Western Governors University (WGU) Readiness Assessment
The Western Governors University (WGU) Readiness Assessment is a pre-entrance exam that assesses a prospective student's preparedness for university-level coursework. This piece is intended to serve as a guide on what an individual can reasonably expect to encounter while taking this assessment.
Western Governors University (WGU) is an increasingly popular online school because it offers various features that appeal to adult learners. Some of these appealing features include very affordable tuition, nonprofit status, multiple choices of majors and concentrations, legitimate accreditation, and an innovative competency-based model that facilitates swift degree completion.
Since WGU is designed for the adult learner who already possesses some experience with coursework at the college level, prospective students are not required to take the traditional collegiate entrance exams such as the SAT or ACT. Instead, the school requires all applicants to take and pass the WGU Readiness Assessment, which is an unproctored online exam that assesses a potential student's academic preparedness for university-level coursework. This assessment should not be taken lightly because applicants who do not pass it will not be admitted. The WGU Readiness Assessment is broken up into four separate sections. Prospective students may start with any section they choose.
Language Test
The language portion is a multiple choice exam that determines the applicant's skill level in essential topics such as reading comprehension, grammatical usage and writing. The test taker will need to answer questions after reading paragraph-long passages, select the one grammatically correct sentence out of four or five selections, and know the difference between passive and active voice. This portion contained about 30 questions and had a two hour time limit.
Math Test
The math portion is a multiple choice exam that assesses the applicant's skill level in basic topics such as arithmetic, estimation, and graphs. The test contains several word problems and perhaps one or two elementary algebraic questions. The test taker will need to be familiar with topics such as fractions, decimals, percentages, probability, absolute value, integers, plotting lines on graphs, answering word problems, symbols, the order of operations, and prealgebra. This portion contained about 20 questions and had a two hour time limit.
Admissions Inventory
This portion has an assortment of questions to help assess whether online learning is a suitable option for the prospective student. Some people learn independently with ease while others desperately need the structure of a brick-and-mortar classroom with a professor directly in front of them for guidance. This section of the WGU Readiness Assessment assists in determining if the prospective student has the self-motivation, tools and prior experiences to perform satisfactorily in online learning.
Essay Exam
Prospective students must write an essay on a randomly selected topic. Since WGU's academic programs involve numerous essay submissions, this portion of the readiness assessment examines the applicant's writing skills. Essays with less than 200 words or more than 800 words are disallowed, so the test taker must carefully monitor this aspect while writing. It is permissible to type the paper elsewhere before pasting it onto the exam. The benefit of copying/pasting is that it allows the test taker to run a spell check and word count before submitting. WGU's website advises applicants to set aside up to one hour to type and submit their essays.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
UPDATE: I spoke to my enrollment counselor about 90 minutes ago (she keeps late hours). We both agreed to reschedule the intake interview because only 3 of my 4 transcripts have arrived. And of course, they need all 4 transcripts before they can do the transcript evaluation and intake interview.
I requested these transcripts from my former nursing program on March 10th and they still have not been processed. I called the school earlier this week, and my transcript request is still sitting on their desk, along with an uncashed personal check. I am just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping my former school does the right thing and gets those transcripts to WGU next week.
My intake interview has been rescheduled for Friday, March 4th.
UPDATE: I spoke to my enrollment counselor about 90 minutes ago (she keeps late hours). We both agreed to reschedule the intake interview because only 3 of my 4 transcripts have arrived. And of course, they need all 4 transcripts before they can do the transcript evaluation and intake interview.
I requested these transcripts from my former nursing program on March 10th and they still have not been processed. I called the school earlier this week, and my transcript request is still sitting on their desk, along with an uncashed personal check. I am just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping my former school does the right thing and gets those transcripts to WGU next week.
My intake interview has been rescheduled for Friday, March 4th.
I am with you. My enrollment counselor and I rescheduled until Tuesday. My college changed names and they keep looking for an additional transcript that they already have in the colleges new name. my counselor was gonna call and try to get it straightened out (he already emailed them) and get them to do the evaluation by tuesday hopefully. I also followed up with an email to the transcript department. Here's hoping we are ready to go forward on Tuesday.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I have math phobia!
While I don't have math phobia, my overall math skills are rather poor (read: I still struggle with basic arithmetic operations such as fractions, decimals, percentages and integers). Anyway, here are some math resources if you want to brush up. Good luck!
