WGU BSCSIA preliminary plan--thoughts?

[raekwon]

Some of you folks have seen my previous threads on other boards and have helped me out a lot. With your help (and the help of the wiki), I've filled out a preliminary degree plan spreadsheet and would love some feedback if you folks know anything about the particular courses/exams I'm choosing from.

My spreadsheet can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...sp=sharing

There's a color-coded key showing what requirements have already been met (and how), what courses/exams I've already picked, and which ones I'm undecided on.

Some notes on my choices/preferences...

Gen ed.
- English Comp 1 & 2: I'm choosing CLEP over Sophia because passing the single exam takes care of both classes, and I don't want to wait for Sophia to grade it. I'm doing Modern States and there are three testing centers within 15 miles of me.
- Technical Communication: A technical writing course seems wiser to me than a business communications course, especially when that content will likely be covered in...
- Introduction to Communication: SDC's Diversity and Intercultural Communication course just seems much more interesting to me than any of my other choices.
- Applied Algebra: Sophia's Foundations of College Algebra would probably be the easiest route, but it's no longer ACE approved as of November 2021. Funny enough, my next choice is ALEKS' College Algebra w/ Trigonometry, even though it's likely on the other end of the difficulty spectrum. I've always enjoyed and been decent at math and wouldn't mind the challenge. I dunno. I might wait to see if Sophia's Foundations class comes back into the ACE fold.

Upper Level Core
- IT Foundations & IT Applications: This can be bypassed with an active CompTIA A+ CE certification. I'm confident that if I studied for a couple of weeks before my term starts, I could ask WGU for my voucher immediately and pass the exams. However, I did just get a new job which will pay for many IT certifications. I might come in with it already done. Doesn't really matter.
- Business of IT--Project Management: Same as above, but I'd likely have to take more time to study for Project+ to bypass it. I think I'm just going to take this at WGU
- Digital Forensics in Cybersecurity: There will be a lot of overlap with the three SDC courses I could choose from, I've learned a lot about digital forensics in general from my CEH study, and mobile forensics are most intriguing to me right now.
- Cyber Defense and Countermeasures: I think that I want to take this at WGU, even though I've seen conflicting information on which certification they provide vouchers for on this one. Is it CySA+ or is it ECIH? Can I just choose between the two?
- Penetration Testing and Vulnerability Analysis: I'm literally taking my CEH exam tomorrow, which would meet the requirement if I pass. However, even if I do pass, I might want to take this class anyway just for the PenTest+ voucher.

SO... if y'all can take a look, tell me what you think or what you know about these classes (whether the WGU courses or the exams I've picked or if you can help with any of my undecideds). Thanks so much!

[MNomadic]

Some you folks have seen my previous threads on other boards and have helped me out a lot. With your help (and the help of the wiki), I've filled out a preliminary degree plan spreadsheet and would love some feedback if you folks know anything about the particular courses/exams I'm choosing from.

My spreadsheet can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...sp=sharing

There's a color-coded key showing what requirements have already been met (and how), what courses/exams I've already picked, and which ones I'm undecided on.

Some notes on my choices/preferences...

Gen ed.
- English Comp 1 & 2: I'm choosing CLEP over Sophia because passing the single exam takes care of both classes, and I don't want to wait for Sophia to grade it. I'm doing Modern States and there's a testing center at a nearby community college.
- Technical Communication: A technical writing course seems wiser to me than a business communications course, especially when that content will likely be covered in...
- Introduction to Communication: SDC's Diversity and Intercultural Communication course just seems much more interesting to me than any of my other choices.
- Applied Algebra: Sophia's Foundations of College Algebra would probably be the easiest route, but it's no longer ACE approved as of November. Funny enough, my next choice is ALEKS' College Algebra w/ Trigonometry, even though it's on the other end of the difficulty spectrum. I've always enjoyed and been decent as math. I dunno. I might wait to see if Sophia's Foundations class comes back into the ACE fold.

