Trying my hand at the WGU graduate in 1 term thing

Tooms

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kathkeane

Tooms: You are completing two classes in a week? I start in July - IT/Health informatics. My mind cannot get wrapped around -- your warp speed. What background did you have? and....wow!

olaHalo

What degree track is this?

Polynomial

Threads like this make me slightly question the way WGU runs.

TLeTourneau

Polynomial wrote: »

Threads like this make me slightly question the way WGU runs.

In what way?

jamesleecoleman

Polynomial wrote: »

Threads like this make me slightly question the way WGU runs.

Why??
If I could get classes done at that speed.. I totally would. The closest that I could get is a 7 week class. Instructors wouldn't
let the students go ahead. So it's pretty cool that people can move at their own pace instead of being kinda held back by an instructor.

SteveLord

Polynomial wrote: »

Threads like this make me slightly question the way WGU runs.

Most people that are able to complete WGU in 6-12 months have 1. Transferred in a lot of credits and 2. Have a good amount of experience in the industry already.

Psoasman

It looks the the general IT degree.

One of the great points of WGU is you can move forward according to your own learning. When I was in community college it was irritating to have to sit in a class for 11 weeks when I could have finished in 2-3 weeks,due to understanding the material.

As SteveLord said, having a degree and /or certs can shorten the time for the degree.

Tooms

BS:IT track. After transferring my 2-year degree, I had 88cu's to finish.

Polynomial wrote: »

Threads like this make me slightly question the way WGU runs.

I have 15 years of experience in IT.

Threads like this should make you question the way traditional colleges run. I've never had a job thats not in IT since I was 16. When I started college for an IT degree right after high school I was already way ahead of the game. I went one semester then quit and went back to the job market so I didn't lose ground in my IT progression. I've always considered 1 year of IT experience worth 2 years of education in IT. Went to school at nights just to get a 2 year degree while I continued working in IT. I took pretty crappy paying IT jobs for the first 50% of my career just to gain valuable technical and business experience.

Tooms

For the person who asked "how do you do it". Existing experience + motivation + scheduling the classes. I found it best to just "get the date scheduled" for a test. I've found once I have that hard deadline set, I end up being more motivated to meet it in the short amount of time. Avoids enabling me to be lazy and go slower.

All of my technical experience is also why I am dreading the arts and humanities class I keep pushing back...

Danielm7

That's amazing work, congrats. I just started at WGU a couple days ago myself, I'm trying to accelerate but I don't have anything like the experience you do so it's going to take me a few terms.

JoJoCal19

Tooms wrote: »

Threads like this should make you question the way traditional colleges run.

Spot on.

Tooms

Danielm7 wrote: »

That's amazing work, congrats. I just started at WGU a couple days ago myself, I'm trying to accelerate but I don't have anything like the experience you do so it's going to take me a few terms.

If I can tell you anything, its that in 90% of the MTA exams the UCertify program is like 2x harder than the actual exam. MesureUp is an out of pocket expense, but they seem to be more in line with the certiport exams.

CIW study materials provided by WGU are very close to what will be tested on the CIW tests.

Polynomial

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

Spot on.

As the TechExam's resident higher ed sector guy (both work in higher ed at a rather highly ranked school and completing online Master degrees at a neighboring one) there's something off to me about cramming a bunch of classes together as check marks towards a degree. While technically a certified degree the manner in which people get them seems to result in just a degree rather than the personal and professional development that comes along with the educational process.

I came to the personal conclusion, (which by definition is an opinion before the flamers start!), WGU sacrifices quality for convenience which is why I decided against the program. I also didn't think WGU would be nearly as helpful to me over a local name recognized school since a personal stretch goal for myself is completing an MBA in the Boston area.

I think MOOCs like edX and Coursera are future and the right way to do it.

Tooms

Polynomial wrote: »

As the TechExam's resident higher ed sector guy (both work in higher ed at a rather highly ranked school and completing online Master degrees at a neighboring one) there's something off to me about cramming a bunch of classes together as check marks towards a degree. While technically a certified degree the manner in which people get them seems to result in just a degree rather than the personal and professional development that comes along with the educational process.

I came to the personal conclusion, (which by definition is an opinion before the flamers start!), WGU sacrifices quality for convenience which is why I decided against the program. I also didn't think WGU would be nearly as helpful to me over a local name recognized school since a personal stretch goal for myself is completing an MBA in the Boston area.

WGU is not for everyone, but that doesn't make it 'wrong'. If you do not have the pre-existing professional development and experience, you are not even able to cram a bunch of classes together. If you do, then you are going to be able to. I really think WGU is targeting people in my position versus people with less experience who may have higher credentials in academia than they do actual experience.

In IT I am not sure a WGU IT degree is going to be much different than any other comparable degree. Usually that is a check box on an HR job requirement. Your resume will then get handed over to the hiring manager in IT. 90% of his focus is going to be on your experience. If you get the job later on said manager will have no idea if you even have a degree, but he will remember the experience you had that persuaded him to hire you.

Most colleges are for profit too lets not forget. I can fulfill that "have a degree HR screening" and not be $15k-$25k in debt.

lisxl70511

Trying to finish in one term is determation! good luck

Danielm7

Polynomial wrote: »

seems to result in just a degree rather than the personal and professional development that comes along with the educational process.

I had a longer response but the forum ate it, so here I go again.

As for the quote above, I think in certain situations it is exactly what someone is looking for, like this thread. A lot of people already have done some or most of their college and for whatever reason weren't able to finish it. They might be deep in the working world and have already learned everything they would have learned in school and more. So for people like that, being able to prove they already know the material and test out of it, it can be a great help. For a lot of people they just need to check a box on their resume, or even just to say they finally completed it and for those situations being able to legitimately wrap up your BS is a huge help.

