WGU MSISA - Start Date 1-1-16

So I was a bit on the fence of when I was going to start my Master's. Initially, I was going to wait a while and focus more on certs, but once I saw that they offered the CEH and CHFI, I was a little intrigued. Then once I saw how much I'd have to start paying in student loans, I decided hey why not? Those are two certs I wanted to try to get anyway, although I'm not sure how it'll work out with the experience requirements for the CEH since I have two years of IT experience but not directly security related.

Either way, I'm excited. Hopefully I can complete it in two terms, but no more than three. I thought this program was the best one since I plan on getting into infosec within the next year and it's the most interesting program by far. I don't see many jobs yet asking for a Masters, but definitely can't hurt and should only help me in the long run.

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Comments

cyberguypr

Obligatory "best of luck with VLT2" post. If you have any questions at any point feel free to ask.

markulous

Is that Vulnerability Assessment? My plan hasn't loaded so I'm not sure which course that is. I appreciate it though, I'll PM you when I'm about to jump on that one.

GSXR750K2

Looks like it's "VUT2" for Vulnerability Assessment.

Here's the COS/Assessment info (log into WGU first)...

https://cos.wgu.edu/courses/for/VUT2

markulous

I didn't even realize I still had access to classes. So they just remove the links but we can access them by URL? Seems like a bit of a flaw.

GSXR750K2

I've found and reported a few flaws in WGU's setup. They have yet to fix a big one...I can add/remove items to/from the "Learning Resources" tab of any course without ever needing to authenticate into anything first...for example, Elementary Math as a Vulnerability Assessment resource...

Ironic, eh?

flaw.jpg

markulous

Wow. That's pretty bad. I'm glad it's nothing that really affects my degree though.

GSXR750K2

LOL, yea, I think there are some private info laws that necessitate that being locked down a little more.

Good luck on the program, I'm hoping to hear back on Monday so I can start 01/01 on the MSITM program (Tuesday is the deadline for a January start).

Dakinggamer87

Good luck buddy!! I'm looking forward to doing our degrees simultaneously. I can't wait to start my Master's as well in IT Management.

markulous

Same here. You'll have to make a thread at some point here so we can all track your progress too.

Dakinggamer87

markulous wrote: »

Same here. You'll have to make a thread at some point here so we can all track your progress too.

I most definitely will be creating a thread to track my progress.

tmurphy3100

GSXR750K2 wrote: »

LOL, yea, I think there are some private info laws that necessitate that being locked down a little more.

Good luck on the program, I'm hoping to hear back on Monday so I can start 01/01 on the MSITM program (Tuesday is the deadline for a January start).

I still have a week of my BS program at Strayer. Should I try to contact someone from WGU (again) and maybe send over my transcript so far?

I want to do the MSISA program as well. Are there certain start dates?

Also my degree is in Information Systems Cyber Security Management, do you think I will need a CCNA before attending WGU?

markulous

GSXR750K2 wrote: »

LOL, yea, I think there are some private info laws that necessitate that being locked down a little more.

Good luck on the program, I'm hoping to hear back on Monday so I can start 01/01 on the MSITM program (Tuesday is the deadline for a January start).

Thanks! Good luck to you too.

Dakinggamer87

GSXR750K2 wrote: »

LOL, yea, I think there are some private info laws that necessitate that being locked down a little more.

Good luck on the program, I'm hoping to hear back on Monday so I can start 01/01 on the MSITM program (Tuesday is the deadline for a January start).

Good luck to you!!

markulous

Just talked to my mentor. Looks like they start people in both the MSISA and MSITM with the same courses (typically). So my first 3 classes will be:

LYT2 (Current and Emerging Technology)
TFT2 (Cyberlaw, Regulations, and Compliance)
JIT2 (Risk Management)

Looking at ratbuddy's thread, they seem fairly easy courses as long as I follow the rubric.

markulous

Ugh...and...here...we...go.

First submission to Crapstream for LYT2:
[x] Denied
[x] Vague Feedback
[ ] Idea of where to go next

jeremywatts2005

Funny I came across this thread. I am supposed to start in Feb in the MSISA program at WGU. Figured why not my employer pays $5200 a year for tuition. For some reason they will not pay for bootcamps or certification vouchers. They only pay for a cert if you take it and pass. So I thought well the CHFI and CEH are included in the course why not use that money for tuition and get a cert with it. I already hold a MSM Infosec and an MSDFS. This will be my third Master's degrees and I have a been in the field since 1998. The courses do not seem like a lot to me. Just have to use that money up my company is giving me. I was in a doctorate program and close to completion but the cost kept going up and now my tuition assistance barely will pay for a quarter of courses at Capella. I have to take all student loans after that. I do not need more student loan debt I already have a nice mortgage payment monthly for the ones I have now.

markulous

If I have to do this after every submission, I am going to be ticked off. I submitted a "Care Request" so that I can interpret what Taskstream asked and get some better feedback. The guy I spoke with said that he can't evaluate content and basically had no ideas what they were saying. He also said these evaluators are not technical, nor do they have course level knowledge of what they are grading. So basically they try to interpret the rubric and then try to interpret what I'm saying, which seems pretty inefficient if you ask me. My course mentor couldn't give further detail or give me a submitted paper to use as an example.