"do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics. i can assure you mine are still greater."
for free unlimited practice problems in any of the math disciplines: InterActMath.com - follow the directions to download the drivers you need to access the software and then choose a textbook of the type of math you want to work problems from
medication calculation help and practice problems you can work:
Welcome to Hansen Nursing - medication calculation tutorial - you do not have to register to go through the tutorial
Medical Dosage Calculations - companion website for medical dosage calculations, 9th edition, by june looby olsen, anthony p. giangrasso, dolores m. shrimpton, and patricia dillon.
http://www.accd.edu/sac/nursing/math/mathindex2.html - scroll to the bottom of this home page of this med calc tutorial. see the menu item that says "common conversion factors/equivalencies"? click the button next to it that says "go read" a conversion chart comes up for you
where to find nomograms: they are in taber's cyclopedic medical dictionary in the b's listings under "body surface area"
dimensional analysis tutorials [keep in mind that dimensional analysis is usually done in chemistry and physics and nursing has only adapted it for use in medication calculation problems]:
Specializes in Med-Surg, Telemetry, Mom Baby, Hospice, Rehab, LTC.
While I don't have math phobia, my overall math skills are rather poor (read: I still struggle with basic arithmetic operations such as fractions, decimals, percentages and integers). Anyway, here are some math resources if you want to brush up. Good luck!
Thanks for the info TheCommuter, RN!! I will check it out. My problem also is math retention. I just took Stats this past fall and forgot 80% of the info already! If I don't use it, I'll lose it...thank God I got an A. Hopefully you will get your May 1st start!
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
It seems like my chances are getting slim on a May 1 start date. Still no transcripts. It's so frustrating :'(
I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you. :)
UPDATE: The final transcript that they needed arrived yesterday (thank goodness). Although I really needed it to arrive a week sooner, I will express gratefulness for yesterday's arrival. Since my intake interview is scheduled for Friday, I hope the transcript evaluation is done on or before then so I know which previously earned credits will and won't transfer.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
UPDATE: My transcript evaluation arrived via email about 30 minutes ago. The results were more favorable than I ever anticipated. They are granting me approximately 86 transfer credits, which means that only 34 competency units are standing between me and the BSN degree!
And best of all, I do not need to take Foundations of College Mathematics, A&P, Micro, or any of the pesky prerequisites! However, they are requiring me to take statistics and biochemistry, so I will place all my effort into these courses.
I also spoke with my enrollment counselor about two hours ago. While she was going to do the intake interview right then and there, she reminded me that I needed to sign the financial aid forms. I told her I never received the financial aid forms. She told me to check the WGU portal. I told her I've checked it weekly and there are no forms under the financial aid tab. She says she'll email them to me.
If they cannot get the financial aid part straightened out before the 15th, I will probably pay for this term with cash. I'm still hopeful for a May 1st start date.
Woohoo! That's exactly how many I need, too (34 credits). I was very pleased with my transcript evaluation at WGU. I also compared it to UTA (which, btw just finished evaluating my transcripts) and I would have to take 2 Texas Political Sci, Algebra, Technical Writing, Eng Lit, and 2 upper division electives--this in addition to the core nursing courses! No thank you. I am so glad I found about WGU...thanks to this forum.
Crossing my fingers for your May 1st start date, Commuter!
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Congrats, 34 credits is not a lot! Do you have a goal for how long you want to take? I would think you should easily be able to do it in two terms without any difficulty.
After all the hassle and runaround from other schools, I have decided to make the switch to WGU. Working on my readiness assessment now. I have all parts done except the essay. It hasn't been too bad so far. Dare I say easy? Then I clicked on the essay part and I have to write a persuasive essay. Eek, those are the worst for me. Wish me luck!
TheCommuter, BSN, RN
102 Articles; 27,612 Posts
UPDATE: I spoke to my enrollment counselor about 90 minutes ago (she keeps late hours). We both agreed to reschedule the intake interview because only 3 of my 4 transcripts have arrived. And of course, they need all 4 transcripts before they can do the transcript evaluation and intake interview.
I requested these transcripts from my former nursing program on March 10th and they still have not been processed. I called the school earlier this week, and my transcript request is still sitting on their desk, along with an uncashed personal check. I am just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping my former school does the right thing and gets those transcripts to WGU next week.
My intake interview has been rescheduled for Friday, March 4th.