help in taking my first step

itsjustLenny · June 2011

hello all, i need help in deciding where to start. first of all im 30 yrs old and i've never gone to college

now, i love computers and enjoy working on them ( from helping friends fix malware issues, virus' to installing linux on my old pc). i've done this as a hobby mostly and i enjoy it a lot.

i need to know my best option to get a degree (hopefully a bachelors) in information technology. i've done plenty of research but i'm always scared off by what i read online. i know to stay away from itt tech and tech schools in general. so i ask...where do i start..?

thank you for all your help and advice,

Lenny

Pishof · June 2011

itsjustLenny wrote: »

hello all, i need help in deciding where to start. first of all im 30 yrs old and i've never gone to college now, i love computers and enjoy working on them ( from helping friends fix malware issues, virus' to installing linux on my old pc). i've done this as a hobby mostly and i enjoy it a lot.

i need to know my best option to get a degree (hopefully a bachelors) in information technology. i've done plenty of research but i'm always scared off by what i read online. i know to stay away from itt tech and tech schools in general. so i ask...where do i start..?

thank you for all your help and advice,

Lenny

It depends on how you want to approach college. If you're wanting traditional a brick&mortar institute an affordable option would be first getting a 2-year associates from a community college and then transferring to something like a 4-year state university. With that you could do either part-time evening classes if you work full-time or a mix of classes and what you can online.

Likely, if you have a family and/or work full-time that may be a more difficult route to take in which if you are looking for an online college I'd suggest a non-profit and avoid for-profit tech schools like you already acknowledge.

Several of us on these board already had an associates/non-tech bachelors/no prior secondary education at all are attending WGU. It's a non-profit pure online university that will pay for your certifications(they are actually the final exams) and provide a BS in IT with various focus tracks.

Best of all, the tuition is less than 3k per 6-month semester and you can accelerate your progress and keep adding classes as you finish them without tuition costs increasing.

Many of us are saving thousands by cutting off two, three, four terms semesters off our degree track.

Someone may be able to give more detail but it's regionally and nationally accredited. If you have no prior college credits to transfer or work in the field you may need to study and get a certification prior to starting to pass enrollment requirements. Something like Comptia A+ would be a good choice for that.

itsjustLenny · June 2011

Pishof wrote: »

It depends on how you want to approach college. If you're wanting traditional a brick&mortar institute an affordable option would be first getting a 2-year associates from a community college and then transferring to something like a 4-year state university. With that you could do either part-time evening classes if you work full-time or a mix of classes and what you can online.

Likely, if you have a family and/or work full-time that may be a more difficult route to take in which if you are looking for an online college I'd suggest a non-profit and avoid for-profit tech schools like you already acknowledge.

Several of us on these board already had an associates/non-tech bachelors/no prior secondary education at all are attending WGU. It's a non-profit pure online university that will pay for your certifications(they are actually the final exams) and provide a BS in IT with various focus tracks.

Best of all, the tuition is less than 3k per 6-month semester and you can accelerate your progress and keep adding classes as you finish them without tuition costs increasing.

Many of us are saving thousands by cutting off two, three, four terms semesters off our degree track.

Someone may be able to give more detail but it's regionally and nationally accredited. If you have no prior college credits to transfer or work in the field you may need to study and get a certification prior to starting to pass enrollment requirements. Something like Comptia A+ would be a good choice for that.

so maybe go to a 2 yr college and then try something like wgu? or pass the comtia a+ and then try wgu?

i have the book for comptia a+ but i've tried to read through it and honestly i cannot retain any of the info that i've read, which is why i wanted to go to school and just do it through there.

Repo Man · June 2011

itsjustLenny wrote: »

so maybe go to a 2 yr college and then try something like wgu? or pass the comtia a+ and then try wgu?

i have the book for comptia a+ but i've tried to read through it and honestly i cannot retain any of the info that i've read, which is why i wanted to go to school and just do it through there.

IT is going to be consistent reading and self-teaching. I'd look into alternative ways of studying.

itsjustLenny · June 2011

Repo Man wrote: »

IT is going to be consistent reading and self-teaching. I'd look into alternative ways of studying.

if not online classes or brick and mortar college, what would be an alternative way of studying?

i mean i can take a class at a junior college to help me study for A+ but again, where do i go from there?

pzero · June 2011

Alternative ways of studying would include things like

Video based training (like CBT Nuggets, TrainSignal, YouTube etc)
Reading books and making notes/highlighting at the same time
"labbing" - Where you set up a virtual/physical environment and install/practice different scenarios, break fixes etc.
Study/Focus groups where you learn in groups
Online Training
Offline Training

People retain information differently so theres no "best way" its just whatever works for you. I find using a combination works best.

Good luck with your studies

nerdydad · June 2011

I can't say enough good things about my local 2 year college, not only do most of my professors work in the field of study, so do many of my fellow students.

Set yourself apart and they can help you land that very elusive first job.

By the way, I'm 38 have a wife (who is also in school) and a baby, I go to school 2 nights a week.

Good Luck!

itsjustLenny · June 2011

Yeah but then it's about 4 years to get a bs isn't it? I'll go to a junior college in the next 2 days and see I can work out. I know I get no financial help so I guess I'm stuck finding loans

nerdydad · June 2011

Only if you want to get a BS, really depends on what you want to do, I am not really pursuing the degree at this point, really just looking for a structured way of studying, the other benefits are pure perks. I am also not only studying the school curriculum, I figure there are lots of those candidates, so I try to learn multiple vendors.

itsjustLenny wrote: »

Yeah but then it's about 4 years to get a bs isn't it? I'll go to a junior college in the next 2 days and see I can work out. I know I get no financial help so I guess I'm stuck finding loans

help in taking my first step

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