Starting MSISA program at WGU Feb 1st

coffeeluvr

I was wondering if anyone else will be starting the MSISA program at WGU Feb 1st. Also, I have not heard from my mentor via phone or email, is this normal? I hope this is not indicative of what I can expect in the future from my mentor. Other than this small bump in the road, my experience has been positive, especially with my Enrollment Counselor.

forestgiant

coffeeluvr wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone else will be starting the MSISA program at WGU Feb 1st. Also, I have not heard from my mentor via phone or email, is this normal?

I wouldn't worry about it...you'll likely hear from the mentor in a day or two. Be on the look out for the EWB course and try to get that out of the way. Good luck on your WGU MS ISA journey. Actually if you could blog about the experience it'd be great. I'm thinking about doing a post experience review once I'm done with the thesis/capstone next month.

Valsacar

I'll be joining you next month!

Whiteout

@Coffeeluvr - Good luck man, I started January 1st. Have fun with JFT2! And that does seem kind of strange that you haven't heard from your mentor, I talked to mine multiple times before I started, but maybe I was just lucky. You could just shoot him/her an email.

@forestgiant - Your about to graduate? Congrats! How many terms did it take you?

pac1687

I was accepted today and will hopefully be starting March 1st!

forestgiant

Whiteout wrote: »

@forestgiant - Your about to graduate? Congrats! How many terms did it take you?

Gonna get back to you on this one in a few weeks... need to know if my capstone will be accepted or needs revisions. ;o)

coffeeluvr

Today is first day of term...I still not heard from my Mentor. I sent an email a couple days ago, but nothing. Whiteout, it sounds like you were assigned a good mentor....congrats! Forestgiant, congrats on finishing your MSISA. Can I start any of the classes, or do I have to wait for my mentor to approve?

forestgiant

pac1687 wrote: »

I was accepted today and will hopefully be starting March 1st!

Congratulations. The program has been very rewarding for me in terms of new and useful materials, as well as the incredible support of the mentors.

But it wasn't all smooth sailing. I hit writer's block many times. Test centers inconveniently changed their hours or got booted by Pearson Vue.

Get ready to write, write, and write some more. Then, read, read, and read over and over. Flush, and do it again.

All in all, you will write between 300-500 pages, and read about 12000 pages of materials.

It's definitely a test of one's determination, time management, certs-grabbing-killing-acing ability, and how badly you gotta have the M.Sc. after your name.

forestgiant

coffeeluvr wrote: »

Forestgiant, congrats on finishing your MSISA. Can I start any of the classes, or do I have to wait for my mentor to approve?

You have to tell the mentor what courses you want, he/she puts it in the AAV, then you approve the courses and start hacking (not quite literally) away.

The only exception is EWB. you automatically enroll in that course.

coffeeluvr

Forestgiant, how long did it take you to complete the program? I have decided on the courses I want to take...just need to talk with my mentor.

veritas_libertas

coffeeluvr wrote: »

Today is first day of term...I still not heard from my Mentor. I sent an email a couple days ago, but nothing. Whiteout, it sounds like you were assigned a good mentor....congrats! Forestgiant, congrats on finishing your MSISA. Can I start any of the classes, or do I have to wait for my mentor to approve?

There is something wrong with that. Call the school and demand a response.

coffeeluvr

Whiteout wrote: »

@Coffeeluvr - Good luck man, I started January 1st. Have fun with JFT2! And that does seem kind of strange that you haven't heard from your mentor, I talked to mine multiple times before I started, but maybe I was just lucky. You could just shoot him/her an email.

Whiteout, what courses did you choose for your first term? From what I have read on the forums about JFT2, it sounds like a pain.

coffeeluvr

veritas_libertas wrote: »

There is something wrong with that. Call the school and demand a response.

