Western Governors University?

I have my AAS in IT and wish I would have finished my Bachelors 5 years ago. So I’ve been working on certs to try and fill “gaps” in my resume and I came along this school.

Western Governors University
http://wgu.edu/online_it_degrees/programs.asp

There was an ad in Windows IT Pro mag.

Any of you guys used it, perused any classes there? I’m more than a bit cautious with all the “IT Training Schools” (aka We’ll take all your money and test you for your MSCE so you can make 50k with no experience schools). I’m sure I don’t need to name names, you’ve all heard the ads.

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Psoasman

brianray71 wrote: »

Hey Psoasman, could I use you as a referral to WGU? If so, do you have a facebook, or somewhere else where we could exchange info and chat a little concerning it?

Thanks,
Brian

Sure. You can send me a private message and I will get you referred.

NerdyMaGee

brianray71 wrote: »

Hey Psoasman, could I use you as a referral to WGU? If so, do you have a facebook, or somewhere else where we could exchange info and chat a little concerning it?

Thanks,
Brian

I could use a referral too.

Psoasman

NerdyMaGee wrote: »

I could use a referral too.

It's best to post here, as you will get faster responses.
http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/55634-wgu-refer-friend-thread-those-seeking-referral.html

Springer2

How do the certifications work? I am considering going here when I am done my associates(I have 7 weeks left). Are they built into the program and do you receive actual certificate?

Sweetw1982

[COLOR=#000000 !important]I started a Bachelors Degree at WGU in Network Administration. I already had my Associates. Upon starting I was a little confused about how the degree actually works. I spoke with the degree mentor every week and the phone calls were pointless. she asked "hows it going, anything i can do to help. whats your goal for the next week?" and that was it.
Each week she would tell me I'm one week closer to my goal which was getting into the masters degree program in Information Security. I worked my tail off to finish the degree in about a year. That included 5-6 hours a day of studying and every weekend I spent the whole weekend studying. You teach yourself the stuff, there are no teachers. The hardest part was the essays. If you do a perfect essay you are transitioning from one subtopic to another within the essay. However, to get credit you have to go along the grading rubric and state which part of the rubric is in each paragraph at the beginning of the paragraph because its a 3rd party company overseas that grades them and they don't look for what the essay includes, they only look for the first sentence or two in a paragraph.
Halfway through the degree I inquired about switching from Network Admin to Security because my goal, which you tell them in the entrance essay, was the Masters Degree. The degree mentor AND the academic advisor agreed that switching would add an additional year to my degree but if I dropped the major altogether I could graduate sooner and get into the masters degree sooner. So thats what i did.
Upon graduating I found out that the month BEFORE they suggested this to me they changed their policy and I was not eligible for the Masters Degree. I called everyone and they wont accept their own degree and by accelerating the program to graduate in less than the normal time I accelerated myself right out of being eligible.
So, i filed complaints and they went nowhere. Then I started focusing on going somewhere else but no schools will accept their degree. Most schools wouldn't accept anything because there is no GPA. They had to look into the school further and all of them refused to accept the degree. WGU said that they are nationally and regionally accredited but it doesn't mean anything if the military wont accept their degree, other schools wont accept the degree and they don't accept their own degree.

Go somewhere else. I'm just lucky that i only wasted 1 year and 6000 dollars but now that I have my Bachelors, I dont qualify for Pell Grant and student loans wont pay for a second bachelors after the first one is completed so I'm now paying out of pocket for a bachelors degree.[/COLOR]

Springer2

Do you have any recommendations for an online school is this field? I liked WGU because it said it offered the certifications along with the degree?

hiddenknight821

Sweetw1982 wrote: »

Upon graduating I found out that the month BEFORE they suggested this to me they changed their policy and I was not eligible for the Masters Degree. I called everyone and they wont accept their own degree and by accelerating the program to graduate in less than the normal time I accelerated myself right out of being eligible.

As of July 25, 2012, I was eligible to transit into their graduate program after completing my bachelor without a problem. When did you find out about this "so-called" policy change? I believe they will not let anyone accelerate into the Master program if there isn't at least three months left in your current undergraduate term. You would be forced to wait until the term officially ends. If you were trying to applying to the master program at the other schools at WGU other than the school of IT, then I can't vouch for that. Although, it would make sense if they deny your degree from transferring over.

And if you are applying for graduate schools elsewhere, I believe you are doing it wrong, which is the reason why they won't accept you. You may need to take the GRE or their bridge courses. So, either you can cooperate with us and tell us your whole story clearly and answer our questions or take your rants somewhere else.

Springer2

Anyone?

hiddenknight821

Springer2 wrote: »

How do the certifications work? I am considering going here when I am done my associates(I have 7 weeks left). Are they built into the program and do you receive actual certificate?

