WGU BS Network Admin and Certifications

Hi. I haven't yet applied to WGU but am very interested in enrolling there in about 6 months when I am ready mentally and financially for it. I am interested in the BS Network Admin program.
I'd like some advice from someone who's taken or taking this program regarding my options.
I have no certifications at the moment but am within a month and a half of taking the CCNA cert exam. Hopefully I pass that and that should take care of the CCENT portion of the requirements. As for the other certs, I am looking at three ways of handling that:

* Take them on enrolling at WGU and study during the term
* Study for the certifications between now and then and take the exams at WGU after enrolling
* Study and take the certification exams before enrolling at WGU

Which route would you advice me to take considering I'd prefer the cheapest option due to my financial situation.

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Comments

effekted

If you're currently employed and your employer will reimburse certifications than I would recommend getting certifications on your time. My employer is allowing me to expense the certification vouchers so I am going to knock out as many if not all the certs for the Security program that I can. I am going to try and swindle my employer on paying for a term or two since colleagues are getting to do VCP certification. If not than I plan on doing a SAN cert and paying for WGU on my own dime but that will be when I have majority of the certs completed on my time so that I could possibly finish in a term or two.

Lucas21

I'm not employed currently hence why I'm looking for the best option financially as well. I actually prefer doing self studies for as many certs as possible then doing the exams for them while enrolled in WGU that way I don't have to pay more than the 3k per term. But I was looking for advice from people who know more about the school so that I can see if that is a good option or not.

Lucas21

I'd appreciate it if someone can advise me about the previous. And which certification courses should I start to self-study among these. And will one of them cover more than enough of the material for another cert e.g will the MCITP cover some of the MTA stuff entirely?

Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Server Administrator
CIW Web Foundations Associate
CIW JavaScript Specialist
CompTIA A+
CompTIA Network+
CompTIA Project+
CompTIA Security+
Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS): Windows 7 – Configuration
Cisco Certified Entry Network Technician (CCENT)
Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Windows OS Fundamentals
Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Networking Fundamentals
Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Security Fundamentals
Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Web Development Fundamentals

CoolAsAFan

I'm kind of in the same boat as you. My thinking is to study for the entry and mid-level certs before WGU and take the exams at WGU. I believe this is the most efficient (and cheapest as I'm getting financial aid) way to knock out classes/certs and get your degree asap.

Some stuff will overlap but not enough to just study for one cert and be able to test on 2, I could be wrong though as I have only reviewed the outlines. There's a ton of free resources online and on here to help you study before you enroll if you so choose to do so. Good luck!

Lucas21

So will you be starting with the advanced certs and move to the easier ones or vice versa?

bryanthetechie

There is a ton of information online to help study for the CompTia certs, but probably not for the MTA exams as they are new. I would personally study for the CompTia exams for the cost of a few cups of coffee while sitting at my local Barnes & Noble, then work through the MTA topics as more information on them becomes available. Most of the topics in the first three MTA exams will be covered in the A+, Net+, and Sec+. Take that approach and you'll be ready to knock out half of the exams when you get to WGU. I would wait until I'm enrolled to take the exams so WGU pays for them. Take them asap when you join the program and that leaves time to study for the more difficult exams.

Edit: I'll leave it up to you guys to research the comparisons between these exams as that type of research skill will be important when you're working through your programs.

spiderjericho

Taking the approach of studying for many certain prior to starting WGU may not be beneficial for some. Having to retain information for multiple exams, forgetting minute details, etc could be problematic.

Now if you're taking CCNA and plan on possibly boning up for Network+ CIW Web Foundation and Security+, that might be sound, as CCNA covers network fundamentals and security. The rest can be filled in by studying the materials.

Psoasman

Lucas21 wrote: »

I'd appreciate it if someone can advise me about the previous. And which certification courses should I start to self-study among these. And will one of them cover more than enough of the material for another cert e.g will the MCITP cover some of the MTA stuff entirely?

Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Server Administrator

CIW Web Foundations Associate

CIW JavaScript Specialist

CompTIA A+

CompTIA Network+

CompTIA Project+

CompTIA Security+

Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS): Windows 7 – Configuration

Cisco Certified Entry Network Technician (CCENT)

Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Windows OS Fundamentals

Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Networking Fundamentals

Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Security Fundamentals

Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Web Development Fundamentals

Since you are going to complete the CCNA before starting WGU, that should save you some time. They recently added the full CCNA into the program.
The CIW: Web foundations is easy. I bought an $11 version 4 book from Amazon, read through it, then studied up on HTML v5.
I believe that WGU brought the various fundamentals courses into the program to help students build a better foundation before taking some the Microsoft MCTS courses, which are apparently difficult. If you take care of the CCNA, you'll get a requirement satisfied for the Networking fundamentals course.
I would honestly just finish up the CCNA, then do the CIW: Foundations, A+ and Security+. That will clear a lot of the lower level courses and leave time for the MCTS courses and whatever other General ed you may have.

Here's a link to the MTA exams from Microsoft Learning. Briefly looking through the objectives, they look to be similar to the CompTIA objectives.
Microsoft Technology Associate Certification l MTA Exams l Entry-Level Developer Exams

Lucas21

spiderjericho that's where notes should help I hope.

Psoasman I only see the CCENT as the only Cisco cert earned with this program at the moment.
I like your idea of starting with the 2 CIWs since they seem very basic. Followed by the CompTIA's then the MTAs.
Hopefully then taking the MCITP and MCTS will be easier as I will have a fair bit of the information from the other certs.

Does that seem a good approach?

Psoasman

Lucas21 wrote: »

spiderjericho that's where notes should help I hope.