Upper Level Core
- IT Foundations & IT Applications: This can be bypassed with an active CompTIA A+ CE certification. I'm confident that if I studied for a couple of weeks before my term starts, I could ask WGU for my voucher immediately and pass the exams. However, I did just get a new job which will pay for many IT certifications. I might come in with it already done. Doesn't really matter.
- Business of IT--Project Management: Same as above, but I'd likely have to take more time to study for Project+ to bypass it. I think I'm just going to take this at WGU
- Digital Forensics in Cybersecurity: There will be a lot of overlap with the three SDC courses I could choose from, I've learned a lot about digital forensics in general from my CEH study, and mobile forensics are most intriguing to me right now.
- Cyber Defense and Countermeasures: I think that I want to take this at WGU, even though I've seen conflicting information on which certification they provide vouchers for on this one. Is it CySA+ or is it ECIH? Can I just choose between the two?
- Penetration Testing and Vulnerability Analysis: I'm literally taking my CEH exam tomorrow, which would meet the requirement if I pass. However, even if I do pass, I might want to take this class anyway just for the PenTest+ voucher.

SO... if y'all can take a look, tell me what you think or what you know about these classes (whether the WGU courses or the exams I've picked or if you can help with any of my undecideds). Thanks so much!

Good work putting together your plan so far! My recommendations:

1. C168 critical thinking and logic: skip this at study.com and just take it at WGU. Study.com requires 3 papers in addition to the quizzes/test vs 1 test at WGU. I passed it at WGU with no additional study so it was super quick and easy. Alternatively, you can try your hand at Saylor's version of this for $5 and always fall back to WGU if you don't pass.
   
2. C464 Intro to Communication: Do Sophia's communication at work. If you've ever worked anywhere before, this should be easy and there are only 1 or 2 assignments that should take <1 hr: writing an email and a memo/IM.
   
3. C182 intro to IT: I think this will be satisfied if you come in with CompTIA A+, otherwise you can probably pass Sophia's Intro to IT course in a day with your preexisting knowledge.
   
4. C176  project management: you can do this pretty quickly at Sophia if you want, though getting a free cert from work or WGU may be more important to you(I accidentally transferred this one in without knowing it would be accepted and prevent me from getting Project+ for free lol)
   
5. C842 cyber defense and countermeasure: yes this one is CySA+ from WGU. I recommend it since it will auto-renew A+, Net+, Sec+, Pentest+.
   
6. Good luck on CEH! Pentest+ is fun and if you've been studying for CEH and CySA+ you should be able to do it pretty quickly. 
   

[rachel83az]

The Sophia Algebra courses don't cover all that much. For anyone doing a technical degree, I would definitely advise ALEKS over Sophia. This is especially true if a degree happens to require things like Calculus, Discrete Math, etc. Yours doesn't have these requirements (I thought it did!) but I would still strongly recommend ALEKS.

[raekwon]

Good work putting together your plan so far! My recommendations:

1. C168 critical thinking and logic: skip this at study.com and just take it at WGU. Study.com requires 3 papers in addition to the quizzes/test vs 1 test at WGU. I passed it at WGU with no additional study so it was super quick and easy. Alternatively, you can try your hand at Saylor's version of this for $5 and always fall back to WGU if you don't pass.
   
2. C464 Intro to Communication: Do Sophia's communication at work. If you've ever worked anywhere before, this should be easy and there are only 1 or 2 assignments that should take <1 hr: writing an email and a memo/IM.
   
3. C182 intro to IT: I think this will be satisfied if you come in with CompTIA A+, otherwise you can probably pass Sophia's Intro to IT course in a day with your preexisting knowledge.
   
4. C176  project management: you can do this pretty quickly at Sophia if you want, though getting a free cert from work or WGU may be more important to you(I accidentally transferred this one in without knowing it would be accepted and prevent me from getting Project+ for free lol)
   
5. C842 cyber defense and countermeasure: yes this one is CySA+ from WGU. I recommend it since it will auto-renew A+, Net+, Sec+, Pentest+.
   
6. Good luck on CEH! Pentest+ is fun and if you've been studying for CEH and CySA+ you should be able to do it pretty quickly. 
   

Thanks for this! re: C182... so from what I've seen at the partners.wgu site and here, A+ unfortunately doesn't meet its requirements, which is dumb, tbh. I know that Sophia's Intro to IT course will likely be very easy for me, but I figure that by that same token, WGU's would be too, which is why I just left it w/ WGU.

The Sophia Algebra courses don't cover all that much. For anyone doing a technical degree, I would definitely advise ALEKS over Sophia. This is especially true if a degree happens to require things like Calculus, Discrete Math, etc. Yours doesn't have these requirements (I thought it did!) but I would still strongly recommend ALEKS.

Helpful! Thank you.

[rachel83az]

Thanks for this! re: C182... so from what I've seen at the partners.wgu site and here, A+ unfortunately doesn't meet its requirements, which is dumb, tbh. I know that Sophia's Intro to IT course will likely be very easy for me, but I figure that by that same token, WGU's would be too, which is why I just left it w/ WGU.