It's pretty straightforward. All courses aren't instructor-led. You're free to go at your pace. Once they open up the certification course you requested, you can request for your voucher (you have to pay for your third and subsequent attempts). If you are ready to take the exam, then you can book the exam at your local testing center. You will use the code provided by WGU to waive the exam fee when booking the exam. After you pass, you get your cert directly from the vendor. WGU has nothing to do with that. All they want to know is if you pass the exam or not, which you will have to report each time you attempt the exam.

kgb

Sweetw1982 wrote: »

...I called everyone and they wont accept their own degree and by accelerating the program to graduate in less than the normal time I accelerated myself right out of being eligible...

Called everyone...eh?

You say you wasted a year, getting a accredited 4yr degree...

Something just doesn't add up. Without further information the problem sounds like it's all you. There's plenty of people that have their 4yr from WGU and continue on with their Masters @ WGU.

demonfurbie

they did make one change you cant get the standard it degree and go into masters with out a ccna/cissp/mcitp or and a big OR a resume with exp. and if you dont have exp already you should do that before thinking bmasters

as for places taking it i know there is a list here that do take it and many more (i could even apply ti MIT if i had the cash)

Springer2

Thank You. Does everybody recommend this school for bachelors in system security online?

erpadmin

Don't bother responding to "sweetw." This person is an Anti-WGU ranter (for lack of a better word...) who is posting this same complaint on ripoff report and degree info.

If this person wasn't so lazy and would have made the post look like he typed it, it would have been harder to spot. Instead, he makes it easy for a Virgo like me to copy and paste the first few words of the post and search the post in Google.

I don't mind hearing about legitimate beef about WGU and discussing the issue civilly, but I suspect this person won't come back at all.

JayLQue

Can anyone help me or advise what I should do, I just completed my BS in computer science with Grantham university with a GPA of 3.71, I want to go for the MS in IT Network Management with WGU but since I have little experience in the IT field they wanted me to do an entrance resume showing all my IT experience in the last few years, I used my prior military experience since I recently retired from the military in Jan 2012 and I guess that wasn’t enough, currently I’m work with an IT Satellite company in the IT career field I want this the degree in but I guess that isn’t enough because I sent them an entrance resume and the board rejected it, it’s like they want you to have the experience first before even taking the course, please advise what I should do or how should I proceed. I sent them a resume, they told me I could submit another resume adding more IT experience beef the resume up or get my CCNA and then they would except me, but I just started studying for that and I know that’s about 3 months away maybe more to learn all of that but I’m ready to enroll NOW!! PLEASE ADVISE!!!!

nosoup4u

I was in a very similar role these past few months and couldn't get in until i took any certification test that transferred in..

From what I've read on these boards it seems to be dependent on the enrollment counselor, which I've had a lot of problems with. Call the school and ask for a different counselor and see if that helps.

JayLQue

Thanks for the advice, which cert test did you take? How hard was it?

nosoup4u

JayLQue wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, which cert test did you take? How hard was it?

I took a Microsoft certification for windows 7 (70-680), turns out it's not that entry level.

I would look into one of the CIW certifications that you end up getting through the IT program

JayLQue

Thanks, Ill look into to something just to get me in the program, Ill still take the CCNA but thats later on down the road, so CIW huh, Ill check them out, thanks

murdatapes

Hey Board,

Haven't been on here in awhile. Since the last time I've been here, I have been promoted to a Supervisor/Lead. I'am enjoying every minute of leading a team, and managing them. I am very interested in WSU - IT Management track. My question is, I was (still am) enrolled into a AAS in Computer Information Systems at a local college. I haven't finished (probably have about a little more than a year left), because I got caught up with work and learning the new role this past year, but I wanted to start the track of IT Management as quickly as possible, as I want to pursue IT Management positions now during my career. I would like to start on WSU maybe sometime early next year. I'm really itching towards just moving to WSU and starting there. I feel that would help my career along the path of IT management as of right now. The AAS is mainly tech classes, and some generals left, but think as I rise into the IT Management it would look better to a employer that I have experience with supervising a technical team, but also enrolled in a BA for it.

What do you think?

talcik

Ive been reading a lot about this forum and WGU, A lot of great things and am thinking about going there for the next coming semester. I do have a few college courses, are they easy to transfer over course from a community college to WGU? is one question. My other question is What type of jobs do you guys get with the IT - Security degree from here? obviously it depends on your security and if you know your stuff I do understand that but basically the question I am trying to ask here is because your degree is from WGU is it looked down upon? do they look at it as not a real degree because it was an online school? or are you guys actually able to get decent jobs without having to know someone?

