WGU Students - How Many CU's per term?

crip1087

I just enrolled and will be beginning my first semester at WGU. I transferred about 40 CU's from my community college and 2 certs (A+, Net+), and I am enrolled for BS IT Program.

I'm curious to how many Competency Units everyone here completes per 6 month term? And how many hours would you say you put into school per week?

I plan on putting 15-20 hours a week into my study. My goal is complete my bachelors in 3 to 4 terms.

Excellent1

This topic comes up from time to time--you can read through the two stickies up top for quite a bit of detail regarding your question.

The answer to your question is that the amount of CU's one completes is entirely unique to each individual. The combination of experience one has in the areas being worked on, inherent ability, the amount of time you have available, etc., all greatly influence the amount of work you will complete.

If you can imagine a classroom setting with all ages, background, and abilities, then imagine if each person in that classroom was allowed to progress at his/her own pace. The outcome would be progress results all over the map--that's WGU in a nutshell.

My advice would be to set a goal, which you have done, work towards it a little bit every day as best you can, and not compare yourself to anyone else, as no two individual's situations are the same. For a baseline, however, WGU recommends 20 hours per week to be successful, and 12 CU's minimum for undergrads. Anything you can put in over that is all gravy. Best of luck to you.

erpadmin

Based on schedule, focus and committment...that recommended twenty hours a week really is a minimum. I was able to do 28 CUs in a term working 40-50 hours a week. A lot of WGU work gets done at night and weekends.

You got those who will do 50+ (and that is a commendable feat, btw)...but ultimately, you have to remember that it's not a race/competition. If you start getting hung up on why you personally aren't doing a whole program in a term, you will want to burn out. The best plan for completing a WGU program, whatever your IT emphasis, is to set your own plan for finishing. If it takes 1-2 years to finish, then that's what it is.

myedjo24

I started in November of 2010 and so far I've completed 11 CU's out of 18 for my SAP (GI Bill students have to do minimum of 18 for full time benefits). I have kind of took a slow pace the last 2 and half months and I'm looking to pick up the pace a little. I didn't really spend much time studying, but I need to for the upcomming INC1 (for some reason I can't remember science terms very easily). I really kind of wish all the tests were performance exams instead of the objective ones. It's really much more at my pace to just submit work and have it graded, instead of having to pass a preassessment and then be determined whether or not you can take the actual exam. The objective exam worked fine for me in QLC1 because I have a better understanding of math, but for the INC1 I need to really put in the study time which kind of delays you when you could just be submitting some kind of science work like in INT1.

jtoast

I completed 21 units my first term and have completed 30 unit since my current term started on November 1st. I have one 3 CU class (portfolio) left to graduate and I will have it finished in the next week or so. I could have been done much sooner but since finishing it early doesn't change my april graduation date, there is no hurry.

I have a wife, kids, and 50 hour a week job. I probably averaged somewhere around 5-10 hours a weekof study time.
EDIT:
As a side note, I transferred in an Associates Degree(covered all my Gen ED), MCDST(waived my A+) and network+. You should easily be able to finish your degree in two-three terms if you work at it. The only classes that took me longer than about a week of study time to complete were the two Java Classes. Had I not been hamstrung by a 90 minute roundtrip drive to take certification exams (which required scheduling time off work) I could have finished in one term.

snokerpoker

My first term I completed 30. This term, I have done 12 with 2.5 months to go. This term I started a new job which is much more demanding and I have been focusing on some M$ exams for work so I haven't been able to go too crazy. I think if you are motivated enough doing 12-15, or 18-20 CU's is fairly reasonable.

uhtrinity

erpadmin wrote: »

Based on schedule, focus and committment...that recommended twenty hours a week really is a minimum. I was able to do 28 CUs in a term working 40-50 hours a week. A lot of WGU work gets done at night and weekends.

You got those who will do 50+ (and that is a commendable feat, btw)...but ultimately, you have to remember that it's not a race/competition. If you start getting hung up on why you personally aren't doing a whole program in a term, you will want to burn out. The best plan for completing a WGU program, whatever your IT emphasis, is to set your own plan for finishing. If it takes 1-2 years to finish, then that's what it is.

