How long realistically would it take someone to finish WGU w/no degree and a job?

pcgizzmo · December 2012

If someone were to start WGU w/nothing and a full time job working 40 hours a week what would be the quickest you would think you could possible finish just studying at night and on weekends? Let's also assume the person has 10 years of IT experience but not many certs.

Thanks..

paulgswanson · December 2012

Well I had no college and a fulll time job.
I'm a little less than 50% done already, Im still on Term1.

pcgizzmo · December 2012

That's pretty quick. Hearing that gets me motivated! So you think you'll finish in 2-3 terms? What is your work load like as far as study time etc.. ? Thanks for replying.

Iristheangel · December 2012

I finish my degree in a year and a half and I had 2 jobs. I am working on my masters degree now and I should have that done within a year

coreyb80 · December 2012

I'm definitely considering WGU once I finish my Associates next year. This thread gives me further motivation.

pcgizzmo · December 2012

Iristheangel wrote: »

I finish my degree in a year and a half and I had 2 jobs. I am working on my masters degree now and I should have that done within a year

So, you went in with 0 credits and did it in a year and a half. That's impressive. How much of a commitment was it on your time as far as studying etc? What did your week look like? Thanks...

Raisin · December 2012

WGU can be as fast or as slow as you want it to be. Most people here transferred in at least a few certifications or some previous college credit, so I wouldn't base anything off the time they said they spent. Think of it this way, 12 credit units is the minimum for a 6 month term, you can easily complete that with a full time job and still have plenty of free time left over. There are people who complete 50+ credits in a single term, but they are devoting a significant amount of their free time to their school work. 20-30 credits per term is probably a reasonable pace for someone who works and still wants to have a little free time for other things.

Ivanjam · December 2012

@pcgizzmo - with your background, I'd say two years, a year and a half as Iris did, or even a year if you push hard, are all achievable goals. I started the generic BS-IT (by far the easiest track) on 11/01/12 - I did not transfer in any prior college work, just certs. I completed 23 CU in 1 month, but on the basis of prior knowledge (I just did all the preliminary assessments and took the final exams in the ones that I felt comfortable with). Things will now begin to slow down as I delve into unfamiliar territory but I am not aiming for a single term finish.

Iristheangel · December 2012

pcgizzmo wrote: »

So, you went in with 0 credits and did it in a year and a half. That's impressive. How much of a commitment was it on your time as far as studying etc? What did your week look like? Thanks...

I went in with about 25 transfer credits so I had 98 to earn. I would say that I actually finished slower than the majority of WGU students on here but I'm fine with that. I probably spent about 20-30 hours studying a week. I worked 6am-3pm during the week and on the weekends, I worked shift work during the day

W Stewart · December 2012

I started WGU with a few months of experience and an A+ certification. I really can't remember if I had network+ or not but if I did, that would have been it. I've done two semesters so far which is one year and I have 43 credits. I'm already scheduling my ccna to knock out another three and at the rate that I'm going, I will probably have at least 60 credits by the end of this semester which would be the equivalent of an associates in a year and a half. I guess You would also have to consider the fact that A+ Net+ and Cisco are a few things I was studying on and off before starting WGU as well but I've managed to fly though the general education courses pretty fast and I probably would have a few more credits if I didn't waste time on a perl certification when I changed my degree plan last semester. I'm glad I didn't waste more time on a Java class before deciding that I would change my degree back and pursuing general education classes.

Edit: Actually I did do a little reading on that java class before I decided not to finish it. I'd say I was being a little lazy the last semester when it came to study time but now that I have some down time at work I think I'm gonna try to do 20 credits a semester.

Hypntick · December 2012

Took me 1 year and 4 months to the day for my BS. For my MS, I am around 1/3 done in 3 months. Although that is with a long distance move and job change, otherwise i'd be close to 1/2 done.

tpatt100 · December 2012

I could have gotten done faster if I had spaced out the cert requirements better. Except faster for me was no more than two years for the Masters. Some classes I could do the assignments straight from my experience alone which I got done quickly. It depends on your experience level though. I know some people in the four degree program ran into problems with the Windows certs.

If I had no job I could have gotten done in less than a year though. If I could go to a coffee shop at 10am every day after a decent nights sleep to study for four hours for certs , I would have been knocking out one a month easy. I can study at work but I can't assume I will be able to, and I am more alert before 12pm.

Santa_ · December 2012

Glad to hear everyone's experience.

I can't wait to start the enrollment process.