My last question is, do you guys actually get the certs or are they just the practice test for the certs and they dont actually give you the certs?

I understand that it is late posting on this forum and I do apologize, I was just wondering if anyone was able to answer these questions before I invested some time into this school.

Oh last question for this post, how fast can you graduate with the B.S. provide you about 20 hours a week into it and starting from 0 credits? (just a basic average would be fine not a detailed one, something like e.g. 3 1/2 years)

Thank you,
Talcik

Slithy

I just wanted to say a quick thank you for the wealth of information found in this thread.

I am currently looking to apply to WGU and quite a few of my questions have been addressed here.

About7Narwhal

Slithy,

If you requre further information, you should look HERE as this is the main WGU thread. Good luck if you apply!

NorseBeard

I'm not sure if this is the proper place to post this, if not, please forgive me.
Anyways, after discovering this wonderful forum filled with amazing and knowledgeable people, I have spent the last 3 hours reading and reading, and worked up the courage to join and post.

Anyways, here goes.

I'm a 28 year old father of 2. Spent some 4 years off and on in a B&M University with credits smattered across multiple majors, non of which having anything to do with technology.
Long story short, life happened, and I had to drop out in order to support my children, and got a steady, secure, and lucrative job with the railroad, there's only one problem, I hate it.

I have no working experience in any IT field, and no certifications as of yet. I am however very tech savvy, and know my way around computers, at least I like to think I do.

I have akways thought that a career in IT would be my dream, but considering my circumstances, am a bit dismayed as to where to start. I have an uncle in law in IT who I talk with all the time, who encourages me to pursue this dream. He has no degree and is doing quite well for himself with a large hospital.

That brings me to WGU. I have been doing extensive research on WGU here and others places, trying to decide if this would be something I could/should do, basically starting from scratch with little knowledge/experience.

This is my question for you, and if not, how should I go about pursuing a career in IT?

techfiend

I'd say the first step is A+ either pickup a study guide, watch professor messer's free videos or pay for some videos and eventually take the tests. If you can see yourself doing this 15x over the next few years and throw in some general courses you might want to consider WGU for your degree.

E_IT

NorseBeard wrote: »

I'm not sure if this is the proper place to post this, if not, please forgive me.
Anyways, after discovering this wonderful forum filled with amazing and knowledgeable people, I have spent the last 3 hours reading and reading, and worked up the courage to join and post.

Anyways, here goes.

I'm a 28 year old father of 2. Spent some 4 years off and on in a B&M University with credits smattered across multiple majors, non of which having anything to do with technology.
Long story short, life happened, and I had to drop out in order to support my children, and got a steady, secure, and lucrative job with the railroad, there's only one problem, I hate it.

I have no working experience in any IT field, and no certifications as of yet. I am however very tech savvy, and know my way around computers, at least I like to think I do.

I have akways thought that a career in IT would be my dream, but considering my circumstances, am a bit dismayed as to where to start. I have an uncle in law in IT who I talk with all the time, who encourages me to pursue this dream. He has no degree and is doing quite well for himself with a large hospital.

That brings me to WGU. I have been doing extensive research on WGU here and others places, trying to decide if this would be something I could/should do, basically starting from scratch with little knowledge/experience.

This is my question for you, and if not, how should I go about pursuing a career in IT?

My $.02...
If you have the funds avail... go get your A+, Net+, Security+, Project+ ... then apply. The course material from WGU is not needed. There are PLENTY of resources avail to get you through these exams. These exams would translate into 18 CUs (hours) at WGU. Also it will enable you to bypass the MTA in Net and Sec if those are even still on the newer degree plans. These are not hard exams. Sec+ and Net+ overlap a lot.
Good luck.

ImThe0ne

E_IT wrote: »

My $.02...
If you have the funds avail... go get your A+, Net+, Security+, Project+ ... then apply. The course material from WGU is not needed. There are PLENTY of resources avail to get you through these exams. These exams would translate into 18 CUs (hours) at WGU. Also it will enable you to bypass the MTA in Net and Sec if those are even still on the newer degree plans. These are not hard exams. Sec+ and Net+ overlap a lot.
Good luck.

Excellent advice.

bpenn

E_IT wrote: »

My $.02...
If you have the funds avail... go get your A+, Net+, Security+, Project+ ... then apply. The course material from WGU is not needed. There are PLENTY of resources avail to get you through these exams. These exams would translate into 18 CUs (hours) at WGU. Also it will enable you to bypass the MTA in Net and Sec if those are even still on the newer degree plans. These are not hard exams. Sec+ and Net+ overlap a lot.
Good luck.

To piggy back on this, get your CCNA before school starts and it will waive network+ if you are taking the IT-Security track.