If I spent 20 hours a week I'm confident I could knock out a course every two weeks. As it is I'm up and down on the time spent. Some weeks I might be in the single digits, towards the end of a course I might go 15 hours straight and finish. I would say if you spend 15 - 20 hours a week you should progress rather quickly.

demonfurbie

some classes that are 6 cu can be done alot faster than others

ie: comptia vs microsoft certs

both are 6 cu how ever if you only studied for 2 weeks on a microsoft you maynot pass but studied for 2 weeks on a compita ya should be good

jmasterj206

I did 33 my first term or 10 classes. I know going into my second term I won't be able to do as much since I have mostly Microsoft and Cisco cert classes left. If I would have stayed on the general IT degree path I could probably get done much sooner since most of the MS certs are replaced with CIW certs. I just have a huge hatred of programming and flowcharting.

Everyone is different though. I work my IT job 45-50 hours a week and also teach IT related classes at a local tech college.

Also, don't forget the 6th month of your term is more of a buffer month. You cannot add classes but you can get the study materials to take the test early the next semester.

meadIT

If you have 15-20 hours per week to devote, you should be able to move relatively quickly. I went in to WGU with a few Microsoft and CompTIA certs, along with two Associate's degrees (IT-Networks and IT-Web Design). I was able to complete 76 CU's (and my B.S.) in my first term. If you are familiar with the material of the class, you're not forced to sit through it like you would in a traditional class.

Sounds Good

meadIT wrote: »

If you have 15-20 hours per week to devote, you should be able to move relatively quickly. I went in to WGU with a few Microsoft and CompTIA certs, along with two Associate's degrees (IT-Networks and IT-Web Design). I was able to complete 76 CU's (and my B.S.) in my first term. If you are familiar with the material of the class, you're not forced to sit through it like you would in a traditional class.

76 in 1 term? im dumbfounded

Excellent1

Sounds Good wrote: »

76 in 1 term? im dumbfounded

As he said, it's definitely doable. I'll finish up the first term with 72--that's with working full time/family/working out daily/yada yada. Bottom line is that you can progress at your own pace, and depending on your background you can set a decent pace.

It's a shame I didn't do this sooner. I spent the last decade debating whether or not I'd be able to cut it if I went back to school, and so far I'm doing ok.

The main thing is being motivated about it. I lost a month doing LAT1 (research paper course) because I absolutely hated it. When I finally buckled down and made myself do it, I finished it in 6 days from start to finish, for all tasks. If I had stayed motivated this entire term, I could have easily hit 80 CU's because I still have some easy gen ed junk to do (Literature, LUT1, etc).

With my colleagues at work dropping like flies and the economy in the shape that it's in, let's just say I don't find it hard to put the time in for studying versus wasting it in front of a tv set/video game/bar/<insert your vice here>. I don't have much of a life right now outside of work/family/school, but it will pay off in the long run. If it doesn't, then I tried and damn the torpedoes.

ArabianKnight

If I were to take my certs and transfer them in for the degree desired, for example, BS-IT NDA. If I already had those certs would I start with 60 CU's when I register or would I have to wait until I would reach that part of the degree for them to count? I would like to say to employers I have 60 college credits, or an associates.

asurania

Hi;

Yea for my bachelor i had only 39 CU to do, and i did that in 1 term. BUt this was because everything was stuff i knew.

Now i doing my MSISA and I taking it slow. Probaly will be doing 3 to 4 courses per term so approx 10 to 15 CU per Term.

I feel it is important to have a good Work/Life/School Balance.

At the same time It is important to test your limit, I do some people not being confident in them self and overstuding stuff that they already know. (Spending 2 months on A+ Course, but knowing the content and probaly could pass the exam with there eyes close).

So just keep in mind not a race, but be smart what you study and what you challange

BerryKix

I did 75 credits in 1 term and it will be my only term. I already have a 4 year degree from a brick and mortar in Marketing and I already had A+, Network+, and Security+. On top of it I had dabbled for months in everything from assembly and debugging to studying for the CISSP. I also already had some light study in databases from my marketing degree. When I decided to get the degree I had something like 5 weeks of studying I did before hand based off the classes on the list. I'll break it down:

WFV1 IT Fundamentals: Easy. If you have the 3 standard comptia certs you don't even need to study for this really. I just had to refresh some XHTML and that was it. Spent less than a week on this.

