When I decide to do something, I decide to do something. The next steps in the enrollment process was the usual stuff, ordering transcripts, applying for financial aid, and taking the dreaded Readiness Assessment. (One note about transcripts is that depending on your course of study, your previous credits may or may not transfer. I have a BA, so I was able to use that to qualify for graduate school, however, they would not accept any of the graduate classes that I'd taken previously.)
The assessment is WGU's version of the GMAT, it's basically to determine (in HR-speak) if you're minimally qualified. The assessment is comprised of four parts, a math test and English comprehension/grammar test, an essay that has to have a minimum of 200 but no more than 800 words, and an admissions inventory. You can take the assessment whenever you want, and in any order. It was unclear to me if the entire 4 parts had to be completed within two hours, or if each section had to be done in that time. The only part that I came remotely close to the time limit, was the essay. All sections are computer graded. Another thing to note is that although you can re-take the assessment, you have to wait either three or six months to do so. (An email that I received from Jay said three months, however, the WGU student portal says six months. One more thing, is that (and I may be wrong, but I think you only need a 61% to pass the exam.
I was particularly worried about the math component. Everything that I read, and Jay confirmed this, the math would not cover anything beyond high school algebra, including some order of operations questions, and a few on basic geometry. To quote the WGU portal's description, "This is a multiple-answer test designed to measure your competency in the basic academic skills of Mathematics."
Anything that has the word exam/assessment/quiz associated with it freaks me out so, as a gatherer of information, I headed straight to the local library to find some books on studying for the SAT. The books were good for practicing things that I hadn't yet forgotten, but lacked the explanation that I needed for some problems.
The best resource that I found for studying for the math assessment was the Khan Academy. The instructor's name is Sal Khan and he sounds like Vin Diesel. If that's not enough to make you want to (re)learn how to solve quadratic equations, his short videos and practice quizzes will. This was truly the best resource that I found for learning and re-learning math concepts that I'd long forgotten.
Taking the Readiness Assessment
Math (25- 30 multiple guess questions)
Since I'm not aboveusing all available "resources", I took the readiness assessment at home, with my husband sitting directly behind me. He's a computer guy who is terrific at math. Could I have done the math section without his help? Yes. Would I have gotten a perfect score on it without his help? No. Did my time at the Khan Academy help? Absolutely. The test was definitely more challenging than I thought it would be, based on what I'd read from scouring the web, but math was never my strength.
Here's what I'd suggest you spend your study time on:
I didn't study for this section at all, counting on JT to assist if I needed it. According to Jay, I got one wrong on this section. Luckily there wasn't anything that asked me to identify a verb or noun. (I never could keep that stuff straight, I only know what "sounds" right.) If you know the differences between your, you're and their, they're, and there, you should be just fine. There were a few questions where you were supposed to read a few short paragraphs and then figure out what the correct conclusion was. I read the question and the answers first, and then skimmed the paragraphs. My advice on this one is that the obvious answer is probably right. Don't over think this section. If you can read and understand English at about a fifth grade level, you'll be just fine.
Essay (must be a minimum of 200 words but no more than 800)
I'm paraphrasing, but I believe the question was, "Describe an event that happened in the past two years in which you had to overcome a challenge. Be sure to use correct sentence structure and grammar". I was exhausted by this time, so I fretted and fretted about this. On the math and English sections, there is a timer on your screen to tell you how much time remaining you have, but there wasn't one on this section, and I'm pretty sure that I came close to the time limit, if there was one. My advice is not to worry about this section if you can write using basic English grammar. If you have Word or other word processing software, use it to help you with spelling and even the grammar. This section is computer-scored, so don't worry about writing something with a deep, emotional impact.
Admissions Inventory (15- 20 multiple guess questions)
This section attempts to determine if WGU is a good fit for you by asking you about how many hours you expect to sped studying per week, if you have high-speed Internet, and to rate your skills using a computer. My advice is to be honest, yet treat it as an exam. There may not be "wrong" answers but there are answers that may be red flags for the admissions team.
It was less than 10 minutes after I submitted my assessment, that I received an email saying that I'd passed it.
