[WGU] Should I Just Go Ahead

[sirius]

Hello all, thanks in advance for any advice! Let me know if I'm missing any information.

I'm currently in the enrollment period for the Networking Operations and Security (BSNOS) degree at WGU. As a sort of test, I decided to get my CCNA beforehand to make sure that I actually have the discipline to self-educate myself. I passed and it accounts for 17 CU's at WGU. I have 14 GenEd CU's transferred in for a total of 31. Due to the CCNA knocking out so many credits I've been doing some digging into what other certifications I can transfer in and as a result I've been reading about CLEP exams, saylor.com, etc. Now I'm reading the threads on this site and I'm interested in the Big 3.

Here's my "dilemma". Should I even bother to research all of this stuff or just stick with WGU? I've got a start date and everything I hear about them is great. I'd like to finish in 2-3 years and I think that through WGU I can accomplish that but if I can do the same thing via one of the other online colleges for cheaper then I'm definitely interested.

So I think I have three options: Start WGU right away, delay WGU and try and get some StraighterLine/Saylor classes transferred in, or forget about WGU and do one of the Big 3.

What do you think, is WGU even an option?

Classes: English Composition I, Technical Communication, Applied Algebra, Natural Science Lab, Integrated Physical Sciences
Certifications: CCNA
Job History: 4+ years IT experience. Currently a L2. Work for a small school district so I get to play around with everything even though I'm not the sysadmin.
Career Goal: Would like to get into automation, either cloud or networking. If I get to work with Linux I'm happy.
Time Available: Can do 2-3 hours of study every day. This is what I did for the CCNA with some extra hours on Saturdays for when I fell behind.

[ss20ts]

The one good thing about WGU is that you don't have to hunt all over for your courses if you don't want to. You can just take theirs. You can also review their program and see what courses transfer from Sophia, StraighterLine, and Study.com if you want. You could complete more courses and transfer them in, but it's 100% up to you. Have you looked at anyone else's program? If you found one you really like, I find it's usually best to stick with a program you enjoy than keep looking around.

[rachel83az]

WGU would certainly be the only way to get that specific degree. However, before you ACTUALLY start, I would take a look at https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...142&pid=82 and https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...753&pid=82 to see what you could take to transfer into that degree. Spending 2-3 years on a WGU degree would certainly be quite pricey and take a long time, compared to what you could have if you did SDC/SL courses.

[bjcheung77]

Yes, I would go for it at WGU, they're an exclusively online university that's really recommended in these parts of the woods! I suggest you complete all the courses transferable to your program by viewing the https://partners.wgu.edu website, such as for Study.com/StraighterLine, CSM, etc... make sure you hit as much transfer courses as you can before you enrol!

[dfrecore]

Holy cats, 2-3 years at WGU is crazy. Instead, pause enrolling, because once you enroll, you can no longer transfer in other credits.

Then, take all of your GE and anything else you can via Study.com or SL. Transfer everything to WGU, then plan on finishing your degree is 1 or 2 terms at most. Do NOT spend more time than that there, it's much too expensive.

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Forgot to mention, after you finish all of this go sign up for WGU Academy and get your A+ Cert. It's $150/mo, and if you can get your course done in a month, then that's all you pay. They give you a free voucher to take both exams, so you come out way ahead there. If you don't know A+ yet, I'd suggest self-studying for a lot on your own prior to signing up for WGU Academy. Oh, and make sure before you pay that you can take that course - don't let them force you to take English Comp or anything else, you JUST want to take A+.

[sirius]

The one good thing about WGU is that you don't have to hunt all over for your courses if you don't want to. You can just take theirs. You can also review their program and see what courses transfer from Sophia, StraighterLine, and Study.com if you want. You could complete more courses and transfer them in, but it's 100% up to you. Have you looked at anyone else's program? If you found one you really like, I find it's usually best to stick with a program you enjoy than keep looking around.

Thanks, the study.com one I had not heard about yet.

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WGU would certainly be the only way to get that specific degree. However, before you ACTUALLY start, I would take a look at https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...142&pid=82 and https://partners.wgu.edu/Pages/Single.as...753&pid=82 to see what you could take to transfer into that degree. Spending 2-3 years on a WGU degree would certainly be quite pricey and take a long time, compared to what you could have if you did SDC/SL courses.

Thanks so much for those pages. I'm definitely going to review them and see what I can knock out at StraighterLine at least.