I'll be transferring college credits (waiting to finish this fall semester in the next 2 weeks) and 3 certs (working on my Security+ now before enrolling)

With everyone being different and the time frame of each being more or less than a year with little to no transferred credits it seems doable.

pcgizzmo - your work schedule it a common between many who work the average full-time. Your main goal is to manage your time to get the maximum benefit of each hour of every day. Leverage your time with work, school, and all importantly family (& friends).

kgb · December 2012

I completed my degree in 6.5 months. I transferred in 27 credits, so I completed 96 cu's. I have a full time career, wife, young toddler. I spent pretty much all my free time on school work (minus a 2 week vacation I took). I spent a lot of time with my daughter, I made sure I did most of my studying when she went to bed.

When I started, I had no intentions on going as fast as I did. I didn't know what to expect, I was shooting for 20-30 a term and finish in 12-18months. It turns out I have a slight compulsive behavior issue when it comes to saving money. I realized the faster I finished, the more money I saved (I qualify for zero free money, so I took out student loans). While I was more than OK with having a 12k debt, I like 6k debt a lot more

Like I mentioned, I have a wife and daughter. Without the assistance of my wife, there's no way I'd have finished as quickly as I did. She knew where my focus was and for the most part didn't pester me with honey-do's all the time.

It was hard and it was a lot of work. There's people out there completing no-transfer credits to finish in 1 term that work full time.

Raisin · December 2012

My mentor told me last week that WGU is currently in the process of raising their cut off scores on many of the in house assessments. I suspect this is in response to the number of people who are flying through their general ed classes. I'm not sure what effect this will have on future students but it is something to consider and should be motivation for current students to finish up any of those classes before the scores are raised.

donzg · December 2012

This is encouraging guys. I'm excited to get started. I currently have 56 units from Devry and hoping to transfer some credits over to WGU before I get started. I will be saving over 20k+ just for switching over.

PurpleIT · December 2012

Raisin wrote: »

My mentor told me last week that WGU is currently in the process of raising their cut off scores on many of the in house assessments. I suspect this is in response to the number of people who are flying through their general ed classes. I'm not sure what effect this will have on future students but it is something to consider and should be motivation for current students to finish up any of those classes before the scores are raised.

I think part of it is WGU is trying to make sure their name retains value and they don't get perceived as a diploma mill. My mentor had a little speech about how WGU has to maintain their standards in order to make their degrees valuable, etc... of course, this was in response to my asking for a test voucher 4 days into my first term so he may have been laying the groundwork for an "I told you so" speech should I fail.

slinuxuzer · December 2012

I know this is off topic, but why doesn't WGU award associates? Do they plan to in the future?

paulgswanson · December 2012

This is not an official answer, just my perception so take it with a grain of salt as it were.

I think the AS is assumed. Im pretty sure you can apply for the AS once you pass your BS so you will likely get them at the same time. Kinda like when you take the test to be your CCENT and then you pass the second exam and become CCNA. Since CCNA implies you have the CCENT.

I could be completely wrong here but that how I understand it

PurpleIT · December 2012

paulgswanson wrote: »

This is not an official answer, just my perception so take it with a grain of salt as it were.

I think the AS is assumed. Im pretty sure you can apply for the AS once you pass your BS so you will likely get them at the same time. Kinda like when you take the test to be your CCENT and then you pass the second exam and become CCNA. Since CCNA implies you have the CCENT.

I could be completely wrong here but that how I understand it

CCNA may imply you have the knowledge a CCENT has, but it does not mean you have the cert (I don't). In the same vein, having a BS does not mean you have an AS, although you MAY a similar knowledge base.

If you look at how/why WGU was founded, I think they intend for the community colleges to be there for the AS (or AA) and if people want to later get a BS then WGU can step in. Alternatively, if you know you want a BS you can just start at WGU and do it all there.

Beyond all of that, WGU is a UNIVERSITY - you don't hear about other universities issuing Associate degrees. If you want an Associates you would need to complete the requirements from a school that issues them and that typically will require a certain number of "in residence" credit hours.

kgb · December 2012

Raisin wrote: »

My mentor told me last week that WGU is currently in the process of raising their cut off scores on many of the in house assessments. I suspect this is in response to the number of people who are flying through their general ed classes. I'm not sure what effect this will have on future students but it is something to consider and should be motivation for current students to finish up any of those classes before the scores are raised.

I don't think that's the case, my opinion anyways. I had very few general education classes since most transferred in. The ones I did take I passed by a wide margin. The only way they could slow it down is start making the certification classes require Task Stream assignments as well. If someone is average/above average intelligence and is extremely motivated they can go crazy with how WGU is set up.

