What is WGU like?

[nykorn]

I'm in an Education Master's and just started this month.

- Info is super condensed and US-centric, not global. You get text, explanatory videos with typically 2-6min of content each, worksheets, ungraded quizzes. Most reading is one paragraph per historical topic/place/event - glancing at Wikipedia will give you more memorable info in those cases, and that info is unlikely to get tested on. However WGU's explanations of key points like famous psychological concepts, which is what you really get tested on, are much better explained than anything you find on Google or Wikipedia because WGU gives real life examples you'd actually encounter in typical kid behavior.

- Around 1/5th or less of the reading and assignments I had in the same Master's subject at another school, and WGU's assignments are more relevant.

- Homework is usually APPLYING the concepts learned. Such as "Interview someone in the field, explain how what they said does or doesn't align with (concept just learnt)."

- Both 2 and 4 CPU classes can be done in 1-2 days per class, if you work on them all day. 4 CPUs doesn't necessarily mean more reading. The difference for me so far is 4 CPU classes require doing the practice worksheets to really get the concepts in your head, as there may be a lot of different new terms with similar names etc.

- In my Master's there's a lot of courses with 3 assignments or 2 assignments and a final exam.

- You can do multiple classes at once without needing to ask permission. However they do tell you that statistically, people who do one at a time have better finish rates.

- If your turn-in needs revisions, they will tell you only one item to fix. So you won't know if two are wrong until you revise the one they did tell you and turn it back in. I believe that's a motivational tactic because youbwon't put it off if all you need is to fix one single thing.

- Ungraded quizzes sometimes test on material not taught until a few paragraphs later or the next "page". Frustrating but not a big deal, I just ignore that question or google it.

- Staff is great, fantastic customer service, courses feel pretty easy, I'm loving how motivating it is to finish a course in just 2 days. Definitely possible to do 20+ courses in 6 months if you don't have a full time job.

[origamishuttle]

- If your turn-in needs revisions, they will tell you only one item to fix. So you won't know if two are wrong until you revise the one they did tell you and turn it back in. I believe that's a motivational tactic because youbwon't put it off if all you need is to fix one single thing.

The evaluators can make mistakes, get caught up on insignificant things, or incorrectly add requirements. What they should not do is mark any section of a performance assessment (PA) as less than competent when it's already been evaluated as competent or above by the previous evaluator. Every time a PA is resubmitted, I add a note in the submission form explaining what was changed and that all other sections were previously evaluated as competent. I also recommend highlighting the changes within the PA so they can easily find the update and focus only on that section.

[nykorn]

I have an update to this thread as I have now experienced what WGU is like when you DON'T do any work.

You must log in, submit something, or interact with your degree mentor at least once within a 14 day period. If you don't, and especially if you don't repeatedly, you will go on probation for inactivity. If it continues you will get suspended from the school.

Based on stories from other people, I had expected my mentor to call and push me to get back into working on the classes or something, but that was not the case. They may send an Email to your WGU Email, but if you aren't logging in then you won't see the Email. After months of inactivity I did get an SMS from my mentor telling me to start engaging with the classes again. I really wish you could pause course access, so for example you work for one month then something comes up and you get locked out of the site unable to access anything for 5 months until you can study again, but there is no option like that.

[Dr. Doom]

How do you like the teach yourself model they have?

[Calvinb]

How do you like the teach yourself model they have?

Most courses have a "Course Resource" page that has fully recorded lecture style content. They also have cohorts weekly that align with passing the exams. You can also schedule calls with professors and have them explain specific things you are struggling with. You can definitely do the teach-yourself route, but there are a lot of recourses available if that's not your thing.

[ss20ts]

How do you like the teach yourself model they have?

Most courses have a "Course Resource" page that has fully recorded lecture style content. They also have cohorts weekly that align with passing the exams. You can also schedule calls with professors and have them explain specific things you are struggling with. You can definitely do the teach-yourself route, but there are a lot of recourses available if that's not your thing.

WGU does not have professors. You can meet with a Course Instructor (CI), but they are not the one who evaluates your work. You cannot speak with the evaluators. 

The grad courses I took at WGU did not have a recorded lecture. There weren't weekly cohorts either. They were once a month.

[Calvinb]

How do you like the teach yourself model they have?

Most courses have a "Course Resource" page that has fully recorded lecture style content. They also have cohorts weekly that align with passing the exams. You can also schedule calls with professors and have them explain specific things you are struggling with. You can definitely do the teach-yourself route, but there are a lot of recourses available if that's not your thing.

WGU does not have professors. You can meet with a Course Instructor (CI), but they are not the one who evaluates your work. You cannot speak with the evaluators. 

The grad courses I took at WGU did not have a recorded lecture. There weren't weekly cohorts either. They were once a month.

I just finished my degree 3 months ago. Almost every course in my MBA had a course resource page with recorded lectures. They also had cohorts way more often than once a month. I don't know what to tell yah.

[ss20ts]

How do you like the teach yourself model they have?

Most courses have a "Course Resource" page that has fully recorded lecture style content. They also have cohorts weekly that align with passing the exams. You can also schedule calls with professors and have them explain specific things you are struggling with. You can definitely do the teach-yourself route, but there are a lot of recourses available if that's not your thing.

WGU does not have professors. You can meet with a Course Instructor (CI), but they are not the one who evaluates your work. You cannot speak with the evaluators. 

The grad courses I took at WGU did not have a recorded lecture. There weren't weekly cohorts either. They were once a month.

I just finished my degree 3 months ago. Almost every course in my MBA had a course resource page with recorded lectures. They also had cohorts way more often than once a month. I don't know what to tell yah.

Well, this thread isn't about the MBA. I created the thread! I didn't go to WGU for my MBA. WGU has numerous master's degrees which are not like their MBA program.