Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Documenting My Son's WGU Experience
#1
Since I've gained so much from this forum, I figured I should give back a bit by sharing my 17 year old's WGU experience. He completed the courses in my signature below, and he is now enrolled in WGU, beginning June 1, with 35 credits to complete his business degree in human resources management. He completed just about every transferable course, but for those of you wanting to truly maximize your transfer credits, the following additional courses can be transferred in -
Integrated Natural Science Applications (can be completed with a 3 credit science and 1 credit lab or with any associates degree)
Critical Thinking and Logic (if you have an associates degree this is cleared)
Employment Law (Study.com will be adding this as a 3 credit course this year)
Change Management (I honestly haven't found this available via any online course/exam options)

His enrollment counselor told him he can likely complete his degree in one term; however, if the capstone takes more time than expected, he can take just the capstone in a second term and pay just under $1,000 for that. His tuition for this first term is $2835 with the $200 Straighterline discount. He completed a scholarship phone interview today, but it's unlikely he will qualify for any of them - most of the scholarships are $500 per year.

Orientation opens up on the 15th of the month prior to your start date, as long as tuition has been paid in full. Once he completes the 2 to 4 hour orientation, he will have access to his courses, although he will not be formally enrolled in any and will not be able to take any tests or submit assignments until he has been enrolled in the course and it's his start date of June 1. His mentor will be calling him next week to craft his course order and choose the first course he wants to enroll in.

His plan is to do Orientation on Monday and immediately begin knocking out Integrated Natural Science Applications and Critical Thinking. The first entails 3 written assignments - an essay, a powerpoint presentation, and a lab report. The latter has a proctored assessment. I've also encouraged him to spend an hour or so a day during the next two weeks doing the lessons for the Spreadsheets class since he has almost no Excel experience and I've read the course is pretty challenging.

I'll post here a few times a week to update on his progress, in the hopes that anyone considering WGU can get an idea of what's involved with attempting to complete a degree in one term. It's not talked about as much here, so hopefully this will add some useful information.
Here Researching for my son, who has done the following:
Community College: Intro to Philosophy, Fundamentals of IT, English Comp 1
Saylor: Intro to Business, Principles of  Marketing, Corporate Communication
Shmoop: US History 2 (WGU won't accept this)
ALEKS: Int. Algebra, College Algebra
Study.com: Personal Finance, Principles of Finance, HR Management, Global Business, Advanced Operations Management
Straighterline: US History 2, Environmental Science, US History, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, English Comp 2, Principles of Management, Business Law, Business Ethics, Psychology, Organizational Behavior, Accounting 1,Communication, Managerial Accounting, Statistics
Ed4Credit: Managing Information Systems
Sophia: Project Management
WGU: Bachelors in HR Management 

Second son is currently attending Penn Foster for his high school diploma, then on to Ashworth for An Associates in Criminal Justice
Reply
#2
Best of luck to him!

If I've done my math correctly, I should have between 30 and 36 hours once enrolled, so this should be very enlightening.
Master of Business Administration, Universidad Isabel I, 2021
Master in Management & Team Management, Universidad Isabel I, 2021
Master in International Trade, Universidad Isabel I, 2021
Master in Supply Chain Management, Universidad Isabel I, 2021
Master in Project Management, Universidad Isabel I, 2023

BS Information Technology, Western Governors University, 2017
AAS Cybersecurity, Community College, 2017
FEMA Emergency Management Certificate, 2017
Fundraising Specialization Certificate, Berkeley/Haas, 2020

Undergraduate Credits: 165 Semester Credits
Graduate Credits: 105 ECTS (52.5 Semester Credits)
Reply
#3
Best of luck!

Thanks for the review, looking forward to the updates.
MBA, Western Governors University February 2014
BS Charter Oak State College November 2011
AS in EMS August 2010

I'm always happy to complete the free application waiver for those applying to WGU (I get a free gift from WGU for this).  Just PM me your first/last name and a valid email so I can complete their form.