AKV1 Web Programming: Studied this before my term started. I watched the CBT nuggets Javascript Fundamentals and dabbled in C++ before hand so I already had basic understanding of programming. Did this in the same week as WFV1.

GTT1 Introduction to Programming: This course sucks. The tasks are horrible and you will get no help from the mentor for this course. I don't think she even knows Java? No matter what you ask you will simply be told to go read the COS. Spare yourself the pain and use forums to ask for help when you get stuck. It took me 2 weeks to complete this damn course and I was putting in some serious time.

MGC1 Principles of Management: Course is a joke. I'm pretty sure the pre-assessment is the same questions and answers as the actual exam. I just flipped through the book in a couple of hours and that was it. The material was similar to some of the stuff I took in Marketing.

ORC1 Fundamentals Of Organizational Leadership: Same as above. Finished both of these in the same week.

LET1 Leadership Concepts and Applications: If you know how to write then this is simple. It's just essays. I completed this in 2 days not counting a couple of minor revisions I had to do.

WSV1 Web Technologies: This is a pointless course. A lot of it is rehashed from the Fundamentals course and the Web programming course. There's really not that much in the way of technical know how. I wish they would drop this from the program but I guess you need it to round out the CIW Professional.

WDV1 Database: This is the CIW Database exam. I actually like this exam and it has useful information in it. This will introduce you to some basic SQL syntax and relational database concepts. It helps prepare you for the large programming task later on if you have GUT1.

GUT1 Objected Oriented Design: This course was much nicer than the introduction. Partly because I had gotten better at Java, partly because the tasks were better designed, and partly because I knew what to do when I got stuck. You'll learn a lot from this one.

TPV1 Project Management:Not much to say about this one. It's easy and it doesn't really have much you haven't seen before. It's just now from a project perspective. Only spent a week on it.

ABV1 Operating Systems: Material isn't really that difficult, but it didn't interest me at all so I had to grind my way through it. Took me about a week. The test is really similar in a lot of ways to the A+ Practical.

TWA1 & CPV4 Technical Writing and Capstone: These are actually really easy. It's just writing about things you've already learned. My technical writing was about 14 pages and the capstone is going to be between 25 and 30 pages probably. If you're a fast writer, you can knock this out quickly.

BGV1 Network Fundamentals: This is the CCNA exam. It's hell, it sucks, I hate Cisco. Everything about this exam is designed to make you fail. You'll learn a lot, but a lot of it is useless if you don't end up becoming a network engineer and using Cisco routers. Given the cost of the test, the test format, the no retake (If you aren't going to WGU), etc. I really feel like this is a big money maker for Cisco. Go to hell Cisco, and I hope your routers melt. Also, there's a huge lack of entry level network engineering jobs, at least in my area, so for me this is largely a waste of time.

BLV1 Designing Customized Security: Same as above, only a much much smaller test dealing with the Cisco IOS Security. This is the CCNA Security certification. Useless for me really. You'll only take this if your focus is security. I wish they'd do the CEH instead of this for the security focus. It would be so much more useful.

All said and done, WGU is awesome. This degree is the reason I have an interview next week as a Jr Java Developer at a fortune 500 company. Definitely get a degree from here if you're sitting on the fence.

If you haven't started the degree yet, study before hand. You can study all the information before you get in for the most part. If you want to finish in one term that's the way to go. Right now all I have left is the Capstone and CCNA Security. I plan to be finished next week sometime and if my interview goes well I'll be starting a job as a Jr Java Developer.

Also, I spent between 6 and 14 hours per day every day no days off on studying. If I had kept up that rate and not gotten burned out I would have finished the whole degree in 3 months. Right now I'll finish about 3 weeks behind my originally intended schedule. If you have a full time job I doubt you can pull off 75 credits in 1 term, but 50 is definitely doable if you dedicate every free minute to it. Either way, this school kicks ass compared to a brick and mortar. My Marketing degree is completely useless compared to this.

petedude

BerryKix wrote: »

. . . I'll break it down:
. . .

Talk about "War and Peace", dude!

WFV1: Took me a couple days.

AKV1: Took me a few weeks, but had done some pre-study immediately prior to enrolling.

GTT1: I think I agree with most of your sentiments-- I have this one ahead of me.

MGC1: Took me a couple days-- had done the CLEP some years ago.

