06-14-2024, 04:06 PM
(As this is the WGU sub-forum, feel free to skip to the larger paragraph where I discuss WGU. I had to delete a massive chunk of this post, for it was too long.)
After learning about Pierpont in the forum in July 2022, I subscribed to Sophia. A month and a half later, I completed the necessary 60+ credits and applied for graduation. Back then, I expressed just how vital my Pierpont experience was to me. At that point, there was no stopping. I knew I would keep going until I could no longer do so. To my surprise, two notable sources of credit that I used for my Pierpont degree would appear to be useful later for both my B.A. at UMPI and ... my M.B.A. at W.G.U.! I am talking about the 12-credit Google I.T. Support certificate and a 12-credit ACTFL OPI certificate. I have to mention that before enrolling for the BoG A.A.S. degree at Pierpont, I had to go through the not-so-awesome W.E.S. evaluation process for my poor foreign high school diploma. I now felt much better. I finally had a US-based education institution to list wherever I needed to do so. I took a small break for a few months to celebrate my new degree and consider what comes next.
While my confidence grew dramatically, it was still not all that through the roof. I kept being cautious. This kind of caution I have always practiced suggested that I focus on a subject I know more about for the sake of obtaining a bachelor's degree with relative ease. In this case, my best option was a B.A. in History and Political Science at UMPI. Collecting a few more credits took little time, and I hoped to transfer the maximum possible. A small and relatively insignificant surprise came to me: I would transfer 87 credits, leaving 11 courses to be completed at UMPI. If I knew this would be the case, I would have done a Western Civilization I CLEP or StraighterLine. Also, as I have mentioned in other threads, I still recommend taking English 104 and 105 from SDC - I completed both in one month and used a discount coupon. I enrolled in the program, and thanks to FAFSA, I did not have to chase speed at all. 11 courses in 4 terms meant that I had more than enough time to complete the assignments and not feel any pressure. I have shared some feedback on courses before, but as I only did my last term with Brightspace, I refrain from making suggestions as I cannot be sure whether they have made any content changes. I graduated with an excellent GPA, yet again, I knew I was not done yet.
Considering Master's degrees, the options were getting fewer and fewer. I was still more or less surprised that I had made it that far (even thinking about a Master's degree not long before that seemed too dreamy). Even more, there would be no more FAFSA. And in my case, with a small part-time "employment," all would be out of pocket. However, staying true to myself, there was no stopping. Yet, this time, I needed to be more considerate with my choice. After careful reflection, which took about four months, I was close to deciding. As I rarely consider "best-case scenarios" (which I would later deem to be a rather severe miscalculation), I was prepared to spend around $10-12k for a Master's degree. Some options satisfy that requirement (including the 3K HAU MBA), but my careful research this time led me to choose the WGU MBA program. I always believed that I was an excellent test-taker, something I did not have the chance to prove at UMPI at all, for it was all papers there. And since half of the WGU MBA courses were about a final (proctored) exam (called "Objective Assessment"), I was now up to the task. I signed up for the April 1st start. Even before the term begins, on the 15th of the month before the start month, during orientation, WGU does make it very clear that they always have staff/faculty to assist you with whatever needs you have. They have all kinds of service centers/departments, are excellent in availability, and answer promptly. I was assigned a "Program Mentor," which I had to talk to every week for the first month and, later, bi-weekly. I had a very friendly and helpful mentor. Talks took 5 to 15 minutes, depending on whether I had questions about upcoming courses. The mentor was always the first person to discuss a course with; moreover, she always sent me a study "tip sheet" for almost every course when enrolling in a new one. I started with three courses, and due to how quickly I was able to get done with courses, I was enrolled for two more at a time instead of just one. Requesting new courses to be unlocked is similar to UMPI. Earlier, I mentioned that I was prepared to spend at least $10k for the degree, which for WGU would mean two terms. I started on April 1st. A month later, I was over halfway done. Yes, I had less than half of the courses remaining and five months from my first term. Despite the pace that was unthinkable to me until then, I was still cautious; however, at that point, I started accepting that I may end up doing it all in one term. I knew that, according to Reddit and Facebook groups, later courses were deemed to be more difficult. Not even a whole month later, my final course, the Capstone, was completed by the end of May. That is, I started my degree program in April and finished it in May. Thus, I have achieved a beyond "best-case scenario." Now, what made this possible? Here is what makes WGU different from my previous experiences. Every WGU course has a team of course instructors. While students get assigned one automatically, we have the possibility (in fact, we are even encouraged to) to email or talk to any instructor. The instructors are different from the people who grade the papers. In this case, the team of instructors does their best to make students pass the course. They do this by offering students different learning methods. The courses have a textbook, but the instructors hold live cohorts/webinars (which they later record) and create study guides and exam-retake study plans. The way they synthesize the textbook material is exceptional. I relied almost entirely on the instructors' recorded cohort videos. It was, to me, the best method of retaining the information. In fact, in one of the courses, the instructor was so great at explaining the material that it made me genuinely interested in accounting and finance. They are there to assist students and are happy to do so; even more, they have sometimes shared more tips merely because I introduced myself to them. Papers (Performance Assessments) at WGU are much more manageable than UMPI due to how well the rubrics are structured and explain what needs to be done. The rubric is like a blueprint - follow it, and everything will be okay. There may be a need to revise a paper sometimes; however, minimal corrections are often the reason. For example, I had to edit an Excel file because I missed selecting an extra row for a calculation. Exam (Objective Assessment) courses are usually the ones students consider to be the more difficult ones. The exams are proctored through Examity, and my experience was excellent. I did not fail an exam even once. Even if someone does, there is nothing fatal. Talk to the instructor, study more per the instructor's retake plan, and try again. There are plenty of resources for WGU students and alumni. Recently, Grammarly became available to both. Linkedin learning is also available to alumni and has some great lectures and lessons. There are plenty of scholarships available, too. I earned the New Year Scholarship, which is $625/term. I had to purchase a camera, whiteboard, and a BA II Plus calculator. With this, the whole degree with additional expenses came at about $4500. With all this in mind, this is the best possible decision I could have made.
