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Equivalent transferable credits to WGU - pingmanping - 04-20-2019

Hello,

I planning to take the BS in Cybersecurty that WGU is offering. I have spoken to an enrollment counselor and I was told that I do not have to take the placement test and can directly start taking classes.

I am currently researching if I can test out of WGU's General Education Courses and maybe some of the main courses, but I am more concern about the GE courses because I know very well I am not good at these courses.

I enrolled at Straigtherline back in 2018, but found the material very lacking of information. What I mean by this is when I took some exercises, I could not verify my answers if they are correct or wrong. Plus, it is so confusing the way SL laid out their materials. Anyways, my current plan is to take CLEP or something similar exams to earn transferable credits, but I do not know where I can get training materials for the exams that I can transfer to WGU. I don't even know what specific exams I should be taking. I asked my enrollment counselor about CLEP and he simply dodged my question. My guess is because CLEP is not a WGU partner.

Here is what I currently have in regards to transferable IT certifications:
Cisco CCNA (R&S, Security, Wireless) and CCNP R&S
CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+


I found this Saylor Academy transfer pathway agreement https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.aspx?aid=15769&pid=78#
Also, for Straighterline https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.aspx?aid=15753&pid=78#

Straighterline will probably my last resort due to my experience with their provided study materials. The Saylor Academy has crazy estimated study hours and the materials are like deep dive. However, Saylor Academy I think it is more organized (compare to SL) and offers a cheap way to get credits. My plan of action is to take some SA exams but use maybe Khan Academy's AP study materials for studying.

So far this is what I think the equivalent courses and approach based on WGU BS Cybersecurity General Education:

  • English Composition I and English Composition II -CLEP College Composition exam and this should cover both I and II. Study materials from Modern States College Composition
  • Introduction to Communication - no idea
  • Technical Communication - no idea
  • Applied Algebra - For study materials, I will be using Khan Academy Algebra I & II. For the exams, Saylor Academy MA001
  • Applied Probability and Statistics - For study materials, I will be using Khan Academy Statistics & Probability. For the exams, Saylor Academy MA121
  • Integrated Physical Sciences -  For study materials, I will be using Khan Academy AP Chemistry. For the exams, Saylor Academy CHEM101
  • Ethics in Technology - no idea
  • Introduction to Geography - For study materials, I will be using Khan Academy AP Macroeconomics. For the exams, Saylor Academy ECON101
  • American Politics and the US Constitution - no idea
  • Critical Thinking and Logic - no idea

I preferred video materials because of my commute to work is an average of 60 minutes in the morning and about 1.5 hours on the way home. And if it is a video, I could listen while I get free time at work. I am not planning to take the long road. I have a full-time job (+ 2.5 hours commute) and a part-time job. I am working on my AWS certification and plan to get this AWS before 2020. I just want to get this done as fast as I can, but learn as I go.

Do the materials I put together make sense or are they even correct?
What about the courses I don't know the exams and study materials?
Do you have better study materials and exams you would recommend?


Thank you


RE: Equivalent transferable credits to WGU - quigongene - 04-20-2019

I just graduated from this program in January, altho they changed it some this year:

Eng. Comp I&II - I also used Modern States and the CLEP
Intro to Comms - I used Study.com. The DSST will also likely work
Tech Comms - DSST Tech Writing
Applied Algebra - ALEKS College Algebra, CLEP College Algebra (with Modern States)
Stats - ALEKS, DSST, Straighterline or Study.com
Science - I took the Astronomy DSST
Ethics in Tech - There's a DSST, altho I'm willing to bet you could tear thru the class in a day (this was not required for my program)
Geography - This can be any social science (I used Introductory Psychology CLEP via Modern States)
American Politics - The American Government CLEP will likely cover this (again, wasn't in my program)
Critical Thinking - Just take the class via WGU....it's pretty straightforward. If you need to test out, there's a TECEP from TESU for it.

If you click the link to the journey thread in my sig, post #105 has a spreadsheet with the sources I used.


RE: Equivalent transferable credits to WGU - pingmanping - 04-20-2019

(04-20-2019, 10:19 AM)quigongene Wrote: I just graduated from this program in January, altho they changed it some this year:

Eng. Comp I&II - I also used Modern States and the CLEP
Intro to Comms - I used Study.com.  The DSST will also likely work
Tech Comms - DSST Tech Writing
Applied Algebra - ALEKS College Algebra, CLEP College Algebra (with Modern States)
Stats - ALEKS, DSST, Straighterline or Study.com
Science - I took the Astronomy DSST
Ethics in Tech - There's a DSST, altho I'm willing to bet you could tear thru the class in a day (this was not required for my program)
Geography - This can be any social science (I used Introductory Psychology CLEP via Modern States)
American Politics - The American Government CLEP will likely cover this (again, wasn't in my  program)
Critical Thinking - Just take the class via WGU....it's pretty straightforward.  If you need to test out, there's a TECEP from TESU for it.

