Hi all,



I've got a question concerning my son:  He just spent a year at a state university taking the first year courses for computer science and engineering.  He doesn't really want to continue full-time because of all the debt, but wants to work in computers/programming/tech.  i was wondering if he could just take classes locally that will prepare him for those Cisco or Oracle certificates, or learn programming on his own (maybe with some help from local classes here and there) while he's working to pay the bills.  Is this, or something like it, doable, or should he just stay where he is?

Thanks!

I'm no tech, but I had some buddies from high school who enrolled in network technician training programs to get certified at their local community colleges while they were working. He can probably find a lot of the class materials online and start studying now.

there are specific training courses just to get the certs if that is what you are asking.
so you don't have to go to college to get any cert.
you just have to find the training place near you.
or there are several online you can use. some free, some pay for play.

I am working towards a BS in IT, at WGU. all the courses are online. most of the basic computer courses you finish by taking the cert test. when you pass you get the cert and credit for the course.

the more classes you take, the cheaper it is per class.
not sure how it works for actual freshman type entry but you could take a look.

Why did you choose WGU over FHSU for your online program?  Are you happy with it?

never heard of that college, but a quick look tells me I would not have picked it anyway.
it costs me 3045 dollars per semester at wgu. I am required to take a min of 12 credit hours. but if I complete them before the semester ends, I can add additional courses and it doesn't cost me any more for that semester.

most of the lower level tech courses are just the cert programs. intro to networking, windows fundamentals, windows server fundamentals, and IT 2 and 3 is the a+cert.

I am able to complete some courses in 1 week or 2. others take me a couple of months to study up on.

That is what sold me. I could complete the course as fast or as slow as I needed. not based on some arbitrary school time table.

I admit I was concerned at first about having to take 12 hours per semester. but I did it differently.
I took 3 courses I thought I knew something about and 1 hard one. or 2 I knew something about and 1 hard one I knew I would need time to study.
I am into my 3rd semester and I have 2 more to go.
started with an AA, so many things were already satisfied.

also my mentor showed me that I could take some upper level courses and have the lower level course marked as satisfied instead of having to take both.
I did that for a few programing courses, and plan on doing it for security to get out of fundimentals of security.
I lose the cert, but don't need it for my job anyway.

there are several people on the board going to WGU, a couple messaged me when I was looking for colleges to go to.

If you are in the Atlanta region, you could have your son check into new horizons or global knowledge.  They each have specific courses/boot camps for certs.  They are about a week or so long and cost about 3k.

If someone has the aptitude and ambition they don't "need" to set foot in any sort of classroom to develop marketable skills in programming/networking/etc - as well as pass the respective certs.

tagging this.

Interesting.  I've been planning on transfer to FHSU, but will give WGU a closer look.  I know my 2 yr school has a matriculation agreement in place with them.

I finished my BS in 2012 at WGU for the same reasons Andrew stated.  A lot of the courses I could knock out in 1-2 weeks due to 10 years experience in IT.

A few required more work but I finished what I needed in 2 - 6 month semesters so it only cost me $6k to finish.

I landed my current gig before I finished my degree so I don't know how much it will help but they are accredited so I don't foresee any problems.  


To directly answer the OP, your son can take courses at a community college or self study and do just fine.  The biggest factor will be to have the aptitude for problem solving and desire to learn new technologies.

I've worked with several younger co-workers that were finishing degrees or had degrees that sucked at IT because they hadn't learned how to troubleshoot issues on their own.  Hell, I've worked with guys that have 5-10 years experience that fall into the same category.  If your son is good at what he does, he won't have a problem finding a job once he gets a little experience.

Tell him to check out the free online universities like Coursera https://www.coursera.org/ , He can take classes from major schools like Stanford, UW and others, free.

https://www.coursera.org/

This.  I've taken several courses from New Horizons over the years, both for certs and just specific things. (Active Directory, Windows 7 prep back when it was new, Office products, etc)

Last week I took a Cisco CCENT course that is still sinking into the ole noggin.  At $3k for a week - Show up ready to absorb the material! I've been lucky enough to work for companies that put it under their training budget

If you are going to consider a training course from Global Knowledge or something then I suggest you look in to getting him a subscription to CBT Nuggets.  They have a lot of good training videos and would be more cost effective if he puts in the work.  They offer courses for networking, MS server, SQL, Sharepoint, Linux, programming, scripting, VMware, Citrix etc.

It's $99/month or $999/yr.  You may pay for a month first so he take a look at different technologies and find something he enjoys.  If he builds a home lab and and goes through those courses he could learn quite a bit.

As far as Oracle or Cisco certified, it takes $$$ to pay for the classes.

Yes, you can study and do all that, but, at some point either self paced formal training (somewhat of an oxymoron) or virtual classroom will be required.

Its possible you can hook up with a local trainer to get a discount on classes if you prepay for 2 or 3 at a time. But they run $2K-$4K each and a full set of courses is nearly $20K.

Still cheaper than a year at a school that makes you take underwater diversity training and basket weaving. ;)

An associates or 2yr vocational degree in MIS is still worth more to most places than trying to "go it alone".

This. The nuggets are what we use at our company for most certs. Also, Visual Exam Manager and some practice exams will help with the feel and look of the actual test. Technically, you can probably pass the lower level exams by just memorizing a thorough practice exam, but then you wouldn't have the actual knowledge.

Most of the "certification" classes I have seen are a joke.  They are all about getting you to pass the exam while not learning anything.  Skip the CompTIA certs completely.  





CBT Nuggets is good and the CCNA material in particular is very well done.





You can also score some FREE CCNA training over here: http://www.ine.com/self-paced/ccna/bootcamps.htm





Then get this book http://www.amazon.com/CCNA-Routing-Switching-Study-Guide/dp/1118749618/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399230799





Buy a couple of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cisco-2611XM-2611-XM-2600-Series-CISCO2611XM-AC-Router-/190868014762?pt=US_Wired_Routers&hash=item2c709ec6aa





And a couple of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cisco-Catalyst-3550-48-Port-Managed-Ethernet-Switch-WS-C3550-48-EMI-/221311541986?pt=US_Network_Switches&hash=item33873222e2





Or just buy a setup from here: http://www.certificationkits.com/




You can pass the NA without ever actually touching a piece of equipment, but I believe it would be a lot more difficult.  The CCNA is kicking a lot of asses these days.  




The real key to any job in IT is experience.  Find a crappy job and work your way up.  





 

Don't ever drop full time status until you're done with your BS. Nearly every last person I saw do that didn't get a degree and ended up with a fuckton of debt. Rarely ever went back. Work your ass off in the summer, live cheap, stay at home when possible... it's only 4 years, get back to the grind, sleep is for older people.


That said fuck tuition/loan assistance/govt loan programs and all the failed policies that have caused tuition to sky rocket this last decade. Making it harder and harder for honest hardworking middle-class kids to afford school.