WGU MSISA Done in 4 Months

darkerosxx

Masters in 4 months. Hmm. They should probably change the name of it to something else, like Professional Masters. Bad move, WGU.

GarudaMin

darkerosxx wrote: »

Masters in 4 months. Hmm. They should probably change the name of it to something else, like Professional Masters. Bad move, WGU.

Just going to point out something. There's a 9 years old kid in America's Got Talent this year, who finished his 11th grade. He will be in 12th grade and at age 9. There have been and are others like him too. If there are some people who can do 12 years of work in 4 years without prior experience, I am willing to understand someone who have 10 years+ experience and can do 2 years work in 4 months.
But as I've mentioned before, the number of hours I put in for each class at WGU is the same as the number of hours I put in per class on my B&M university (top 15 in the States at that time). Actually, I think I put in more time for courses at WGU. It's only a matter of putting them in a week vs over the course of 3 months.
I will even go as far as saying: if Harvard/MIT/others offer MSISA masters program that focuses on technical/information security and you can accelerate like WGU, I am confident that I will be done in 4 months too.
The reasons I have an issue with B&M schools is I don't want to learn things that are not of concern to me. I don't like general education in the sense that if I want to be a mathematician, I don't want to take history or advanced english or biology, etc. Just give me a program that focuses on nothing but Math. Kind of like Sherlock Holmes, not wanting to know if the earth is round or not.

MSP-IT

We're beating a dead horse here guys.

DonDeal, congratulations on your degree. After reading your lengthy post, I can see that you definitely have the experience to back up the degree. Your passion for learning, IT, and life in general definitely shows through; that's a great quality to have.

I think the primary concern that most people have is the cheapening of degrees like this from schools like WGU. Although I decided against the MSISA, I wouldn't necessarily want any future employers seeing a post like this that could easily be interpreted as WGU degrees somehow being sub-par. Now, in your situation, and in this context, it would be wrong to take it that way; but a third party may not put in the time, effort, or energy read the whole thread.

N2IT

I'm not questioning Don Deal's aptitude it's obvious he/she has some serious skills which are 100 times more impressive than the Masters.

I agree any respectable employer who catches wind that you completed a master in 4 months is going to roll their eyes. Fair or not, a masters program should take a minimum of 1 year. If not it should be called a certificate of specialization or something like Villanova provides, professional certifications of achievement.

One of the important pieces of a degree is the grind. It shows you can commit to something and continue on through 2 -3 years usually.

That's just my take.

shodown

N2IT wrote: »

I'm not questioning Don Deal's aptitude it's obvious he/she has some serious skills which are 100 times more impressive than the Masters.

I agree any respectable employer who catches wind that you completed a master in 4 months is going to roll their eyes. Fair or not, a masters program should take a minimum of 1 year. If not it should be called a certificate of specialization or something like Villanova provides, professional certifications of achievement.

One of the important pieces of a degree is the grind. It shows you can commit to something and continue on through 2 -3 years usually.

That's just my take.

I disagree.

If I could find out one of my employees had the aptitude and DESIRE to complete a masters in 4 months. They will be getting harder assignments right away. That is untapped talent that we are not using. The master he took was designed to take a certain amount of time, and he pushed through it at an incredible rate.

Now factor in the existing IT skill set and any manager worth his salt should be tapping into him and taking advantage of the employee they have in front of them as they won't be there forever.

On another note, the hate I have seen towards the OP is rather disgusting. We have failed to keep higher level board members here for a long time for various reasons, so why are we chasing this guy away? We should be asking questions about his study habits, his planning, and organizational skills that got him to where he is today. He is a serial entrepreneur, so I imagine his mind set is a little different than the majority of the board.

Just cause he disrupted views of what a masters program is should not have our panties in a bunch. Lets own Sh1t together and set are own goals and be happy.


I'm ranting so sorry about the typo's and grammar.

