Hiya. Some of you may remember me from my old BSIT:Software thread,
http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/94513-wgu-bs-software-starting-nov-1st-2013-a.html
Since then, I've also finished the BS:Accounting program with WGU. I started my most recent term on May 1st, and finished the last 20 CU a few days ago. That leaves five months in the term to accelerate into another program. I started speaking to enrollment counselors from the IT and business schools, and things didn't quite go as planned:
I wanted the MBA: IT Management, but you need three years of IT experience, and I only have ~nine months. The generic MBA requires three years of business experience, also a no-go. The MS:Accounting program is still in the testing phase of rollout, so it only accepts new students, no acceleration or transfers from other programs.
Finally, we come to the the MS:Information Security and Assurance.. I wanted to get this one after I finished an advanced business degree. It's not that I'm not interested in security, because I am. I just wanted to continue on to an advanced business degree while the accounting material is fresh in my mind. Now, the MSISA will be the first advanced degree I go for, because I can actually get into the program. Not right away, I need to rock out a CCNA (or CASP, not interested in more CompTIA though) to qualify for admission.
I started studying for the CCNA last Friday, and I'll be scheduling the exam for some time next week, maybe Friday. I'm going for the combined (200-120) exam, since it's half the number of questions and time. So far, most of the material is basically review stuff from Network+. I'm diving into the Cisco-proprietary material tonight, and I'll be labbing with GNS3. Should be fun. Worst case, if I really want to use real Cisco gear, we have some spare stuff at work. I'd rather not have to buy my own lab, since CCNA is probably as far up the Cisco tree as I'm going to bark.
My goal is to finish the program in about 8 months. I want my graduation date to be in 2016 so it doesn't look like I earned two degrees in too short of a time. Since much of the degree is performance tasks (writing papers), I'll be able to pre-write stuff during this first term, then submit it during the second term. WGU doesn't let you go too nuts when you've accelerated into a second degree during a term in which you've already completed one degree. The best I can hope for is to complete 2-4 classes during the current term which ends on November 1st, but no one says I can't write all the papers for the remaining classes during the downtime following those 2-4 classes.
That said, feel free to follow along, and please don't be shy with questions - I'll do my best to answer anything I can regarding the BSIT:Software, BS:Accounting, or MS:ISA programs.
