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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Rappeller

Talked to my mentor last night. she was nice with lots of energy (Think Peppy Valley Girl Cheerleader) Hope I can keep up.

veritas_libertas

earweed wrote: »

Just got my Capstone graded. 4.0
I'm finally done!

Congratulations!

MusicIT

Hello Everyone!!
I am starting in OCT for the MS:ISA and have read every posting. I am looking for anyone that is currently enrolled or any information about the courses. Is there a separate thread for the MS?

Thank You
MusicIT

erpadmin

MusicIT wrote: »

Hello Everyone!!
I am starting in OCT for the MS:ISA and have read every posting. I am looking for anyone that is currently enrolled or any information about the courses. Is there a separate thread for the MS?

Thank You
MusicIT

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/67825-wgu-msisa-questions-answered.html

(It's not a sticky though, but Foxer is still around).

never2late

Project + is done. Test was simpler than I anticipated. A lot of short questions and most of the answers were obvious. Had to make some educated guesses but walked out with a good score.
I dreaded this class because of the boring material but now that its done I got a lot out of it. It will also seamlessly integrate with my tech writing and capstone.

Psoasman

earweed wrote: »

Just got my Capstone graded. 4.0
I'm finally done!

Congrats! Good for you.

never2late

erpadmin wrote: »

I think I'm going to be done with my "idea paper" within one hour, and that's assuming I'm not interrupted with work." After I send my paper to him and my regular mentor, I'm going to hunt this guy down via Student Services

I'm a little confused about the idea paper. Mainly concerned with formatting. Are they looking for something informal or does it need a title page with formal structure. I've emailed my mentor and the course mentor but thought I could get a quicker response here.

erpadmin

never2late wrote: »

I'm a little confused about the idea paper. Mainly concerned with formatting. Are they looking for something informal or does it need a title page with formal structure. I've emailed my mentor and the course mentor but thought I could get a quicker response here.

It's been more than forty-eight hours and I have YET to hear from the course mentor in this course. The guy works part time and travels a lot.
I'm still trudging along with writing my paper. I'm giving him until Friday by my mentor call, then I'll be complaining to my mentor plus Student Services. For the money I'm paying, I want at a minimum "I'll get back to you..." WGU's policy states that I have a right to be contacted within 4 hours. Up until now, that's always been the case.

In any event, I read from the communities that the idea paper is supposed to be very informal. I modeled the format from my LAE1 paper, slightly. I went with one page with one in-text citation and reference. The idea paper is not graded, but your course mentor is supposed to approve your idea before you write the proposal.

I'm going ahead and writing my proposal anyway, because I can't see how it would not be approved.

UPDATE: My idea paper/topic for approval was approved today. My idea paper was just a one page paper talking about what I was going to propose. I will continue working on my paper now....almost have my summary done.

I am finding it a good idea to write a writing plan, similar to what was done in LAT1. Organization is key to get this paper done.

utahbrat

I don't see WGU as a place for a degree to brag about, but as a means to get to a master's program. The BA is required to enter a master's program at any university.

WGU has improved greatly in the last few years, but it still needs some work. For IT classes, I have found outside materials to be more valuable than what was provided by WGU. In fact, WGU relies a lot on outside resources that are accessible without being enrolled in the college. A recent email from WGU now recommends the free online ProfessorMessor videos as a major part of the roadmap -- great courses. However, the courses are available on YouTube free of charge.

If all you want is certification, WGU is an expensive route. If you want the degree, WGU fits the bill. It's tuition is lower than the brick/mortar schools.

The current mentor has been great. A past mentor was bad. I feel the system has been unorganized. Revamping the site has helped. The LUT classes seem unorganized, with many complaints about clarity and computer capability. Many presentations were not workable unless you upgraded your computer hardware or software. Many complaints were about the clarify of expectations. For an English class, this needs to be remedied.

WGU needs a good audit with 'secret' students that are new to the material (an expert can easily look over the basics). WGU has a lot of great potential, great backing from legislators, and a fair price structure (expcept I can't find decent scholarships. Some scholarships are listed. However, I have a daughter that just finished a 2-year college on a full scholarship (good grades). WGU said she didn't qualify for these scholarships or they weren't available for her anymore).

