Commencing 8/1--WGU MS-Cybersecurity and Info Assurance

yellowpad

So I have decided while I am still motivated to learn. I want to be like a number of folks here that completed under six month. YOU GUYS ARE MY INSPIRATION.

Under 6 months is my goal and would welcome tips and suggestions to aid my quest.

TIA

iBrokeIT

Don't put artificial pressure on yourself by setting extremely difficult goals, especially if you lack experience in the field. Take it one class at a time and focus on the skills they are teaching. Others may have finished early because they already had significant experience in those areas and more time available in the day to complete tasks.

Dakinggamer87

iBrokeIT wrote: »

Don't put artificial pressure on yourself by setting extremely difficult goals, especially if you lack experience in the field. Take it one class at a time and focus on the skills they are teaching. Others may have finished early because they already had significant experience in those areas and more time available in the day to complete tasks.

Agreed take the time to learn and knowledge and be able to apply it.

You want to maximize your ROI so it's great to set a goal but also some flexibility as life can change that in a second.

Good luck and keep us posted.

EnderWiggin

iBrokeIT wrote: »

Don't put artificial pressure on yourself by setting extremely difficult goals, especially if you lack experience in the field. Take it one class at a time and focus on the skills they are teaching. Others may have finished early because they already had significant experience in those areas and more time available in the day to complete tasks.

This right here. I got mine done in under six months, because I was able to dedicate around forty hours a week to schoolwork, plus I already had a fair amount of knowledge from other study endeavors. If you don't know the materials, then definitely take your time to learn them, because that's the whole point of education, to further your knowledge.

devilbones

Good luck.

yellowpad

Thank you for the advise and I will take my time to learn. My reason for the time frame is because I don't sleep much. I can sit for hours in the backyard and just read. From all indication, all of the classes seems to be really interesting for me.

PJ_Sneakers

Yellow! Give us an update.

How did you do on C688? My personal opinion is that this class blows dogs. It's awful. It's really bad. Not only is it totally kitschy, the assignments are absolutely atrocious.

usman4673

@ PJ and Yellowpad:

If you dont mind recommending a study path for prospective CSIA candidates like me, i am sure, many can benefit.

1) can you list all the 10 courses with easy to most difficult?
2) Besides the difficulty level, can you recommend the sequence to take them so one can go smoothly and make the most of one term?
3) i know, time required to spend on a course depends on ones experience, prior knowledge, and on how many quality hours one can dedicate per day or a week. Some ppl like working everyday utilizing whatever small sessions they can utilize, some like to wait and dedicate 1-2 long days of 6-8 hours and finish it once. But if we ignore experience/prior knowledge, how much time in hours do you say you invested or would recommend others per course?
4) since Cyberware has replaced crypto, it means students now have two OA, everything else is performance/writing.

I)Which course material do you suggest is the must-do for one to pass CEHv9? MAatt Walker ALL-in-one? Just a cd or a book or something else? Was CEH all MCQs or are there any drag and drops and lab simulations like Cisco exams?

II) and which material do you recommend for Forensic exam?

III) On the 8 writing courses, does one have to read all the study material recommended to complete the writing tasks of Capstream or can one copy the rubric to word and just target the specific sections and then fill the paras under rubric and submit for pass?

IV) I think one should try to complete at least 19 credit hours including CEH in the first term. This means 5 3-CU and one 4-CU CEHv9.What should be the first 3 courses to set the sail smoothly? Try to finish the first 3 in the first two months, then take one more 3-CU wroting and then start CEH in the beginning of 4th month. Use 4th & 5th for CEH and then the last 6th month for another 3-CU writing? Can you recommend these 5 writing courses in sequence? Which ones should be the first 3 and the subsequent 4th and 5th?

i think first term is the defining term. It is this term which will make or break ones dream of achieving MS. Thats why i want to plan it well.

PJ_Sneakers

1) Difficulty depends on your knowledge and abilities.
2) Do what your mentor recommends.
3) As much time as you can possibly allocate.
4) Total of four proctored exams, including CEH and CHFI.

