A little WGU MSISA Review ....

[stretcharmy]

I thoroughly enjoyed rebel100's review thread and it was in part a large reason as to why I decided to do my masters through WGU. So thanks rebel for that! For the benefit of others that are interested in the MS Information Security and Assurance degree I decided that I will do the same thing.

Some background
I have been in IT for almost 20 years. I didn't obtain my BS until this year. I had done well in my career without it but it was becoming too much of a limiting factor. I didn't much enjoy B&M schools due to the speed. It was just too slow for me. Online worked much better for me and since I did so well with my BS I decided to get my masters. I decided on the MSISA because security is hot and it's only going to get hotter. I have been working in the IT security field for 7+ years so I have a good background. I am set to start on Sept 1 and my intention is to complete the degree in 6 months. It's a pretty aggressive timeline but I'm hoping that my experience is solid enough to accomplish it. I became pretty adept at writing papers at TESC fortunately(unfortunately) and based on rebel's information started writing from the rubric at the start.

So that's it in a nutshell. I'll post more once I get started.

[rebel100]

Good luck! Looking forward to your posts.

[stretcharmy]

I'm actually going to start on Aug 1st instead of Sept. I was able to be added as a "late add" they called it. I really didn't feel like sitting around on my duff for another month, but I thought I couldn't move forward because my transcript didn't arrive until after the first of the month. That's good news for me. I have already completed the orientation class. It was kind of monotonous for people that have already run though online learning before. It kind of reminded me of TEEX. WGU gives you access to all the class information early. This is good news for me as I wanted to get started as soon as possible. I have already completed half of my first paper. My first class is Current and Emerging technology. I organized my classes from the subjects I know most about to the ones I know least about. My theory is that I want to bang out the most that I can early so that I can better allot time later on the subjects I need to study more for. I want to complete it in one term, not really for cost but I want to move on to my Doctorate next fall so I need this completed prior to applying. I am hoping to have two classes worth of papers to turn in on day one. ( I hope I can turn in more than one at a time) anyone know if that is possible?

[stretcharmy]

so, I'm a little past one month of my term at WGU. So far I have completed 3 classes for 8 credits. As others have stated here the course mentors are TOTALLY WORTHLESS! I'm not so sure that they even exist, they are like leprechauns. I have emailed and called two of them and got no response what so ever. My advise, if you have a question on an assignment, guess and have it graded. The graders will tell you at to what they are looking for. As for the curriculum, I would say that it's relevant, and current. The performance assessments aren't bad, but they require quite a few of them in power point. Which I can't stand. I find it's a poor medium to transfer large amounts of information. You end up writing a paper in the presenters notes, so it's really not like a power-point in the real world. The field is not called "presenters paragraphs" for a reason. besides that I'm chugging along. This week I will finish up class number 4. Next week I am going to tackle security policies. My plan over all was to finish all the performance (papers) assessments and then move to objective (test) assessments. But to be honest I'm getting burned out of writing so I might spice it up a bit.

[JTP]

Not too familiar with WGU layout for IT realted degrees. I notice it says you will earn your certified ethical hacker, is this a requirement, or will you just go over the coursework in a class and have the option to take it if you want to?

[stretcharmy]

The cert is a requirement. The class provides you the study materials but the passing of the test earns you the credits.

[JTP]

Interesting! Say you already had the cert, would they just give you credit for that class?

I have my Security+ and have contemplated getting the CEH cert.

[stretcharmy]

Allegedly yes, but every time I asked the enrollment counselor they said most likely. so I just decided to do it during the degree and save the $500.

[stretcharmy]

so, I'm about 1.5 months in to my term. I have completed 4 courses and half of my fifth and I am really struggling with this one. I'm working on security policies and standards. It is SOOOO dry and I'm really having a hard time finding the motivation to complete the tasks. I've decided that I'm burnt out of the writing assignments. My original goal was to complete all of the performance assessments and them move on to the objective assessments. I've decided to spice it up a bit and switch to getting the CEH, CHFI, and then go back to finish up risk and disaster recover.

[dposborne]

I know the feeling about the writing. I am on my capstone for the MBA and I've been dragging out the last few classes the past couple months. I probably could have been done in 5 or 6 months verses the 8 month schedule I'm on now...