Psoasman I only see the CCENT as the only Cisco cert earned with this program at the moment.
I like your idea of starting with the 2 CIWs since they seem very basic. Followed by the CompTIA's then the MTAs.
Hopefully then taking the MCITP and MCTS will be easier as I will have a fair bit of the information from the other certs.

Does that seem a good approach?

Yes, I would start with the easier courses first. Even though they are easy and probably wouldn't take a lot of time at WGU, you would need to factor in administrative time. It can take a week or more to get a voucher, from what I've been told, so you might be spinning your wheels. Of course, the mentor can unlock the other materials for you to study in the meantime.

These are from the .pdf program guide off of the main page.
COV1 Fundamentals of Interconnecting Network Devices 3 5 >>ICDN1
CQV1 Interconnecting Network Devices 3 5>>>ICDN2

Lucas21

Thanks Psoasman. It really doesn't matter to me whether it's CCENT or CCNA since I won't wait months to join WGU and forget the material.
I appreciate you clearing things for me. How did you transfer all those courses; were you already in school before?

Psoasman

Lucas21 wrote: »

Thanks Psoasman. It really doesn't matter to me whether it's CCENT or CCNA since I won't wait months to join WGU and forget the material.
I appreciate you clearing things for me. How did you transfer all those courses; were you already in school before?

I earned my AAS degree in June and wasn't intending to go for the B.S in IT, as the cost was too high. But, after hearing about WGU, I jumped right in.
An AAS will clear quite a bit of the lower level courses for you. Having some certs also cleared some of the lower level courses. Once you enroll, your enrollment counselor will send instructions on how to publish your scores, so they can verify them.

kennykerriv

Psoasman,

I saw that you had graduated from WGU and just had a couple of questions for you if you have the time to get back to me that would be great. I'm getting ready to enroll at WGU and was wondering if you had prior IT knowledge before enrolling for your BS from them. I had graduated from a two year school with my degree in business and now I'm changing my path to hopefully become a network admin. I was also wondering if you were working in the field before enrolling at WGU and if so what were you doing and what are you doing now once you finished your degree or what did it help you with if you were already employed somewhere? I'm new to all of this and would like to get my foot in the door somewhere during school to get experience while i work on my degree. What positions would you recommend looking while i get my BS in Net Admin. Sorry for the random questions but you seemed like someone that might have some answers for me before i start my journey. I appreciate your time and look forward to hearing back from you. Thanks in advance.

- Kenny

Psoasman

kennykerriv wrote: »

Psoasman,

I saw that you had graduated from WGU and just had a couple of questions for you if you have the time to get back to me that would be great. I'm getting ready to enroll at WGU and was wondering if you had prior IT knowledge before enrolling for your BS from them. I had graduated from a two year school with my degree in business and now I'm changing my path to hopefully become a network admin. I was also wondering if you were working in the field before enrolling at WGU and if so what were you doing and what are you doing now once you finished your degree or what did it help you with if you were already employed somewhere? I'm new to all of this and would like to get my foot in the door somewhere during school to get experience while i work on my degree. What positions would you recommend looking while i get my BS in Net Admin. Sorry for the random questions but you seemed like someone that might have some answers for me before i start my journey. I appreciate your time and look forward to hearing back from you. Thanks in advance.

- Kenny

I haven't graduated yet. I just started last December. I had been working in IT for about 4 years and had also finished up my AAS in Networking.
Having previous IT experience and education definitely helps with WGU, as the coursework can be difficult. As far as the Network Admin emphasis, if I could go back, I would have gone with the B.S in IT, not the Network Admin emphasis. Getting certs at WGU is great, but it takes a lot of time to work on some certs, like the 642 exam, which is very hard for some.

Help Desk is where a lot people start off, in their IT careers. Are you currently working now? If your company has an IT dept, you may be able to get in there. There are always internships, too.

There are 2 rather large threads packed with a lot of good information. Not sure if you've seen them or not. But, feel free to ask questions. Most of us are happy to help.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/51715-western-governors-university-questions-answers-threads-related-wgu.html

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/52825-student-experiences-western-governors-university-wgu.html

kennykerriv

Psoasman wrote: »

I haven't graduated yet. I just started last December. I had been working in IT for about 4 years and had also finished up my AAS in Networking.
Having previous IT experience and education definitely helps with WGU, as the coursework can be difficult. As far as the Network Admin emphasis, if I could go back, I would have gone with the B.S in IT, not the Network Admin emphasis. Getting certs at WGU is great, but it takes a lot of time to work on some certs, like the 642 exam, which is very hard for some.

Help Desk is where a lot people start off, in their IT careers. Are you currently working now? If your company has an IT dept, you may be able to get in there. There are always internships, too.

There are 2 rather large threads packed with a lot of good information. Not sure if you've seen them or not. But, feel free to ask questions. Most of us are happy to help.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/51715-western-governors-university-questions-answers-threads-related-wgu.html

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/52825-student-experiences-western-governors-university-wgu.html

That's kind of where I'm at right now. I'm trying to decide which route would be best for me to go. I was contemplating either going the B.S in IT route or the Network Admin emphasis. With no prior experience or schooling in IT I wasn't sure which one would better suite my position and that i would get the most out of. It seems as if the IT degree gives you a much broader approach entering the field. I'm still not sure if Network Admin is what i would like to do hints why i am looking at basic IT. No, I'm currently out of work and was hoping that once I got enrolled at WGU and had a couple courses under my belt that would hopefully open up some doors for me at an entry level position or at least allow me the option for an internship somewhere to gain my experience. Thanks for the links i'll definitely check them out and I appreciate the response back.