With a little more work and a closer look at the study courses, this could be a great school.

erpadmin

utahbrat wrote: »

I don't see WGU as a place for a degree to brag about, but as a means to get to a master's program. The BA is required to enter a master's program at any university.

If all you want is certification, WGU is an expensive route. If you want the degree, WGU fits the bill. It's tuition is lower than the brick/mortar schools.

WGU needs a good audit with 'secret' students that are new to the material (an expert can easily look over the basics). WGU has a lot of great potential, great backing from legislators, and a fair price structure (expcept I can't find decent scholarships. Some scholarships are listed. However, I have a daughter that just finished a 2-year college on a full scholarship (good grades). WGU said she didn't qualify for these scholarships or they weren't available for her anymore).

With a little more work and a closer look at the study courses, this could be a great school.

As a scholarship student in IT, I have to say that I agree with many of your major points. I would never "brag" about my WGU BS...but I will "brag" that I'm a college graduate to the point that I can go to a "real" school to obtain a Masters. For me, that was always the point.

The English classes I could have done without, but they're over and done with. However, I find that their science classes are a bad joke. It's nothing but busy work and I'm convinced that the course mentors are former sorority chicks that have nothing better to do than give us more busy work. That's really neither here nor there, and they too are over and done with (however, I'd have been better off doing my science at a regular school or perhaps straighterline. I'd have done well at a Chemistry course, with a lab.)

Lastly, the school of IT at WGU is NOT for students who have no prior knowledge of IT. The Windows 7 cert is difficult enough for folks with vast experience in IT. That's why WGU has made the requirements a bit strict for new students wanting to apply to the school (work experience, past certifications...etc. etc.) I already had A+ and Network+; that's why I qualifed to get an IT scholarship.

Unforg1ven

Started on August 1st and knock down EWB. My first 2 classes are TPV1 and BOV1. Hopefully I'll run through this just fine. Aside from the WGU provided learning resources; does anybody recommend any supplemental material to study with?

Thanks.

nhpr

Unforg1ven wrote: »

Started on August 1st and knock down EWB. My first 2 classes are TPV1 and BOV1. Hopefully I'll run through this just fine. Aside from the WGU provided learning resources; does anybody recommend any supplemental material to study with?

Thanks.

I found the Sybex book for Project+ rather helpful.

floyd84s

experience so far has been good,

Shecky

Need the MGC1 book! Can anyone help?

Bateman, T. S., & Snell, S. A. (2007). Leading and collaborating in the competitive world (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

erpadmin

Shecky wrote: »

Need the MGC1 book! Can anyone help?

Bateman, T. S., & Snell, S. A. (2007). Leading and collaborating in the competitive world (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Have you taken the preassessment yet? You might be ok with just the mindedge or your own knowledge.

LAN_Guru

zaxbysauce wrote: »

Go to Fox Brother's BarBQ, Fogo de Chau, and Vortex Bar and Grill. You will be pleased with the results.

Definitely the Vortex...definitely...

Google "Man vs Food Atlanta"

If you want to party: Buckhead

If you want touristy stuff: World of Coke, Underground Atlanta, Georgia Aquarium

People watching: Little 5 Points

History buff?: Cyclorama and others

Art?: The High Museum

Into Antiquities?: Michael Carlos Museum at Emory

Outdoorsy?: head to North Georgia/North Carolina/Tennessee and kayak, raft, rappel, spelunk, mountain bike, hang glide, hike, rock climb, etc.

Date night?: the laser show at Stone Mountain

The list goes on and on...

sheckler

Wow, I just went to reschedule my MS exam and prometric wants $35 to do it. What a terrible policy. In the past I've moved exams around like 3-4 times, not anymore I guess.

cshkuru

Yeah they had an announcement about that on the WGU communities board. I hate the stranglehold prometric and pearson have on these exams but what can you do.

nhpr

sheckler wrote: »

Wow, I just went to reschedule my MS exam and prometric wants $35 to do it. What a terrible policy. In the past I've moved exams around like 3-4 times, not anymore I guess.

This is why you make friends with the people at the testing center.

nhpr

I was reading Slashdot and came across this article. WGU's getting more attention, it seems.

