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    Any thoughts on WGU's network school?

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    • W
      W4RH34D
      last edited by

      I've lined up with WGU to take their BIS Network admin degree program as I am interested in this field greatly.

      I'm just kinda confused why the certs they will have me going for don't include CCNA etc and are more Microsoft degrees.  Do they mean Network administrator for a workgroup or network admin - running the equipment of a network in an enterprise environment?
      Their network security degree plan has all of the cisco certs in it.

      Kinda curious what ya'll think.  I have till June to decide which of their degree plans to take.

      Did you really check your cables?

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      • W
        W4RH34D
        last edited by

        I guess I'll let ya'll know, I'm enrolled to start in June.

        Maybe one of these days I will be able to contribute in some meaningful way. ;D

        Did you really check your cables?

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        • johnpozJ
          johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
          last edited by

          So your taking this program?

          https://www.wgu.edu/online_it_degrees/information_technology_degree_networks_admin

          What exactly are you wanting to learn?  Or actually do?  Or understand?

          An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
          If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
          Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
          SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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          • W
            W4RH34D
            last edited by

            @johnpoz:

            So your taking this program?

            https://www.wgu.edu/online_it_degrees/information_technology_degree_networks_admin

            What exactly are you wanting to learn?  Or actually do?  Or understand?

            There's the rub.  I already do the job I would get with this degree.  I'm basically entrenching myself.
            I'm self taught so I'm bound to have not learned everything.  This is a good, cheap way to get the college folks to agree and sign off that I know what I'm doing in case I ever have to job hunt in the future.

            Though I was at first looking at the Security and Data assurance degree because I wanted to be at the network hardware level.  Honestly though, I don't think it matters.  If I like the school and I can bang out courses enough I could go for both.

            WGU is rated something like 13 in the nation for this program - Penn State is #1 - but Penn is ~75k if you pass all your classes the first time.

            Did you really check your cables?

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            • johnpozJ
              johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
              last edited by

              "I'm self taught so I'm bound to have not learned everything. "

              How would that be any different than some degree to be honest.  You are constantly learning - I learn something new every day, if not multiple things..  There is no degree that covers all aspects of field of study..

              That course doesn't seem at all geared towards networking or firewall principles.. network+ and security+ ? could take some bright 8 year old off the street and pass those certs ;)

              They basically say yup network+ he knows the difference between a switch and router.. Understands the difference between layer 2 and 3.. But asked to troubleshoot BGP, or look at a sniff and figure out what is wrong.. Yeah not so much..

              An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
              If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
              Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
              SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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              • JailerJ
                Jailer
                last edited by

                If it provides the appropriate alphabet soup to your resume that's all that matters.

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                • W
                  W4RH34D
                  last edited by

                  @johnpoz:

                  "I'm self taught so I'm bound to have not learned everything. "

                  How would that be any different than some degree to be honest.  You are constantly learning - I learn something new every day, if not multiple things..  There is no degree that covers all aspects of field of study..

                  That course doesn't seem at all geared towards networking or firewall principles.. network+ and security+ ? could take some bright 8 year old off the street and pass those certs ;)

                  They basically say yup network+ he knows the difference between a switch and router.. Understands the difference between layer 2 and 3.. But asked to troubleshoot BGP, or look at a sniff and figure out what is wrong.. Yeah not so much..

                  Oh I totally agree with you there.  Unless there were super powers involved, I can't stomach the old version of colleges. 
                  The way I see it though, is if they're still going to use these structures for continuation of education I may as well play their game.  I see a lot of these coding bootcamps that prefer you have some sort of degree first.  And yes I know that the degree doesn't give me +500 to networking success.  (or does it?)  My education is never done, much like the industry.  If I need that sort of completion I'd get a degree in Latin.

                  Did you really check your cables?

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                  • S
                    seantipps
                    last edited by johnpoz

                    I actually graduated with both my masters and bachelors from [url snipped mod - not a actual wgu link] and then decided to make a career change. I thought I would need to complete a 'traditional' bachelors, but after reaching out to 11 DO schools regarding my bachelors degree, 9 got back to me (2 never replied) and stated my WGU degree would be accepted as it is regionally accredited. One school suggested I complete 60 science credits prior to applying, which is already in my plan. I'm completing all required & suggested DO pre-reqs at a CC.

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