SANS Self-Study

veritas_libertas

Has anyone taken a class through self-study from SANS? I'm interested in knowing what the experience was like and what kind of material they give you.

docrice

Are you referring to self-study with or without the OnDemand option? I think they're both somewhat generically referred to as "self-study," but the difference between SANS OnDemand and SANS SelfStudy is that the former (with the extra cost) has an extra multimedia slide presentation viewable through the SANS portal. The SelfStudy variation gives you the books, course DVD (if the course covers the use of a VM to practice with specific tools, etc.), and a set of MP3s (the MP3s are identical to the audio you'd get in the OnDemand presentation).

All four courses I've taken through SANS have been via OnDemand. In hindsight, it might have been more cost-effective to do just the SelfStudy since the MP3s provide the same experience but I'd have to flip through the books as a follow-along. With OnDemand, I'm just kicking back watching the slides and listening to the synced audio. That's usually my first step before I manually go through the books themselves and do the hands-on exercises as a second pass through the material.

An upside with paying a little extra for OnDemand is that you earn points in the OnDemand Rewards program:

http://www.sans.org/ondemand/rewards.php

If you end up doing about maybe five paid OnDemand courses, you'd accumulate enough points to get a free full-length OnDemand course. If you accumulate less points, you can get a short course or a free cert attempt with an OnDemand order. The catch is that your points expire unless you order another OnDemand course within a year. Chase the carrot...

My opinion is that the OnDemand is worth it, partially because of the rewards system but it's also the next best thing to sitting in a class with live instruction (and I can go through it from home at any time). Listening to the MP3s is great, but there's no *ding* that tells you to flip the page. You can get a feel for what OnDemand is like by registering for a free demo on their site which gives you maybe the first half an hour of class for free.

If you're on a budget (aren't we all) and you don't ever see yourself taking more than one or two SANS courses within a certain time frame, then just go SelfStudy. The books, DVD, and MP3s teach you just the same and it's enough to pass the certification attempt if you choose to accept the mission.