Iristheangel

Usually when someone posts about graduating, it's supposed to be a congratulatory post. It's going to really suck if this guy's thread gets locked because everyone is poo-pooing the length of time it took him to finish his degree and if it was me, I wouldn't want to stay on a forum that flames me on one of my first posts. Let the guy have his day and congratulate him. I think from what he's described about himself, we can all agree that he's pretty technical and has some great experience to add. It's not like dumped 5 CCNPs in a month. What people seem to be worried about is the value of the degree overall and that should be a separate thread. Let this guy enjoy his successes.

TediousOne

This is extremely inspiring. Thanks DonDeal for the thread start.
I'll be starting at WGU for the BS in IT Security later this year/early next, and reading through the thread really boosted my motivation. Tips on studying would be appreciated too.

I could see why some would question the 4 months thing, but as someone pointed out earlier, the employer would need WGU explained to them(Competency units as opposed to credit hours). People might be stuck in the 2/4/6 year degree mindset. IMO, if an employer looks at the papers(certs or degrees) and perhaps time spent on them without properly testing the applicant themselves, they're going to have some problems..

Congratulations by the way!

iBrokeIT

You would think the "well that's not how Masters degrees have been done for last century so it isn't respectable" attitude wouldn't exist around here but I guess not.

What's the difference if he works 4 months straight with 8-16 hour days on the material vs 2 years broken up by 4 month summer vacations, 1 month Christmas vacations, Spring Break ect.. there is a lot of down time and time away from school. The point of getting a degree is to prove you are educated in that field.

How you gained that knowledge should be irrelevant - filling seat time with periods of inactivity and getting lectured at for 4 semesters vs sitting at home and reading and studying for 4 months straight - as long as the knowledge you gained is tested to standards. Not everyone learns at the same pace and this is certainly on the extreme end of fast.

Cisc0kidd

TediousOne wrote: »

This is extremely inspiring. Thanks DonDeal for the thread start.
I'll be starting at WGU for the BS in IT Security later this year/early next, and reading through the thread really boosted my motivation. Tips on studying would be appreciated too.

I could see why some would question the 4 months thing, but as someone pointed out earlier, the employer would need WGU explained to them(Competency units as opposed to credit hours). People might be stuck in the 2/4/6 year degree mindset. IMO, if an employer looks at the papers(certs or degrees) and perhaps time spent on them without properly testing the applicant themselves, they're going to have some problems..

Congratulations by the way!

Exactly. WGU is all about the competency model. If you can prove you have the knowledge you get the credit and move on. Very few schools in this country operate on this philosophy. How incredibly inspiring and empowering! ;

DonDeal

WGU = At your own pace

Traditional model = Weekly assignments, weekly discussions, midterms, and finals that drag courses out for 4 to 5 months which ultimately takes years.

The President and Vice President have been touting WGU's competency based model. Other universities are beginning to catch on, as well. WGU is the #1 rated university in the entire country for preparing teachers to teach our nation's kids. Out of thousands of schools, WGU outranked all teacher preparation programs in the entire country. This is unrelated to the MSISA, but it's a serious boost to WGU's competency based learning that is used in all of their programs. People don't like change, but WGU is gaining traction. Brick and mortar universities were forced to change to allow online courses. They might be forced again. WGU has over 46k students, non-profit, and their getting endorsements from government and private organizations.

People that finish the MSISA in 1 term are probably in the extreme minority of graduates.

gadav478

Congrats, OP.

WGU = accelerated. I'm not mad at ya

zecchino1

Thank you for removing any question I had in my mind as to whether Western Governors University was a degree mill. 4 months, I really hope for thier sake this is a bogus post because if this is the norm, I guess I know where to go if I ever need to buy a degree...

mokaiba

DonDeal wrote: »

I might sound insane but I've been studying 8-16 hours a day since the start of the year

Youre not insane. Ive been working on the BSIT Security from WGU since I decided to get into IT full-time (I was in the financial sector for awhile after the military). I started 06/2013 and will finish 04/2015 (1 year 10 months). Since 06/2013, I have worked full time 3rd shift (11pm to 7am (I work from home, so I also study 2-4 hours while working, if I get the chance)), study from 7a to 3pm, sleep at 4pm, and wake up at 10pm. That is 10 - 12 hours a day of studying for 430+ days so far.