Thread; COSC AS using FEMA http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...total.html
Reply
#4
Wyatt just received word that he was awarded a $2,000 Straighterline scholarship - he'll likely only actually receive $500 since it's $500 per term, but I am floored that he received any sort of scholarship at all. Feeling very excited right now! We need to find out if he would be eligible for the $500 on a second term if all he does that term is his capstone - that would be fantastic.
Here Researching for my son, who has done the following:
Community College: Intro to Philosophy, Fundamentals of IT, English Comp 1
Saylor: Intro to Business, Principles of  Marketing, Corporate Communication
Shmoop: US History 2 (WGU won't accept this)
ALEKS: Int. Algebra, College Algebra
Study.com: Personal Finance, Principles of Finance, HR Management, Global Business, Advanced Operations Management
Straighterline: US History 2, Environmental Science, US History, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, English Comp 2, Principles of Management, Business Law, Business Ethics, Psychology, Organizational Behavior, Accounting 1,Communication, Managerial Accounting, Statistics
Ed4Credit: Managing Information Systems
Sophia: Project Management
WGU: Bachelors in HR Management 

Second son is currently attending Penn Foster for his high school diploma, then on to Ashworth for An Associates in Criminal Justice
Reply
#5
Orientation opened up for him the morning of the 15th, as stated it would. It took him about 4 hours to complete and he said it was dreadfully frustrating and had math and writing assignments which were unexpected. As soon as he completed orientation, he was able to click "degree plan" and see a list of all courses he needs for his degree - and all are viewable. He doesn't have Office on his new computer, and he's waiting to hear from his student mentor for the first time to find out when his WGU Office key will be available to him. He had hoped to begin the Spreadsheets course, but he needs Excel to do so. He completed two modules of the Critical Thinking course and plans to work on that and Employment Law for the remainder of the week.
Here Researching for my son, who has done the following:
Community College: Intro to Philosophy, Fundamentals of IT, English Comp 1
Saylor: Intro to Business, Principles of  Marketing, Corporate Communication
Shmoop: US History 2 (WGU won't accept this)
ALEKS: Int. Algebra, College Algebra
Study.com: Personal Finance, Principles of Finance, HR Management, Global Business, Advanced Operations Management
Straighterline: US History 2, Environmental Science, US History, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, English Comp 2, Principles of Management, Business Law, Business Ethics, Psychology, Organizational Behavior, Accounting 1,Communication, Managerial Accounting, Statistics
Ed4Credit: Managing Information Systems
Sophia: Project Management
WGU: Bachelors in HR Management 

Second son is currently attending Penn Foster for his high school diploma, then on to Ashworth for An Associates in Criminal Justice
Reply
#6
Rowan555....congratulations to your son. I start @ WGU in HR Management on 07/01.
Reply
#7
rowan555 Wrote:he said it was dreadfully frustrating and had math and writing assignments which were unexpected.

wow, either they've drastically changed the orientation since Jan/Feb, or the College of Business has a very different setup than the College of IT for their orientation. Mine just showed me where to find basic things like student services and such around the website, and had me setup my email signature. There was no real work or assignments (or information that I couldn't have easily figured out on my own).

At any rate, congrats to your son and good luck!
Northwestern California University School of Law
JD Law, 2027 (in progress, currently 2L)

Georgia Tech
MS Cybersecurity (Policy), 2021

Thomas Edison State University
BA Computer Science, 2023
BA Psychology, 2016
AS Business Administration, 2023
Certificate in Operations Management, 2023
Certificate in Computer Information Systems, 2023

Western Governors University
BS IT Security, 2018

Chaffey College
AA Sociology, 2015

Accumulated Credit: Undergrad: 258.50 | Graduate: 32

View all of my credit on my Omni Transcript!
Visit the DegreeForum Community Wiki!
Reply
#8
jsd Wrote:wow, either they've drastically changed the orientation since Jan/Feb, or the College of Business has a very different setup than the College of IT for their orientation. Mine just showed me where to find basic things like student services and such around the website, and had me setup my email signature. There was no real work or assignments (or information that I couldn't have easily figured out on my own).

At any rate, congrats to your son and good luck!