Bottom line, if you're just out of high school, this assessment should be fairly easy. If you're like me, I needed a little help so I used the resources that I had available. Good luck.
The assessment is WGU's version of the GMAT, it's basically to determine (in HR-speak) if you're minimally qualified. The assessment is comprised of four parts, a math test and English comprehension/grammar test, an essay that has to have a minimum of 200 but no more than 800 words, and an admissions inventory. You can take the assessment whenever you want, and in any order. It was unclear to me if the entire 4 parts had to be completed within two hours, or if each section had to be done in that time. The only part that I came remotely close to the time limit, was the essay. All sections are computer graded. Another thing to note is that although you can re-take the assessment, you have to wait either three or six months to do so. (An email that I received from Jay said three months, however, the WGU student portal says six months. One more thing, is that (and I may be wrong, but I think you only need a 61% to pass the exam.
I was particularly worried about the math component. Everything that I read, and Jay confirmed this, the math would not cover anything beyond high school algebra, including some order of operations questions, and a few on basic geometry. To quote the WGU portal's description, "This is a multiple-answer test designed to measure your competency in the basic academic skills of Mathematics."
Anything that has the word exam/assessment/quiz associated with it freaks me out so, as a gatherer of information, I headed straight to the local library to find some books on studying for the SAT. The books were good for practicing things that I hadn't yet forgotten, but lacked the explanation that I needed for some problems.
The best resource that I found for studying for the math assessment was the Khan Academy. The instructor's name is Sal Khan and he sounds like Vin Diesel. If that's not enough to make you want to (re)learn how to solve quadratic equations, his short videos and practice quizzes will. This was truly the best resource that I found for learning and re-learning math concepts that I'd long forgotten.
Taking the Readiness Assessment
Math (25- 30 multiple guess questions)
Since I'm not aboveusing all available "resources", I took the readiness assessment at home, with my husband sitting directly behind me. He's a computer guy who is terrific at math. Could I have done the math section without his help? Yes. Would I have gotten a perfect score on it without his help? No. Did my time at the Khan Academy help? Absolutely. The test was definitely more challenging than I thought it would be, based on what I'd read from scouring the web, but math was never my strength.
Here's what I'd suggest you spend your study time on:
- multiply, divide, add, subtract fractions
- multiply, divide, add, subtract decimals
- order of operations
- basic geometry, calculating area
I didn't study for this section at all, counting on JT to assist if I needed it. According to Jay, I got one wrong on this section. Luckily there wasn't anything that asked me to identify a verb or noun. (I never could keep that stuff straight, I only know what "sounds" right.) If you know the differences between your, you're and their, they're, and there, you should be just fine. There were a few questions where you were supposed to read a few short paragraphs and then figure out what the correct conclusion was. I read the question and the answers first, and then skimmed the paragraphs. My advice on this one is that the obvious answer is probably right. Don't over think this section. If you can read and understand English at about a fifth grade level, you'll be just fine.
Essay (must be a minimum of 200 words but no more than 800)
I'm paraphrasing, but I believe the question was, "Describe an event that happened in the past two years in which you had to overcome a challenge. Be sure to use correct sentence structure and grammar". I was exhausted by this time, so I fretted and fretted about this. On the math and English sections, there is a timer on your screen to tell you how much time remaining you have, but there wasn't one on this section, and I'm pretty sure that I came close to the time limit, if there was one. My advice is not to worry about this section if you can write using basic English grammar. If you have Word or other word processing software, use it to help you with spelling and even the grammar. This section is computer-scored, so don't worry about writing something with a deep, emotional impact.
Admissions Inventory (15- 20 multiple guess questions)
This section attempts to determine if WGU is a good fit for you by asking you about how many hours you expect to sped studying per week, if you have high-speed Internet, and to rate your skills using a computer. My advice is to be honest, yet treat it as an exam. There may not be "wrong" answers but there are answers that may be red flags for the admissions team.
It was less than 10 minutes after I submitted my assessment, that I received an email saying that I'd passed it.
Bottom line, if you're just out of high school, this assessment should be fairly easy. If you're like me, I needed a little help so I used the resources that I had available. Good luck.