EDIT: for perspective

ASU semester is 105 days. Lets assume you go to class six hours a day and study for another six every day.
You do this for four years to get your BS in whatever.
--> 420 days (roughly 60 weeks).

Typically there are 53 weeks in a year. That 420 days is roughly 1 year 7 weeks.

~ ASU: 1 year 7 weeks for BS (ignores gaps between semesters) | time spent = 4 years
~ WGU: 1 year 10 months for BS | time spent = 1 year 10 months

It is actually faster to go to ASU for a degree when only comparing time spent on courses (if you ignore the massive gaps between semesters), however, you have to deal with other people, participation points (retarded concept), and a bunch of other stupid ****. However, the main difference for ASU BSIT and WGU BSIT is that the WGU one helps you earn industry certifications. ASU does not...you have to get them after your BSIT.

iBrokeIT

zecchino1 wrote: »

Thank you for removing any question I had in my mind as to whether Western Governors University was a degree mill. 4 months, I really hope for thier sake this is a bogus post because if this is the norm, I guess I know where to go if I ever need to buy a degree...

Clearly a t.r.o.l.l. with nothing of value to say

mokaiba

zecchino1 wrote: »

Thank you for removing any question I had in my mind as to whether Western Governors University was a degree mill. 4 months, I really hope for thier sake this is a bogus post because if this is the norm, I guess I know where to go if I ever need to buy a degree...

wgu is not a degree mill. degree mills are not financially supported by dept of ed and state gov'ts. However, it is an 'at your own pace' college. They set you up with 3-4 courses (12 credits worth like a normal college) and expect you to finish that in the six month term. However, you can fast track after the 12 credit. If you are dedicated enough, you can easily complete 30 credits in six months. wgu is not for everybody though. it is not easy to keep up that pace and dedication. You have to be smart enough to do well enough to get through that many credits and also have the motivation to not get side tracked.

PsychoData91

zecchino1 wrote: »

if this is the norm, I guess I know where to go if I ever need to buy a degree...

If you don't understand the OPs drive and ability to run through material that normal universities spread out over months or understand waiting around for the instructor to open new assignments, then this program is not for you; you don't understand the way they work - don't talk about things you don't understand unless you want people making fun of you

Also, def not a degree mill

tprice5

Oct 1. start date. Currently reading through 'Essentials of System Analysis and Designs, 5th ed.' It's a reeeaall snooze fest. Kind of bumming me out, actually.

On the plus side though, my OneNote doc is on point.

aspiringsoul

DonDeal,

That is an incredible accomplishment. Congratulations! I am starting the MS:ISA on September 1st, and I doubt that I will be able to break the one year mark, although I'm aiming for 1.5 years (while also focusing on certifications).

I can understand how this might throw some red flags when you tell an employer who is not familiar with WGU or competency based education. It's just not possible to earn a Master's degree in 4 months any where else, and as a result your achievement may be met with negativity from people who are not familiar with competency based education. If I were a potential employer, I would be delighted to employ a candidate who was dedicated enough to complete 2 years worth of tasks in only 4 months...

Unlike other institutions, WGU doesn't care how much time you spend in a class room, or doing assignments, they only care about you demonstrating your competency in the required subjects. I think this educational model will be more widely recognized and respected in the future (although WGU is one of the more highly respected schools among online schools already).

Good luck to you on your future endeavors.

ira.a

Was searching for other info, and came across this thread.

I think what you did was not only awesome, but incredibly relevant. I don't think it cheapens the degree at all. It took me FOREVER to get my Bachelor's from a B&M college. Does that make it worth a whole lot? No. It's not even the major, it was the material and lack of preparation given by the college to prepare it's students to enter the field. (Some departments were better, mine was not.) Really wish I'd followed your model that you used to get your Bachelor's. I'd have finished a lot sooner and it would've saved me a lot of heart ache.

I've found a few career hacks in my life. Got called some ugly names when people found out, and, as others have stated, brushed it off as people that were jealous and didn't understand the system well enough to work it.

