looking for some guidance.

i'm in a bit of a unique case and i was hoping i'd be able to get some help from you guys.
i'm 28 years old and due to a lot of various personal issues my life has gotten a bit off track. i have 75 hours of college credit but i feel like i need to get my career on track as soon as possible and i'm weighing my options. thanks to reading on here, i've found out about western governors university which seems like a good choice for me but i don't think i can qualify for their it program right away seeing as i don't have any upper level coursework within the past 5 years and i don't have my associate's.
here are what seems like my best bets based on what i've read on here and other places online:

1. apply to colleges for fall semester, attend, finish my b.s. as fast as possible, apply for jobs and then start working towards certifications
2. get an associate's degree relatively quickly, get lower level certs (a+/net+ or ccent/ccna) and apply for low-end jobs then work my way up
3. get an associate's degree, then apply to western governors university and get a b.s. and certs and apply for jobs

if i'm looking to get my career started in the most efficient way possible, what would you recommend for me? hope this isn't too much trouble. thanks for any advice you can give me.

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Comments

Danielm7

You don't need an AS for WGU or coursework within the last 5 years, I had neither. Just give them a call.

slotzero

The 5 year requirement is just for transferring in certifications. You can transfer in your college coursework that has been completed, maybe not all but probably most.

monochromatik

ah, the website made it seem like it was necessary. would i get more of a headstart if i completed my associate's though?

White Wizard

If it were me, I'd either attend WGU online or knock out my associates while getting certifications at the same time.

Then I would try to get a job and finish up my bachelors while gaining experience.

I'm in a somewhat similar situation as I didnt really know what I wanted to do until I was 25, so I understand where you are coming from as I'm 27 and close to finishing up my associates.

monochromatik

White Wizard wrote: »

If it were me, I'd either attend WGU online or knock out my associates while getting certifications at the same time.

Then I would try to get a job and finish up my bachelors while gaining experience.

I'm in a somewhat similar situation as I didnt really know what I wanted to do until I was 25, so I understand where you are coming from as I'm 27 and close to finishing up my associates.

thanks, it helps knowing other people are in similar situations. honestly, i think i believe i can finish my associate's degree within a semester and maybe winter classes and then start wgu by next spring if i wanted to go down that route. the more i read about wgu the more it feels like a really good fit for me. if it weren't for finding this forum i wouldn't even know it existed, haha.

how difficult would it be on a scale of 1-10 to get the more low-end certifications without taking a class for it? shelling out $1500 for a class isn't really something i can do right now, and i'm guessing it's probably pretty difficult to pass some of the exams just with study guides and online resources.

Eston21

WGU is a set price for 6 months terms. The price is 2,890. You should contact them for an evaluation.

Qord

If WGU is what you want to do, your easiest option might just be to knock out a couple lower level certs like the S+ or N+. Those are both doable without much more than a book and maybe some free resources found online. Professor Messor is a good place to start, and youtube has a treasure trove of relevant info if you have the patience to dig it out.

monochromatik wrote: »

thanks, it helps knowing other people are in similar situations.

You're not alone, not by a longshot. There are quite a few of us "late bloomers" around here...I didn't really start college until I was 28 and didn't get into IT until I was 30.

monochromatik

Qord wrote: »

If WGU is what you want to do, your easiest option might just be to knock out a couple lower level certs like the S+ or N+. Those are both doable without much more than a book and maybe some free resources found online. Professor Messor is a good place to start, and youtube has a treasure trove of relevant info if you have the patience to dig it out.

You're not alone, not by a longshot. There are quite a few of us "late bloomers" around here...I didn't really start college until I was 28 and didn't get into IT until I was 30.

is a+ as easy as s+ and n+? i might just try to get the comptia certs done if i can.

New2ITinCali

monochromatik wrote: »

i'm in a bit of a unique case and i was hoping i'd be able to get some help from you guys.
i'm 28 years old and due to a lot of various personal issues my life has gotten a bit off track. i have 75 hours of college credit but i feel like i need to get my career on track as soon as possible and i'm weighing my options. thanks to reading on here, i've found out about western governors university which seems like a good choice for me but i don't think i can qualify for their it program right away seeing as i don't have any upper level coursework within the past 5 years and i don't have my associate's.
here are what seems like my best bets based on what i've read on here and other places online:

1. apply to colleges for fall semester, attend, finish my b.s. as fast as possible, apply for jobs and then start working towards certifications
2. get an associate's degree relatively quickly, get lower level certs (a+/net+ or ccent/ccna) and apply for low-end jobs then work my way up
3. get an associate's degree, then apply to western governors university and get a b.s. and certs and apply for jobs

if i'm looking to get my career started in the most efficient way possible, what would you recommend for me? hope this isn't too much trouble. thanks for any advice you can give me.

