WGU MSCSIA course flexibility???

[Merlin]

My brother is currently attending WGU for his masters. There are changes at the university right now and it seems that standard path is going to be the way to go. Along with changes on accessing courses outside your term as that is no longer allowed. 

You also will be limited in terms of courses you can register for. Basically WGU has slowed down the accelerating of students to some degree.

I am in a master's program at WGU right now, and I can assure you that neither of those statements are completely true.

Yes, the master's programs are designed around following a specific path to the end. However, as a student, you still have influence and control over your progression. I completely changed the order of the courses I am taking in my master's program because I was able to make a case to my program mentor about why I felt this was a more reasonable course order for me based on course overlap and synergies. I was so prepared that my mentor has been super supportive and has allowed me to follow my own path. It has paid off since I'm on the second to last course right now and I expect to be done within a single term.

As for acceleration, people are blowing the latest changes out of proportion. None of the changes really impact the ability to accelerate at all. The only change that affects accelerators is that you cannot "work ahead" on a course that is not active and included in your term. But that isn't an issue since you can preview courses now (which includes taking any pre-assessments), and you can always add a second course to your term before the first one is complete if needed. Program mentors are encouraged to limit acceleration to one course at a time (this is really just to limit license use), but it isn't a technical limitation or requirement.

What I do is when I start working on a new course, I have my program mentor add the next course to my term, but I don't approve it until I'm close to being ready to finish the first one. That way I can activate the next course at my discretion. I am still accelerating two courses at once, but with a small overlap so I don't lose acceleration efficiency.

On top of that, they added two new features which make it easy to drop courses that you add to your term but cannot finish before the end of the term. Plus, you are allowed an automatic 30-day extension on the term to finish your current course if you need it. That 30-day extension had previously only been allowed for the capstone course at the end of your program, but it now applies to any single course.

In any case, don't listen to the hype. Accelerating at WGU is very much alive and well. It just requires students to pay attention and plan ahead.

[ELSADDIQ]

My brother is currently attending WGU for his masters. There are changes at the university right now and it seems that standard path is going to be the way to go. Along with changes on accessing courses outside your term as that is no longer allowed. 

You also will be limited in terms of courses you can register for. Basically WGU has slowed down the accelerating of students to some degree.

I am in a master's program at WGU right now, and I can assure you that neither of those statements are completely true.

Yes, the master's programs are designed around following a specific path to the end. However, as a student, you still have influence and control over your progression. I completely changed the order of the courses I am taking in my master's program because I was able to make a case to my program mentor about why I felt this was a more reasonable course order for me based on course overlap and synergies. I was so prepared that my mentor has been super supportive and has allowed me to follow my own path. It has paid off since I'm on the second to last course right now and I expect to be done within a single term.

As for acceleration, people are blowing the latest changes out of proportion. None of the changes really impact the ability to accelerate at all. The only change that affects accelerators is that you cannot "work ahead" on a course that is not active and included in your term. But that isn't an issue since you can preview courses now (which includes taking any pre-assessments), and you can always add a second course to your term before the first one is complete if needed. Program mentors are encouraged to limit acceleration to one course at a time (this is really just to limit license use), but it isn't a technical limitation or requirement.

What I do is when I start working on a new course, I have my program mentor add the next course to my term, but I don't approve it until I'm close to being ready to finish the first one. That way I can activate the next course at my discretion. I am still accelerating two courses at once, but with a small overlap so I don't lose acceleration efficiency.

On top of that, they added two new features which make it easy to drop courses that you add to your term but cannot finish before the end of the term. Plus, you are allowed an automatic 30-day extension on the term to finish your current course if you need it. That 30-day extension had previously only been allowed for the capstone course at the end of your program, but it now applies to any single course.

In any case, don't listen to the hype. Accelerating at WGU is very much alive and well. It just requires students to pay attention and plan ahead.