If you need a Sophia membership anyway, I think you might as well take their Intro to IT course. I think I finished it in 6-8 hours (I would have to check the review thread to be sure). I only needed to read maybe one section, IIRC, and already knew everything else. I probably could have finished it even more quickly if I had actually put effort into doing so. The WGU Intro to IT course equivalent may also be super easy for someone who is experienced, but I'm not sure it's that quick?

[MNomadic]

 The WGU Intro to IT course equivalent may also be super easy for someone who is experienced, but I'm not sure it's that quick?

It's as quick as it takes you to pass a single final 

I just double-checked and my transfer eval says it was satisfied by ACE credit so probably the Sophia course.

[origamishuttle]

- Technical Communication: English 305 has one shorter assignment vs. three assignments for Business 113.
- Introduction to Communication: Sophia Communication at Work is relatively easy.
- Applied Algebra: Nice catch on the ACE expiration! Sophia College Algebra is a pretty good balance of ease (compared to other providers) and coverage of topics. Why not complete it for credit, then seek out more learning if you're not satisfied?
- Business of IT--Project Management: I'm not following your logic here. If you complete this with Sophia, can't you still complete Project+ for free through work if you really want to? So many people complain about this exam, I would guess that the majority of students would have chosen Sophia over the cert if they knew about it in advance. Unless work won't pay, and you need it for your career, why not take the easier path?
- Introduction to IT: For this low amount of effort, maybe it's not worth splitting hairs, but why not just get it over with?
- Scripting and Programming Foundations: Many students are able to just take the OA at WGU, which would save time and money. I'm not sure if it's 100% the same, but WGU has this course on edx if you want to review it and decide: https://www.edx.org/course/scripting-and...oundations
- Data Management - Foundations: I was surprised that I ended up enjoying the Sophia course. It starts out difficult, then gets easier. What's really nice is their sandbox: https://postgres.sophia.org/ You use it throughout the course to check your logic, and when you're lucky, plug in code directly from test questions.

[rachel83az]

The problem with the Sophia DB course is that you wind up juggling so much that it can feel like you need four monitors! You can mitigate this somewhat with Win+left or right arrow keys, but it can still feel like a bit of a slog.

[LevelUP]

I don't think the Foundational Algebra course will be ACE-approved again, given the delay.  The Wikis was updated with that course removed. 

Your plan looks good.  

Take the CLEP first because there is a delay of up to 2 weeks for them to grade your paper.  

It looks like you would be ready to start WGU around March or April.

[raekwon]

- Technical Communication: English 305 has one shorter assignment vs. three assignments for Business 113.
- Introduction to Communication: Sophia Communication at Work is relatively easy.
- Applied Algebra: Nice catch on the ACE expiration! Sophia College Algebra is a pretty good balance of ease (compared to other providers) and coverage of topics. Why not complete it for credit, then seek out more learning if you're not satisfied?
- Business of IT--Project Management: I'm not following your logic here. If you complete this with Sophia, can't you still complete Project+ for free through work if you really want to? So many people complain about this exam, I would guess that the majority of students would have chosen Sophia over the cert if they knew about it in advance. Unless work won't pay, and you need it for your career, why not take the easier path?
- Introduction to IT: For this low amount of effort, maybe it's not worth splitting hairs, but why not just get it over with?
- Scripting and Programming Foundations: Many students are able to just take the OA at WGU, which would save time and money. I'm not sure if it's 100% the same, but WGU has this course on edx if you want to review it and decide: https://www.edx.org/course/scripting-and...oundations
- Data Management - Foundations: I was surprised that I ended up enjoying the Sophia course. It starts out difficult, then gets easier. What's really nice is their sandbox: https://postgres.sophia.org/ You use it throughout the course to check your logic, and when you're lucky, plug in code directly from test questions.

That's a fair point re: Project Management/Project+. I literally just got offered the job yesterday, so I'm trying to not necessarily count on that just yet for vouchers since I don't have all of the details of what they'll pay for/how many times/etc, and I know for a fact that WGU will pay for that voucher after taking their course. But I'll keep that in mind.

The problem with the Sophia DB course is that you wind up juggling so much that it can feel like you need four monitors! You can mitigate this somewhat with Win+left or right arrow keys, but it can still feel like a bit of a slog.

Yep, what I've read here about that Sophia course (probably mostly from you, Rachel) is exactly why I was looking at the SDC database courses instead.