If I were you, I'd definitely look into studying at WGU since you can earn certifications as well as a degree. I didn't go to WGU and I didn't earn certifications. I've been trying to find an IT job for 2 years now with just a Bachelors in IT and I haven't had any luck. I hope it all works out for you and if I could do it all over again I would, without a doubt, attend WGU.

egrizzly

monochromatik wrote: »

i'm in a bit of a unique case and i was hoping i'd be able to get some help from you guys.
i'm 28 years old and due to a lot of various personal issues my life has gotten a bit off track. i have 75 hours of college credit but i feel like i need to get my career on track as soon as possible and i'm weighing my options. thanks to reading on here, i've found out about western governors university which seems like a good choice for me but i don't think i can qualify for their it program right away seeing as i don't have any upper level coursework within the past 5 years and i don't have my associate's.
here are what seems like my best bets based on what i've read on here and other places online:

1. apply to colleges for fall semester, attend, finish my b.s. as fast as possible, apply for jobs and then start working towards certifications
2. get an associate's degree relatively quickly, get lower level certs (a+/net+ or ccent/ccna) and apply for low-end jobs then work my way up
3. get an associate's degree, then apply to western governors university and get a b.s. and certs and apply for jobs

if i'm looking to get my career started in the most efficient way possible, what would you recommend for me? hope this isn't too much trouble. thanks for any advice you can give me.

If you already have 75 credit hours for college then you should do an Associates in Information Systems. That should easily land you a level I job in IT. Be sure you take a schedule that allows to go further into a Bachelors degree. Ok, once you start your job then do a certification like MCP or CCNA (your choice of certification would depend on the job title where you like to end up). Once you're done with the cert, then re-engage with a Bachelors degree in Information Systems, or Management Information Systems.

Noteworthy: Seriously consider attending a traditional public university instead of being caught up in the private organizations like University of Phoenix, WGU, e.t.c. This is because they are significantly cheaper and their courses transfer easily across Universities throughout the country. See a thread I started a few days ago for a link to search for public universities offering online or evening bachelors programs in IT.

monochromatik

i realize a b.s. from a traditional school might seem more ideal but finishing in a quicker amount of time and having flexibility with my schedule is really, really appealing. plus not being saddled with crippling college debt.

egrizzly

monochromatik wrote: »

i realize a b.s. from a traditional school might seem more ideal but finishing in a quicker amount of time and having flexibility with my schedule is really, really appealing. plus not being saddled with crippling college debt.

WGU and all those other colleges are 3x more expensive than public universities/colleges. If you see a private college that is cheaper please feel free to post it on the boards.

Danielm7

egrizzly wrote: »

WGU and all those other colleges are 3x more expensive than public universities/colleges. If you see a private college that is cheaper please feel free to post it on the boards.

WGU is 3x more expensive than public universities? 6K a year assuming zero financial aid including as many classes as you can complete, all needed books/resources and certification vouchers. I think you might be confusing them with a for profit school like U of Phoenix.

White Wizard

monochromatik wrote: »

is a+ as easy as s+ and n+? i might just try to get the comptia certs done if i can.

I took the A+ back in December of 2010 right before CompTIA did away with lifetime certifications and thought it was pretty easy but I had a lot of break fix experience as well. I believe the A+ now incorporates some networking concepts but I have also taken the Security+ and found it to be slightly harder then the A+. I wouldn't call either one difficult, just time consuming due to the amount of preparation.

I would definitely try to knock out the CompTIA certs on your own without taking a class as some of those certs count towards class credits. I know my Security+ has taken care of one class already and my CCENT/CCNA ( when I get them shortly) will also knock out some classes.

mokaiba

monochromatik wrote: »

i'm in a bit of a unique case and i was hoping i'd be able to get some help from you guys.
i'm 28 years old and due to a lot of various personal issues my life has gotten a bit off track. i have 75 hours of college credit but i feel like i need to get my career on track as soon as possible and i'm weighing my options. thanks to reading on here, i've found out about western governors university which seems like a good choice for me but i don't think i can qualify for their it program right away seeing as i don't have any upper level coursework within the past 5 years and i don't have my associate's.
here are what seems like my best bets based on what i've read on here and other places online:

1. apply to colleges for fall semester, attend, finish my b.s. as fast as possible, apply for jobs and then start working towards certifications
2. get an associate's degree relatively quickly, get lower level certs (a+/net+ or ccent/ccna) and apply for low-end jobs then work my way up
3. get an associate's degree, then apply to western governors university and get a b.s. and certs and apply for jobs

if i'm looking to get my career started in the most efficient way possible, what would you recommend for me? hope this isn't too much trouble. thanks for any advice you can give me.

