Awesome opportunity. I finished what would have been 4 years of college in just 6 months. Don t be mistaken though, you still have to put in the hard work. Now I have a Bachelors and MBA degree and I m making great money with a job I never would have been able to get before. Very thankful for the opportunity to do self paced/ competency based college the way WGU has it set up.
I have never had a more difficult time getting started with an education program. I feel like I m just constantly giving the go around and never feel any reassurances. I ve had such a difficult time with this school from the application to the financial aid to the several emails and phone calls. At this point I m doubtful I ll pursue my degree with this program and I don t have very positive things to say to any of my colleagues or peers about WGU.
I m 2 classes in so far, and I m challenged. I feel confident that this degree sets me up for my future career.
I m motivated and a self starter. I will get the work done. This is why this university works for me. But if you are looking for someone to hold your hand through the process...this is not the school for you. You need to be an independent and resourceful student to succeed at this university. You will not get credit for just showing up, you will have to put the time and effort in. As you should. Best investment I have made in years.
The university is a joke sounds good on paper six months flat fee and take many classes as you want etc but I m not having the best experience at WGU so far disappointed customer service is not good u feel alone they you take forever to reply when I send an email when It comes to reaching out for issues and concerns they don t even help you when you have an issue they pass the buck had issue with my first course there s like no study guide to help you all the webinars are pushed to the last ending of the course this is no proper structure at all. Very frustrating and stressful when you have all of this going on. I feel no support. They play games and give you the run around. You always gonna have make appointments and can barely reach someone and then in myeducator online website on my first course has issues it logs u out and interrupt you if you have to take a break they use other online service that s not the best it like it doesn t work properly all I I want to do is pass my assessment and course. It s a microManage university. I didn t have a course instructor for two three days then once I got he says he book and passes me along to email any course instructor . This is a perfect example for not caring for your students it starts good but once you start classes it goes downhill with communication. You can have to have meetings every week to talk to mentor which had nothing to do with the course and treating like you on parole with requiring to check in all the time if u don t you can get suspended from school. It s all about money. Is very expensive not affordable not worth the money especially all that s going with Covid and me with my job better off saving and see what happens n keep looking n move apply for more jobs find a trade or certifications on the side. Not worth the stress or my health or life. I also apply for scholarships within the schools they tell us one thing they say it takes two months to get your results and they keep pushing back the time incorrect and very inconsistent when it comes to information and no organization
Applied to college and sent in college transcripts but was denied admission into the college because I had a lower GPA 10 years ago when I was in college. Here is a thought don't go to a college that doesn't believe in your skills and in you to succeed
Don't give many one star reviews but after many chances WGU has blown it. Not a great online school program if you learn visually. Many instutors expect you to learn from provided e book. News flash not everyone can learn that way. Try accomdating other learning styles. Instructors are so worried about not teaching to exams they are unwilling to answer questions that will help you learn and ultimately pass exams. Keep trying. I can update this review but very unimpressed.
1) WGU only does online learning and so I feel like they do it much better than brick and mortar face to face school, that also has an online learning program. I have done online learning at other universities and it was painful. I think choosing a university that can put all it's energy into successful online learning makes a difference 2) SO MUCH SUPPORT. The Staff at WGU is so supportive I had a person help me register, literally went through all the requirements and steps WITH me. Now that I'm in I have professors who support my learning and I have my own Mentor who has a 15 minute call with me every week, to help me set goals, stay on track, and helps me stay motivated. There Is not one department I have contacted that hasn't been overwhelmingly helpful, I have contacted financial services and tech support many times and they are excellent! 3) learning at my pace, I can accelerate when I'm able and I can take a break when needed. Not having a rigid schedule to show up to classes is super helpful as a mother of 4 young kids. I know if I have a busy week coming up that I should do extra week on my slow week. If unexpected tragedy comes up I have the time and space to deal with that and catch up later. I Love WGU
Overall my experience with WGU has been comparable to other online programs with the exception of their proctoring process. When testing you have to have a proctored exam in certain courses (someone monitoring you visually through video with audio, who are NOT educational professionals like your professor or anyone within the school itself) and the proctoring entities, the 3rd party agencies that WGU contracts, have ruined the education process at this school. They are nit picky, argumentative, rude, and make the testing process frustrating, stressful, and leave students questioning if WGU is hindering the education process by using testing policies and contractors that create uneccessary hurdles for students. When I voiced my concerns and complaints to the assessment department, the WGU employee cited "it's policy in the student handbook" in which I would argue that the policies need to be adjusted to adapt to student needs and keep WGU competitive with other educational entities. I have outlined below my personal frustrations with the proctoring process and these have been building throughout my MBA program. I am 1 term from graduation and seriously debating on transferring to a university that is more capable of supporting student success.