In my situation I already have taken 106 college credits, I've done certifications going back almost 14 years now but between moving a few times and changing majors, I wasn't able to finish my degree. I've done the whole "college experience" thing most of the way up to graduating, just missing the last part. For me being able to study a few hours while my daughter is still asleep, some on a lunch break at work and a bit before bed and actually being able to afford it is a huge deal. There are lots of benefits to going to a B&M local school, but there are also a lot of people who just can't fit that in their lifestyle.

But like you said, opinions, this is just mine.

Polynomial

Tooms wrote: »

WGU is not for everyone, but that doesn't make it 'wrong'. If you do not have the pre-existing professional development and experience, you are not even able to cram a bunch of classes together. If you do, then you are going to be able to. I really think WGU is targeting people in my position versus people with less experience who may have higher credentials in academia than they do actual experience.

In IT I am not sure a WGU IT degree is going to be much different than any other comparable degree. Usually that is a check box on an HR job requirement. Your resume will then get handed over to the hiring manager in IT. 90% of his focus is going to be on your experience. If you get the job later on said manager will have no idea if you even have a degree, but he will remember the experience you had that persuaded him to hire you.

Most colleges are for profit too lets not forget. I can fulfill that "have a degree HR screening" and not be $15k-$25k in debt.

I agree with you. WGU is probably a great strategy for adults with actual family and financial obligations. However, if my ultimate goal is management (and it is, its not specialized tech work) I really think the correct investment into higher ed will pay long term dividends.

MiikeB

Polynomial wrote: »

As the TechExam's resident higher ed sector guy (both work in higher ed at a rather highly ranked school and completing online Master degrees at a neighboring one) there's something off to me about cramming a bunch of classes together as check marks towards a degree. While technically a certified degree the manner in which people get them seems to result in just a degree rather than the personal and professional development that comes along with the educational process.

I came to the personal conclusion, (which by definition is an opinion before the flamers start!), WGU sacrifices quality for convenience which is why I decided against the program. I also didn't think WGU would be nearly as helpful to me over a local name recognized school since a personal stretch goal for myself is completing an MBA in the Boston area.

I think MOOCs like edX and Coursera are future and the right way to do it.

WGUs program is a reflection of what higher education has become. It is no longer about the process or the development, especially in the IT field, it is more of a check in the box. While not true for all positions, especially positions in academia, the vast majority of IT employers just want to qualify you as "having a degree" and do not care if you spent 4 years and $40k getting it or one year and $6000.

SteveLord

^ I thought modern higher education was mostly partying, drinking, smoking weed, fornicating, going to every school sporting event, eating ramen noodles, participating in trendy movements like Occupy Wallstreet, living in a cramped dorm that costs the price of a nice hotel and spending your final year actually studying? All while constantly demanding respect and handouts from the rest of the world.

olaHalo

SteveLord wrote: »

^ I thought modern higher education was mostly partying, drinking, smoking weed, fornicating, going to every school sporting event, eating ramen noodles, participating in trendy movements like Occupy Wallstreet, living in a cramped dorm that costs the price of a nice hotel and spending your final year actually studying? All while constantly demanding respect and handouts from the rest of the world.

Where did you goto school?

I agree higher education is very corrupt (look at the costs increase and quality decrease)
And I think college sports get way too much money. Coaches are paid more than almost all faculty.
But everything you listed has nothing to do with the education system but the students personal choices.

About7Narwhal

SteveLord wrote: »

^ I thought modern higher education was mostly partying, drinking, smoking weed, fornicating, going to every school sporting event, eating ramen noodles, participating in trendy movements like Occupy Wallstreet, living in a cramped dorm that costs the price of a nice hotel and spending your final year actually studying? All while constantly demanding respect and handouts from the rest of the world.

Am I not entitled to those things as a student? Someone sounds jelly... >.>

Main Event

I'd like to know whether I can finish in one year too but I have no real experience in this field so I'm pretty skeptical.

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Tooms

KET1 submitted to task stream for grading. The 'Performance' classes are much more fun than the 'Objective' ones since I can do it whenever I like.

Not sure if KET1 is one of the classes they are changing, but its fairly easy. Task1 = 1 evening, Task2=1 evening.

Tooms

Taking DFV1 - Web Fundamentals on Monday. I see a lot of people on here saying that is a 'dreaded' exam.

PurpleIT

Tooms wrote: »

Taking DFV1 - Web Fundamentals on Monday. I see a lot of people on here saying that is a 'dreaded' exam.

I don't know that the exam is so bad, but the study materials are. I thought they did a very poor job of preparing you for what was actually on the test. IIRC it was the MeasureUp that really got me through that class. Know why the answers are right or wrong in the MeasureUp and you can extrapolate that to get the answers on the test.

Tooms

PurpleIT wrote: »

I don't know that the exam is so bad, but the study materials are. I thought they did a very poor job of preparing you for what was actually on the test. IIRC it was the MeasureUp that really got me through that class. Know why the answers are right or wrong in the MeasureUp and you can extrapolate that to get the answers on the test.

Thanks. I went out and bought the MeasureUp VB practice test and didnt even both with the WGU stuff.

Tooms

Enrolled in KFT1 now. I missed the new KFT and DFV courses by a month start date. Only option was to wait until the end of Septemer and add them the next term. Bleh...

Tooms

Looking for a KFT1 partner as well if any other WGU people are reading this.

Tooms

KFT1 done (waiting on task stream for tasks 1-3). Task 4 was approved though so the class is pretty much finished now. Task 4 is where you have to write a java app, test plan, uml diagrams, and test cases.