My only hope is the course mentor who I just emailed. Otherwise, I guess I just start making changes to the paper; basically throwing poo at the wall until it sticks.

plopbangcrash

Anyone accessed taskstream prior to enrolling to the MS:ISA or know anywhere to look at the tasks to compare to the Course of Studies ? I'm interested in the MS:ISA but would be interested to see what the tasks for the courses are like first.

CyberSecurity

markulous wrote: »

basically throwing poo at the wall until it sticks.

Seems that even after tons of complaints on the grading structure, they still haven't changed the method.

markulous

Pretty much.

The graders need to deliver better feedback, period. If that means they need to get qualified people that have course-level knowledge for what they are grading, then do that. If it means the grader needs to communicate with the student directly via email or phone, then do that.

This is really the biggest complaint I have about the school.

markulous

Yay. Another rejection for the very first task. Feels like this is what the Taskstream office looks like:

GSXR750K2

I've only had one sent back so far, but I always put "If task is sent back for revision, please indicate where I sucked", or something to that effect, in the submission comments. Just asking to be thorough, are you just looking in the overall comments, or also the comments under each of the criteria? One is VERY vague, the others have much more info (at least with mine it did).

I had TFT2 Task 2 sent back because I didn't think all the way through the problem (probably due to me juggling tasks) and in the overall comments it just says, "The document's preventative policies need further development."

But, in the "Policy Statements" section of the full report I got this...

(NOTE: The [redacted] areas are in case the WGU police see this and say I'm sharing part of my work)

"The first recommendation develops a good general account policy. The recommendation starts to develop a preventive feature by including the [redacted]. Further develop to fit the timeline in the scenario and to include an action associated with the [redacted]. The second recommendation includes a [redacted] established in the scenario and a required action to prevent further violation of the policy. This is an excellent preventive policy. The third recommendation develops a [redacted]; however, this is not preventative. The recommendation requires further development of a feature that will prevent a security concern in the scenario."

He/She pretty much told me where to focus on, and after I spent about 10 minutes tweaking I resubmitted and it was good.

goatama

@markulous - Hit me up with a PM if you want some help with the LYT first task. I got it kicked back twice as well before I got what they were looking for. Let me know what their "feedback" was and I'll see if I can relate it to the rubric.

markulous

LYT2 all done. Took much longer than it should have...

Off to Risk Management.

For anyone else trying to complete this. Repeat yourself multiple times using the exact words they use in the rubric and RFP. Also use bullet points to answer the rubric. These guys love bullet points.

PJ_Sneakers

Just completed the Capstone for my BSIT. Yes, TaskStream evaluators LOVE THEM some lists. If the rubric says anything that remotely sounds like a list, I put it in a list.

Goals? Numbered list. Objectives? Bullet list. I also bolded words that matched the different sections of the rubric. Worked pretty well throughout my short stint at WGU.

So that leads me to my question:

How do you like the MS program so far? I'm contemplating going back for the MS after I take a break to catch my breath. (Although the past few days without having anything to study has been really, really weird.)

markulous

PJ_Sneakers wrote: »

Just completed the Capstone for my BSIT. Yes, TaskStream evaluators LOVE THEM some lists. If the rubric says anything that remotely sounds like a list, I put it in a list.

Goals? Numbered list. Objectives? Bullet list. I also bolded words that matched the different sections of the rubric. Worked pretty well throughout my short stint at WGU.

So that leads me to my question:

How do you like the MS program so far? I'm contemplating going back for the MS after I take a break to catch my breath. (Although the past few days without having anything to study has been really, really weird.)

Congrats on the BSIT!

Lol, you summed it up pretty well. That's the biggest downside so far, is that all but two (I think) of the classes are graded by taskstream. But getting the CEH and CHFI is nice and having a MSISA to put on my resume will be even sweeter.

PJ_Sneakers

So are all of the classes graded by performance objectives? Or are there more proctored exams? (Besides the ECC stuff)

markulous

If there's any proctored exams, there's only one (minus the ECC stuff) I think and it'd be an at home test. Otherwise I think everything goes through Taskscream.

PJ_Sneakers

OK. So I have made the decision (barring any objections from the President & CEO) to enroll in the MSCIA probably starting April.

How was the flexibility in planning class order? I'd like to get the ECC's out of the way first to kind of get my mind right, and put Security Policies and Standards closer to the beginning of a second or tertiary term to give me more time with it (since everyone says this is the worst one in TaskStream).

markulous

I just took the default suggestion. If you push for the ECC certs they may give them to you, I'm not sure though.