Bsc Networking and systems support

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Hi I would be grateful for any advice. I would like to do the above mentioned degree and I feel that I can probably achieve whats needed. However I would need to do it part time and they ( Glasgow Caledonian ) only take p/t students from yr 3 upwards. Having talked to the program leader she intimated that if I achieve my CCNA before september having recently gained my MCSA then they might accept me her concern being I have no prior academic quals ( left school landed on my feet etc ). My feeling is although I adapt to situations fairly well most of my experience has been in h/ware i.e new builds repairs some networking for consumer/small business so my knowledge of programming and .net asp stuff is virtually none existent, however I am prepared to get stuck in and learn. At 43 I kinda feel like I need a degree to back up the other quals as in the scheme of things although I could probably fall in at level 1/2 support a lot of employers I speak to say they would like the degree to offset my lack of experience in a corporate enviroment. As I said any advice would be gratefully recieved.

 

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Hi gurusapprentice, I've just completed that exact degree although it was FT. If you have that experience, you should be fine. The reason they are probably wanting the CCNA completed is the curriculmn is really CCNP based. The modules we done this year were CCNP: BSCI and CCNP: BCMSN, done a few other modules Digital forensics and Ethical hacking, along with a project management class. Think I'm going back to do my honours this year, still deciding on it though. Any questions or anything I would be happy to help.

 

Crazy, seems to me u got plenty enough.

I got a degree and am struggling to even get through the A+ through sheer boredom.

 

I am trying to get through a chapter a night. So much to cover!! Getting a mix between 40-60 % on pass marks before studying. So much stuff in the A+ is so unneeded in the real world, loads of nitty gritty things to know before I can get onto the beefy stuff I want to know. Allot of the stuff I studied in first year of Uni which was like 5 years ago. But hey these things take time.

This is my career now. I have no inclination to do anything else apart from tour guiding or teaching. Theres alot I do enjoy and alot I don;'t.

 

Yup all true. I plan to take the exams in September or October. Going to Alaska/Canada this summer for 6 weeks so planning to purchase bigger IPOD to take 3 series of videos / audios to listen to during this time.

 

Firstly can I say thanks to everyone for replying.

The other question really I supose is for scot? the ccna vendor exams are incd 1 and 2 yet the uni kept going on about 4 modules having looked at the cisco site seems thats how they do cisco academically am i going to be missing out on much or is it more geared to make ccnp a bit easier?.

To the chap that was saying about A+ I never took mine I should of but I was with a bunch of rogues with a fast train logo and got fed up of being ripped off, however 2 things to keep in mind are their are 2 schools of thought with the A+ those employers that think it is a good starting qualification and those that get fed up with people coming in waving one and not being able to get into safe mode! In real terms if you have some good bench experience or are willing to get some paid or unpaid! you will be fine and remember h/ware is always about 4-5 yrs in front of the A+ by this I mean you still get stuff in A+ about DIP switch settings for mother boards you aint going to see that unless you get a system bought in with windows 95/98 lol asking for an upgrade to vista home premium! ( I kid you not!!) so in essence do you need A+ if you can afford the £250 to take the 2 exams fine however I would be more inclined to get N+ I dont have mine but I will take it simply because it seems employers sit and take a bit more notice of that rather than the A+ .

 

Just to round this one off, I heard back from the program leader today.
I have been accepted to do the degree but from yr 1 as I dont have adcademic stuff like hnc/hnd.
Aparently its all to do with how these things are funded points/modules etc.
I have decided to do it as im not getting any younger lol. Whilst I accept I don't need a degree, experience is king. I feel it can only add weight, not a lot going to be going on for the next couple of yrs in the job market anyway. Who knows maybe I will come out and land that killer contract at nearly 50 pmsl.

 

Thats nonsense! I just finished a degree in computer networks in london and we had direct entry students who finished CCNA material and then admitted them into 3rd yr (IMO this was a little unfair but the uni ranking reflects this i guess) this is what i think you should do - maybe look at another uni - about going in as a direct entry student - experience and certs will count! Uni's are after our money and as a graduate now i cant see how we ever going to pay back our loans when the whole world is struggling with jobs and some of us cant get onto the ladder!

 

You definetely sound like you have more experiene than 1st year in the degree. I mean I went straight into 3rd year (Direct entry from HND). Sounds like you could cope, but suppose you wont miss any thing doing the full 3 years.

 

what about a BTEC then you head into direct entry?

 

I wouldn't generally advise going straight onto the third year of a degree if you've been out of education for a while, it will be like trial by fire !

I'd try and go for second year entry in general. If you're very confident you have the prerequisite knowledge and can slot right into the environment and hit the ground running then maybe consider it, but your grades are likely to suffer.

 

yeah think dmarsh is right, 1st year seems a bit basic for your prerequisite knowledge. Who was it you were speaking to? Not sure if I'll know them?

 

Hi Scoot it was a Dr Tuleen Butoaleb ( not sure if thats correct spellling lol ). She is the programme leader. As she said it's not to do with my ability to do the course regarding the subject matter, more to do with the fact you have to have certain points/modules or academic equivalents and my MCSA/ other certs that comprise that. Academically dont score enough, even though they don't expect you to try and attain an MCSA till 3rd yr farcical I know but if I had an HNC that said " this is a computer, it turns on @ the button and inside it has a cmos and memory which live on a motherboard, or an HND which actually let me turn one on pmsl. Then I could have started in the 3rd yr.

 

HND's can cover a fair amount of stuff so don't knock it, I learnt assembler, C++ and a whole bunch of other stuff on mine, and I still found my degree tough going. If you went onto the 3rd year of most Computer Science degrees you probably would be in hot water.

Modular degrees and places like the OU etc might give you more credit, but most places probably won't give you as much credit as you'd like... unless you offer to buy them a new university wing of course !

 

I know I know lol I have no doubt having been out of education for over 25 yrs it will be daunting,and I also realise there is a lot of stuff to do with things like programming I wont have touched. I supose the bit that annoys me though is for example the way they mark the things or allocate the points
I.E for the 70-291 the uni assignment goes along the lines of shipping company with sales marketing HR dept configure DC's and Member servers including DHCP DNS etc put it on paper how your going to design it then have a video conference with questions and that's worth a whole whopping 20 points or 1 module!!

 

Yeah I know her she was my course leader aswell. So you'll be starting at 1st year?

 

Yes mate will be like going back to school, when all's said and done I don't mind apart from the fact that it will be hard going finacially, hopefully though their might be some kind of pot of gold at the end.

 

This places offers direct third year entry :-

http://www.herts.ac.uk/courses/Computer-Science-Direct-Entry-to-Level-3--Online.cfm

I expect there are others too, it really depends what uni and course you fancy.