The WGU Challenge - Finish in 1 term

swild

spikel363 wrote: »

swild,
I also started my IT Sec program at WGU on 01/12 with only 43 transfer credits. Glad to see I'm running at a similar pace with you. I slowed down a lot the last few weeks due to a job change and I'm about to move into a new apartment too. Don't underestimate ICND2, I failed my first attempt by a single question. The learning material provided for CQV1 is not enough, make sure you use the Cisco Official Study Guide which is deep and technical. ICND2 and the CCNA exam have changed in recent years, they became incredibly difficult from other I know in the field. I have 48 credits to go including a retake of ICND2 which I'm dreading. Glad I have pushovers leftover like DJV1 and MGC1. Good luck with finishing in 1 term, I'm also gunning for it.
P.S. DFV1 was definitely a **** and I escaped with the skin of my teeth thanks to your earlier blog post.

It is remarkable the difference in difficulty between DJV1 and DFV1. ICND2 is going to be a challenge, but something I am looking forward to learning.
I have seen a couple of job listings that were very hard to pass by, but I know if I change jobs now, there will be no way I can finish in one term. Also, after I have my BS, I may be able to get an even better position. For now, gotta focus on my studies.

So I made a dent into KFT1. I have started into Task 4 and have decided to put it off until after I finish the database classes. I need to have a better understanding of SQL before I am able to do any real work on it.

I was hoping to have the CIW course finished this week but I was out yesterday with a stomach bug so that will push me back to next week. I do have the MGC1 course scheduled for this Saturday, so that should put me at 32 credits complete, officially more than half way.

I paid for a student membership into ISACA. I plan on taking the CISA in December. By paying $55 for a student membership, I save $130 on the exam fee and $70 on study materials. Seems like a no brainer. In between graduation and the CISA, I plan on doing some heavy foreign language studying.

themagicone

All I can say is WOW. That is a lot on your plate. I hope you didn't bite off too much to quickly. MGC1 is mostly schedule/take/pass class. CIW Database isn't too bad. I'll PM you my notes on it. KFT1 is a bugger but doable in few days of studying it. Good luck!

erpadmin

swild wrote: »

It is remarkable the difference in difficulty between DJV1 and DFV1. ICND2 is going to be a challenge, but something I am looking forward to learning.
I have seen a couple of job listings that were very hard to pass by, but I know if I change jobs now, there will be no way I can finish in one term. Also, after I have my BS, I may be able to get an even better position. For now, gotta focus on my studies.

So I made a dent into KFT1. I have started into Task 4 and have decided to put it off until after I finish the database classes. I need to have a better understanding of SQL before I am able to do any real work on it.

I was hoping to have the CIW course finished this week but I was out yesterday with a stomach bug so that will push me back to next week. I do have the MGC1 course scheduled for this Saturday, so that should put me at 32 credits complete, officially more than half way.

I paid for a student membership into ISACA. I plan on taking the CISA in December. By paying $55 for a student membership, I save $130 on the exam fee and $70 on study materials. Seems like a no brainer. In between graduation and the CISA, I plan on doing some heavy foreign language studying.

I would hold off those IT auditing dreams until after your term. You got plenty on your plate with the Cisco exams already.

I've been very neutral-thinking about you finishing in one term (in fact, I would like to think I've been encouraging). Just keep your studying limited to WGU and you should be able to finish by June (based on your planning.) You throw CISA into the mix, (which is no easy exam...probably the same level of difficulty as your CISSP) you might be asking for trouble. I know you said you were gonna take the exam in December, but don't let early studying derail you from your one-term plan.

swild

erpadmin wrote: »

I would hold off those IT auditing dreams until after your term. You got plenty on your plate with the Cisco exams already.

I've been very neutral-thinking about you finishing in one term (in fact, I would like to think I've been encouraging). Just keep your studying limited to WGU and you should be able to finish by June (based on your planning.) You throw CISA into the mix, (which is no easy exam...probably the same level of difficulty as your CISSP) you might be asking for trouble. I know you said you were gonna take the exam in December, but don't let early studying derail you from your one-term plan.

