My Version of the WGU Story....

jdancer

When I preparing to take my CCNA, I took at look at other people's success and failures at CCNA / CCENT Forums

You can learn a lot from reading about other people's experience. Just make you know how to get the information you need several different ways.

jibtech

Task 3 for the Capstone is submitted to Taskstream.

As in, my Capstone is done.

Damn, that feels good!

Now, my life reverts to studying for ICND2, and stalking Taskstream every 30 seconds or so.

Blucodex

jibtech wrote: »

Task 3 for the Capstone is submitted to Taskstream.

As in, my Capstone is done.

Damn, that feels good!

Now, my life reverts to studying for ICND2, and stalking Taskstream every 30 seconds or so.

Good job man! Are you planning on attending graduation?

jibtech

Blucodex wrote: »

Good job man! Are you planning on attending graduation?

Indeed. I am planning on attending the February graduation in Orlando, and have even submitted my name to speak at graduation.

Apparently, they like to have different students speak, and they usually pick at least one who accelerated.

It would appear I qualify. /wink

Blucodex

Ok, cool. I was planning on Vegas if I go.

jibtech

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got a job offer today.



Now to get these Cisco certs done to finish my degree!

Hatch1921

Blucodex wrote: »

Ok, cool. I was planning on Vegas if I go.

You should go.... I went... excellent ceremony!


Hatch

stryder144

jibtech wrote: »

<

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got a job offer today.



Now to get these Cisco certs done to finish my degree!

Very inspiring journey, thank you for sharing. Let us know what the job is, when able.

TLeTourneau

jibtech wrote: »

<

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got a job offer today.



Now to get these Cisco certs done to finish my degree!

Congratulations!

jimmydffx

I know this sounds like a duh question but is everyone who is referring to BS IT Security referring to Network Operations and Security?

stryder144

jimmydffx wrote: »

I know this sounds like a duh question but is everyone who is referring to BS IT Security referring to Network Operations and Security?

That is the name of the revamped degree. He enrolled in the BSIT Sec degree before it changed to the current NOS version.

jimmydffx

stryder144 wrote: »

That is the name of the revamped degree. He enrolled in the BSIT Sec degree before it changed to the current NOS version.

Makes sense. I am vacillating between doing the Master's in Cyber and Info Assurance or BSIT. I know those are hugely different in some respects. I already have a Master's in an unrelated field and am switching career focus. I currently do intel work, started out in Cyber crime and now just want a broader skillset so that I'm not pigeon holed into one particular geographic area i.e. DC/Baltimore. I'll have to have a lengthier discussion with my enrollment counselor on that.

jibtech

I actively considered the CSIA degree when I started, but decided to stay with the ITSec.

1. The ITSec, and now the BSNOS, are almost more generalized. They deal with security from a more nebulous perspective. Conversely, the CSIA seems to be a bit more focused.For my goals, the ITSec made more sense. That said, I will likely go for the MSCSIA in January.

2. Keep in mind that the BSCSIA and BSNOS didn't exist at the beginning of the year. The ITSec covered both. Once the CSIA came out, they were able to more closely dial the ITSec in, and rename it to BSNOS.

3. From my perspective, CSIA is more of a red team direction. BSNOS is more of a blue team direction. I like blue team.

(Sorry if that came across a bit disjointed. Head full of ICND2, and I am struggling to communicate clearly!)

jimmydffx

jibtech wrote: »

I actively considered the CSIA degree when I started, but decided to stay with the ITSec.

1. The ITSec, and now the BSNOS, are almost more generalized. They deal with security from a more nebulous perspective. Conversely, the CSIA seems to be a bit more focused.For my goals, the ITSec made more sense. That said, I will likely go for the MSCSIA in January.

2. Keep in mind that the BSCSIA and BSNOS didn't exist at the beginning of the year. The ITSec covered both. Once the CSIA came out, they were able to more closely dial the ITSec in, and rename it to BSNOS.

