Bad Review for WGU: Dishonest, Incompetent, and Unreliable

[Merlin]

What about this person who got accepted into an MIT MBA program? It is impressive that they got into a masters program with a WGU degree to a top school.
https://www.wgu.edu/blog/wgu-it-grad-mit...e2005.html

“During the admissions process, there was an openness with regard to the WGU competency-model,” he added. 

This seems to be an example that shows it is definitely possible to go to a good program with a WGU degree.

There are plenty of examples like that. We have WGU graduates on this forum who are currently attending Georgia Tech as well. Likewsie, we have TESU graduates that have gone on to be admitted to law school, which can be quite challenging without the right undergrad credentials. It all comes down to how hard you're willing to work for it and how well you craft your overall application package.

As I mentioned in a previous post, admissions evaluators understand that not every school posts letter grades, so the lack of a traditional institutional GPA is unlikely to be the sole factor for a declined admission, even at the most exclusive schools. Admissions evaluators want to see the whole picture because it is their job to admit people who they feel would be able to #1 complete the program requirements and graduate, and #2 be a positive representative of their school. For graduate degrees, #2 usually encompasses research and published journals, etc., but it also means showing the school in a good light. The fact is that most applicants present poor application packages... particularly the personal statement, which forces the schools to fall back to GPA and test scores more often. That doesn't have to be the case.

While it will be harder to get into a top grad school with an unranked college degree (and particularly one without a traditional institutional GPA), it is still possible. The personal statement, statement of purpose, and recommendations are the most important factors to evaluators. Exam scores and GPA still important, but they are the least weighted aspects of the evaluation. I can't stress this enough. People always assume it is GPA and GRE/GMAT scores that get you into a good school; while GPA and exam scores can open the door, they won't get you in. Passion will, if you can convince the evaluator of it.

I assume the person referred to above crafted a strong personal statement that portrayed who they are, their academic journey, and why they would be a great fit at MIT. Clearly they included transparency around their time at WGU. That is exactly what the admissions board wants to see. They want to feel like they know each applicant so they can determine if they would be a great fit at their college. I give the same advice to high school students when applying to top tier colleges as I do to people who apply to grad school. Focus on the entrance essays like they are the only thing that will get you into the school, because they may be! This advice applies even more so at the graduate level since they tend to scrutinize applicants more carefully.

[posabsolute]

I was accepted in the UPENN online MCIT program with only my capstone course posting a GPA. Doesn’t mean it was easy, I agree with everything Merlin said.

Beside your GPA you have your resume, references, and your essay, and for a lot of graduate programs, those things are very important too.


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[sciencemathematics1]

I wonder if I would be able to get a GPA if I went into a master's program.
Rasmussen college offers a competency based masters in data science, and unlike WGU, they provide grades for their competency-based courses.
https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/techno...a-science/

Also, if I transferred the WGU courses to somewhere like TESU, would my transcript still show any GPA or grade recommendations that WGU puts for their courses?

[Merlin]

I wonder if I would be able to get a GPA if I went into a master's program.
Rasmussen college offers a competency based masters in data science, and unlike WGU, they provide grades for their competency-based courses.

If you attend a school that awards letter grades for their courses then yes, you would have a GPA at the end of it. Most colleges issue letter grades, even for competency-based programs. WGU is a bit of an outlier in that area. I don't really understand why, since they provide the essence of grades by the nature of the system they use to evaluate competency.

Also, if I transferred the WGU courses to somewhere like TESU, would my transcript still show any GPA or grade recommendations that WGU puts for their courses?

The WGU courses transferred elsewhere are technically ungraded credits since no actual grade is posted for any courses completed at WGU. However, for the sake of entrance requirements, WGU requests that destination colleges evaluate their courses as equivalent to a 3.0 out of 4.0 scale (aka a B).

That said, I don't know if this means that TESU would post WGU courses to your academic transcript as a B or not. But it really doesn't matter since TESU doesn't have GPA-based entrance requirements. In a transfer situation, letter grades really only matter for the purpose of meeting entrance requirements.