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Yes, I would go for it at WGU, they're an exclusively online university that's really recommended in these parts of the woods!  I suggest you complete all the courses transferable to your program by viewing the https://partners.wgu.edu website, such as for Study.com/StraighterLine, CSM, etc... make sure you hit as much transfer courses as you can before you enrol!

Thank you for informing me of CMS. It's surprising that there's actually a lot of great programs out there! Just needed to dig a little I guess.

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Holy cats, 2-3 years at WGU is crazy. Instead, pause enrolling, because once you enroll, you can no longer transfer in other credits.

Then, take all of your GE and anything else you can via Study.com or SL.  Transfer everything to WGU, then plan on finishing your degree is 1 or 2 terms at most.  Do NOT spend more time than that there, it's much too expensive.

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Forgot to mention, after you finish all of this go sign up for WGU Academy and get your A+ Cert.  It's $150/mo, and if you can get your course done in a month, then that's all you pay.  They give you a free voucher to take both exams, so you come out way ahead there.  If you don't know A+ yet, I'd suggest self-studying for a lot on your own prior to signing up for WGU Academy.  Oh, and make sure before you pay that you can take that course - don't let them force you to take English Comp or anything else, you JUST want to take A+.

Thanks so much really. I'm going to heed your (and everyone else's advice) and put off WGU to get some more GE done.
I'll remember the A+ tip. I'm sure I'd pass it just fine within a month.

[MNomadic]

I second all the advice everyone has already shared. I'm currently attending for the BSIT which has a LOT of overlap with your prospective degree. You already knocked out arguably the hardest part of your degree which is the CCNA so great job! You're off to a great start! I'd be more than happy to answer any specific questions you have and help you with picking cheaper/quicker transfer courses.

A couple follow up questions:

1) do you have a transfer evaluation?
2) would your employer cover any IT certs?

[sirius]

I second all the advice everyone has already shared. I'm currently attending for the BSIT which has a LOT of overlap with your prospective degree. You already knocked out arguably the hardest part of your degree which is the CCNA so great job! You're off to a great start! I'd be more than happy to answer any specific questions you have and help you with picking cheaper/quicker transfer courses.

A couple follow up questions:

1) do you have a transfer evaluation?
2) would your employer cover any IT certs?

Sweet, I'm glad you saw my post! It's always great to have a pioneer to help out haha.

1. Yes, I do have my eval done. I only have 14 CU's for GenEd so I'm going to do at least 4 StraighterLine classes and then maybe do ALEKS and Saylor to finish up the rest.
2. No, no reimbursements for certs unfortunently. Would you recommend doing any by myself and transferring in or would using the WGU material and having them pay for it work out best?

The CCNA cost me $300 for the exam and ~$200 for study materials. It's worth 17 CU's but I don't know how long it would've taken me if I had been in the WGU program. Longer I'm guessing so it was definitely worth it. Would say the Sec+ or maybe the AWS certs be worth doing beforehand?

[MNomadic]

I second all the advice everyone has already shared. I'm currently attending for the BSIT which has a LOT of overlap with your prospective degree. You already knocked out arguably the hardest part of your degree which is the CCNA so great job! You're off to a great start! I'd be more than happy to answer any specific questions you have and help you with picking cheaper/quicker transfer courses.

A couple follow up questions:

1) do you have a transfer evaluation?
2) would your employer cover any IT certs?

Sweet, I'm glad you saw my post! It's always great to have a pioneer to help out haha.

1. Yes, I do have my eval done. I only have 14 CU's for GenEd so I'm going to do at least 4 StraighterLine classes and then maybe do ALEKS and Saylor to finish up the rest.
2. No, no reimbursements for certs unfortunently. Would you recommend doing any by myself and transferring in or would using the WGU material and having them pay for it work out best?

The CCNA cost me $300 for the exam and ~$200 for study materials. It's worth 17 CU's but I don't know how long it would've taken me if I had been in the WGU program. Longer I'm guessing so it was definitely worth it. Would say the Sec+ or maybe the AWS certs be worth doing beforehand?

If you copy/paste your transfer eval(minus PII) that will help. 

I wouldn't necessarily say you should do those certs beforehand, since they'll be included in your tuition, but you could prepare for them now using free/cheap materials, and be ready to test out of them early in your enrollment.

This is a good, free video for AWS CCP:
https://youtu.be/3hLmDS179YE

For security+, look at professor Messer on youtube.

[rachel83az]

For A+ certification, Professor Messer is highly recommended: https://www.professormesser.com/free-a-p...ng-course/ It might be worth paying $25 for the practice exams but you probably don't need anything else.