Hey, Merlin. Thanks for chiming in. I attempted to clarify the WGU position today since we've been talking about it. Unfortunately, they assured me that I would not be able to choose the courses in the order that I'd like and that I'd need to adhere strictly to the "standard path." Maybe you have a good (and powerful   ) mentor, but now I'm apprehensive about going through the entire application and financial aid process just to have my old @ss, veteran of ten colleges be told how to register for classes. When i was 18 and knew absolutely nothing about nothing, Georgia State let me register for whatever classes I wanted.

[allvia]

Since in the end you have to finish all the courses anyway before you can earn your master - why does it matter if they have developed an order for you to complete them in if this turns out to be the case going forward?  You can still accelerate through the program - so I don't understand why this would be a deal breaker.  Do the other options you'd be looking at offer the ability to accelerate your program, choose your course order - at this price point? What are the other school/programs you're considering? Also, to be clear - this was all a sincere inquiry, so please don't read it any other way.

[sacredrain]

My brother is currently attending WGU for his masters. There are changes at the university right now and it seems that standard path is going to be the way to go. Along with changes on accessing courses outside your term as that is no longer allowed. 

You also will be limited in terms of courses you can register for. Basically WGU has slowed down the accelerating of students to some degree.

I am in a master's program at WGU right now, and I can assure you that neither of those statements are completely true.

Yes, the master's programs are designed around following a specific path to the end. However, as a student, you still have influence and control over your progression. I completely changed the order of the courses I am taking in my master's program because I was able to make a case to my program mentor about why I felt this was a more reasonable course order for me based on course overlap and synergies. I was so prepared that my mentor has been super supportive and has allowed me to follow my own path. It has paid off since I'm on the second to last course right now and I expect to be done within a single term.

As for acceleration, people are blowing the latest changes out of proportion. None of the changes really impact the ability to accelerate at all. The only change that affects accelerators is that you cannot "work ahead" on a course that is not active and included in your term. But that isn't an issue since you can preview courses now (which includes taking any pre-assessments), and you can always add a second course to your term before the first one is complete if needed. Program mentors are encouraged to limit acceleration to one course at a time (this is really just to limit license use), but it isn't a technical limitation or requirement.

What I do is when I start working on a new course, I have my program mentor add the next course to my term, but I don't approve it until I'm close to being ready to finish the first one. That way I can activate the next course at my discretion. I am still accelerating two courses at once, but with a small overlap so I don't lose acceleration efficiency.

On top of that, they added two new features which make it easy to drop courses that you add to your term but cannot finish before the end of the term. Plus, you are allowed an automatic 30-day extension on the term to finish your current course if you need it. That 30-day extension had previously only been allowed for the capstone course at the end of your program, but it now applies to any single course.

In any case, don't listen to the hype. Accelerating at WGU is very much alive and well. It just requires students to pay attention and plan ahead.

You cannot take pre assessments anymore while in preview mode. And not having access to ALL the courses in your degree plan does slow students down who would look at the course content and study ahead of time before they were actually taking the course. This method is how my younger brother was able to complete 3 courses before his term started in January.

You can see all of the changes in this town hall meeting that was held a month ago on the official WGU page: https://www.facebook.com/wgu.edu/videos/...683804466/

[ELSADDIQ]

Since in the end you have to finish all the courses anyway before you can earn your master - why does it matter if they have developed an order for you to complete them in if this turns out to be the case going forward?  You can still accelerate through the program - so I don't understand why this would be a deal breaker.  Do the other options you'd be looking at offer the ability to accelerate your program, choose your course order - at this price point? What are the other school/programs you're considering? Also, to be clear - this was all a sincere inquiry, so please don't read it any other way.

No problem at all with the questioning. I appreciate all of you chiming in.

The issue is that the new Bachelor's came with a new job, with new responsibilities, and new demands. While many of you have spoken about the inability to accelerate ahead (and that is a problem, it's probably why we chose WGU to begin with), my issue is the opposite. Because of the new demands placed on me, I may have to slow down as I'll now have less time, particularly to study graduate level courses. Right now, it would make sense for me to focus on courses that require less time and effort while still allowing me to move forward.