Now, to those who are barely starting their journey. My first advice is to take it one step at a time. It may seem somewhat counterintuitive for me to say it, but (if we have other WoW gamers here) like the Pandaren say, "slow down; life is to be savored." Take some time to celebrate your first achievement before jumping to the next one. Secondly, do not always assume a worst-case scenario, like I usually do. All this assuming did was prevent me from having the courage even to attempt (yes, the key is attempt) to do a more practical (or, as some call it, "employable") degree program. If I had the knowledge and confidence I have now, I would have attempted to do accounting, finance, or a CS bachelor's degree at WGU first. You can probably do more than you think you can. Thirdly, and this is quite important. Learn to recognize, name, and counter the "haters," which can and will be encountered everywhere. Yes, even here in the forum. It is those people who will persistently (whether it is directly or by making nasty inferences) try to make you give up on your dreams, often insisting you question your school, work, or life experiences and abilities. And lastly, share your experience. The more information we have, the more likely it will be for people to make the right decision.
Needless to say, I am incredibly pleased with how this journey unfolded. Yet, it is a journey not over. Like before, I now stand ready for a new challenge. The options, however, are even fewer, more costly, and necessarily more formidable to achieve. If I ever have the opportunity and financial stability, I will attempt to conquer a new peak. I am, at this point, (only gently) pressing the "pause" button, for I need to take care of other things now.
I am aware that this is a lengthier post. However, it was an appropriate way to share my experience, which lasted from July 2022 to May 2024. I want to thank everyone here in this community. I will be back for more, sooner rather than later.
After learning about Pierpont in the forum in July 2022, I subscribed to Sophia. A month and a half later, I completed the necessary 60+ credits and applied for graduation. Back then, I expressed just how vital my Pierpont experience was to me. At that point, there was no stopping. I knew I would keep going until I could no longer do so. To my surprise, two notable sources of credit that I used for my Pierpont degree would appear to be useful later for both my B.A. at UMPI and ... my M.B.A. at W.G.U.! I am talking about the 12-credit Google I.T. Support certificate and a 12-credit ACTFL OPI certificate. I have to mention that before enrolling for the BoG A.A.S. degree at Pierpont, I had to go through the not-so-awesome W.E.S. evaluation process for my poor foreign high school diploma. I now felt much better. I finally had a US-based education institution to list wherever I needed to do so. I took a small break for a few months to celebrate my new degree and consider what comes next.
While my confidence grew dramatically, it was still not all that through the roof. I kept being cautious. This kind of caution I have always practiced suggested that I focus on a subject I know more about for the sake of obtaining a bachelor's degree with relative ease. In this case, my best option was a B.A. in History and Political Science at UMPI. Collecting a few more credits took little time, and I hoped to transfer the maximum possible. A small and relatively insignificant surprise came to me: I would transfer 87 credits, leaving 11 courses to be completed at UMPI. If I knew this would be the case, I would have done a Western Civilization I CLEP or StraighterLine. Also, as I have mentioned in other threads, I still recommend taking English 104 and 105 from SDC - I completed both in one month and used a discount coupon. I enrolled in the program, and thanks to FAFSA, I did not have to chase speed at all. 11 courses in 4 terms meant that I had more than enough time to complete the assignments and not feel any pressure. I have shared some feedback on courses before, but as I only did my last term with Brightspace, I refrain from making suggestions as I cannot be sure whether they have made any content changes. I graduated with an excellent GPA, yet again, I knew I was not done yet.