Grr. IE just lost my post.Whatev.
I have no intention of working on any other exams before July. I'm not even buying any study materials for the CISA. I am just wanting to save the $120 on the membership fee while I am enrolled as a student.

And, yes, much can be gleaned from those who have walked the path before us. I always look forward to your posts since you were where I am not too long ago and I have been following your grad school thread.


I just had my weekly call with my mentor. Tests that I have scheduled:
MGC1: 3/17
CJV1: 3/24
CVV1: 3/26
KFT1: submit no later than 3/31

Then its ICND1 to have scheduled by mid April and that gives me 8 weeks to work on ICND2 and IINS, and a couple of weeks for the Capstone. I do see a light at the end of that long tunnel.

usagent27

please post your experience with the MGC1 exam once it's complete. i'm thinking of taking that while i wait for tests to be scheduled

jmasterj206

You will have to let me know how the CIW database test goes. I've been throught the CIW material a few times, but it seems Ucertify goes much deeper.

swild

usagent27 wrote: »

please post your experience with the MGC1 exam once it's complete. i'm thinking of taking that while i wait for tests to be scheduled

I will post a followup this weekend.

jmasterj206 wrote: »

You will have to let me know how the CIW database test goes. I've been throught the CIW material a few times, but it seems Ucertify goes much deeper.

So far the CIW material goes into plenty of depth for the exams. I noticed that this one has uCertify as well and will use it if I don't do too well on the practice questions from certification partners.

KFT1 Task 1 was accepted! I would like to hear back about KET1 Task 2.

erpadmin

usagent27 wrote: »

please post your experience with the MGC1 exam once it's complete. i'm thinking of taking that while i wait for tests to be scheduled

Look for my post on 2/6/2011. As his magicness stated, it's pretty much take the exam to pass. If you ever had a job in the corporate world, there is little chance you could fail. The preassessments are also very close to the actual examination.

swild

KET1 Task2 passed with a perfect score! KET1 is officially done!

I also got a response about KFT1 Task 2, accepted. KFT1 Task 3 was returned because I didn't submit the powerpoint presentation, which I of course no longer have. I will have to recreate that and submit it today.

Also, interesting error happened. When I go into Taskstream and pull up the submitted docs for Task 3, it shows the submitted docs for Task 2. I guess its a glitch of some sort, or else an error on their part. Anyway, luckily I have those docs in my email to resubmit.

Oh, and just a note, KFT1 Task 1 was approved and I only entered one sentence per blank. It shows that it accepts up to 3000 characters but don't worry about length, just answer the questions.

LayOffPayOff

Completed 640-822 (ICND1/COV1) today. A couple days behind schedule from what I was expecting, but still ahead of schedule for the term. I was pretty anxious (first ever cisco exam), but it ended up being a lot less scary than I was expecting. You need to UNDERSTAND how things work, not just memorizing terms. And of course, subnetting. The book pretty much tells you everything you need to know. The Netsim software was helpful but PAINFUL to use (make sure you have a high res display or dual monitors). Lots of "iffy" questions on uCertify so take your performance there with a grain of salt. The Cisco site has TONS of resources to help out (make sure to check out the exam tutorial).

On to CQV1 (ICND2), hoping to get my CCNA during the last week of the month.

swild

LayOffPayOff wrote: »

Completed 640-822 (ICND1/COV1) today. A couple days behind schedule from what I was expecting, but still ahead of schedule for the term. I was pretty anxious (first ever cisco exam), but it ended up being a lot less scary than I was expecting. You need to UNDERSTAND how things work, not just memorizing terms. And of course, subnetting. The book pretty much tells you everything you need to know. The Netsim software was helpful but PAINFUL to use (make sure you have a high res display or dual monitors). Lots of "iffy" questions on uCertify so take your performance there with a grain of salt. The Cisco site has TONS of resources to help out (make sure to check out the exam tutorial).

On to CQV1 (ICND2), hoping to get my CCNA during the last week of the month.