3. From my perspective, CSIA is more of a red team direction. BSNOS is more of a blue team direction. I like blue team.

(Sorry if that came across a bit disjointed. Head full of ICND2, and I am struggling to communicate clearly!)

Not at all. I totally appreciate the context. This helps and will help me formulate better questions for my phone call with my counselor this week. Much appreciated!

jibtech

jimmydffx wrote: »

Not at all. I totally appreciate the context. This helps and will help me formulate better questions for my phone call with my counselor this week. Much appreciated!

Go check out this thread, that is growing quickly. It dives into the perceived differences in greater detail. At the very least, it will give you a range of perspectives:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/129045-so-about-wgus-bs-csia-cybersecurity-information-assurance-degree.html

jibtech

Quick update:

Still grinding through ICND2. I am suffering through a serious lack of motivation with this class, and just need to get through it. I just don't really care about Cisco. I mean, I do, but not to this level. Nonetheless, two exams to go and I am done. My plan is to test on ICND2 on Friday.

jimmydffx

Even better! Thanks!

jibtech

Wasn't able to get the exam registered for Friday. Tomorrow was the first available date.

16 hours from exam time, and I can tell I am not ready. Everything was going well, but EIGRP finally got me. Cramming hard tonight, but do not have good feelings about tomorrow. Between ICND1 and ICND2, I cannot longer tell what I know and what I don't.

Maybe this is just jitters, but not feeling good at all about tomorrow.

alanclarc143

Awesome sharing. This shows that how you guy are connected with each other. Awesome topic discuss here, I feel glad to read all these stuff. That is update myself.

justdavey

break a leg!

shimasensei

Congrats on the job and nearing the degree completion! It's an inspiration for me, still grinding through some GE classes. What month is the Vegas graduation? Would be awesome to have a TE meetup if I can finish before then

jibtech

Update time.

That sucked. I walked into the exam for ICND2 knowing that I wasn't as prepared as I needed to be, and the result was exactly as expected. Not as bad as it could have been, but I have some work to do.

On the positive side, now I know what to expect and it won't happen again.

shimasensei, I am not sure when Vegas is. I will be attending graduation in Orlando on Feb 10, 2018. I am happy to say both my SM and my capstone CM will be there as well. Those who have had Joe B. As a CM understand that man is nuts and will be a blast to catch up with in person...

Comicaze

I've been watching your progress, and it's been very awesome so far!

I'm military, and in the IT field and going for this same degree. And like yourself, I am so close to the end! I had 10 classes left at the start of this semester (8/1/2017) and as of today I now sit at three (Data Management - Applications "PA" is done, CCNA Security, and then the Capstone!)

Not sure if your most recent comment suggests that you did not pass, but I truly hope you won't beat yourself up about it. Those Cisco exams are a ***** and I am NOT looking forward to the Security one because that's the one that will prevent me from graduating next month too. You'll be much more prepared now that you know what's on the exams, that's what helped me on my retake! Hang in there, and it's almost done!

vinnypolston

jibtech wrote: »

1. Anything Math related, take through Aleks. That includes Statistics.

Firstly THANK YOU for sharing your story. I was let go after 12 years in IT but no degree and little certs; pretty much the same boat as you were when you started this. I was about to sign up on ALEKS but saw that they are no longer ACE accredited.

NOTICE

It is uncertain whether ALEKS will be recertified for the ACE credit program. Unfortunately, after August 31, 2017, users will not be able to request ACE Credit approval for work done in ALEKS. We are working to resolve the recertification issues. We cannot guarantee success in these efforts. If and when we are successful, requests for approval will again be accepted, including work done during the interval of suspended certification. We apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. ~ source https://www.aleks.com/about_aleks/ace_credit

I'm assuming this makes ALEKS a no-go. Could be wrong. Would you just suggest we skip and just go to SL in this case?

Thanks so much!
Vince

jibtech

Absolutely. This is something ALEKS seems to go through every couple of years. I am sure it will get worked out, but there is no reason to slow yourself down!

jibtech

Update time!

