Starting at WGU next week! (2/1/2012)

TofTheGoat

Hey everyone, brand new to the board but have been trolling for a few months now. Biting the bullet and going back to school at WGU for BS in IT Security. Starting next week, Feb 1st! Anyone else out there starting at the same time??

Thanks in advance to all the helpful posts on WGU... definitely helped me make the decision to go for it!!

NOLAJ

Good luck!! WGU has been a great experience for myself.

humdingy02

Same program, same start date! I was hoping my certs and college credits would count for more (see the lengthy Remaining section in my signature...). How does your starting transcript look?

drumrolfe

WGU was great for me. I just finished the program you are starting on October and I have received lots of feedback from employers. It also helped me get into a new position. Best of Luck!

TofTheGoat

humdingy02 wrote: »

Same program, same start date! I was hoping my certs and college credits would count for more (see the lengthy Remaining section in my signature...). How does your starting transcript look?

I have a BS in Business Admin so I was able to transfer in a lot of those credits. I just logged in to WGU this morning and am finally able to do the orientation and see "My Degree Plan". Currently has 6 terms listed. I don't have any certs, so pretty much every computing/networking/security class is listed.

Side note and dumb question, and hopefully I don't get flamed and asked why the hell I'm even considering a career in IT! Where the heck can I create my signature on here?? I can't seem to find it under settings or profile. Is it because I only have a few posts?

TofTheGoat

drumrolfe wrote: »

WGU was great for me. I just finished the program you are starting on October and I have received lots of feedback from employers. It also helped me get into a new position. Best of Luck!

That's really great to hear. I have a decent amount of hands-on IT experience, but no major work history. Worked at a LAN gaming center over 5 years ago, and then graduated college with the BS in Business Admin and Info Sys and haven't been able to get into an IT career, been stuck in sales and retail mgmt. I'm hoping (and confident) that this will open those doors for me.

humdingy02

A BS in Business Admin and it says 6 terms? I guess my 7 term estimate isn't as bad as I thought.

Signature: Click on the gear in the upper right. On the page that follows, it's on the right side, about half way down (not sure about requirements though).

TofTheGoat

humdingy02 wrote: »

A BS in Business Admin and it says 6 terms? I guess my 7 term estimate isn't as bad as I thought.

Signature: Click on the gear in the upper right. On the page that follows, it's on the right side, about half way down (not sure about requirements though).

Lol, thanks for the sig help. I think I need 10 posts before it appears.

Anywho, I was hoping to finish the program in two years. I think if I work hard enough I should be able to. I haven't spoken with my Mentor yet, so I'm anxious to hear what he/she has to say. As it stands now this is my first term:

WFV1 - IT Fundamentals I (CIW Web Foundations Associate)
AXV1 - IT Fundamentals II (CompTIA A+ Essentials)
CPV1 - IT Fundamentals III (CompTIA A+ Practical)
DFV1 - Web Development Fundamentals (MTA Web Development Fund.)

erpadmin

humdingy02 wrote: »

Same program, same start date! I was hoping my certs and college credits would count for more (see the lengthy Remaining section in my signature...). How does your starting transcript look?

Best of luck to both of you (you and the OP.) I was able to finish WGU in three terms, and that was with having 28 CUs (of which A+ and Network+ was included.) I finished my GE requirement in 7 months and went on to finish the degree.

If you are focused, you can be done with WGU in a relatively decent pace. Just read those large WGU threads.....even and especially when you don't want to. I guarantee you any and every question you want to ask are in those threads....and believe it or not, it won't take that long to go through them (the two WGU stickies.) Spend a weekend doing that or something.

TofTheGoat

Thanks for the advice, erpadmin. It's funny because I just started looking at one of the WGU stickies and started reading from the end to beginning. I started to think "hmm, maybe I should just read all of it". With your recommendation I'll take some time over the next few nights to read it all. Might as well get it done before my start date next week!

joehalford01

Welcome to the club, there are going to be so many of us soon our degrees won't be worth anything.... (tongue in cheek)

TofTheGoat

joehalford01 wrote: »

Welcome to the club, there are going to be so many of us soon our degrees won't be worth anything.... (tongue in cheek)

Haha... hopefully the opposite will be true and WGU will be producing top level graduates (and in turn employees) and the value of the degree will go up. Of course, if that's the case I'm sure WGU won't be as affordable anymore either!

erpadmin

TofTheGoat wrote: »

Haha... hopefully the opposite will be true and WGU will be producing top level graduates (and in turn employees) and the value of the degree will go up. Of course, if that's the case I'm sure WGU won't be as affordable anymore either!

Remember, whether it's WGU or Harvard....only you can know how to leverage your degree in the best light for yourself. A degree, by itself, is only a part of the sum, not the sum of the parts.

TofTheGoat

erpadmin wrote: »

Remember, whether it's WGU or Harvard....only you can know how to leverage your degree in the best light for yourself. A degree, by itself, is only a part of the sum, not the sum of the parts.

Very well said! Couldn't agree more.

SteveLord

There is a minimum post count or grace period before you can make a signature. Do not know what it is, but I remember wondering the same thing when I was new.

cruffin

Hey good luck with your term. I start the Info Tech BS (basic conc.) Feb 1st as well.
I'm halfway through the EWB.

TofTheGoat

SteveLord wrote: »

There is a minimum post count or grace period before you can make a signature. Do not know what it is, but I remember wondering the same thing when I was new.

Glad I'm not the only one.. lol

cruffin wrote: »

Hey good luck with your term. I start the Info Tech BS (basic conc.) Feb 1st as well.
I'm halfway through the EWB.

Thanks, good luck to you as well! I started EWB last night and got to 47%. Was surprised how much information there is. Glad they lay it out that way though so there's no guesswork. Excited to get started on the real thing next week!!

TofTheGoat

Anyone else starting next Wednesday?

thall860

I will be starting the BS-net admin track on March 1. Any advice you guys can give on the first few things you have done or getting started?

Psoasman

thall860 wrote: »

I will be starting the BS-net admin track on March 1. Any advice you guys can give on the first few things you have done or getting started?

1. Make yourself a study log. I log what I work on each day and email it my mentor. It keeps me on track for studying.
2. Depending on which classes you start with, you might want to pick up real books. Some of the e-book reading is tough on the screen.
3. Look through the communities and read up on the future assignments.
4. As soon as your Course of Study (COS) opens up, take a look through it to familiarize yourself with what you have to study with.

thall860

How is the first week going?