This is great to hear! I can't wait to have these other classes out of the way so I can get into the Cisco stuff. Just a couple more weeks.

Congrats on the pass!

petedude

erpadmin wrote: »

Look for my post on 2/6/2011. As his magicness stated, it's pretty much take the exam to pass. If you ever had a job in the corporate world, there is little chance you could fail. The preassessments are also very close to the actual examination.

If he bombs it, he should just get a CLEP test review book for management and skim it over.

swild

MGC1 down. I have had a few management classes before so I really have heard all of the terms before. I would say that the key terms are all you need for this exam. If you have corporate/managerial experience, you shouldn't have any problems.

It's pass/fail, you only have to get 51% right, there's 51 questions and you get 3 hours to finish. I was done in a little less than 30 minutes.

Well, that's all of the gimme classes out of the way. Next Saturday I take my last CIW, and the following Monday, I take my last Microsoft test.

9 classes and 32 CUs complete.

spiderjericho

Congrats on the pass. You're inching closer and closer. It's looking like the Cisco's will be the biggest time crunch.

swild

I have hit a little snag. I am trying to install SQL Server and goes through the performing dependency check and then I click next, it processes a few steps and then closes. I never get to the Feature selection screen. I am going through and uninstalling all of the programs that have accumulated from all of the other classes I have finished. that will probably wind up taking most of today.

Has anyone had this trouble with SQL server installation?

Also, the course mentor doesn't have the end of chapter quiz answers. He said that this course is new to him and he is trying to find out what he needs to do. Also, there is nothing in the community at all regarding this course.

erpadmin

swild wrote: »

I have hit a little snag. I am trying to install SQL Server and goes through the performing dependency check and then I click next, it processes a few steps and then closes. I never get to the Feature selection screen. I am going through and uninstalling all of the programs that have accumulated from all of the other classes I have finished. that will probably wind up taking most of today.

Has anyone had this trouble with SQL server installation?

Also, the course mentor doesn't have the end of chapter quiz answers. He said that this course is new to him and he is trying to find out what he needs to do. Also, there is nothing in the community at all regarding this course.

What O/S are you installing on?
What version and edition of SQL Server are you installing (hopefully it's 2008 R2)?
I'm assuming you're installing SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard. Make sure you have the appropriate server roles/features available like .Net 3.51 (assuming you're installing this on Windows Server 2008 R2).

If you're installing this on XP/Windows 7, you will have some issues. Windows 7 should have Powershell installed, but Windows XP won't (you'll have to download that from Microsoft's site.) But you will not have all the features available if this installed on a client O/S. Best to install SQL Server on a server box (for your purposes, you can use VirtualBox or a Hyper-V guest.)

BTW, is this for a class? Or is this for work?

swild

I hadn't considered installing Server 2008 R2 on a separate machine. Although that would mean that I am toting 3 laptops back and forth to work everyday.

I was trying on Win 7 Ent, and this is for class it is just a new class. I guess I am the first student to go through it. I just had my mentor call and she was surprised that there was not a tutorial on SQL Server installation anywhere. Someone's gotta be first, I guess.

erpadmin

swild wrote: »

I hadn't considered installing Server 2008 R2 on a separate machine. Although that would mean that I am toting 3 laptops back and forth to work everyday.

I was trying on Win 7 Ent, and this is for class it is just a new class. I guess I am the first student to go through it. I just had my mentor call and she was surprised that there was not a tutorial on SQL Server installation anywhere. Someone's gotta be first, I guess.

What?! No man....

Find a laptop with at minimum 4GB (the more the better.)

Install Virtualbox on it (google has a BUNCH of tutorials on this) and put the bare minimum in configuration that SQL Server 2008 R2 will need [this will never be a production box, so don't worry about it not handling a large database.]

Install Windows Server 2008 R2, and once that is done, install SQL Server 2008. You can use the instructions from your SQL Server 2008 books found on Books 24 x 7.

You don't need to do anything fancy or hard like carrying thirty machines on your back.