I) You will get materials with your course. It is all MC.
II) You will get materials with your course.
III) If you explain your answers appropriately and it matches the requirements of the rubric you should be OK.
IV) Do what your mentor recommends and accelerate if you have enough time left. Just worry about getting the minimum for the term done and then take on extra classes.

yellowpad

I haven't been here much due to work, studying, and writing every minute I can. As an update to ya'll, I have five more classes to go..........VLT2, ethical hacking, forensics, disaster recovery, and capstone project. I would like to finish this year.........but I have my doubt. However, I am going to try my best!!!!!!

jamesleecoleman

I would like to get done in six months but it might be a year. Some of the stuff is just review of things that I've learned so far.... in my undergrad degree. It'll be fun though and maybe we can have a study group to bounce ideas off of.

yellowpad

I planned for a 6 mon the to complete...but in reality, there Re more studying and tasks than I anticipated. BUT I am learning a lot. Moreover, I thought I have 6 months but in eality I don't. I started 8/1 and ending 12/13 to pick my last class. That is barely 5 months. Hmmmm. So far, I am only 50% done. I cannot finish this in one term.

jamesleecoleman wrote: »

I would like to get done in six months but it might be a year. Some of the stuff is just review of things that I've learned so far.... in my undergrad degree. It'll be fun though and maybe we can have a study group to bounce ideas off of.

usman4673

PJ_Sneakers wrote: »

Yellow! Give us an update.

How did you do on C688? My personal opinion is that this class blows dogs. It's awful. It's really bad. Not only is it totally kitschy, the assignments are absolutely atrocious.

I am about to start 12/1/2016. I was hoping c688 Cyberwarfare to be relatively easier, being the first one. But you are sharing a different story. Any tips/advice to pass this course on the first try?

jamesleecoleman

yellowpad wrote: »

I planned for a 6 mon the to complete...but in reality, there Re more studying and tasks than I anticipated. BUT I am learning a lot. Moreover, I thought I have 6 months but in eality I don't. I started 8/1 and ending 12/13 to pick my last class. That is barely 5 months. Hmmmm. So far, I am only 50% done. I cannot finish this in one term.

If I can push stuff through fast enough and learn what I can learn, it'll be awesome to be done in a year. Most of the stuff is review, which is nice.

yellowpad

check you PM...

usman4673 wrote: »

I am about to start 12/1/2016. I was hoping c688 Cyberwarfare to be relatively easier, being the first one. But you are sharing a different story. Any tips/advice to pass this course on the first try?

yellowpad

I thought the same thing about the "review" part, but these courses kicked my ass a few times. I shifted to 5th gear and found my bedtime is between 2-3am just to wake up at 6am to work. But I must admit....I learned a lot by researching, reading, and investigating for answers to ONE question at time. I am now on my 6th course.....and slowing keeping pace.

jamesleecoleman wrote: »

If I can push stuff through fast enough and learn what I can learn, it'll be awesome to be done in a year. Most of the stuff is review, which is nice.

PJ_Sneakers

usman4673 wrote: »

I am about to start 12/1/2016. I was hoping c688 Cyberwarfare to be relatively easier, being the first one. But you are sharing a different story. Any tips/advice to pass this course on the first try?

I promise it's not that hard if you put your mind to it and stick to the rubric. The assignments start with a theme and end without one, I'll just say that. Don't think too much about the fiction you wrote for task 1 in task 3.

jamesleecoleman

PJ_Sneakers is right about C688 Cyberwarfare..
Task 1 was a caused a little bit of trouble for me because I didn't use a scholarly resource for the evolution of cyberwarfare. I found an article that wasn't really related to what I wrote but because the article was super broad about stuff, it worked out and the assignment was accepted.

I'm trying to finish up task 2 by tomorrow and task 3 by the end of this week.

jamesleecoleman

yellowpad wrote: »

I thought the same thing about the "review" part, but these courses kicked my ass a few times. I shifted to 5th gear and found my bedtime is between 2-3am just to wake up at 6am to work. But I must admit....I learned a lot by researching, reading, and investigating for answers to ONE question at time. I am now on my 6th course.....and slowing keeping pace.

