2003 objectives. From what I've read though, there isn't much different as far as content, BUT...you do have a higher score as a minimum to pass.

I'm fairly confident that this will be another victory, so that's why I'm doing it...I'm cutting it close, but I should be ok.

Jagged

Excellent1 wrote: »

Did you knock these two out yet? I know you've been rolling at an unholy pace, so I wanted to see how you fared on the actual tests. I just took the pre-assessments for the hell of it and was in the mid 70's. If the actual assessment is anything like the pre-assessment, I'm just going to schedule these and get another 8 CU's knocked out.

If you (or anyone that has completed these) can let me know if the actual tests are close to the pre-assessments, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

Had to look up which tests you were referring to. About three weeks ago I took both MGC1 and ORC1 right after each other at my regular testing center. I had taken the pre-assessments about a week before. No studying in between. Matched my MGC1 score and gained about 4% on ORC1.

So far it seems that the internal WGU courses use pre-assessments that greatly mirror the actual tests.

Excellent1

Jagged wrote: »

Had to look up which tests you were referring to. About three weeks ago I took both MGC1 and ORC1 right after each other at my regular testing center. I had taken the pre-assessments about a week before. No studying in between. Matched my MGC1 score and gained about 4% on ORC1.

So far it seems that the internal WGU courses use pre-assessments that greatly mirror the actual tests.

Awesome, thanks for the info. I'll knock these 2 out this term, then.

Excellent1

erpadmin wrote: »

I did get a MeasureUp for Project+, but they only have the 2003 objectives. From what I've read though, there isn't much different as far as content, BUT...you do have a higher score as a minimum to pass.

I'm fairly confident that this will be another victory, so that's why I'm doing it...I'm cutting it close, but I should be ok.

Best of luck, man! I'm sure you'll come back with the pass.

Jack2

73/85 thought i would do better...

Felt good to get a pass on the CIW Foundations today after basically a week and a half of study. I think the drive was more stressful than the test(San Francisco bay area traffic). Two courses done. Not bad since I did not even get my aap set until Nov 18th. Now for the A+ tests. Not sure If I can get them done by the end of the Year

Pilotreborn

I started on 12/01/10 and finished EWB on the 3rd, Its nice that I got to do the whole thing while at work. Getting paid while doing classwork is pretty nice. I had my AAV mentor meeting on the 3rd as well, and I have CLC1 and CIW foundations and the 2 A+ exams on my plate now. I hope to be done with all of that within 2 months. Then I can start moving on to accelerate the program.
Really excited about working through this program.

BerryKix

WGU has been really good so far. The only thing I'll say is that the Java programming courses suck. They're a pain to do and the course mentor is completely useless. She'll just keep referring you to the CoS no matter what you ask. I'm also glad they got rid of measureup because it was pointless. Examcram is pretty pointless too for that matter. Testout and labsim are the best by far.

petedude

BerryKix wrote: »

WGU has been really good so far. The only thing I'll say is that the Java programming courses suck. They're a pain to do and the course mentor is completely useless. She'll just keep referring you to the CoS no matter what you ask. I'm also glad they got rid of measureup because it was pointless. Examcram is pretty pointless too for that matter. Testout and labsim are the best by far.

I really dig uCertify for the CIW exams. I almost wish I had been told to use those by WGU-- almost because they're generally much tougher than the vCampus materials and I would be lagging even further "behind" if I had to use those to validate my progress.

The Java courses look somewhat daunting. I do not have much faith in what I've seen so far of that mentor, either. She sometimes leaves me wishing they had hired someone of a pure CS background to run that course.

erpadmin

petedude wrote: »

I really dig uCertify for the CIW exams. I almost wish I had been told to use those by WGU-- almost because they're generally much tougher than the vCampus materials and I would be lagging even further "behind" if I had to use those to validate my progress.

The Java courses look somewhat daunting. I do not have much faith in what I've seen so far of that mentor, either. She sometimes leaves me wishing they had hired someone of a pure CS background to run that course.

I haven't taken it yet, but I'm pretty much treating AKV1 the same way I treated all the other cert courses...study, practice test, pass. With AKV1, I'll use the mcmcse.com guide, the links that were posted earlier and uCertify. That will be my last non-MS cert.