You can install SQL Server 2008 on a client, but you will not get everything available to you, as you've already found out. It's only done [from a DBA perspective] to connect to another DB server to run queries, and perform some SQL tasks. But not as a DB server itself [on a client O/S.]

powerfool

Ugh... yeah, do yourself a favor an virtualize, if you can. I already carry two laptops to work myself, and I would still need a third one if I was going to virtualize, unless I wanted to violate AUP for work. I have an employer-supplied and a client-supplied laptop... if I added a third, I think I would need an additional bag. I have one of that Samsonite rolling laptop bags that I use daily... picked it up from Sam's Club... it is my second one (I just retired the old one because the wheels were getting extremely noisy which annoyed people as I walked by). I have to think that I put over 500 miles on that old bag... I do about 1+ mile per day when I go to the office, which is most days, and that was for two years. The new bag is a bit roomier and easily handles the 17" widescreen beasts that I have. The next best option would be to get a tablet that would allow me to remote into home and just leave most everything there.

swild

great solution! VirtualBox is installed. Downloading SQL Server again since I don't have the disk I burned it to with me. that should take about 1.5 hours to download 3 GB. I guess that means its time for lunch.

usagent27

Your thread has motivated me to try and finish in one term! keep up the good work and keep posting

petedude

powerfool wrote: »

The next best option would be to get a tablet that would allow me to remote into home and just leave most everything there.

It's coming. There are RDP/VNC clients out there now. It's just a matter of making the tablets easy/fast/stable enough to do this.

swild

petedude wrote: »

It's coming. There are RDP/VNC clients out there now. It's just a matter of making the tablets easy/fast/stable enough to do this.

Interestingly enough, I don't have internet at home.


So to catch everyone up to my busy last couple of days, the course mentor has a video showing how to install SQL Server. Unfortunately, as is often the case with me, the video is slightly dated and didn't quite line up to the steps I had to take. After downloading SQL Server Developer's edition (video's recommended version) from MSDNAA, I installed it according to the instructions, but it didn't give me all of the program features in the feature selection screen. It did install successfully, but sadly did not have SSMS installed. So I went back to MS's webpage and downloaded SQL Server Management Studio Express, and installed it. I didn't realize until half way through the install, that I had mistakenly installed 2012 SSMS instead of 2008. I just finished Chapter 2 ( of only 5) of the MS text book and so far there have not been any differences. Also, so far there has not been much new information than what I saw in the CIW course. A few things, but not much. Mainly SQL Server vs MySQL differences. So far I don't see a reason to include both classes in the degree plan.

I've been thinking about KFT1 and it is still going to be a challenge, but with some SQL knowledge under my belt, I think it is doable.

swild

Just took a practice test for my CJV1 CIW Database test tomorrow and scored a 92%. I think I'm ready.

Back to the CVV1 Microsoft text for that test on Monday. I'm on chapter 4. Should be able to finish that up today and then do chapter 5 on Sunday. Judging by the difficulty of the end of chapter questions, I think this may be the easiest MTA class I've taken. Although, the basics in SQL are fairly limited, so I don't think there is much that they could throw at me. I will be taking the free practice exam and going through at least a few of the uCertify questions just to make sure I have a good handle on the types of questions.

I have to say that there is definitely not enough difference between CJV1 and CVV1, as far as the texts go, to warrant having both classes. Just means easy credits I guess. I think they should get rid of one of them and put in the CIW Perl class.

The more I think about it, the less happy I am with my mentor. In our call on Tuesday, I told her that I was hung up on the SQL install and that the course mentor didn't have the end of chapter questions yet. She asked if I wanted to add another class to my AAV. I said sure, go ahead and add the first Cisco class. She said that class was too difficult and wouldn't be comfortable adding it in yet. She the said that I can only add more classes after finishing other ones. I pointed out that I was enrolled in 6 classes for the first of March and have now finished 3 of them. She then stammered and went back to talking about the SQL problem I was having.