ORC1: Took me a couple weeks to read the book, then go back over practice tests and missed spots in the book.

LET1: The first three were pretty quick. The fourth task took me a while.

WSV1: Agreed.

WDV1: This took me a lot longer than I'd expected-- I probably lost a month working on this one, and I've done relational database work before (non-SQL).

TPV1: Shot a month to heck on this one too, but probably should have just tried winging it after a week.

BGV1 Network Fundamentals: Transferred this in. Yay, me.

All said and done, WGU is awesome. This degree is the reason I have an interview next week as a Jr Java Developer at a fortune 500 company. Definitely get a degree from here if you're sitting on the fence.

Good to finally get more quotes where the WGU degree directly helped people advance. . .

citinerd

I started Jan 1st and I am off to a fast pace I completed 7 already. I hope to have it done in no more than 2 terms maybe 1 if I can keep this pace.

erpadmin

Guess since we're comparing notes.....

EWB2: Took a day to complete. 5-6 hours about...maybe 7.

LAE1: Did the tasks and reading, and had I realized sooner that I would have been done in a day, I would have been done with this much sooner.

BBC1: Had to take it. Basically sit down, take the exam and pass. Basic grammar and the like...LAE1 did help a bit though.

TSV1: Bought Darril's book in May and thought I'd take it before starting...but had work and other issues crop up. I was determined to make this part of my initial 12 CUs...especially before the end of 2010. After I passed Security+, my initial 12 CUs were done in the first 26 days of my term.

WFV1: A test of everything I did in IT the past 19 years.....all I can say is wow.....lol! Very easy though if you're an IT guy.

LAT1: This was a pain in the a--. Big pain. Not one to be underestimated. Not so much difficult as it is very, very time consuming.

LUT1: A cross between LAE1 and LAT1. The hardest part was the first task...the presentation was pretty cake. Has to be done after LAT1 though.

CLC1: Was going to take it next term, but themagicone convinced me to just treat it like BBC1. You will want to take at least one preassessment though...lest you pass with the skin of your teeth.

TPV1: Spent a little less than two weeks on this. While I did pass, I kinda wish I spent more time, but f' that...a pass is a pass.

erpadmin

petedude wrote: »

Good to finally get more quotes where the WGU degree directly helped people advance. . .

That is very commendable!

Give us all some time though....we will all post some good stuff. 14/15 years of experience and a degree will be the hammer I use to break that glass ceiling!!

Mike-Mike

I have sent in all of my info, I got an e-mail from the EC yesterday saying he will have some information for me Friday, so hopefully I will get an idea of just how many credits I have to knock out...

my goal is to knock it out in one term, but we'll see.... got the CompTIA trinity and an Associates to transfer in

nrs

Excellent1 wrote: »

With my colleagues at work dropping like flies and the economy in the shape that it's in, let's just say I don't find it hard to put the time in for studying versus wasting it in front of a tv set/video game/bar/<insert your vice here>. I don't have much of a life right now outside of work/family/school, but it will pay off in the long run. If it doesn't, then I tried and damn the torpedoes.

Thanks for this, it was really the kick in the pants that I needed. It's pretty much how I've felt about my certifications for the last year - this year my goal is to finish or get through as much of WGU as I can.

Sounds Good

BerryKix wrote: »

I did 75 credits in 1 term and it will be my only term. I already have a 4 year degree from a brick and mortar in Marketing and I already had A+, Network+, and Security+. On top of it I had dabbled for months in everything from assembly and debugging to studying for the CISSP. I also already had some light study in databases from my marketing degree. When I decided to get the degree I had something like 5 weeks of studying I did before hand based off the classes on the list. I'll break it down:

how did you end up having 75 credits left?

you had general ed which is about half of the CUs (60?)
you had the 3 comptia certs which is 18 CUs

i don't know the specific math, but 75 CUs seems like a lot to have to take if you already had a degree and 3 of the courses.

petedude

erpadmin wrote: »

That is very commendable!

Give us all some time though....we will all post some good stuff. 14/15 years of experience and a degree will be the hammer I use to break that glass ceiling!!

