WGU Homework

I'm thinking of applying for WGU for the B.S. in IT(not sure which emphasis). I know that I will have to get a cert or take a college course before beginning. The question regards the amount of homework involved each week. Realistically, I may only have 5-10 hours of time to apply to homework/studies. How long, in your opinion, would it take to finish the degree? Would I even make it?

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Comments

DoubleNNs

I know they ask that you be able to devote 20-25 hours a week to studies. 5-10 may be too little to keep up w/ the pace of the program. Even tho it's labeled as "study at your own pace" there is still a general minimum that you must maintain.

Akaricloud

Honestly 5-10 hours a week isn't really enough to make it worth while in my opinion. To put it in perspective I'll likely be getting a second degree from WGU and expect to put in ~60 hours a week. I would do more but working full time with a 2 hour commute limits my free time.

Is there any way you can clear up more time from your schedule?

Danielm7

As has been mentioned in a lot of the WGU threads, there is no way to equate the number of hours YOU spend with what someone else can accomplish. Other people might have more/less experience than you. They might be less or even a lot more intelligent. They might have good study habits, yours might be terrible, etc. There really is no set way to tell someone how long it will take them to learn. I know everyone wants that answer but anyone who gives you a number of hours or months are mostly pulling the numbers out of the air.

jesseou812

I can't speak to WGU but....

Did a few online classes for an undergraduate and graduate degree. Very busy classes with tons of homework/papers/group projects. Having only 5 to 10 hours would not even be a good down payment IMHO.

upnorth77

As has been said, it really depends on your experience and intelligence (and how fast you read/absorb/study). I admit that in most weeks, I didn't spend more than 5-10 actual hours working on it, though some weeks I spent much more. I finished my BS IT (security emphasis) in 3 terms after transferring in 26 credits and working a busy full-time job as an IT manager.

EngRob

I agree with upnorth and others in that it depends completely on your experience and knowledge of each course topic. The official WGU statement is that you should spend a minimum of 20hours but a couple of certs that I have existing knowledge on have been much less.

I do know that when CCNA comes around i'll be putting in more like 40-60hours a week so I guess it averages out.

backinthe80s

Thanks for all the responses. I appreciate the honesty. I have a full time job and 2 kids. I may be able to squeeze in 15 hours, but 40-60 would almost be impossible. The stress would send me to the looney bin.

Danielm7

backinthe80s wrote: »

Thanks for all the responses. I appreciate the honesty. I have a full time job and 2 kids. I may be able to squeeze in 15 hours, but 40-60 would almost be impossible. The stress would send me to the looney bin.

40-60 is impossible for almost everyone, I wouldn't look at that as a goal or a reasonable schedule.

EngRob

Maybe 40-60 was a slight exaggeration

I will definitely be putting in over 20 though for the CCNA

ReliableGuy2.0

The Bachelor of Information Technology program at Western Governor's University is pretty short if you already have an asscoiate's degree and pretty long if you have no experience. How much experience do you have.

santaowns

I would do the bsit with no emphasis. Then do ccna outside of wgu on your own time. I am scheduled to finish nextDecember and had only 3 transfer credits. I work 40-50 hours have 3 kids and 2hour commute I guess if you don't put in the time or effort you won't get what you want. Don't do wgu for certs do it for a fast degree, get the certs on the side.

backinthe80s

santaowns wrote: »

I would do the bsit with no emphasis. Then do ccna outside of wgu on your own time. I am scheduled to finish nextDecember and had only 3 transfer credits. I work 40-50 hours have 3 kids and 2hour commute I guess if you don't put in the time or effort you won't get what you want. Don't do wgu for certs do it for a fast degree, get the certs on the side.

I may have some gen ed credits from the local community college(automotive technology degree).
I'm waiting on the email from the school to find out.
It would be nice if they were transferable.
The "no emphasis" degree makes sense. I wouldn't feel pressured to finish the ccna.

backinthe80s

ReliableGuy2.0 wrote: »

The Bachelor of Information Technology program at Western Governor's University is pretty short if you already have an asscoiate's degree and pretty long if you have no experience. How much experience do you have.

I helped build a basic website and know how to do a few things I've learned through youtube tutorials. That's the extent of my experience.
I played on the atari 2600 when I was 6. That has to count for something, right?

EngRob

backinthe80s wrote: »

I played on the atari 2600 when I was 6. That has to count for something, right?

You need to have played Atari 2600 within the past 5 years for it to apply as credit

Akaricloud

I'm sure it must be hard to find free time to devote to studies with that busy of a schedule. 15 hours a week would likely be much more workable if you could pull it off. Start looking for little places that you can squeeze a bit of studying time out in.

If you can take public transportation to work that time can often be used studying and working on coursework. Using hour lunch breaks at work would give you an extra 5 hours a week. If you could manage one hour less of sleep daily that's an extra 7. It all adds up! The last time I was working full time while taking classes I averaged 4-5 hour of sleep a night and really just got used to it after the first couple weeks.

NexusC

I would reiterate that it totally depends on your experience level and what you bring into it.
Im not working as hard as I could be and I'm still completing on average 8 courses a semester (double minimum). Most of the non gen ed classes I got opened up and took the preassesment, studied one or two days and took the cert test. I've been in software development and IT in general for over 17 years.

Someone with very little experience and no gen eds done prior would have a lot of work to do. The gen eds took me the longest out of anything.