WGU, so.. hitting the wall...

Chitownjedi

Hey all..

I've been at WGU a month now.. Fortunately and unfortunately, I transferred in pretty much all the technical courses I would have had to take and I am faced with 53cu' overall. Here is the issue:

10-15 courses have really nothing to do with IT Skills and theory. I've already passed 4 CU's, and thought I could do 3 classes the first month (all business related that my mentor "pushed" me to take for for SAP,) however I am finding it very difficult to get through this mess.

The real issue is is that so far I've spent a month on stuff I will toss aside and has not helped me refine my skills or learn more. And I believe that there are only 2 courses (Scripting and Databases) that will actually assist me as I wanted to learn a little more about that on my own anyway...however I have pluralsight and tons of books that I could use to learn that stuff right now...and I could immediately go to finishing up my CCNP and then pursue the CISSP and OSCP for the eventual Network and Security roles I want to eventually be considered for.

I'm wondering if it's worth it to finish the B.S degree and spend the next 5 months taking non-IT classes and hoping I can finish up in 1 semester, or just drop and refocus on actual knowledge accumulation and labbing while at home and work. I already have 8 years of IT experience, and 1/3 of the CCNP finished, MCSA 2012, CCNA Sec/CCNA, and lots of Microsoft stuff....

I wanted the Masters, but got paranoid and figured that I might be best getting an IT security B.S to make my Masters look "more solid?" <<< I'm paranoid... However, this B.S content literally is not going to help me do anything but put a second check mark into the Bachelors box, and I don't know how worth that is compared to spending the next 5 to 11 months just focusing on concentrated material. If I withdraw, I will not be able to go back to WGU.... However, right now, I really don't care as if I find good employment that will reimburse, pursuing a Masters from there once I have accumulated the items listed above may be more appealing. I do not plan on getting into Management, nor becoming an Exec... and from what I hear people say the MSISA isn't terribly difficult and or challenging either... I want to put myself in the best position, but I also want to be challenge.. If I am not challenged or find the material exciting then I tend to feel very disinterested, and while I thought my enthusiasm would carry me.. it's getting rough.

whotime

If you do not currently have a degree then yes I would say knock out the 53 cu in 1 term if you can and then go for your masters. if you knock out 45cu and then the remaining next semester you can fast track into the master degree too.

NotHackingYou

Stay the course and knock it out. I dreaded some of the general studies courses too. It was only after I graduated and took some time to reflect on my studies that I really discovered the value of these courses. They are worth a lot more than you think. It takes more than tech skills.

anoeljr

Interesting dilemma. Since you already have a bachelors, I don't think you should worry about getting the security B.S. Use this time to focus on the certs you want to take and then go for the masters in security later. I don't think the second bachelors will really do anything extra for you.

ratbuddy

Remember why you signed up in the first place.. The IT-Security degree is a great achievement, and once you power through it, you'll be glad you did.

No one likes to take courses that aren't directly relevant to our chosen career, but if you put your mind to it, you can learn something useful from any class. Even if it's just a new study technique or a way of dealing with boredom, you'll get something out of it if you try.

Carl put it well, 'stay the course!' from me as well.

kiki162

Yes, it's worth completing ANY degree. One thing I want to mention is to wait on your Masters for a bit, and complete your certs instead. Masters will take you more into writing papers than anything, and may overwhelm you. I completed understand about getting bored quickly, as a lot of us here are in the same boat. Once you get your BS, it will look good for future positions that you apply for. If you feel you aren't being chal. enough at WGU, then find another college to get into. One step at a time...and not all at once. Sounds like you are in a rush.

markulous

Well since you already decided to do this for a valid reason, I would definitely truck through it.

As someone who is about to graduate WGU, I completely understand how difficult it can be to take on classes that seems irrelevant to your job.

What is your study process on these things? For anything with an exam, I would take the preassessment right off the bat. If you get a good enough score, then take the exam and you don't even have to study. If you don't get a good score, then just focus on the weak areas outlined in the coaching report.

Looks like you've only been enrolled for about a month, so I'd at the very least complete this term since it's already paid for at see where you're at then. This can be one of those things though that if you keep putting it off it'll never get done.

EngRob

As others have said, stick with it. You'll regret it someday if you give up with so little time left.