If you click the link to the journey thread in my sig, post #105 has a spreadsheet with the sources I used.

I am not familiar with TESU. Is that Thomas Edison State University? 
I can't seem to find the Critical Thinking course or exam. I found this at study.com https://study.com/academy/course/critical-thinking-study-guide.html#overview not sure if I can transfer this to WGU.
About the American Politics, I found Political Science 102 over at Study.com and again not sure if this is the correct course. I emailed their support, but the rep just linked me to their entire catalog.


RE: Equivalent transferable credits to WGU - mysonx3 - 04-20-2019

Yes, TESU = Thomas Edison State University

Here's a link to the exam quigongene referenced:

https://www2.tesu.edu/tecep.php?CourseCode=PHI-130


RE: Equivalent transferable credits to WGU - quigongene - 04-20-2019

(04-20-2019, 11:35 AM)pingmanping Wrote: I can't seem to find the Critical Thinking course or exam. I found this at study.com https://study.com/academy/course/critical-thinking-study-guide.html#overview not sure if I can transfer this to WGU.
About the American Politics, I found Political Science 102 over at Study.com and again not sure if this is the correct course. I emailed their support, but the rep just linked me to their entire catalog.

That course on Study.com doesn't look like it's ACE evaluated, so it likely won't work. I was able to finish Critical thinking and 4 other classes in the first 5 days I was enrolled. That's why I recommend just taking it from WGU.

If you look at the transfer guidelines, it looks like the American Government CLEP will work:
https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/BSCSIA.aspx


RE: Equivalent transferable credits to WGU - walkingbyfaith - 04-20-2019

I was under the impression that once you enroll in WGU you cannot transfer in any additional credits. Maybe you should double check. Sounds like the enrollment counselor failed to mention that.


RE: Equivalent transferable credits to WGU - jsd - 04-21-2019

(04-20-2019, 10:00 PM)walkingbyfaith Wrote: I was under the impression that once you enroll in WGU you cannot transfer in any additional credits. Maybe you should double check. Sounds like the enrollment counselor failed to mention that.

This is true, but it appears as if the poster hasn't enrolled yet, so this isn't an issue


RE: Equivalent transferable credits to WGU - pingmanping - 04-21-2019

(04-21-2019, 12:43 AM)jsd Wrote:
(04-20-2019, 10:00 PM)walkingbyfaith Wrote: I was under the impression that once you enroll in WGU you cannot transfer in any additional credits. Maybe you should double check. Sounds like the enrollment counselor failed to mention that.

This is true, but it appears as if the poster hasn't enrolled yet, so this isn't an issue

What would be the sign if I was enrolled?
I did not take the placement test because the enrollment counselor said I did not have to.
The enrollment counselor suggested I should take some classes at Straighterline due to my busy schedule.

(04-20-2019, 02:49 PM)quigongene Wrote:
(04-20-2019, 11:35 AM)pingmanping Wrote: I can't seem to find the Critical Thinking course or exam. I found this at study.com https://study.com/academy/course/critical-thinking-study-guide.html#overview not sure if I can transfer this to WGU.
About the American Politics, I found Political Science 102 over at Study.com and again not sure if this is the correct course. I emailed their support, but the rep just linked me to their entire catalog.

That course on Study.com doesn't look like it's ACE evaluated, so it likely won't work.  I was able to finish Critical thinking and 4 other classes in the first 5 days I was enrolled.  That's why I recommend just taking it from WGU.

If you look at the transfer guidelines, it looks like the American Government CLEP will work:
https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/BSCSIA.aspx

It seems like ModernStates has an American Government for CLEP
How can you tell that the CLEP would cover this course?
Has there any reports here in the forums that this is possible?


RE: Equivalent transferable credits to WGU - jsd - 04-21-2019

you would have "signed" (digitally acknowledged) an enrollment agreement


RE: Equivalent transferable credits to WGU - quigongene - 04-21-2019

(04-21-2019, 07:07 AM)pingmanping Wrote: It seems like ModernStates has an American Government for CLEP
How can you tell that the CLEP would cover this course?
Has there any reports here in the forums that this is possible?

No reports that I'm aware of, BUT, if you read the link I gave under American Politics and the US Constitution:

"One course, equivalent to 3 units, in U.S. government and the U.S. Constitution."

That pretty much sums up that CLEP exam:
https://clep.collegeboard.org/history-and-social-sciences/american-government

In all honesty, I pretty much guessed what CLEP/DSSTs would align with WGU gen ed/other courses, but I guessed at 100% based on course equivalency and test descriptions (and some info here). You can ask your EC if they will align, but odds are they won't know until an evaluation is done (they want you to take the courses from them, after all).

Edit: Quick question, how do you know the courses you picked align?