Yea, I've been learning a bit too. I'm trying to not be up early in the morning lol but it might happen from time to time but on the weekend. I see myself starting the Secure Network Design class in about two weeks or less. A lot of that is review but I've been learning a little bit. It really shows how much has passed since I've been out of the MSIA program. Hopefully I can start doing more security stuff at work in a month or two so I can start keeping up on this stuff instead of only at home.

yellowpad

Just to add to the injury and frustration, my boss came in the morning with a few CISSP book and said to have fun. Maybe he is giving me a clue for something.............but I am pretending to be clueless I need to finish my study first. lolz

jamesleecoleman wrote: »

Yea, I've been learning a bit too. I'm trying to not be up early in the morning lol but it might happen from time to time but on the weekend. I see myself starting the Secure Network Design class in about two weeks or less. A lot of that is review but I've been learning a little bit. It really shows how much has passed since I've been out of the MSIA program. Hopefully I can start doing more security stuff at work in a month or two so I can start keeping up on this stuff instead of only at home.

jamesleecoleman

Thats great yellowpad!
Well studying for the MSCIA is kinda sorta covering the CISSP domains. I've been getting hints that I should be studying for the CISSP but I have about a year and seven months before I can even qualify fully for the certification. Been working on the SSCP at the moment. I don't want to be an "Associate".

yellowpad

Hello all....I haven't been here much and I am sure you know why. lolz The damn program is a little harder than I thought. I was planning on finishing in one term, but I just could not make it happen. At this present time, I have three classes left...CHFI, Disaster Recovery, and the Capstone. ....Almost there

PJ_Sneakers

Not bad! You can do that in one term!

yellowpad

Negative...impossible for me to complete in one term. I am stretching out to the 2nd term. The program is harder than I thought and it requires a lot of reading on my part. However, I am learning a lot. I just cannot wait to get that piece of paper to hang on the wall.

PJ_Sneakers wrote: »

Not bad! You can do that in one term!

PJ_Sneakers

Oh, I gotcha. What I meant was those three: CHFI, DR, and Capstone are doable in one term. Which would be your second term. Which is what you're doing. lol

markulous

CHFI you shouldn't have any issues with. Disaster Recovery was awful simply because of the graders. Had to bounce back tasks 1 and 2 so many times.

yellowpad

Tips please. I am working ahead on all three task now. What can I do or what is the grader looking for?

Also, how was the capstone? Was the presentation scary? Do they ask alot of questions?

markulous wrote: »

CHFI you shouldn't have any issues with. Disaster Recovery was awful simply because of the graders. Had to bounce back tasks 1 and 2 so many times.

PJ_Sneakers

Hey, one of the guys in my WGU progress thread made a great post about the capstone you might want to check out. It had some pretty good tips in it. I can't remember his name, but you'll know it when you see it. It was pretty recent.

EnderWiggin

The Capstone presentation was a breeze. You just talk for fifteen minutes about your project over the phone while clicking through a slideshow. I was asked no questions at the end of mine, just be sure to cover everything in your presentation, and they won't need to ask anything.

yellowpad

Over the phone? They are not doing it over webcam? Whoa ..nice. how about the disaster recovery class?

PJ...thanks, I will search.

EnderWiggin wrote: »

The Capstone presentation was a breeze. You just talk for fifteen minutes about your project over the phone while clicking through a slideshow. I was asked no questions at the end of mine, just be sure to cover everything in your presentation, and they won't need to ask anything.

EnderWiggin

It starts off with the webcam, so they can see you are who you say you are, but after that initial verification, you can just turn off your webcam. The audio is entirely via telephone. If I'm remembering correctly, Disaster Recovery was the Powerpoint-heavy class. If so, be sure to write a solid paragraph in the speaker's notes section for each slide. And be sure to have the minimum number of slides there, they will kick it back if you're one short, despite having covered everything...