ACCEPTED into Georgia Tech's OMS Cybersecurity!

[Imbanewbie]

93% on IS Policy project #3. A little bummed I didn't get any real feedback as to why I missed the 7 points, but in A is an A

Proj 3 for IIS just hit the due date a few days ago, so it'll be a while before I hear back on that.

Hi jsd

When you apply for the Master cybersecurity. Did George Tech accept some of the cybersecurity courses from Western Governors University, 2018? if they accept some of the credit classes. how many they are willing to accept. When you are taking some online quiz,  what it is the time frame the professor give you to complete the quiz or exam?

[jsd]

my WGU degree is an undergrad degree, nothing at the bachelors level transfers to the masters level. i don't know of any school that will accept anything from an undergrad at the masters level (aside from meeting pre-reqs for to qualify).

for the proctored exams, there was maybe a 5 day window you could take them. Once you start the exam, I think there was an hour for the midterm and 2 hours for the final.

the homework quizzes are open book, you have about a week to take them and they are not timed once you start.

Keep in mind this will vary by course and professor.

[shamin]

Mind if you tell more about you bachelors? Where is it from?

[jsd]

I have a BA in Psych from TESU and a BS in IT Security from WGU. Obviously I doubt they cared too much about my BA.

I also have about a decade of professional experience in the field and some industry certs (from my time at WGU) that I'm sure made me look pretty good to the admissions board.

[cookderosa]

So far, based on your experience, what kind of advice about WORK EXPERIENCE would you give for someone just starting with this program as a goal?

I'm asking for my son who is in his first year of an AAS in Digital Forensics. It's a 3 year program, but I'm planning to integrate an online BS through one of the big 3 while he does the AAS - hoping for a single graduation date. He currently works at the CC's Help Desk, which he will probably do for the duration of his AAS/BS. Is it reasonable for someone to go straight into this program from their bachelor's with only help desk experience, or would you advise more real world work first?

[jsd]

It's hard to say how much weight they put on work experience, but it's definitely something they looked at. Most of the cohorts I've had interaction with are established professionals.

But I wouldn't let that discourage your son too much, there's at least one individual in the program switching career tracks from a GFX type of gig into cybersecurity, so it's not mandatory he have 10 years of experience or whatever.

I think the helpdesk will certainly help. The community college probably doesn't have a Security Operations Center, but if he can find a SOC to get his foot in the door, they have entry level jobs that can provide a ton of on-the-job prep and opportunity to advance to higher roles.

GT's Cybersecurity program (at least the IS track) is still essentially a computer science degree. Most of the courses are just borrowed directly from the OMS Computer Science program. He should know programming basic skills, it will be difficult to get by without them (unless he takes the cowards way out like me and moved into policy )

[Imbanewbie]

It's hard to say how much weight they put on work experience, but it's definitely something they looked at. Most of the cohorts I've had interaction with are established professionals.

But I wouldn't let that discourage your son too much, there's at least one individual in the program switching career tracks from a GFX type of gig into cybersecurity, so it's not mandatory he have 10 years of experience or whatever.

I think the helpdesk will certainly help. The community college probably doesn't have a Security Operations Center, but if he can find a SOC to get his foot in the door, they have entry level jobs that can provide a ton of on-the-job prep and opportunity to advance to higher roles.

GT's Cybersecurity program (at least the IS track) is still essentially a computer science degree. Most of the courses are just borrowed directly from the OMS Computer Science program. He should know programming basic skills, it will be difficult to get by without them (unless he takes the cowards way out like me and moved into policy )

Which certification you think it is the best to get for long run. I may plan to get it too

[jsd]

Which certification you think it is the best to get for long run. I may plan to get it too

Specifically for this program? Or for a career in the field in general? If for career purposes, what type of job within the field are you looking for?

[Imbanewbie]

Which certification you think it is the best to get for long run. I may plan to get it too

Specifically for this program? Or for a career in the field in general? If for career purposes, what type of job within the field are you looking for?

Sorry I forgot to mention the field. It will be in Cybersecurity field. Also can you tell me the experience between WGU private school vs Georgia tech public school. Which one is harder?

[jsd]

Sorry I forgot to mention the field. It will be in Cybersecurity field.

Hard to say when i don't know what job you're looking at within the field, but in general if you're looking at managerial typle roles or operational risk, maybe CISSP. If you're looking at Pen-Testing, OSCP would be an advanced cert to get. Networking? Cisco has a whole lot out there for you. None of these are simple to get. Particularly OSCP, you're going to have to work your way up to these things.

Also can you tell me the experience between WGU private school vs Georgia tech public school. Which one is harder?

This is apples to oranges. First of all, the GT program is a masters degree, and the WGU degree was a bachelors. So regardless of GT being public and WGU being private, masters are harder simply because they're advanced degrees. A masters at WGU would be harder than a bachelors at WGU.

That aside, Georgia Tech is a top 10 school in computer science, within the top 50 in the US overall as an institution, and within 100 in the world. GT is harder not because it is public vs private (plenty of both public and private schools have similar or better reputations), but because it is a world renowned school.