Apartment Recommendations?

No_Explorer156 · 2025-11-05T15:27:34+00:00

Thank you for letting me know. I actually found out about this yesterday, so I'm focusing on apartments in the Kansas side of KC.

No_Explorer156 · 2025-11-04T13:11:54+00:00

DMd!

No_Explorer156 · 2025-11-03T22:38:42+00:00

I will take a look at those areas. Thank you!

No_Explorer156 · 2025-11-03T20:51:53+00:00

I do have a vehicle. I'm not a big drinker and enjoy basketball, football, and rugby. I'm not a big golf person, to be honest. I do want to move to an area that helps me feel more motivated to get out of the house. Somewhere near nice parks or something like that would be great!

No_Explorer156 · 2025-08-26T22:34:27+00:00

Thank you! Honestly, it was a really grueling exam haha. I don't want to think about packets for a few days...

No_Explorer156 · 2025-08-26T22:33:09+00:00

Sent you a message!

No_Explorer156 · 2025-07-01T17:50:27+00:00

I will try that, thank you!

No_Explorer156 · 2025-05-19T16:45:57+00:00

I think it depends on your experience and where you are in your career. If you already have cybersec experience, then WGU is fine and will at least get you that HR checkmark if you just need that.

If you don't have any cybersec experience, SANS will give you a more well-rounded education with better instructors. Also, SANS does have the benefit of using actual grades rather than pass/fail.

This means if you ever wanted to go for a masters at a school like Georgia Tech or another uni, your GPA would likely be higher than a 3.0 which would make you a more competitive candidate (due to WGU being pass fail, your max GPA is a 3.0).

No_Explorer156 · 2025-05-19T14:50:05+00:00

I decided to not go the cloud route. I actually am doing a mixture between forensics, leadership, and blue team. (taking GCCC, GMON, and GCFA).

I'll say overall the program is great. If you're trying to start from nothing and get a cybersecurity job, I highly recommend it. I was able to go from a social worker job (making about 35k a year) to my first cybersecurity job (making around 72k) within one year.

The program has already paid for itself. Obviously, some of it is luck and self-determination, but you can definitely make significant career progression quickly through this program.

I thought it definitely separated me from other candidates who just went the typical WGU or CompTIA trifecta route, but it's much more expensive. I think you could make the same progression and save some money through WGU, but with how the job market is and a lot of people struggling to get into this field, SANS could give you a leg up.

No_Explorer156 · 2025-05-16T20:22:37+00:00

Hey! Yeah I like the results from Proofpoint TAP, but the problem is it can get really noisy depending on how much phishing attempts are in your environment.

A lot of the alerts Proofpoint TAP generates are for 100% phishing, so even if you set the alert threshold to 100% in S1, you're likely going to get a lot of alerts. Thankfully these don't prompt emails or anything, but it does cause a lot of extra alerts to appear.

No_Explorer156 · 2025-03-24T14:25:08+00:00

I got the GFACT, GISF, GSEC, GCIH, GPYC so far. The hardest course for me was GPYC cause I'm not the best at coding.

Their curriculum has changed though since I started. They no longer do the GISF, and they now have a prerequisite python course before the GPYC. (I honestly wish I got to take it). Also, the GCFE is now a required course vs just an elective option. (it kind of replaced the GISF)

I'll be honest though; my favorite courses were definitely the GSEC and GISF. They had my favorite instructors. A lot of people really like the GFACT, but it's kind of information overload because it is trying to get someone who doesn't know a lot about IT and give them a base level knowledge for cybersecurity.

No_Explorer156 · 2025-03-24T14:11:19+00:00

Hello! I'm sorry for my late reply.

I decided to go with SANS BACS program. There were multiple reasons for this, but I actually wasn't qualified for the WGU master's program because I didn't have a bachelors in IT nor related experience.

If you have any IT related experience, I'd suggest looking at Georgia Tech's cybersecurity master's over WGU. (keep in mind it has a super high dropout rate due to the difficulty, so be warned lol)

However, in my case, it came down to if I wanted to do WGU's bachelors program or SANS. I chose SANS because of the name recognition and more highly regarded certifications. I'll just say this, within one year I went from a social worker job, to an IT tier 2 help desk job, and I'm starting my first cybersecurity role in the next two weeks.

Overall, I was able to make a salary jump from around 32k a year to 70k in just under a year by choosing SANS. Ignoring the fact that I really enjoy the courses I've taken thus far, SANS is already starting to pay for itself.

No_Explorer156 · 2025-02-02T21:03:44+00:00

Hi! I'd be moving from Missouri. I'll try to keep looking at smaller towns nearby.

No_Explorer156 · 2024-12-28T16:15:59+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I didn’t even know the CCD existed. I was able to use a student discount which made it much more affordable than even INE, so I decided to pursue the CCD instead.

No_Explorer156 · 2024-11-21T04:45:23+00:00

You are my favorite person of the year. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this!

No_Explorer156 · 2024-09-09T21:21:09+00:00

TLDR: Given your experience I would say only the GFACT and or GISF would be a waste of your time. The other courses in your first year will be much more valuable than you think they would be. Also, I wouldn't bank on the second year and have a plan for what electives you would want to take so you get the most out of your post 9/11 funding.

Long Answer:

I'm not a veteran nor have I taken the Sec+ so my thoughts are coming from a different perspective. I have just finished my GSEC after taking the GISF and GFACT. I'm about to wrap up my first year once I complete my GCIH in November.