Shecky

erpadmin wrote: »

Have you taken the preassessment yet? You might be ok with just the mindedge or your own knowledge.

Not yet. Heard it was a "Know it or you don't" type of exam.

People say ORC1 and MGC1 can be done in a day or the next, but after taking the pre-assessment on ORC1, they must be a genius. Drawing from my own knowledge, I could barely answer 5-10 questions out of 43. They draw everything straight from the book. Don't know how other people can "skim" for 5 minutes and pass miraculously with a high percentage given the 3 hour time mark. Haha.

erpadmin

Shecky wrote: »

Not yet. Heard it was a "Know it or you don't" type of exam.

People say ORC1 and MGC1 can be done in a day or the next, but after taking the pre-assessment on ORC1, they must be a genius. Drawing from my own knowledge, I could barely answer 5-10 questions out of 43. They draw everything straight from the book. Don't know how other people can "skim" for 5 minutes and pass miraculously with a high percentage given the 3 hour time mark. Haha.

Work experience, mostly. I assure you I am no genius. Project+ did help with some of that stuff, like the formation of project groups.

If you didn't do that well, then the MGC1 book might help you out. ORC1 uses the LET1 book.

veritas_libertas

Shecky wrote: »

Not yet. Heard it was a "Know it or you don't" type of exam.

People say ORC1 and MGC1 can be done in a day or the next, but after taking the pre-assessment on ORC1, they must be a genius. Drawing from my own knowledge, I could barely answer 5-10 questions out of 43. They draw everything straight from the book. Don't know how other people can "skim" for 5 minutes and pass miraculously with a high percentage given the 3 hour time mark. Haha.

It depends on the person's background. My associate degree was heavy on the business side, and I had already completed the Project+. This helped me do well on ORC1 with only a week of studying.

themagicone

MGC1/ORC1 are just common sense stuff. If you read the question there usually is only one right answer. But, everyone has their own education level. Just find the book on Amazon, buy it used then resell it back. Most of the time it won't cost you anything. There is also sites like bookrenter and if it's less than 30 days there is no charge. Personally I took both of the same day and passed.

veritas_libertas

If your degree is the plain IT degree, can you choose anything for your capstone? Anyone here know?

nhpr

veritas_libertas wrote: »

If your degree is the plain IT degree, can you choose anything for your capstone? Anyone here know?

You can choose virtually anything for your capstone as long as you, at the least, nominally tie it to your concentration. If you have no concentration, I would guess you'd be even freer.

petedude

nhpr wrote: »

You can choose virtually anything for your capstone as long as you, at the least, nominally tie it to your concentration. If you have no concentration, I would guess you'd be even freer.

You have to be able to demonstrate competencies within the degree program as well as within the general education program (i.e. communicate effectively within a standard academic format). If you have the general program, yes, that means you can do just about anything IT-related for your capstone.

JoshD779

Passed ORC1 this morning. That makes 20 CUs in three months.

Shecky

erpadmin wrote: »

Work experience, mostly. I assure you I am no genius. Project+ did help with some of that stuff, like the formation of project groups.

If you didn't do that well, then the MGC1 book might help you out. ORC1 uses the LET1 book.

I thought so too. If you come in taking the pre-assessment with no prior knowledge, you're screwed. Even common sense guessing can only get you so far. Questions that NEED you to know the theories will definitely leave you guessing.

Have the ORC1 book. Ordered the MGC1 book. Have ORC1 scheduled for this coming Thursday. Wish me luck!

veritas_libertas wrote: »

It depends on the person's background. My associate degree was heaviy on the business side, and I had already completed the Project+. This helped me do well on ORC1 with only a week of studying.

Lol wow. There you go. Experience ftw.

themagicone wrote: »

MGC1/ORC1 are just common sense stuff. If you read the question there usually is only one right answer. But, everyone has their own education level. Just find the book on Amazon, buy it used then resell it back. Most of the time it won't cost you anything. There is also sites like bookrenter and if it's less than 30 days there is no charge. Personally I took both of the same day and passed.

I'm assuming you had some type of prior experience, right?

Shecky

JoshD779 wrote: »

Passed ORC1 this morning. That makes 20 CUs in three months.

Congrats!

How was it? I'm taking it this Thursday. Was it easier than the pre-assessment?