Considering Master's degrees, the options were getting fewer and fewer. I was still more or less surprised that I had made it that far (even thinking about a Master's degree not long before that seemed too dreamy). Even more, there would be no more FAFSA. And in my case, with a small part-time "employment," all would be out of pocket. However, staying true to myself, there was no stopping. Yet, this time, I needed to be more considerate with my choice. After careful reflection, which took about four months, I was close to deciding. As I rarely consider "best-case scenarios" (which I would later deem to be a rather severe miscalculation), I was prepared to spend around $10-12k for a Master's degree. Some options satisfy that requirement (including the 3K HAU MBA), but my careful research this time led me to choose the WGU MBA program. I always believed that I was an excellent test-taker, something I did not have the chance to prove at UMPI at all, for it was all papers there. And since half of the WGU MBA courses were about a final (proctored) exam (called "Objective Assessment"), I was now up to the task. I signed up for the April 1st start. Even before the term begins, on the 15th of the month before the start month, during orientation, WGU does make it very clear that they always have staff/faculty to assist you with whatever needs you have. They have all kinds of service centers/departments, are excellent in availability, and answer promptly. I was assigned a "Program Mentor," which I had to talk to every week for the first month and, later, bi-weekly. I had a very friendly and helpful mentor. Talks took 5 to 15 minutes, depending on whether I had questions about upcoming courses. The mentor was always the first person to discuss a course with; moreover, she always sent me a study "tip sheet" for almost every course when enrolling in a new one. I started with three courses, and due to how quickly I was able to get done with courses, I was enrolled for two more at a time instead of just one. Requesting new courses to be unlocked is similar to UMPI. Earlier, I mentioned that I was prepared to spend at least $10k for the degree, which for WGU would mean two terms. I started on April 1st. A month later, I was over halfway done. Yes, I had less than half of the courses remaining and five months from my first term. Despite the pace that was unthinkable to me until then, I was still cautious; however, at that point, I started accepting that I may end up doing it all in one term. I knew that, according to Reddit and Facebook groups, later courses were deemed to be more difficult. Not even a whole month later, my final course, the Capstone, was completed by the end of May. That is, I started my degree program in April and finished it in May. Thus, I have achieved a beyond "best-case scenario." Now, what made this possible? Here is what makes WGU different from my previous experiences. Every WGU course has a team of course instructors. While students get assigned one automatically, we have the possibility (in fact, we are even encouraged to) to email or talk to any instructor. The instructors are different from the people who grade the papers. In this case, the team of instructors does their best to make students pass the course. They do this by offering students different learning methods. The courses have a textbook, but the instructors hold live cohorts/webinars (which they later record) and create study guides and exam-retake study plans. The way they synthesize the textbook material is exceptional. I relied almost entirely on the instructors' recorded cohort videos. It was, to me, the best method of retaining the information. In fact, in one of the courses, the instructor was so great at explaining the material that it made me genuinely interested in accounting and finance. They are there to assist students and are happy to do so; even more, they have sometimes shared more tips merely because I introduced myself to them. Papers (Performance Assessments) at WGU are much more manageable than UMPI due to how well the rubrics are structured and explain what needs to be done. The rubric is like a blueprint - follow it, and everything will be okay. There may be a need to revise a paper sometimes; however, minimal corrections are often the reason. For example, I had to edit an Excel file because I missed selecting an extra row for a calculation. Exam (Objective Assessment) courses are usually the ones students consider to be the more difficult ones. The exams are proctored through Examity, and my experience was excellent. I did not fail an exam even once. Even if someone does, there is nothing fatal. Talk to the instructor, study more per the instructor's retake plan, and try again. There are plenty of resources for WGU students and alumni. Recently, Grammarly became available to both. Linkedin learning is also available to alumni and has some great lectures and lessons. There are plenty of scholarships available, too. I earned the New Year Scholarship, which is $625/term. I had to purchase a camera, whiteboard, and a BA II Plus calculator. With this, the whole degree with additional expenses came at about $4500. With all this in mind, this is the best possible decision I could have made.
Now, to those who are barely starting their journey. My first advice is to take it one step at a time. It may seem somewhat counterintuitive for me to say it, but (if we have other WoW gamers here) like the Pandaren say, "slow down; life is to be savored." Take some time to celebrate your first achievement before jumping to the next one. Secondly, do not always assume a worst-case scenario, like I usually do. All this assuming did was prevent me from having the courage even to attempt (yes, the key is attempt) to do a more practical (or, as some call it, "employable") degree program. If I had the knowledge and confidence I have now, I would have attempted to do accounting, finance, or a CS bachelor's degree at WGU first. You can probably do more than you think you can. Thirdly, and this is quite important. Learn to recognize, name, and counter the "haters," which can and will be encountered everywhere. Yes, even here in the forum. It is those people who will persistently (whether it is directly or by making nasty inferences) try to make you give up on your dreams, often insisting you question your school, work, or life experiences and abilities. And lastly, share your experience. The more information we have, the more likely it will be for people to make the right decision.
Needless to say, I am incredibly pleased with how this journey unfolded. Yet, it is a journey not over. Like before, I now stand ready for a new challenge. The options, however, are even fewer, more costly, and necessarily more formidable to achieve. If I ever have the opportunity and financial stability, I will attempt to conquer a new peak. I am, at this point, (only gently) pressing the "pause" button, for I need to take care of other things now.
I am aware that this is a lengthier post. However, it was an appropriate way to share my experience, which lasted from July 2022 to May 2024. I want to thank everyone here in this community. I will be back for more, sooner rather than later.
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![[Image: e7P9EJ4.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/e7P9EJ4.jpeg)