As someone who recently, last year, decided to change my career to the IT trade from the financial trade, I learned that having completed almost all my general education classes before starting at WGU has allowed me to more effectively use my time at WGU and also reduced the amount of annoying courses that I need to complete {see 1 below} (e.g. mathematics, English, science, etc). My advice is to complete a liberal arts focused associate degree so that when you transfer into wgu, you start on the courses that matter to you (the certs) instead of trying to learn, for example, calculus over the internet (not as easy as it sounds...some subjects are just easier to learn in person).

1. Finishing all my liberal arts courses before wgu caused all of the following to transfer ...blank spot {see 2}..., which only left me with Principles of Management, Leadership Concepts and Applications, and a technical writing course meant to help with the capstone (I considered them liberal arts courses). All my other courses are for IT knowledge, industry certifications, or the capstone. I spent two semesters at a community college finishing the liberal arts courses before transferring. I highly recommend going to a community college for the low cost, plus, many professors at community colleges are better at teaching than a university (to explain difference, if you didnt know: as an example, ASU (arizona state university) and mesa community college are both part of the state colleges, however, ASU is a four year to doctorate college and mesa is only a two year. The main difference is cost. mesa could be paid with US pell grant (basically free money) and ASU would need student loans (must pay back). The difference of both that matters to you is many of the teachers at ASU are there mostly to do research and are not too much concerned with the teaching part (not all are like that though) whereas mesa's teachers were hired to only do teaching (they have more to lose if you fail so they try harder to make sure you understand the topic).

2. I was going to copy/paste the courses but the degree plan page is not working correctly today. I transferred in 60 credit units (about 20 courses at 3 credits each) of courses for a 122 credit unit degree (typically 40-50 courses) leaving me with 62 credit units (26 courses) to complete, of which, in just one and almost a half terms (at month eight), I have completed 42 credit units (13 courses (meaning 13 to go)).

This post got long...lol

edit: for those talking about cost of wgu.

2013/2014 aid year aka ---> you start jan 1 and end dec 31 the entire year would cost this:

Tuition and Fees
$6,070.00

Housing and Meals
$6,000.00

Books and Supplies
$200.00

Other Educational Costs
$1,000.00

[TH="class: ddlabel"]Total:[/TH]
$13,270.00

Housing and Meals, Books and Supplies, and Other Educational Costs are all federal areas that need amounts to determine the correct financial aid amount. They have nothing to do with WGUs cost. WGU, for 12 months will only cost you $6,070.00. How can a college have such low amounts you may ask. well, besides telling you to research the college, I'll just say that a good majority (60-70%) of the Tuition is paid for by federal and state governments. The school is well funded by congress and IT companies/persons that have stakes in the college (e.g. Bill and Melinda Gates foundation gives millions every year to the college)

The good part:
USA federal pell grant is around 5200 nowadays assuming you make less than 35000/year.

6070 - 5200 = 870 dollars left. You can either pay it cash or take out 870 on a sub student loan from us government.

edit2: Someone above pointed out a level 1 IT job. I completely agree with him. I currently have a level 1 IT job with a schedule that allows me time to work on my wgu coursework (certs and stuff).

edit3: if curious about my age, im 32.

mokaiba

egrizzly wrote: »

WGU and all those other colleges are 3x more expensive than public universities/colleges. If you see a private college that is cheaper please feel free to post it on the boards.

Here, since you couldnt research on your own: Western Governors University - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Western Governors University was officially founded in 1997 in the United States^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] by the 19 state governors in the Western Governors Association.^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11] It was first proposed by then-governor of Utah Mike Leavitt at the annual meeting of theWestern Governors Association in June 1995. It was formally proposed the following November and officially founded in June 1996, with each signing state governor committing $100,000 towards the launch of the new competency-based university. While the seed money was provided from government sources, the school was to be established as a self-supporting private, nonprofit institution. In January 1997, 13 governors were on hand to sign the articles of incorporation formally beginning the new university.
In 2001, the United States Department of Education awarded $10 million to found the Teachers College, and the first programs were offered in Information Technology. In 2003, the university became the first school to be accredited in four different regions by the Interregional Accrediting Committee. In 2006, the fourth college, the College of Health Professions, was founded and the school became the first online school to receive NCATE accreditation. In 2010, the first state-established school, WGU Indiana, was founded by Mitch Daniels, governor of Indiana, and the school reached 20,000 students for the first time. In 2011, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided $4.5 million for WGU Indiana and the creation of WGU Texas and WGU Washington.^[12]
On January 8, 2013, Bill Haslam, governor of Tennessee, announced the creation of the state-affiliated WGU Tennessee.^[13] On January 28 Jay Nixon of Missouri, in his annual State of the State address, announced the founding of WGU Missouri, creating the fifth state-affiliated campus.^[14]

Its sad that WGU gets lumped in with University of Phoenix when it is nothing close to a private for profit college. WGU is a non-profit college funded mostly by the United States Government...