My WGU BS-CSIA Journey

[Life_One]

Time for an update. 

Class Credits Completed 
Fundamentals of Information Security – C836 3 yes 2/4/2019
Ethics in Technology – C961 3 Yes 2/6/2019
Orientation – ORA1 0 Yes 2/28/2019
Web Development Foundations – C779 3 Yes 2/24/2019


While the first month was good, this month has been hell. I am stuck on the Business of IT - Applications – C846 which is the ITIL foundations exam. As of this writing, I have failed the OA twice. The first time by one question and the second time by three questions.

Even though I score in the passing range on various material for the exam and I have used Pluralsite and Lynda for their resources, I can't seem to grasp this word salad of a certification. While the methodology is sound and I find it interesting the test for the exam differs from my study material.

Which brings me to some other thoughts about WGU and school. I choose WGU because of speed and affordability and I can now understand if you are in your professional career what a God send WGU is. If you know your material you can blaze right through and complete the degree in no time. The added Certs are just the bonus to the degree.

But if you aren't a professional or you where a professional and have been out of the field for a while I think some value of WGU is lost. That value being speed, All the material I have used has been provided by Ucertify through WGU, which ranges from this isn't too bad, to what in the world are they teaching? Then combine that with the fact I am not a book learner makes learning the material harder than it should for me.


While I love the school itself and my Student Mentor is phenomenal, I wish there was a campus nearby where I could talk to other students about the class or attend lectures or something. When I was taking my Certified Ethical hacker (CEH) class at a Brick and Morter I learned everything from the hands-on labs with other students and my professor showing us ways to better implement attacks and what not. I would have never learned as much from a book. I would have failed the class instead of achieving a good grade.

The last area I want to cover is networking and employability. If you are a professional you don't need either of those things from the University, but if you don't have a career in the field, you would need help through internships and other means which are not offered at WGU.  

I have looked at the cost of state schools and others and while they are expensive, they might be a better fit for me. WGU has been paid for the year and I will continue to grind out as many credits as I can but if I would have to do this for two years. It would be 100% miserable. 

Just some thoughts as I continue forward.