I really would like to get the first Cisco course added so that I can get enrolled in all of the learning resources and actually have everything ready for when I want to start. When I want to add a class, I have to request it from her, have her add it to my AAV. Approve it in my AAV. Request enrollment in the learning resources, wait for the approval from WGU to be sent to the outside vendor, and wait for the vendor to get my account setup. For all of my previous classes I started this process about a week ahead of when I actually wanted to start on the class. It usually takes 3 or 4 days for it all to go through. Also, this will be my first Vue assessment through WGU and I want to get the exam scheduled as soon as I start. The closest Vue testing center is usually booked up a month ahead of time. I expect that I will have to take off work for a day for each of the Cisco tests. The second closest Vue center is 90 minutes away at a community college, but they are pretty easy to get in to.

joshmadakor

swild wrote: »

She asked if I wanted to add another class to my AAV. I said sure, go ahead and add the first Cisco class. She said that class was too difficult and wouldn't be comfortable adding it in yet.

First Cisco class as in ICND1? Is she serious? Are the WGU mentors technical people who have completed any of the coursework?

swild

joshmadakor wrote: »

First Cisco class as in ICND1? Is she serious? Are the WGU mentors technical people who have completed any of the coursework?

Yeah I know. ICND1 should be a relative breeze since I already have Network+ and have been studying off and on for about a year.

I just passed CJV1 with a 92%. Passing is a 74%. I only missed 4 questions which is better than I expected to do. Once again, CIW study materials excellently prepare you for their exams. I read through the CIW text and have gone through 85% of the Microsoft database text for CVV1. I ran through one set of practice questions on the cert partners website and made a 92% on the practice test(well actually it was an 82%, but after I looked through the missed questions, 5 out of 9 were correct, just scored wrong). Interesting that I made the exact same score on the actual exam.

I have sent in my score report and asked my mentor to add the first Cisco class. I'm interested to see her response.

I did get a response about there not being a close testing center: too bad, you gotta drive.

petedude

joshmadakor wrote: »

Are the WGU mentors technical people who have completed any of the coursework?

Not a lot, unfortunately. I expect that will change as WGU becomes more well-known and better funded-- they will start hiring mentors who are more proficient in the fields they assist with. It's already started happening on the course mentor side.

swild

So I just passed the CVV1 exam, MTA Database Fundamentals. I made an 83% on the practice test and an 82% on the exam.

KNOW YOUR SQL COMMANDS.
MS gives you some options that sound like they make sense, but are not the real command, (i.e., your options for one question could be TRUNCATE, REMOVE, DELETE, DROP).

If you know your SQL, it's an easy test. I only had a couple of normalization questions and all the code examples are just as simple as in the book.

40 CUs down in less than 3 months. Hopefully I will be able to finish up KFT1 this week and start in on Cisco this weekend.

I asked my mentor to add COV1 to my AAV and she said "Done!" I have yet to see it in my AAV. I emailed her back after about an hour and haven't heard back from her yet. If I finish my program tomorrow and don't have another class to work on, I'm gonna be upset. Even though I am not in the course yet, I enrolled in the learning resources. It will take 2 or 3 days before I get my login for the TestOut LabSim, which is the primary learning resource.

I am going to try and schedule the ICND1 exam for April 13. That should give me 2 complete weeks to reread everything and be ready. ICND2, I plan on taking in mid-May. Unfortunately, I will be driving no less than 2 hours one way to that exam.

I was thinking about continuing my Cisco studies after graduation, but driving 4 hours round trip for each exam is a real turn off, especially with gas prices expecting to hit $5 a gallon.

petedude

swild wrote: »

I was thinking about continuing my Cisco studies after graduation, but driving 4 hours round trip for each exam is a real turn off, especially with gas prices expecting to hit $5 a gallon.

Lab like crazy, and get the toughest practice exam software you can find-- then you won't be driving so much.

I don't know if prices will stay at $5+ for very long. Every time the gas companies threaten to jack prices up further, the government snarls at them and they back off. I'm betting the Justice Department is ready to jump on them for price fixing or something.

erpadmin

I got one word for you....eBay!

If you're gonna play with Cisco, it would be wise to play with real equipment. Plus...spend some time in the Cisco areas of this forum.