WGU: Network Operations and Security

Mike R

Good day to you all! I've hit my 2 year mark now of being in IT after changing careers, and through much soul searching felt that to get where I want to go a degree and the knowledge it grants would be beneficial. I've been working for the same small MSP from the start and really want to hone my abilities into the network side of things.

I applied this weekend to WGU after speaking to an enrollment counselor. Nothing was unexpected as my brother graduates with an accounting degree from WGU in June, so I knew most of what the counselor had to say. I've got some questions if you all would be willing to answer. I haven't done school in 14 years so there's some mild anticipation and fear factor going on.

Has anyone here taken the Network route with WGU and did/didn't you like about it?

There's good and bad mentors I understand just like good and bad teachers, but overall how was the curriculum?

Did you feel adequately prepared for the test/certs or did you find you needed other resources to help pass the test?

I work full time (45 hours) with some downtime just depending on the day. How did those of you that work do your study schedule?

coreyb80

I'm currently in this program myself. I think it's a pretty solid program, of course the classes I'm not a fan of I've moved them to the end of the program which is a great option to have . You can obtain quite a few certs in this program which can be beneficial. The school uses UCertify for the certs I've taken so far and I'm not a fan so I've used other available options such Professor Messor videos. I will study at home and when/if I have free time at work as well. My current term(2nd) ends at the end of May. I've enjoyed the experience so far.

Spiegel

I'm currently on my third term in my B.S. Information Technology - Security course, my degree is the old version of what you're working towards, minor differences in what we take.

So far my experience has been good. Have had two mentors and they have been great. As coreyb80 mentioned, the cert courses are powered by Ucertify which is OK but doesn't really go too much in-depth of what is expected to pass your certs. I only use their practice tests questions to study but have my own books and resources. Their courses for the other non-technical courses and gen-ed course are good though. Everything is self-paced so I never feel like I'm wasting my time, I just go straight to the stuff that I'm not familiar with and test out.

I also work full time and have found that if you're dedicated then 2 to 4 hours of studying per day is good enough. I do 4 to 6 hours for my cert classes the first three days off my weekday and do about 8 to 12 hours during the weekend if I don't have anything to do.