New WGU IT admission requirements

WGU has not only revamped all the degree programs, they have added admission requirements for IT programs. Shouldn't be an issue for most people here, but I thought I would pass it along.

Demonstrate IT experience either through:
- An associate’s degree in IT (A.S. or A.A.S. acceptable).
- Transferable IT certifications earned within the last 5 years. Click here to see what IT certifications may transfer to WGU.
- A resume showing three-plus years of IT work experience.

We require these prerequisites because our research has determined that students entering these programs need to have demonstrated strong IT abilities in order to handle the rigors of a difficult IT curriculum.

Online Admissions | College of Information Technology | Western Governors University Online

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Comments

cisco_certs

That looks good but i think i rather invest my money ($3k = tuition in WGU) to CCIE certs and other certs like CISSP or MCITP: EA rather than going back for another degree. Atleast my employer will pay for all the training, books, free labs and other expenses.

Maybe I will go back to school for another degree if my employer can ensure that I will get paid more after achieving M.S.

vistalavista

fatpants007 wrote: »

[*]Transferable IT certifications earned within the last 5 years.

Is the 5 years negotiable?

michaelcox

How have IT degree been revamped? When is it changing?

Mike-Mike

i am in the process of enrolling, and that was present to me as the requirement, but it was just one of those, not all 3

Hypntick

Mike-Mike wrote: »

i am in the process of enrolling, and that was present to me as the requirement, but it was just one of those, not all 3

Yep. My counsellor asked if I had an associates, I said nope. He asked if I had certs, I said yep. He says okay that's all we need. Just get us those transcripts. Requirements are a good thing however, it ensures that the people they accept are trying to set themselves up for success rather than failure.

jmasterj206

The requirements have been like that for a while. Being that it is basically learn by yourself it would be very hard for someone with no experience to make it through the program. I've seen a few posts internal to WGU and people with no experience or degree really struggle with the programs. How are you supposed to pass the 70-680 if you have never installed an operating system before?

Hypntick

jmasterj206 wrote: »

The requirements have been like that for a while. Being that it is basically learn by yourself it would be very hard for someone with no experience to make it through the program. I've seen a few posts internal to WGU and people with no experience or degree really struggle with the programs. How are you supposed to pass the 70-680 if you have never installed an operating system before?

Exactly. It's best to ensure that the school isn't wasting resources and the person enrolled isn't wasting money on something that sounded like a good idea but was probably a bit out of their current level of understanding. Not to say someone without any certs/expereience etc. would automatically fail, it would just be considerably more difficult.

eansdad

From what I understand the graduation rate for IT at WGU isn't very high. I don't know if it is the environment or having to pass cert exams but I can see people getting frustrated with certain certs and quitting if the fail a cert more then twice.

erpadmin

eansdad wrote: »

From what I understand the graduation rate for IT at WGU isn't very high. I don't know if it is the environment or having to pass cert exams but I can see people getting frustrated with certain certs and quitting if the fail a cert more then twice.

If you read the thread in the SAP Mentoring community and/or applied for federal aid this year, you'll see WGU's graduation rate of 22%. There are a variety of factors that contribute to that percentage though...such as when data started getting tabulated, if it's the overall graduation rate, or students that started X amount of years ago, a whole bunch of things.

If you look at the graduation rates in the B&M schools in your area, folks might be surprised.

I won't personally look at myself as a statistic though...math can be played with all day long. I only care that, I, personally, graduate.

So yeah, I can understand and applaud WGU for making it a bit harder for folks to get into the IT program....many times it's probably unemployed folks that can't spell IT but only join WGU to get the extra money. Whether they graduate or not is of no consequence to them. They're just doing it while they look for the job they want to do...which is probably what skews the percentage in the first place.

ltgenspecific

erpadmin wrote: »

I won't personally look at myself as a statistic though...math can be played with all day long. I only care that, I, personally, graduate.

