Student Experiences at Western Governors University (WGU)

Lemonade727

sheckler wrote: »

The CIW stuff they give you is good. There's a pdf of the book, and then a lot of practice exams and quizzes to take.

Ok cool. I was hoping to start studying for the certification during part of my term break before I get back into the 2nd term.

Do you have the book title or an ISBN number or anything as I may need to buy it on my own separately to start studying early since I won't be able to get enrolled in the resources for it before actually enrolling in the course during my 2nd term.

Shecky

Anyone of you guys have a study guide/notes for ORC1 I could possibly use? And is knowledge of ORC1 enough to pass MGC1? I've heard they're pretty easy and go hand in hand. I'm taking the pre-assessment for ORC1 and just want to be done with it. I need to meet my 9/30/11 deadline or else I'm pancaked!

Still in queue:

ORC1
MGC1
TPV1
BOV1
TWA1
CPW3

Thank YOU!

Pishof

Shecky wrote: »

Anyone of you guys have a study guide/notes for ORC1 I could possibly use? And is knowledge of ORC1 enough to pass MGC1? I've heard they're pretty easy and go hand in hand. I'm taking the pre-assessment for ORC1 and just want to be done with it. I need to meet my 9/30/11 deadline or else I'm pancaked!

Still in queue:

ORC1
MGC1
TPV1
BOV1
TWA1
CPW3

Thank YOU!

I had the book for ORC1 but barely skimmed over it before easily passing the final assessment.

I didn't even look at any material for MGC1, just took the pre-assessment making sure I googled the answers so when I took the final test I was still in the 80% range just educated guessing. Both are very very easy.

sheckler

Lemonade727 wrote: »

Ok cool. I was hoping to start studying for the certification during part of my term break before I get back into the 2nd term.

Do you have the book title or an ISBN number or anything as I may need to buy it on my own separately to start studying early since I won't be able to get enrolled in the resources for it before actually enrolling in the course during my 2nd term.

The isbn is listed as 1-59302-429-0 but I dont think it's for sale, I think its just an online thing. See if your mentor will enroll you in just the learning resource, mine does that for me a lot.

petedude

sheckler wrote: »

The isbn is listed as 1-59302-429-0 but I dont think it's for sale, I think its just an online thing. See if your mentor will enroll you in just the learning resource, mine does that for me a lot.

Couldn't find anything by that ISBN on eBay or Amazon. Try looking up by title. . . you'll probably find a few used out there cheap. I bought a couple particular CIW books for relatives I thought might find them handy for non-school pursuits.

nhpr

never2late wrote: »

Passed my 70-680 test today. Took seven weeks of studying and thousands of test questions but got through it with a 945. The actual test was not as difficult in reality as it was in my mind.

Would you say that the LabSim questions are a pretty decent indicator of the exam's difficulty? Easier? Harder?

themagicone

nhpr wrote: »

Would you say that the LabSim questions are a pretty decent indicator of the exam's difficulty? Easier? Harder?

Labsim is no where close to the difficulty of the 70-680 exam questions. Or at least that was my experience. That was the hardest test I ever took. There is a lot on the test that isn't covered in labsim. Make sure to get a few more sources to study up on.

never2late

themagicone wrote: »

Labsim is no where close to the difficulty of the 70-680 exam questions. Or at least that was my experience. That was the hardest test I ever took. There is a lot on the test that isn't covered in labsim. Make sure to get a few more sources to study up on.

My experience was different. The Labsim tests mimic some of the actual test questions but there are some that are not covered by Testout. Of the 50 questions I felt confident with 35 - 40 of them.

A couple were pure guesswork because I did not see them in any study material. Some were answered with deductive reasoning. Some I have seen and used in the field so the answer was obvious. I found my CCNA test to be much more difficult and I put the same time in studying for both exams.

nhpr

never2late wrote: »

I found my CCNA test to be much more difficult and I put the same time in studying for both exams.

That's an excellent frame of reference and a great way of putting it. You're pretty smart for a talking dog (assuming that's your picture in the avatar).

Lemonade727

sheckler wrote: »

The isbn is listed as 1-59302-429-0 but I dont think it's for sale, I think its just an online thing. See if your mentor will enroll you in just the learning resource, mine does that for me a lot.

Thanks, the only copies I could find were from CIW for ~$125 and that's obviously not happening. I had my mentor call this morning and brought this up and she enrolled me in the learning resources for the class. I've never had her do that before so I didn't know it could be done without being enrolled in the class as well. Thanks again!