You hear it all the time with online programs. . . The fill in the blank question of "Will a degree from [online school] get me _____"
1) a job
2) into a master's program

#2 we've easily answered and nearly beaten into the ground all over TE. (Should not be a problem as WGU is regionally accredited.)
#1 has been a bit more tricky, though, as many degree finishers don't return to the boards to share success stories. We need more of these. Granted, the IT world is less finicky about IT degrees given its acceptance of new modalities, but still the FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) cloud regarding "online degrees" persists. The more success stories we get, the more those FUD clouds will dissipate.

BerryKix

Go look at the list of courses and their competency units on the website. Also, I had 2 transfer from the certifications. The Network+ isn't in my program because the CCNA is.

Arysta

I transferred in 46 cu's (all the general ed classes from a previous degree), and so far this term I will have 28 credits I completed. However, I won't be doing that again any time soon. I took the A+, which I didn't have to study for much, and I took all the business/management classes -- to me, those were a joke. I didn't even attempt to study for two of them, and the third I just skimmed the book, pretty much zeroing in on jargon.

I think it really just depends on which classes you're taking. If you're taking the CCNA or Microsoft exams, you might only get the base 12-18 cu's in, but if you have a lot of classes where the information is familiar to you from your career, previous schooling, or life experience, then you can probably blow through a lot in one term. It would be silly for someone to say, "Sigh, I only got 12 CU's in, they were the CCNA and Security+" because that's pretty above average, in my opinion, for a person working full-time.

erpadmin

Arysta wrote: »

It would be silly for someone to say, "Sigh, I only got 12 CU's in, they were the CCNA and Security+" because that's pretty above average, in my opinion, for a person working full-time.

I get where you're going with this, but Security+ isn't a good example to go with this, despite it having 6 CUs. With "the good book" of Darril Gibson...you can literally pass Security+ in a week.

Assuming that's the scenario, then you have the CCNA to contend with, which, at a minimum could take a month with proper study (and I stress "minimum"). Realisticly, it could take much longer, almost the whole term, which is probably where you were going with this.

A better example would be an MCTS exam (any one that you can use for the MCITP:EA or SA) and a CCNA for your given scenario.

Arysta

erpadmin wrote: »

Assuming that's the scenario, then you have the CCNA to contend with, which, at a minimum could take a month with proper study (and I stress "minimum"). Realisticly, it could take much longer, almost the whole term, which is probably where you were going with this.

Yep, that was exactly what I was going for. It's possible to do more, of course, but no one should chide themselves for doing less while handling a job and life. If you think of it in terms of a brick and mortar college, they'd probably stretch all the info for the CCNA out into a year long program -- which is why I got fed up with the program I was doing at my previous college.

ArabianKnight

When you get your diploma, what will it say for the GPA? Is it just a pass or fail? How will you know if you get an A or a B?

erpadmin

ArabianKnight wrote: »

When you get your diploma, what will it say for the GPA? Is it just a pass or fail? How will you know if you get an A or a B?

This should answer your question in greater detail...this is from the WGU Student Handbook:

Grading System



Transcripts include four possible marks:

• Pass: Certifies successful completion of a course of study. The student has demonstrated the required competencies by passing the final assessment with a grade equivalent of B or better or 3.00 grade points on a 4.00 scale.
• Not Passed: Indicates that a student failed to complete a course of study in the time allotted. To meet program requirements, the student generally re-enrolls for the course of study in a subsequent term.
• Transfer: Signifies that the student has completed equivalent work at another regionally or nationally accredited institution.
• Withdrawn: Represents that the student was withdrawn from the university or course before term completion.

The University does not calculate a grade point average (GPA).

One competency unit is the equivalent of one semester hour credit of learning in traditional grading systems.

Grades are transcripted upon completion of a course of study, but courses of study in progress will not show on the transcript until the end of a term.

Note: Students receive a mark of Pass or Not Passed on their permanent academic record for any courses of study for which they enroll in a term, regardless of whether they attempt an assessment. Marks of Not Passed are counted as units that are failed and, as such, are counted against satisfactory academic progress.

jtoast

I just submitted my paperwork for graduation. When I get my transcripts/diploma in I will post the grades. Should take about a week-10 days they said.

j938

erpadmin wrote: »

This should answer your question in greater detail...this is from the WGU Student Handbook:

Question if you receive Not Passed on a course because you didnt finish at your require RCD and your term is three months away can you still receive Pass on the courses showing Not Passed as long as you complete them before the term is up?