+1 here. You all may be interested to know that at the esteemed University of Washington they have reported numbers as low as 7% regarding graduation rates. Now we know this is a case of fuddled numbers as the school does well churning out top notch undergrads and their graduate programs are well respected for a brick and mortar. Perhaps WGU looks at their graduation rate in a healthy manner, that is, including such stats as Graduation Rate for full-time students taking and passing at least 4 classes per semester and finishing within the specific alloted-time for projected completion.

Now if I can make that up off of the top of my head, you know there are stat folks out there that can make it really, really complicated.

Schools drive their numbers down as a way of keeping themselves honest in their pursuit of quality education and graduates. Nothing is worse for WGU that putting out grads into the work force that can't do a damn thing with real world application. (If you follow that their students pay them and if demand for WGU grads rises more students pay more often. The reverse is what they are trying to avoid, obv.)

Just my 2c.

TLDR: Statistics are 30% true about 75% of the time if relevancy can be judged to a margin of error around +/-14.3446%.

drew726

I already had A+, Network+, and an MCTS when I applied. I asked the enrollment counselor if he needed my resume, he said it wasn't necessary. I only have two years of work experience on my resume, so I was a little worried.

CompuTron99

When you send over your transcripts from previous colleges, did you have it sent to WGU directly, or did you have sent to you, then to WGU? Just curious.

jtoast

You send WGU a link to your online transcripts for certifications. For colleges, I had them sent directly to WGU.

EDIT:
Cut/paste error missed half my reply :P

Chris:/*

On average 57% of the people who attempt a Bachelor degree earn one. That is not figuring how many actually do it in their first attempt.

I would rather see a University with a 22% graduation rate than a 99% graduation rate. It shows a school is not a degree mill, this factor is also taken into consideration when universities are rated.

I find people think they know more than they do and think these certification tests will be like those tests in high school.

JDMurray

The drop out rates for online schools are high because most first-time, online students don't realize what a different experience self-directed learning is from the guided, hand-on learning they previously experienced in traditional schools.

SephStorm

i like the new programs, except that freaking Project+ crap.

excuse my french.

erpadmin

SephStorm wrote: »

i like the new programs, except that freaking Project+ crap.

excuse my french.

It isn't that hard man...probably the most difficult part of that exam is the "planning" stage of the project.

If you go through the CompTIA Project+ objectives, and then go through the Sybex PK0-003 guide with a fresh pot of coffee...you can get through it. uCertify (with it's bad english) really does help.

It does help though if you have gone through a "project" in real life. Had 7 years of Project+ prep....lol.

veritas_libertas

erpadmin wrote: »

It isn't that hard man...probably the most difficult part of that exam is the "planning" stage of the project.

If you go through the CompTIA Project+ objectives, and then go through the Sybex PK0-003 guide with a fresh pot of coffee...you can get through it. uCertify (with it's bad english) really does help.

It does help though if you have gone through a "project" in real life. Had 7 years of Project+ prep....lol.

Yeah, the only trouble I've had is memorizing the formulas...

erpadmin

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Yeah, the only trouble I've had is memorizing the formulas...

Those flashcards that demonfurbie wrote helped out a lot. That and getting the lines of communication formula down pat made it a cinch.

When is your round 2?

veritas_libertas

erpadmin wrote: »

Those flashcards that demonfurbie wrote helped out a lot. That and getting the lines of communication formula down pat made it a cinch.

When is your round 2?

I just need to schedule it for some time next month. I'm sure I'll knock it out of the ball park...

Psoasman

erpadmin wrote: »

If you go through the CompTIA Project+ objectives, and then go through the Sybex PK0-003 guide with a fresh pot of coffee...you can get through it.

+1 the coffee part made me laugh.

Mike-Mike

SephStorm wrote: »

excuse my french.

this made me literally laugh out loud

Psoasman

SephStorm wrote: »

i like the new programs, except that freaking Project+ crap.

excuse my french.

Here it is in French!

J'aime les nouveaux programmes, sauf que freaking projet + merde.

excuser mon français.

CompuTron99

jtoast wrote: »

You send WGU a link to your online transcripts for certifications. For colleges, I had them sent directly to WGU.

EDIT:
Cut/paste error missed half my reply :P

Thanks!