[Merlin]

Hey, Merlin. Thanks for chiming in. I attempted to clarify the WGU position today since we've been talking about it. Unfortunately, they assured me that I would not be able to choose the courses in the order that I'd like and that I'd need to adhere strictly to the "standard path." Maybe you have a good (and powerful   ) mentor, but now I'm apprehensive about going through the entire application and financial aid process just to have my old @ss, veteran of ten colleges be told how to register for classes. When i was 18 and knew absolutely nothing about nothing, Georgia State let me register for whatever classes I wanted.

Your program mentor is who sets the rules, not the admissions people you're talking to. They told me that I couldn't make changes as well, but when I chatted with my program mentor he allowed it. You have to fight for it if that is what you want. You also need to have a really good justification for why you want to make changes. If you're convincing enough, they will allow it as long as you show you're moving through the material quicky.

Either way, you cannot enroll in courses on your own anyway. You have to work with your course mentor to do so. You work on your course plan together and every time you add a new course to your term, the mentor needs your approval or it can't happen. So it is in both of your best interests to work together. If your mentor doesn't accomodate you, you can also change mentors.

That said, as allvia wrote, it doesn't matter that much what the course order is since you have to take them all anyway. It isn't like a regular college where you have different options for courses you can take. There is one set of courses and that is it.

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You cannot take pre assessments anymore while in preview mode.

Yes, you can. As quoted from WGU's Knowledge Center article on the new changes (as updated two days ago):

Question: Does “preview mode” include recorded cohorts and pre-assessment? 

Answer: In Preview mode, you can access the course overview (course competencies, overview video, and description of the assessment) and the preassessment, if the course has one. Cohort recordings, learning resources, and other course content will be available to you when you begin working on the course by clicking the Start Course button.

So, the preview mode is intended to provide access to everything you need to get a handle on what to expect before you're ready to actually begin a course, or if you want to decide on which one to take next. It does allow you to take a pre-assessment if the course offers one, but it doesn't allow you to access licensed material before you've actually started the course.

And not having access to ALL the courses in your degree plan does slow students down who would look at the course content and study ahead of time before they were actually taking the course. This method is how my younger brother was able to complete 3 courses before his term started in January.

I know that some people were using that loophole to get access to course material early, but that isn't the same as accelerating. WGU never intended that people should access course materials that they weren't licensed for. Apparently, it was costing WGU a lot of money too, so I don't blame them for closing that loophole. People can still accelerate just fine without gaming the system.

You can see all of the changes in this town hall meeting that was held a month ago on the official WGU page: https://www.facebook.com/wgu.edu/videos/...683804466/

Keep in mind that the information discussed was not finalized at the time and they have revised things a bit since then. See the knowledgebase article for more up-to-date information.

[Imbanewbie]

I am very surprised and it is good WGU prepare good certification. It is awesome. Do the professor teach how to pass or you are studying by yourself?

[bjcheung77]

I am very surprised and it is good WGU prepare good certification. It is awesome. Do the professor teach how to pass or you are studying by yourself?

WGU is a great option for Business/IT, Nursing and Teaching. As those are the only degree options at the Bachelors or Masters level provided - their degrees are also competency based, meaning it's basically you're learning (self-paced) but you have mentors helping you along the way.

[Imbanewbie]

I am very surprised and it is good WGU prepare good certification. It is awesome. Do the professor teach how to pass or you are studying by yourself?

WGU is a great option for Business/IT, Nursing and Teaching.  As those are the only degree options at the Bachelors or Masters level provided - their degrees are also competency based, meaning it's basically you're learning (self-paced) but you have mentors helping you along the way.

I wish my current school training for some of it certification.

[JTP]

There are only 2 courses that are simply tests (secure networking, secure software). They closely followed the CISSP domains so you could study that ahead of time if you were in a huge hurry. The certs also have a lot of public info available so you could study ahead for them as well.

The other six courses consist of writing papers. If you were set on working ahead you could google the course number along with a task number to probably find the rubrics on sites like course hero, etc.