On a side note, feel free to PM me if you need someone to vent with about the non-IT classes. I'm now in my 4th term of WGU IT-Security having only transferred in the CIW foundations cert. I'm not in a similar situation in that I have all my non-IT classes to go to finish up (53 CU's left), except for CCNA Security Cert and Database. It's not very interesting but i'm trying to get through it.

srabiee

What is your existing bachelors degree?

Chitownjedi

srabiee wrote: »

What is your existing bachelors degree?

Fiction Writing...

Womp womp.

Chitownjedi

markulous wrote: »

Well since you already decided to do this for a valid reason, I would definitely truck through it.

As someone who is about to graduate WGU, I completely understand how difficult it can be to take on classes that seems irrelevant to your job.

What is your study process on these things? For anything with an exam, I would take the preassessment right off the bat. If you get a good enough score, then take the exam and you don't even have to study. If you don't get a good score, then just focus on the weak areas outlined in the coaching report.

Looks like you've only been enrolled for about a month, so I'd at the very least complete this term since it's already paid for at see where you're at then. This can be one of those things though that if you keep putting it off it'll never get done.

So far I do a pre-assessment, then go through all modules and take notes. I check coaching report and then do extra review on weak areas then take second pre-assessment. The first time that process took about 2 weeks... however it was more so that I just didn't find the content that appealing.

Now i'm doing Principles of Management, and If I see another module talking about Apple and Starbucks or Will i am or some other random person who did something I think I'm going to scream.

I may try to at least get SAP% which I should be able to finish this month and just spend the extra time doing what I wanted...

anoeljr

A guy I work with has a bachelors in Physical Education and he's a systems engineer. I really don't think another bachelors is necessary for you. And you've been in the field a long time and you've probably picked up much of the non-IT stuff along the way.

markulous

Chitownjedi wrote: »

So far I do a pre-assessment, then go through all modules and take notes. I check coaching report and then do extra review on weak areas then take second pre-assessment. The first time that process took about 2 weeks... however it was more so that I just didn't find the content that appealing.

Now i'm doing Principles of Management, and If I see another module talking about Apple and Starbucks or Will i am or some other random person who did something I think I'm going to scream.

I may try to at least get SAP% which I should be able to finish this month and just spend the extra time doing what I wanted...

Are you skimming or reading every bit of every module? With those management classes, I skimmed quite a bit as I thought a lot of the questions were fairly easy. Especially since it's an inhouse test, I try to learn just enough to pass the pre-assessment then get the test ASAP. If you fail the first time, it's no biggie and doesn't really set you back much as you'll get another coaching report for that.

Chitownjedi

@makulous, I've been reading every last word... I may just try to shortcut it a bit... I've passed both pre-assements I've taken so far by 20% above cut, but I wanted to cover the material to give it a fair shot, and it's just not worth the extra time and effort I believe...It may be better to give your method a better shot for now.

markulous

Yeah, you're way overkilling it, which is causing you to get burnt out. With a cert that you are studying for that really will integrate with your job, then absolutely go balls to the wall with it and learn the ins and outs, but for any other course in WGU, my personal goal has always been study just enough to pass since you pay for blocks of time and not per class.

dark3d

You should take markulous up on his advice. This process works if you are not interested in the material. (You will learn something regardless if you are interested or not.)

I'm taking the 'accelerated' fact to the extreme, but I'm missing out on job opportunities because I don't have a degree. I can study what *I* want after I'm done.

eansdad

If you have a BS degree and a ton of certs why didn't your press for the MS degree at WGU? That would have been a better path.

Chitownjedi

eansdad wrote: »

If you have a BS degree and a ton of certs why didn't your press for the MS degree at WGU? That would have been a better path.

My degree is in writing, and I am not in a rush so I thought if I took 6 months to get another B.S in IT Security and then got Masters, it would give me a leg up, and round out my IT background more. Something about having a B.A In Creative Writing, then MSISA always made me feel like it leave room for questions that I didn't really want to have to answer.

It was silly, but I'm just going to push through and give it another shot as I do still believe having B.S in It Security and Masters would be stronger than the Writing B.A and MSISA... I'm all about leaving no holes for anyone to short change me... but think I might have over reached a bit with my paranoia..

Everyone's advise was great and helped me gain much more perspective. I thank everyone.