About a week and a half ago, I sat for the ICND2. Walking in, I knew I wasn't ready, but it was too late to reschedule, and I felt like it would be beneficial to at least sit the exam. Honestly, it covers so much information that I was running into a problem of not knowing what I knew. (I know, it sounds strange.) I was hoping that taking the test would help provide a little bit of clarity.

It did. I wasn't comfortable translating theoretical knowledge into action, especially on the sims and simlets. There were even some answers where I literally just guessed. The result? I scored 696, with a required score of 811.

I took the rest of the day to relax, let the exam roll off, and got back to work. Instead of the uCertify/OCG approach, I picked up Todd Lammle's ICND2 study guide. Todd's style is more laid back, and explains things well, but doesn't have the level of detail that the OCG has. Todd also likes to include some non-CCNA material to help round it out. Opinions vary on whether that is helpful or hurtful.

I went through everything, hitting the end of chapter quizzes. There seems to be an issue with the Wiley site to get the practice test from Todd, though.

I followed this up with the uCertify PrepEngine. You have to answer each question correctly, three times in a row, to prove you have mastered it. Total of 290 individual questions, for a minimum of 870 asked.

I then moved on to the Boson practice exams. I did each in simulation mode, to get a starting point. I then did each in study mode, to understand why the wrong answers were wrong, and the right answers were right. I then took each again in simulation mode.

With all of that under the belt, I scheduled the exam for this morning at 10:45 am. I arrived early, relaxed and got down to business.

Result? 778, with a required score of 811. Well, ****.

On the positive:
I know I rocked the simulations and simlets. I was comfortable on the command line, and I was able to find the information I was looking for. I feel like I know the commands really well.

LAN Switching Technologies score went up 6%.
Routing Technologies went up 18%.
WAN Technologies went WAY up by 30%.
Infrastructure Maintenance went up 17%.

But....

Infrastructure Services went down by 17%.

This was an honest review of the performance. After reading the entire OCG, reading Lammle's entire book, knocking out 140 quiz questions, 890 PrepEngine questions, roughly 190 Boson practice exam questions and taking the test previously, there were things on the exam that didn't even ring a bell. And I swear this exam focused pretty strongly on those things. Maybe I got one of those weird exams. Sitting here with a second fail in hand, I honestly feel like I could go sit the exam again right now and pass.

I am sure I am not the first person who has felt that way.

Moving forward now. I will be hitting the review again in both the OCG and Lammle's book. Fortunately, the things I missed won't be surprises next time. I will also be able to keep an eye out for them in the review process, and make sure I have them down cold.

On a related note...

I have a good memory for questions. I am really afraid that I am going to be running into memorization issues with uCertify and Boson, rather than actually testing knowledge. Does anyone have a good practice exam source, other than those two? I am looking for something that will accurately test my knowledge, specifically for the ICND2.

This sucks.

jdancer

Don't know if it will help or hurt but this techexams.net does have a Cisco CCENT/CCNA section CCNA / CCENT Forums

Probably reading people's pass and fail posts will help. I know it did for me when I was studying for my CCNA.

I'm currently studying for my CCNA CyberOps SECOPS 210-255 exam. If I bomb it but that's ok, I will know what to study for next time.

pevangel

I think 80% of studying for CCNA for me was spent doing labs. Instead of going through the books again, maybe try applying what you learned in actual labs. It will help correct any wrong assumptions and provide deeper understanding of how certain protocols actually work.

Good luck with this last class. I'm sure you'll get it on the next attempt.

We should meet up at graduation. I'd love to catch up with Joe B. as well.

jibtech

Oh, I so hate Cisco.

But, after multiple false starts, ICND2 is complete and I am now CCNA:R&S certified as of this morning!

Today marks 6 months, since I sat for my Security+ and started this journey. As of this morning, I have one class/exam standing between me and a degree. That exam is IINS/210-260 for the CCNA:Security certification.

Back to the books. I am energized, and ready to get this over with!!

coreyb80

Good work!!