Questions regarding WGU and other issues.

[davewill]

The biggest issue with transferring your WGU credits to a B&M school is their unusual degree structure. For starters you won't have enough GenEd credits since WGU requires so few of them.b similar issues may come up with major courses where your new school may "take" the credits, but they won't count towards your degree requirements. You really have to figure this for a specific degree plan and school, otherwise you'll find yourself taking many more units than necessary.

[JSN7]

Critical Thinking and Logic
Introduction to Geography
Ethics in Technology
English Composition I
Introduction to Communication
Applied Probability and Statistics
Applied Algebra
English Composition II
American Politics and the US Constitution

Pretty standard for most schools I've seen.

[jsd]

FYI -- if you have under 60 hours of graded credit (such as all of your credit hours come from WGU or other pass/fail school) then LSAC will report no GPA for you. So even if you go to a school like TESU and get an A in your two required courses and have a 4.0 on those, with transferred ACE credit for everything else, they will not consider your 4.0

LSAT is a huge part of the picture, but for competitive law schools you should absolutely ensure at least 60 graded hours.

I can see that for ACE courses transferred into WGU, but for courses taken at WGU they may honor the 3.0 equivalency that is recommended on the transcript. I have yet to hear about any school that doesn't recognize WGU credits as 3.0 equivalency for transfer GPA purposes. Of course, you still need 60+ credits from WGU to make that argument have value.

I have seen this issue raised by multiple angry/disappointed WGU students before - LSAC does not recognize it as a 3.0 because the transcript says "PASS."

While WGU says a pass is equivalent to "at least a 3.0," it does not provide letter grades and explicitly makes it clear they don't calculate a GPA. And LSAC's system only cared if you have a letter or numerical grade on your transcript (and will even count grades that show up with a line through them, as is the case for many schools who strike out grades after academic forgiveness as opposed to schools who actually remove them from the transcript).

Furthermore, if they do change their policy to make an exemption for WGU, a 3.0 isn't particularly competitive for law school. Better get that LSAT up!

[JSN7]

Plenty of schools accept WGU degrees and students without issue. GPA is often one of the least significant factors in grad school acceptance. They will look at your overall application package. But references and your statement of purpose are generally weighted much higher than GPA or even GMAT/GRE/LSAT scores when considering good candidates for grad school (particularly so for doctoral studies).

That said, here is a list of schools that have accepted students from WGU into their graduate or doctorate programs...

https://www.wgu.edu/alumni/career-suppor...paths.html

That list isn't definitive since not every student reports their college admissions status to WGU, but it's a good place to start if you're curious.

FYI -- if you have under 60 hours of graded credit (such as all of your credit hours come from WGU or other pass/fail school) then LSAC will report no GPA for you. So even if you go to a school like TESU and get an A in your two required courses and have a 4.0 on those, with transferred ACE credit for everything else, they will not consider your 4.0

LSAT is a huge part of the picture, but for competitive law schools you should absolutely ensure at least 60 graded hours.

I can see that for ACE courses transferred into WGU, but for courses taken at WGU they may honor the 3.0 equivalency that is recommended on the transcript. I have yet to hear about any school that doesn't recognize WGU credits as 3.0 equivalency for transfer GPA purposes. Of course, you still need 60+ credits from WGU to make that argument have value.

I have seen this issue raised by multiple angry/disappointed WGU students before - LSAC does not recognize it as a 3.0 because the transcript says "PASS."

While WGU says a pass is equivalent to "at least a 3.0," it does not provide letter grades and explicitly makes it clear they don't calculate a GPA. And LSAC's system only cared if you have a letter or numerical grade on your transcript (and will even count grades that show up with a line through them, as is the case for many schools who strike out grades after academic forgiveness as opposed to schools who actually remove them from the transcript).

Furthermore, if they do change their policy to make an exemption for WGU, a 3.0 isn't particularly competitive for law school. Better get that LSAT up!

Now would my WGU credits transfer anywhere else? I figure I can finish what I can at WGU and transfer those to another 4 year, and earn a GPA on the remaining courses.

[jsd]

It's possible to transfer WGU credits, but it will be 100% up to the receiving school if they accept them. WGU courses seem to be pretty specific to their own programs, so they might not always have equivalents at other schools. But it's RA credit, nothing is stopping them from being transferred other than whatever the receiving school's policies are.

[Merlin]

It's possible to transfer WGU credits, but it will be 100% up to the receiving school if they accept them. WGU courses seem to be pretty specific to their own programs, so they might not always have equivalents at other schools. But it's RA credit, nothing is stopping them from being transferred other than whatever the receiving school's policies are.

Keep in mind that the same logic applies to credits taken at any RA school, not just WGU. It is always up to the destination school as to whether they will accept transfer credits towards their own degrees or not, and if so how many courses will transfer.

There are plenty of horror stories about people who complete a ton of courses (up to nearly a full degree worth) from a B&M college and transfer schools only to find that most of their credits don't transfer, or are not accepted towards the same degree program at their new school due to minor differences in the curriculum. As jsd mentioned, WGU can make this a bit harder since some of their courses are rather specific to the degree programs offered at WGU and may not have equivalencies at every school.

[JSN7]

It's possible to transfer WGU credits, but it will be 100% up to the receiving school if they accept them. WGU courses seem to be pretty specific to their own programs, so they might not always have equivalents at other schools. But it's RA credit, nothing is stopping them from being transferred other than whatever the receiving school's policies are.

Keep in mind that the same logic applies to credits taken at any RA school, not just WGU. It is always up to the destination school as to whether they will accept transfer credits towards their own degrees or not, and if so how many courses will transfer.