NOLAJ

Ahhh, just took my 1st exam via webcam (CLC1). Talk about an abstract course. Passed and it feels good.

As far as the current discussion about the 70-680, it is a BEAST! You have to have a working knowledge of MS OS's. Server 2008 knowledge is also a big key. LAB LAB LAB LAB LAB I can't say it enough, LAB!

Took me 2 tries to pass back when I was going through the rigors of the 70-680.

demonfurbie

with what every one is saying about the 70-680 im wondering if i should take it after all the other mcipt test i have to take

it seams to pull info from them all

Pishof

demonfurbie wrote: »

with what every one is saying about the 70-680 im wondering if i should take it after all the other mcipt test i have to take

it seams to pull info from them all

I'm just glad I had a transfer credit that exempts me from taking the 70-680. I've no need for the headache I've heard that test can cause. Not sure why the win7 test is commonly recognized as more difficult than many of the MCITP exams. Maybe it's because the Vista version was so easy they wanted to balance the scales.

never2late

nhpr wrote: »

That's an excellent frame of reference and a great way of putting it. You're pretty smart for a talking dog (assuming that's your picture in the avatar).

That's my baby girl and she is pretty smart. I wait on her hand and foot, she sleeps all day while I work, she gets all the attention, and doesn't have any homework. So, it seems she is a lot smarter than me.

I guess the reason I found the Cisco more difficult than the MS test is experience. I deal with Win 7 and Server 2008 everyday but programming routers only happens rarely.

nethacker

will you all advise me to enrol at WGU? i want to study IT

NOLAJ

nethacker wrote: »

will you all advise me to enrol at WGU? i want to study IT

Absolutely!!

Hypntick

Just got done with CIW for WFV1. With the new pre-reqs for admission to the IT program, I fail to see a need for this particular cert. Really really easy, a quick HTML brush up last night and this morning and I was good to go.

Wish I had done this one sooner just to get it out of the way.

ORC1 tomorrow night at 7, should be good to go on that as well. After that MGC1 and LAE1 for next week.

nethacker

NOLAJ wrote: »

Absolutely!!

just thinking about how acceptable and recognized the certificate will be especially for bachelors. do employers really frown at this online learning?

themagicone

nethacker wrote: »

just thinking about how acceptable and recognized the certificate will be especially for bachelors. do employers really frown at this online learning?

If you read through all the WGU post's you should get a good idea. This topic has been beaten to death many times.

A lot of it comes down how well you apply yourself to studying. If you should up for an interview and say you have a BS and you kick some butt it doesn't matter where the degree came from. It's just a piece of paper, you need to do the work to back it up.

themagicone

So I'm sitting here, waiting on taskstream. I'm thinking about all that I went through in the last year. In a few short months I'm going to have my BS from WGU. All I have left is CCNA (failed the first attempt by 10 points, will try again in a week) then all that is left is CCNA Security and the capstone/tech writing.

My overall experience with WGU? 50/50. I understand we get a deal on tuition compared to a normal school, I understand that it's up to us to learn and progress through classes - But I really wish for what we pay and what they want there could be more support sometimes. I feel cheated this term. Why? Well all I'm doing this term is the 2 CCNA classes and then a writing class. All WGU provides for the CCNA class is Labsim. I had to buy my books, etc. The course mentor is alright but for the price of the term I could of attended a full CCNA Academy course. So yes they pay for the vouchers, $250 if I had to pay for it. But still I'll spend 3 months on self study so $1500. I could go on this triad awhile but I'll stop there.

Overall the mentors have been great. There has been a few who just say "read the COS" - well that doesn't help sometimes. I really wish they could be more involved with the learning process.

Did I learn anything from WGU? Yes and no. This is a real hard area to judge. I knew a lot to start with, as it shows when I passed a class without studying. But in that, how many did I pass by just knowing how to test? Face it, the assessment tests from WGU were not the hardest. Their were a few but most could be easily figured out with selective deduction. Not to mention the cut scores on most are so low that you could pass most by only putting in half the effort they expect you to. I'm guilty of this. Fail a preassemment by 10%? Study the whole COS? No way, just brush up to get the cut score and move on. Now this was a personal choice and I could of put more of my own effort in to learn more. But face it, when do I need to know the art of the neoclassical period. So I learned some, skimmed some, and fudge some.

I'm glad I'm almost done, and I'm glad I took on the challenge. For the amount of effort I put in I think I came out good. We'll see how well and how much it helps in the real world once I get the BS and find a job.