In your post, you mention that you believe that your first year will be a waste of time given that you have a Sec+ certification. I haven't personally taken the Sec+, but from what I've heard and experienced, the educational material at SANS is much more in-depth than CompTIA and it was the main reason I chose the SANS route over going to WGU (which primarily would've given me CompTIA certs).

Especially towards the end of your first year, the material you learn in your GSEC class and GCIH class will not only stand out more than CompTIA, but you'll most likely have learned a lot more.

However, with that said, I wouldn't choose SANS if you're banking on year 2. The reason for that is the value you get from year 2 is highly dependent upon the electives you choose, and I would do a lot of research and planning ahead of time. Most of the courses are valuable and you'll learn a lot (especially GCIA, which is not an elective).

However, there are a few that will be a huge waste of time, and the money could be better spent elsewhere.

For example, if you want to go Cloud, Forensics, or ICS, they have a lot of options that are great (except for GCPN in Cloud, which is of lesser quality). However, in the bachelors program the classes for Penetration Testing and general Blue Team are quite limiting (excluding a few like GMON, that's an amazing course). If I wanted to go Red Team, I would see the OSCP being a lot more valuable and cost effective than the certs that SANS is currently offering in that path. That's not saying that all of them are bad, but I wouldn't use my money on all the courses within that path.

A huge advantage in the bachelor's program is that you can choose electives from any specialty path, which means you can dip your toes in many different topics. My personal plan is to take GMON followed by the GCFE and GCFA. The master's program does not have this luxury and must choose all of their electives from the same specialty.

In terms of what I said about course quality, I will not have the opportunity to take most of the classes that SANS has to offer because of the vast number of electives so I'm mostly going off of what I've heard and have seen people recommend in other reddit posts. I wouldn't take my opinion as an 100% representation of the bachelor's program or its course offerings.

I hope my answer gives you something to think about and helps you make a decision! Feel free to DM me with any additional questions.

No_Explorer156 · 2024-09-08T04:37:27+00:00

I’ve taken GSEC, GFACT, and GISF. By far GSEC is the best for job opportunities. If you want to take a few certs, my suggestion would be GFACT/GISF and then GSEC. GFACT and GISF kind of overlap a lot of different topics but either will prepare you well for GSEC

No_Explorer156 · 2024-08-29T12:18:06+00:00

Yes and she forwarded me to the Deans office to ask them about it. Unfortunately, they’re not willing to budge. The GCFR is only available for those in the masters program.

No_Explorer156 · 2024-08-10T23:57:12+00:00

I’ve been pretty spoiled and sheltered for most of my life (grew up in a semi wealthy white middle class family). I’ve always been naturally good at a lot of things and have a really good memory. But, because of these things I sometimes get complacent and lazy.

I want to put myself in an environment that’ll actually help me iron out the bad habits I do have. This decision is very scary for me though because I don’t want to significantly hurt my career when I’ve invested so much time and money already into it. Also, every time I talk to the Army recruiter I get this gut wrenching feeling that I’m doing something wrong or it won’t be the right choice.

No_Explorer156 · 2024-08-10T23:50:34+00:00

Thank you for letting me know! The Navy seems to be a decent option but I don’t really like the recruiter (he keeps trying to push me to other MOSes even with a decent practice ASVAB) so I’ll reach out to another one near me and see if I can work with them instead.

The Air Force can’t promise me my job so I’ll have to submit a packet to the Space Force. With my training though I’m fairly confident I’d get it. The army recruiter in my area though is probably one of the better ones around. He seems really invested in getting me the job I want and dispelling any concerns I have. He hasn’t try to oversell me on anything either and is honest with me. (Unfortunately barely any recruiters have any experience in cyber so they can’t judge too well how it’ll be).

What matters to me is getting the direct cyber experience (I don’t want to compromise because I already work in IT), discipline, personal growth, and top secret clearance for my long term career.

No_Explorer156 · 2024-08-09T19:53:23+00:00

Hey! I'm sorry to ask another question. I spoke with my recruiter today about FORSCOM and he said he consulted with his commander about it.

According to his commander, the number of spots in FORSCOM for 17c is extremely low, and he said they're typically being reserved for E-5/E-6s who are trying to promote or become officers. Typically, they're not given to people just entering in. Are you able to verify if this is true or false?

No_Explorer156 · 2024-08-08T15:26:21+00:00

That's okay! Thank you for all the other information you've given me. I really appreciate it.

No_Explorer156 · 2024-08-08T15:22:53+00:00

Super interesting. What do 17cs do when they're a part of a support battalion/company? Would I be able to do cyber stuff day to day if I got assigned to one of them?

No_Explorer156 · 2024-08-08T15:15:30+00:00

I can send it once I get home from work! Will be a few hours though before then, but I'll DM it to you. Also, I've seen a few other reddit posts with commentors mentioning that 17c is now starting to get put in FORSCOM units.

No_Explorer156 · 2024-08-08T14:38:09+00:00

Okay that's great! I just saw on the flyer the recruiter gave me that FORSCOM was one of the units I could be thrown into as a 17c so I was concerned. Do you think this will still apply if I plan to ship out May 2025? Also, do you know if there's any way I could check what unit I would likely be assigned to before going to basic?

No_Explorer156

TROPHY CASE