There are plenty of horror stories about people who complete a ton of courses (up to nearly a full degree worth) from a B&M college and transfer schools only to find that most of their credits don't transfer, or are not accepted towards the same degree program at their new school due to minor differences in the curriculum. As jsd mentioned, WGU can make this a bit harder since some of their courses are rather specific to the degree programs offered at WGU and may not have equivalencies at every school.

I'm researching a few just to see. A few said it's possible, but I may even look at another compotency based program as well. The goal is to finish faster as well for me.

[ThatBankDude]

I do like the Georgia Tech program, but I do have my heart set on UC Berkley.

UC Berkeley is a phenomenal school but remember, it is not an Ivy League School. It can most certainly get you to where you want to be but you will need to be aware that a degree from UC Berkeley is going to be expensive. If cost is not a factor for you, then go for it.

So an ivy league masters may not be out of reach?

Ivy League schools take into consideration the entire package that you present them. Your undergraduate institution, difficulty of your coursework, GMAT or GRE, Letters of Recommendation, essays, etc. There is not one component that they put more emphasis on than others. When it comes to schools that are competitive, you really need to push the "why this program" and "why this school." They want to know that you understand the rigor of their program and want to make sure it will be a good fit for them and for you.

[JSN7]

I do like the Georgia Tech program, but I do have my heart set on UC Berkley.

UC Berkeley is a phenomenal school but remember, it is not an Ivy League School. It can most certainly get you to where you want to be but you will need to be aware that a degree from UC Berkeley is going to be expensive. If cost is not a factor for you, then go for it.

So an ivy league masters may not be out of reach?

Ivy League schools take into consideration the entire package that you present them. Your undergraduate institution, difficulty of your coursework, GMAT or GRE, Letters of Recommendation, essays, etc. There is not one component that they put more emphasis on than others. When it comes to schools that are competitive, you really need to push the "why this program" and "why this school." They want to know that you understand the rigor of their program and want to make sure it will be a good fit for them and for you.

For the career I'm in, UC Berkley would be a great option for anyone in tech. So from what I gather from what you've said, I may not get laughed out of an Ivy League masters program? As far as cost, I'm hoping to save whatever money I can towards it. Hence why WGU seemed like the best bet cost wise. I could essentially finish the entire degree for under four thousand dollars.  I did speak to Columbia University, they did say they look at applications from a holistic approach, looking at the whole person which is nice. I get to show case some of the volunteer work I've done in the past. Plus I feel like the return on investment will surpass the cost from either option honestly. Also my back-up plan was to transfer my WGU credits to another 4 year University. I wouldn't mind finishing my undergraduate at Drexel. I just want to know my WGU degree will help me.

[ThatBankDude]

I do like the Georgia Tech program, but I do have my heart set on UC Berkley.

UC Berkeley is a phenomenal school but remember, it is not an Ivy League School. It can most certainly get you to where you want to be but you will need to be aware that a degree from UC Berkeley is going to be expensive. If cost is not a factor for you, then go for it.

So an ivy league masters may not be out of reach?

Ivy League schools take into consideration the entire package that you present them. Your undergraduate institution, difficulty of your coursework, GMAT or GRE, Letters of Recommendation, essays, etc. There is not one component that they put more emphasis on than others. When it comes to schools that are competitive, you really need to push the "why this program" and "why this school." They want to know that you understand the rigor of their program and want to make sure it will be a good fit for them and for you.

For the career I'm in, UC Berkley would be a great option for anyone in tech. So from what I gather from what you've said, I may not get laughed out of an Ivy League masters program? As far as cost, I'm hoping to save whatever money I can towards it. Hence why WGU seemed like the best bet cost wise. I could essentially finish the entire degree for under four thousand dollars.  I did speak to Columbia University, they did say they look at applications from a holistic approach, looking at the whole person which is nice. I get to show case some of the volunteer work I've done in the past. Plus I feel like the return on investment will surpass the cost from either option honestly. Also my back-up plan was to transfer my WGU credits to another 4 year University. I wouldn't mind finishing my undergraduate at Drexel. I just want to know my WGU degree will help me.

It would not hurt you. I just read an article on LinkedIn who did his BS at WGU and his MBA at MIT Sloan. He is now a Sr. Director at Oracle.

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I do like the Georgia Tech program, but I do have my heart set on UC Berkley.

UC Berkeley is a phenomenal school but remember, it is not an Ivy League School. It can most certainly get you to where you want to be but you will need to be aware that a degree from UC Berkeley is going to be expensive. If cost is not a factor for you, then go for it.

So an ivy league masters may not be out of reach?

Ivy League schools take into consideration the entire package that you present them. Your undergraduate institution, difficulty of your coursework, GMAT or GRE, Letters of Recommendation, essays, etc. There is not one component that they put more emphasis on than others. When it comes to schools that are competitive, you really need to push the "why this program" and "why this school." They want to know that you understand the rigor of their program and want to make sure it will be a good fit for them and for you.

For the career I'm in, UC Berkley would be a great option for anyone in tech. So from what I gather from what you've said, I may not get laughed out of an Ivy League masters program? As far as cost, I'm hoping to save whatever money I can towards it. Hence why WGU seemed like the best bet cost wise. I could essentially finish the entire degree for under four thousand dollars.  I did speak to Columbia University, they did say they look at applications from a holistic approach, looking at the whole person which is nice. I get to show case some of the volunteer work I've done in the past. Plus I feel like the return on investment will surpass the cost from either option honestly. Also my back-up plan was to transfer my WGU credits to another 4 year University. I wouldn't mind finishing my undergraduate at Drexel. I just want to know my WGU degree will help me.

It would not hurt you. I just read an article on LinkedIn who did his BS at WGU and his MBA at MIT Sloan. He is now a Sr. Director at Oracle.