Good luck to the new comers and the people who are getting close to finishing keep chewing on it, it'll be over before you know it.

petedude

themagicone wrote: »

My overall experience with WGU? 50/50. I understand we get a deal on tuition compared to a normal school, I understand that it's up to us to learn and progress through classes - But I really wish for what we pay and what they want there could be more support sometimes. I feel cheated this term. . . .
. . .
Did I learn anything from WGU? Yes and no. This is a real hard area to judge.
. . .So I learned some, skimmed some, and fudge some.
. . .

I felt similarly after my first term. I finished a lot of CUs but wasn't sure how to evaluate the quality of the experience. I think you might want to revisit this after your last couple classes-- if they're enough work, you might feel a little differently.

For me personally, the difficulty of last handful of courses made up for any easy work I may have had the first term. Looking back, I have learned a great deal, but it's kinda difficult to qualify because it went by so quickly. I'm betting many folks graduating out of traditional four-year programs have similar feelings. (Who's going to remember much about that sociology class they took the first semester of their sophomore year?)

I can also attest, as I've mentioned in other posts, that I've learned as much or more about my approach to learning in attending WGU as I have learned about IT topics. As background, I studied for certs before WGU. I took CLEPs and DSSTs before WGU. But in finishing WGU competencies I learned how to function on a self-mandated compressed schedule to complete this work, and how to (more) creatively locate resources to help me get there.

I think it'll be worth all the blood, sweat and tears by the time it's done. (Trust me, the last handful of classes have been challenging-- I'm in the generic IT track.) And yes, I'll have to see how the degree is received by employers, etc. But if prior student experiences are any measure, I should come out OK. I expect I will feel my first moment of real satisfaction will be when I submit my application for a master's program. . . because at that point I'll be able to do so.

Nobylspoon

NOLAJ wrote: »

Ahhh, just took my 1st exam via webcam (CLC1). Talk about an abstract course. Passed and it feels good.

I just finished that one as well. The whole time I was taking the test, I felt that I had studied the wrong book, lol.

So far I have earned 8 CUs in my first 26 days at WGU.

Hypntick

I have slain the ORC1! Was hitting low 70%s on my pre-assesses, came out at 81% on the final test. Just requested LAE1 and MGC1, need to make up some lost time from BAC1 and CCENT.

Lemonade727

Hypntick wrote: »

I have slain the ORC1! Was hitting low 70%s on my pre-assesses, came out at 81% on the final test. Just requested LAE1 and MGC1, need to make up some lost time from BAC1 and CCENT.

Congrats man. You shouldn't have any problems with MGC1, I just had a bad run-in with it on my first attempt. LAE1 is some freebie CU's, you'll finish that in a couple of hours, tops.

nhpr

I just got back from the 70-680 for ABV1 and passed in the high 700's. It's definitely harder than the CCNA assuming equal level of knowledge in both areas before studying. For anyone taking the exam, I'll repeat what was said above: lab, lab, lab. Even if you know how to do something, try doing it the other way. Even if that way is less efficient and you'd never use it on your own.

Now I just have to finish my art power point presentation and then I get to start my capstone which should be fun.

demonfurbie

nhpr wrote: »

I just got back from the 70-680 for ABV1 and passed in the high 700's. It's definitely harder than the CCNA assuming equal level of knowledge in both areas before studying. For anyone taking the exam, I'll repeat what was said above: lab, lab, lab. Even if you know how to do something, try doing it the other way. Even if that way is less efficient and you'd never use it on your own.

Now I just have to finish my art power point presentation and then I get to start my capstone which should be fun.

did you take all the other ms classes first before the 70-680?

hiddenknight821

demonfurbie wrote: »

did you take all the other ms classes first before the 70-680?

I don't think he did since the Security emphasis track only requires 70-680 to pass the ABV1 (Operating Systems). This is the only MS course offered in the program.

MikeinPA

Just passed WFV1, CIW Web Foundations. My first IT certification, yeah!! Now on to A+

nhpr

demonfurbie wrote: »

did you take all the other ms classes first before the 70-680?

Nope. My only Windows experience was using Win 3.1-XP for my home computer. The biggest help for me was doing *every* *single* *question* in LabSim; that along with watching the free Professor Messer videos and recreating the labs he did right after watching.

Are all the MS exams on the enterprise administrator track as ridiculous as 70-680 or was that one an outlier?

demonfurbie

im not sure im saving all my ms classes till then from what i hear they build on each other