It's my understanding, the people here on these forums represent a VERY small % of the student body. There's a lot of students that have no desire to go faster, get done quicker. I see posts(not here) from people not even understanding they could take more than 12 in a term. They found out like into their 2nd term...How can that be? Go back to my average/above average intelligence statement...

yoshiiaki · December 2012

kgb wrote: »

There's a lot of students that have no desire to go faster, get done quicker.

That's me. It seems everyone here is in such a rush to get the degree. Get it ASAP and then move on. I like to take my time and thoroughly study everything they give me. I applaud those capable or willing to complete in such a short time, but I don't envy them. WGU gives a lot of resources, although not always the best. They outline exactly what they want and if all you want to do is pass the course, shouldn't take you more than a couple days to pass each WGU course. Could really do most of them in a single day if you spent all day studying, and scheduled for the next day. Their courses are pretty much a joke, at least from what I've taken so far. Certs again, at least for these lower levels you could do real fast, maybe a month at the most if you had 0 experience prior. My intention isn't to pass but for long term retention.

. Sure i'm not going to remember 100% of what i learned through my time at WGU but I always aim high. Any other college I could have gone too would have required atleast a 70% to pass, none of this 50-60% that WGU expects... and if i was there I would expect no less than a 90% so i don't see why I should expect any less of myself at WGU. Maybe it's because i'm not as intelligent as some of those that complete it in 1 term (I'm pretty certain many people here are smarter than me) but i'll take my time and I won't worry about it. Even if I take a few extra years than everyone else, I'd still be on pace with any traditional college and my financial burden will still be far inferior to what it could have been.

In terms of OP, how long merely depends on how much time you put in. I choose to take 15-20 units at a casual pace (12 would just be unbearably slow) adding a course as a pass throughout the semester to insure i don't over commit. I'm on pace to graduate spring of 2015, with one course in that semester, so i'll probably just do a little extra to graduate fall of 2014. Most people on this forum will start and finish before me. That's their choice and they are putting in more effort than I am.

pcgizzmo · December 2012

yoshiiaki wrote: »

That's me. It seems everyone here is in such a rush to get the degree. Get it ASAP and then move on. I like to take my time and thoroughly study everything they give me. I applaud those capable or willing to complete in such a short time, but I don't envy them. WGU gives a lot of resources, although not always the best. They outline exactly what they want and if all you want to do is pass the course, shouldn't take you more than a couple days to pass each WGU course. Could really do most of them in a single day if you spent all day studying, and scheduled for the next day. Their courses are pretty much a joke, at least from what I've taken so far. Certs again, at least for these lower levels you could do real fast, maybe a month at the most if you had 0 experience prior. My intention isn't to pass but for long term retention. . Sure i'm not going to remember 100% of what i learned through my time at WGU but I always aim high. Any other college I could have gone too would have required atleast a 70% to pass, none of this 50-60% that WGU expects... and if i was there I would expect no less than a 90% so i don't see why I should expect any less of myself at WGU. Maybe it's because i'm not as intelligent as some of those that complete it in 1 term (I'm pretty certain many people here are smarter than me) but i'll take my time and I won't worry about it. Even if I take a few extra years than everyone else, I'd still be on pace with any traditional college and my financial burden will still be far inferior to what it could have been.

In terms of OP, how long merely depends on how much time you put in. I choose to take 15-20 units at a casual pace (12 would just be unbearably slow) adding a course as a pass throughout the semester to insure i don't over commit. I'm on pace to graduate spring of 2015, with one course in that semester, so i'll probably just do a little extra to graduate fall of 2014. Most people on this forum will start and finish before me. That's their choice and they are putting in more effort than I am.

I can appreciate your point of view. What I didn't say in my origional post is that I'm 43 hence the question regarding time. If I were 23 or even 33 I don't think I would be so focused on how long it will take.

paul78 · December 2012

pcgizzmo wrote: »

... is that I'm 43 hence the question regarding time...

I'm 44 and I had a few chats with a very informative counselor at WGU a few months ago. Unfortunately, WGU doesn't accept transfers of credits more than 15 years old so between family and work, I decided to put off enrolling. I may get my degree some day but I have been saying that for the last 20 years.

I hope you do it - I'm rooting for you...

I wish you good karma.

kgb · December 2012

paul78 wrote: »

I'm 44 and I had a few chats with a very informative counselor at WGU a few months ago. Unfortunately, WGU doesn't accept transfers of credits more than 15 years old so between family and work, I decided to put off enrolling. I may get my degree some day but I have been saying that for the last 20 years.