Right! That's what he and I both expected - that it would be just an overview of the program and how to navigate things. I figured it would take about an hour and then he could jump right into the coursework - he spent nearly 4 hours on it and was frustrated when he was done, so he took a considerable break before beginning the critical thinking material.

His enrollment counselor led him to believe it will be nearly impossible to complete all 35 credits including the Capstone in one term - he's been spending 5+ hours a day this week working on critical thinking and employment law. He's determined to prove her wrong Smile
Here Researching for my son, who has done the following:
Community College: Intro to Philosophy, Fundamentals of IT, English Comp 1
Saylor: Intro to Business, Principles of  Marketing, Corporate Communication
Shmoop: US History 2 (WGU won't accept this)
ALEKS: Int. Algebra, College Algebra
Study.com: Personal Finance, Principles of Finance, HR Management, Global Business, Advanced Operations Management
Straighterline: US History 2, Environmental Science, US History, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, English Comp 2, Principles of Management, Business Law, Business Ethics, Psychology, Organizational Behavior, Accounting 1,Communication, Managerial Accounting, Statistics
Ed4Credit: Managing Information Systems
Sophia: Project Management
WGU: Bachelors in HR Management 

Second son is currently attending Penn Foster for his high school diploma, then on to Ashworth for An Associates in Criminal Justice
Reply
#9
Diplok Wrote:Rowan555....congratulations to your son. I start @ WGU in HR Management on 07/01.

Fantastic! He originally planned to begin 7/1, but he wants to finish up in one term and realized that trying to get his portfolio and capstone graded at the end of December might be problematic, so he made the push to start 6/1. How many crdits are you transferring in? Please feel free to use this thread to share your own experience as well - what a great resource for anyone considering the program in the future!
Here Researching for my son, who has done the following:
Community College: Intro to Philosophy, Fundamentals of IT, English Comp 1
Saylor: Intro to Business, Principles of  Marketing, Corporate Communication
Shmoop: US History 2 (WGU won't accept this)
ALEKS: Int. Algebra, College Algebra
Study.com: Personal Finance, Principles of Finance, HR Management, Global Business, Advanced Operations Management
Straighterline: US History 2, Environmental Science, US History, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, English Comp 2, Principles of Management, Business Law, Business Ethics, Psychology, Organizational Behavior, Accounting 1,Communication, Managerial Accounting, Statistics
Ed4Credit: Managing Information Systems
Sophia: Project Management
WGU: Bachelors in HR Management 

Second son is currently attending Penn Foster for his high school diploma, then on to Ashworth for An Associates in Criminal Justice
Reply
#10
I just had my transcript evaluated. Out of 47 credits on my transcript they only accepted 22. I am not complaining, most of those credits are for a different major. I am excited to start. My goal is to get this done in 12 months (2 terms). I know it won't be easy but I'm going to do whatever it takes to stick to that timeframe.
Reply


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  WGU MBA Experience Calvinb 2 898 09-24-2024, 08:07 PM
Last Post: wow
  WGU announced a new Master of Science in Learning Experience Design and Education GizmoJack 24 6,747 09-08-2023, 02:42 PM
Last Post: ss20ts
  WGU with little relevant experience? breadloaf 6 2,212 01-28-2023, 09:06 AM
Last Post: LevelUP
Big Grin WGU MBA Experience? Toastmaster 2 5,668 08-23-2020, 03:12 PM
Last Post: Toastmaster
  My WGU Experience - BSci-NOS justdavey 19 7,096 05-12-2018, 10:57 PM
Last Post: jsd
  Documenting My Journey: WGU BSIT-Security Thorne 79 24,849 01-24-2018, 11:50 AM
Last Post: Thorne
  My BS in 1.5 years - my experience with CLEP/DSST/SL/WGU jessikalauren 12 10,243 08-10-2017, 12:15 PM
Last Post: jessikalauren
  Western governors' University - WGU - competency based? Experience or opinions? GoodYellowDogs 12 2,981 05-07-2012, 09:10 PM
Last Post: dcan

Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)