FYI, there's a huge difference between cheating and playing the rules for what they are. Everyone will swear you're exposing the system, when the truth is that you've just found an exploit.

CCIE Wanna Be

DonDeal... You're a rockstar and an inspiration to us all. I wish I had the motivation and dedication to do what you have done. It pains me that some among us wish to apply this arbitrary construct of B&M style education to the online, self-paced learning style implemented at WGU (It keeps us from moving forward). There are a lot of brick and mortar colleges creating accelerated online programs, don't really see it happening the other way around.

Just keep on doing "you" and let the rest of the world catch up!

Iris...

I'm still reading through your cert list, you're a rockstar in my book too!

matai

Congrats OP!!! I just finished my WGU Bachelor of Science IT Security last Friday morning. WGU won't let me start the MSISA program until May. Also, I just found out that my wife is pregnant and due with our 2nd child August 17th.

I think I'm going to try to study up on the CEH certs prior to starting, but besides that, do you have any tips for moving through the program quickly? I'm hoping they open the program up to me early so I can get started.

earonw49

Don, I tip my hat off to you!

I pray blessings and progression to your life and your career. I start my BSIT: Security in Feb!

njfaisal

I started in December 2013 and finished my course work in 3 months. I entered the program with a CISSP, and chose to pay for the CEH and CHFI vouchers from out of pocket after enrollment to speed things up. I enrolled into MBA program afterwards and was close to finishing in 3 months, but I was offered a full scholarship from NYU Stern. I felt that the WGU MBA assignments were very practical, and great for motivated self learners. I got the same scrutiny regarding finishing the program so quickly. One thing that came out of the WGU taskstream tasks, is that I figured I had a natural talent for writing, which I did not realize during my previous B&M experience in engineering school. In fact, I took my WGU capstone and recently published a book on Information Security Management.

instant000

1. Congrats. You have an inspirational story.

2. You mentioned testing out of your Bachelors. Was that at one of the Big Three (COSC/TESC/Excelsior)?

3. I haven't been keeping up, but feel free to connect on LinkedIn if you get the chance. I like connecting to fellow Night Owls or Tech-Exam-ers.

Other topics in this thread:

As far as private employers, WGU is accepted. Whether or not people realize it, there are hiring managers out there with WGU degrees who will notice you. Anecdotal evidence: one reached out to my wife, and another reached out to me.

Whether the degree should be called a Master of Professional Studies or Master of Science is probably a topic for another thread.

Cheers.

Toney_1819

DonDeal, like you, I'm self-taught and highly motivated, I know it's doable! Great Job!

nster

@DonDeal

WOW, congratulations! I also was skeptic at first when reading the OP, but my doubts quickly vanished when reading your other posts. First, you sooooooo undersold your IT experience. That 7 years you did gave you more experience that a great majority of traditional jobs.

So not only was your experience awesomesauce, your learning capabilities seem really extraordinary as well, and your commitment is incredible. To be able to put that many hours in studying is quite something.

I understand why there has been negativity, the average person cannot get your experience in only 7 years, the average person cannot be as motivated as you or have as much time as you, you seem to be in love with IT to a level that many aren't, and your learning capabilities are better than most. It's hard for many to even imagine the effort you did or the knowledge you have.

Thank you for your story and thank you WGU for letting people like you be able to prove themselves at their pace. If you seriously think that this program is too easy, try it for yourselves and you'll be in for a surprise

PC509

First off - congratulations!

Second - I can see why people are skeptical. A MS in 4 months?! That sounds too good to be true! It really does. So, we're looking for the catch. Especially with the lack of personal details in the first post. Once you clarified a few things - experience and free time to study - it looks a lot better. It looks obtainable. But, for most of us, we took what you posted in the first post and compared it to ourselves - less free time to study, a family, a daily job. Then, that 4 months looks almost impossible. So, I don't think the bad posts were due to disbelief or negativity. Just not understanding the circumstances.

Again - congratulations! I'd love to get mine in 4 months, but I don't have the spare time to do it. So, I'm going for a 1 year plan!