I think I am going to do just that.

forestgiant

coffeeluvr wrote: »

Whiteout wrote: »

@Coffeeluvr - Good luck man, I started January 1st. Have fun with JFT2! And that does seem kind of strange that you haven't heard from your mentor, I talked to mine multiple times before I started, but maybe I was just lucky. You could just shoot him/her an email.

Whiteout, what courses did you choose for your first term? From what I have read on the forums about JFT2, it sounds like a pain.

As a fellow student, I strongly suggest anyone starting out on the WGU MS ISA program to follow the curriculum as stated. Now, of course you can deviate (take the courses out of order) if you are confident, but try to accelerate (finish them in said sequence) first.

The primary reason for this is that while not all the materials build on top of each other, most of them are related. The courses later in the program rely heavily on the foundation courses you accomplished earlier.

Also, if you noticed, the courses sort of alternate between writing (Performance Assessments), and certs (Objective Assessments). This approach will save you from burning out.

coffeeluvr

forestgiant wrote: »

coffeeluvr wrote: »

As a fellow student, I strongly suggest anyone starting out on the WGU MS ISA program to follow the curriculum as stated. Now, of course you can deviate (take the courses out of order) if you are confident, but try to accelerate (finish them in said sequence) first.

The primary reason for this is that while not all the materials build on top of each other, most of them are related. The courses later in the program rely heavily on the foundation courses you accomplished earlier.

Also, if you noticed, the courses sort of alternate between writing (Performance Assessments), and certs (Objective Assessments). This approach will save you from burning out.

Actually, I was planning on following the courses in the order per the curriculum....so now I feel good about that decision....Thx for the advice!

veritas_libertas

coffeeluvr wrote: »

I think I am going to do just that.

As anywhere else there are good and bad mentors/educators. I'm always surprised when I hear of them at WGU. I have had better luck here than I had at traditional colleges/universities.

coffeeluvr

veritas_libertas wrote: »

As anywhere else there are good and bad mentors/educators. I'm always surprised when I hear of them at WGU. I have had better luck here than I had at traditional colleges/universities.

I had a terrific Enrollment Counselor, and was hoping it would be the same with my Mentor. I am going to call the school in about an hour. I wonder if they will assign me to another mentor.

veritas_libertas

coffeeluvr wrote: »

I had a terrific Enrollment Counselor, and was hoping it would be the same with my Mentor. I am going to call the school in about an hour. I wonder if they will assign me to another mentor.

They can do that if you want. You will have to make that a request though.

coffeeluvr

Update - I called WGU Student Services and was transferred to my mentor’s supervisor. He was extremely helpful, and assured me that my mentor would be calling me tomorrow, bar none.

veritas_libertas

coffeeluvr wrote: »

Update - I called WGU Student Services and was transferred to my mentor’s supervisor. He was extremely helpful, and assured me that my mentor would be calling me tomorrow, bar none.

Glad to hear that!

coffeeluvr

Update - I still did not hear from my assigned mentor today. I really thought he would make contact today, especially after his supervisor told me last night he would make it happen. Oh well, I guess I will have to call the supervisor back to see what happened. This is really discouraging.

veritas_libertas

coffeeluvr wrote: »

Update - I still did not hear from my assigned mentor today. I really thought he would make contact today, especially after his supervisor told me last night he would make it happen. Oh well, I guess I will have to call the supervisor back to see what happened. This is really discouraging.

I would be asking for a new mentor. Sorry to hear you are still having problems.

nhpr

Call student services and ask for a new mentor. They'll help you out pretty quickly.

Whiteout

@Coffeeluvr - That sucks your having problems with your mentor, stay on the phone with them until they transfer you to a new mentor! And I followed the set course plan except one deviation. I'm doing JFT2 first to get it out of the way and it's a pain in my ass, but I'm thankfully I am about done with it.

@Forestgiant - Good luck with your capstone, lets hope for no revisions! If you don't mind me asking, what did you do it on? And wow, I knew it was going to be writing intensive, but 500 pages. Yikes! Good thing I'm good at whipping papers out!