I hope you do it - I'm rooting for you... I wish you good karma.

They must have changed that within the last 7 months. I'd make some other calls. I had classes transfer from 1993.

kgb · December 2012

pcgizzmo wrote: »

I can appreciate your point of view. What I didn't say in my origional post is that I'm 43 hence the question regarding time. If I were 23 or even 33 I don't think I would be so focused on how long it will take.

Yep. Nail-on-the-head. I just turned 38 myself and I'm a career changer (from art to development). If time wasn't an issue, I would've went to a local university. I'm not knocking WGU, I am proud of my degree from WGU.

But, I don't pretend and think that I wouldn't have learned more by going to actual classes in a classroom that enabled me to networking with students/teachers, being able to ask questions for the next 4-8years that it would've taken me to finish going part time at night.

I made a post about why I think going slow for the sake of "retaining" is just a waste of money. My opinion, in a nutshell. You are paying someone else so you can "retain" the information. Learning doesn't stop after you graduate. You can argue that I don't remember everything, well, it's not an argument, because obviously I don't. The important stuff, I'm still learning about. The difference is it's not costing me any money to do it.

Ivanjam · December 2012

pcgizzmo wrote: »

What I didn't say in my origional post is that I'm 43 hence the question regarding time. If I were 23 or even 33 I don't think I would be so focused on how long it will take.

That's the way I look at it too - I am 46.

PurpleIT · December 2012

paul78 wrote: »

I'm 44 and I had a few chats with a very informative counselor at WGU a few months ago. Unfortunately, WGU doesn't accept transfers of credits more than 15 years old so between family and work, I decided to put off enrolling. I may get my degree some day but I have been saying that for the last 20 years.

I hope you do it - I'm rooting for you... I wish you good karma.

I think you have been given some bad information as I transferred my 1994 vintage AS within the last 6 weeks. I suppose if you only had some credits and not the full degree they might make a case for evaluating it differently, but this would be the first I have heard of it. If that is the case I would look at doing something, anything, to finish the Associates at some (accredited) place that will take the credits and then transfer it to WGU.

PurpleIT · December 2012

kgb wrote: »

But, I don't pretend and think that I wouldn't have learned more by going to actual classes in a classroom that enabled me to networking with students/teachers, being able to ask questions for the next 4-8years that it would've taken me to finish going part time at night.

I look at the time on the job as the learning that would have happened in a "traditional" classroom - I still get to learn, but as a bonus I get paid for it!

I made a post about why I think going slow for the sake of "retaining" is just a waste of money. My opinion, in a nutshell. You are paying someone else so you can "retain" the information. Learning doesn't stop after you graduate. You can argue that I don't remember everything, well, it's not an argument, because obviously I don't. The important stuff, I'm still learning about. The difference is it's not costing me any money to do it.

Having not read your other post and just going off of what I see here I agree... with some caveats. I have retained an unusual amount of information from my Survey of German Literature class than I ever would, but I hardly consider that a good trade for the time, money and convenience saved by going to WGU.

yoshiiaki · December 2012

Well i see where our differences lie. I'm half the age of OP, haha.

@kgb I missed that post. Would you be able to link it? I would be interested in it. I personally find going slow a better attribute as even though I may not remember it fully, it can be easier to recall on the job from a quick google search, rather than having to sit down and learn everything right then and there especially potentially under pressure.. Therefore I can get the job at hand done quickly and then move on to learning the next new thing rather than waste my time learning something I already should have learned. Or sure, you can get by in life by googling all your answers at the time of need, and then forgetting about them later knowing that google will always be there for you, but I don't see any success in that. At least that's how I see it. I also don't see either view being wrong or better, just different. Also of note i'm sure you were most likely speaking of "useless" classes that you feel you will never need to know, and most likely take IT courses seriously.

kgb · December 2012

It was on another forum and it pretty much said what I said above.

I think there's a communication link that isn't being made. Maybe it's the way I described it.

Two people, A and B.

A - finishes in 1year
B - finishes in 2 years

During that 1 extra year, A can learn and retain just as much as B. It will take more self-motivation to do the work, sure, but I think in the case of TE people I think we can safely say A and B are equally motivated.

So, at the end of 2 years, A and B both are finished and know the same amount of information. The difference is B spent twice as much money. Also, I think it's safe to assume A could learn and could've very well learned just as much and retained as much as B during their just 1 year. In that case, A now has a degree a full year before B and can leverage that 1year before B.

That's my only point I'm trying to make.

How long realistically would it take someone to finish WGU w/no degree and a job?

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