Wgu

22306

i recently found out about this school and i have a lot of questions about it. first question is lets say im starting this school with little college credit..maybe 5 or 6 general classes. how fast can i finish a bs in IT and keep in mind that i have a full job 9 to 5 and i have about 7 years of working in the field and i just got a cubicle job with an IT contractor to one of the government agencies.

Dakinggamer87

I would take a look at the following threads to help answer some of your questions:

Questions/Answers:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/51715-western-governors-university-questions-answers-threads-related-wgu.html

Student Experiences:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/52825-student-experiences-western-governors-university-wgu.html

22306

Thanks for the reply. I read those post already and i found some answers but not all.

Ivanjam

@22306 - what are the specific questions that you need answers to, that can't be found in those threads?

Danielm7

22306 wrote: »

i recently found out about this school and i have a lot of questions about it. first question is lets say im starting this school with little college credit..maybe 5 or 6 general classes. how fast can i finish a bs in IT and keep in mind that i have a full job 9 to 5 and i have about 7 years of working in the field and i just got a cubicle job with an IT contractor to one of the government agencies.

To answer your question, there is no answer. We get this question a lot, but there just is no specific guideline on how quickly one person can learn, how well they can test and what their background / experience is like. Some people have started with your same number of credits and finished a full BS in less than a year, they've also had tons of real experience and studied like maniacs for the entire period. Some other people start with the same number of credits and take the minimum required credit hours each term then it takes them 4-5 years.

Even if you say, "well I can put in 20 hours a week of studying!!" that still doesn't really help anything. Maybe you don't have good studying methods? Maybe you get test anxiety? Etc.

Research the school, no one can tell you how long "you" can take to complete it. If it's what you are looking for then start, do your best while you are there and in the end that will be how long it took you to complete your degree.

CoolAsAFan

Danielm7 is spot on. It all depends on how you learn, which is pretty much different for everyone. I'll tell you this, when you earned your 5-6 college credits, if you found yourself working ahead of the class you will likely do very well at WGU.

22306

i understand. ok so what is better...first to get certificates and then start school and get credits from the certificate or just sign up for the school? i just wanna do everything i can before i start school so i could finish fast.

Danielm7

22306 wrote: »

i understand. ok so what is better...first to get certificates and then start school and get credits from the certificate or just sign up for the school? i just wanna do everything i can before i start school so i could finish fast.

Well, there are a couple schools of thought on this. First, there is the idea that if you worked slowly for the next 5 years to finish something, or if you relaxed for 3 years, then busted your butt for 2 and finished in 5... ultimately you still finished in 5 years. So, if you spend 6 months studying for a couple certs then started school and tested right away, you still would have used 6 months. The gotcha of course is you are paying tuition, or not, I don't know your financial situation.

If you are getting grants/financial aid, you'd have nothing to lose by starting as soon as possible, studying for classes and certifications using the materials provided by the school, with the support of mentors and having your testing fees covered. If you are paying 100% out of pocket and have access to decent training material then it might be worthwhile to study up on a couple of certifications and start school when you feel like you are ready to test, then you can get the school to pay for the certs.

So, sort of like the original question, it depends on a number of factors.

22306

Thanks for the reply.. Here is the thing.. From my work every year ill get 3k for school and the 2013 school money ends in April. So any cents i test for before April they'll pay for it.and when may comes i can get 3k more and i could spend that towards school. Now semesters are 6 months long in wgu.and it wontt be 6 months till April. So i don't wanna waste 2013's money.does that make sense?

Ivanjam

@22306 - makes sense - spend 2013 money on certs, as you said.