Advice Needed

veritas_libertas

I have been seriously planning on going to Western Governor's University for a while. I was planning on starting in January actually. Part of my reason has been the feeling of just getting my Bachelor's degree over with. The other reason is that I just moved to South Carolina and the out of state 'tax' doubles normal University costs. I am beginning to realize that my thoughts are more than a little skewed. I now realize that the networking (with people) that can be obtained just by being a student at a local or state college could benefit me greatly.

Here are my questions...

1. What do you think of this program? I know I want to move into Network Security:
http://www.uscupstate.edu/uploadedFiles/Academics/Arts_and_Sciences/Math_and_Computer_Science/Computer_Science/cis.pdf

2. I would not be able to take classes at in-state price until next fall. For that reason I don't want to just sit around. My natural tendency would be to chase after certifications in the mean time. I really think I should get my CCNA. What would you guys suggest? I know I want to do Network Security & Administration.

Solaris_UNIX

I hate to break the news to you, but a lot of the best CCIE's I've ever met didn't even have a degree in anything computer related. A lot of them had college degrees in physics, mechanical engineering, mathematics, or electrical engineering... stuff that had nothing to do with configuring routers or firewalls. A lot of them don't even have a college degree at all (!)

The CISCO corporation was founded by Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner and I don't think either of them went to any kind of special college for network administration before founding CISCO. The first CISCO IOS was written by William Yaeger:

William Yeager - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

in 1987 and he didn't go to any kind of special network administration school before he sat down and wrote all the code for the earliest CISCO IOS.

If you really want to do network administration and / or system administration, then what's stopping you from doing it right now?

Why don't you volunteer to set up a Linux web server for a battered women's shelter? Why don't you volunteer your time to set up a SOHO network (Microsoft Active Directory or Linux / UNIX LDAP) at a local church, school, or ministry?

When it comes down to it, either you know how to set up a network or you don't, and no amount of sitting in a class or doodling on a chalk board will change that. Volunteering in the community is definitely the best way to get lots of experience in a very short amount of time. If you help out other people, other people will find a way to help you....