(My specific issues are; 1- The proctor after a 360 degree view of my living room demanded I do the load of laundry on my coffee table before testing. This in my opinion is an inappropriate request and does not hinder my ability to test as my desk area was away from the cursid load of laundry. 2- Your proctor will not allow you to read questions, quietly or loudly for that matter, to yourself when testing, EVEN THOUGH you are required to test in an environment where you are the only person in that environment.Thus eliminating your ability to read the question to someone else or cause a distraction to other students. With the video and audio monitoring the proctor can also assure you are not reading the question to a device that would respond, therefore I do not see an issue with a student reading a question to themselves. 3- You are not allowed to wear headphones plugged into your testing computer to hear the proctor as they speak, EVEN THOUGH they have FULL access to your computer and can verify that the audio jack is being used on that device and solely for the purpose of focusing on your test. No other applications are allowed to be open and they verify that there are none through task manager inspection on your computer. 4-You are not allowed to use BLANK piece paper for calculations on math tests, you have to use a white dry erase board or nothing. EVEN THOUGH the white dry erase board and blank white piece of paper are equivalent in their purpose during the testing process. Heck might as well laminate your piece of paper prior to testing and call it a white board. The proctor monitors your desk area the entire time through video and audio monitoring, so if there was an integrity issue it would appear the same on either the paper or dry erase board. 5- Be prepared for the proctor to interrupt you repetitively during your test, distracting you and causing even more frustration. And those interuptions will be of minimal importance like them requesting that the wireless mouse you are using be visible 100% of the time to them because apparently they can not put 2 and 2 together that you are using the same mouse to test with throughout the test that you started with, EVEN THOUGH they have full access to your computer and can verify that the mouse is not connected to any other device. 6- The proctors have very heavy accents that make them hard to understand and require you to ask them to repeat what they are trying to communicate. 7- Proctoring (at least in my courses) is limited to 1am-1pm, making it difficult to schedule testing if you have other obligations. WGU's selling point is you can work your education around your life, but this is not true, you have to fit proctoring around their schedule. Seems like false advertising or a bait and switch situation to me.)
AWEFUL! DECEIVING hiring practices & INAPT management who re entangled in shady & complex politics and other practices while struggling to understand business needs to deliver to market! I went through a long 8 month interview process for a Director of UX role that required 11 interviews and a total of 18 people, only to be discarded for a member of the hiring panel. While any company reserves the right to choose who gets hired, having someone who was interviewing be the one who ultimately gets the job is a major FOUL!
After having talked to 10 interviewers and an awesome UX team composed of another 8 more members, I pretty much got the whole picture after talking to as much as 18 peoples! It boiled down to having someone in the Director role to protect both VPs of Technology (located in Arkansas), and VP Product (located in Utah) from the day-to-day operations due to their inaptitude in lack of leadership skills to set a vision for the team, and a simple roadmap! The role was meant to insulate themselves from the dystopian environment that other team members have to operate in, so they can keep on collecting their FAT paychecks without much work! In addition, in case something was to go wrong, they could blame on their Director!
The CTO (from Arkansas) describe himself as a programmer! He has not yet made a mental transition from development mindset! I've asked him if there was any particular skill in portfolio or resume he would like to ask or know more about, however, the answer I got from him was "...everything look great!" The VP of Product (in Utah), has very little understand of product development.
In a way, I m glad I didn t get the role. In fact i was quite hesitant after I came to realization of what was going on after having talked to as many people as I have. However, I wanted to find how long more it would take to go through the entire process. I m not afraid about burning any bridges, simply because there were never any bridges to begin with, and given the ongoing relationship between the VP s and the now new Director, who was their contractor, it is obvious that there s was never any intentions to hire an outsider.
BEWARE! This situation has been allowed & fostered by the HR department. So I have to generalize that this deceiving practice is wide spread across the entire organization.
This has been a great experience so far. I am 8 months into my program and 70% completed. Course instructors are great to work with and the mentors give you all the motivation you need. It is up to the student to do the hard work. Some can t make the grade and blame the school, maybe online is not for you. If you struggle you can email, attend the course instructors sessions or even schedule any number of meetings with them. Use the resources put in the effort and you will get there. However I can t wait to be done!!
wgu.edu
