In search of colleges w/cybersecurity major for D26 to apply to this fall. Looking for additional recommendations from the College Confidential brain trust here in case there’s hidden gem schools in places we haven’t thought of looking into.
Kid’s stats & general info:
GPA 4.43 W, 3.64 UW
SAT 1170, will retake this summer. PSAT was 1260. No test prep. Kid will probably do self study before summer SAT. Paying for test prep not an option for us.
Hasn’t taken ACT yet, will take in March.
Attends small public charter high school in AZ.
Extracurriculars:
Mock trial in 10th grade. Learned through that experience that she hates feeling like she’s on stage.
VEX Robotics in 9th grade. Enjoyed the building & design & collaborative teamwork part of this, hated the intense all-day competitions every weekend.
NHS since 10th grade.
Works 15 hr/week at Walmart since early Nov. of this school year.
My kid is super nerdy, pretty introverted, would talk your ear off about all things history, Star Wars, & Marvel.
At end of this year, will have completed 12 AP classes. AP scores reflected after class name.
AP CSP (3)
AP Gov (4)
AP Bio (4)
AP English Language (3)
AP European History (4)
AP Psychology (currently taking)
AP Human Geography (currently taking)
AP English Literature (currently taking)
AP USH (currently taking)
AP Calc AB (currently taking)
AP Spanish (not taking this AP exam, new & unprepared teacher, kid will take CLEP exam in Spanish instead in her own time after school year is over)
Our family does not qualify for need-based aid. Our HS does not offer AP Computer Science A. HS does not have dual enrollment or IB classes, only AP. This summer while recuperating from foot surgery, planning on having kid do a online “Art of Problem Solving” Python programming class because (a) it’s online and she won’t have to walk; and (b) our local community college requires you to take a prereq class before they let you take a Python class (and they don’t give course credit for AP CSP).
“Wants” in D26’s college list:
Nowhere in the top half of the US (as kid puts it ‘nowhere too cold’). This includes OR & WA.
Nowhere on the east coast, including FL.
No college where cybersecurity is a sub-concentration w/in computer science (i.e., you’re a comp sci major). Cybersecurity all on its own or as a sub-concentration w/in a Business major ok.
Would prefer ~$30k/yr tuition, room & board
Colleges like Univ of Alabama or Ole Miss where Greek life dominates all social life are a big no.
No ASU (doesn’t like it) or NAU (doesn’t like Flagstaff)
Nothing in CA because kid doesn’t want to live there.
Colleges being considered:
Univ of Arizona
Univ of Tulsa – going to visit this fall instead of this spring; kid couldn’t get the time off of work she requested.
Univ of Texas San Antonio
Univ of Alabama – Huntsville
Embry Riddle in Prescott, AZ
maybe Univ of Incarnate Word in San Antonio, TX
Considered SMU, but NPC says it’s too expensive + it’s too Greek life focused
I wouldn’t say Greek life dominates at the schools mentioned. I’d say prevalent but well under half the students doing something is not dominant. Highly present as my son would say, but not most - especially in the nerdy areas.
So two things:
Why is being a part of CS bad - less schools will have a major so you limit yourself. For example, Florida Tech might work but it’s a concentration in CS. Have you checked curriculum (is it different) and career outcomes of each ?
An example is Utah Tech in St George so very South. WUE tuition is $8.5k but it’s not its own major. The other WUE were all north or pricey and there was few bcuz few overall offer a stand-alone.
You need to be careful on costs. By this I mean UAH direct costs - not travel, books, etc is $39k. But you’ll need a 1200 SAT to hit budget . I know you likely know this but making aware.
If you are full pay no shot SMU. I’d think not Tulsa either but assume you did the NPC.
I have a son who was very much into Cybersecurity and wanted to major in it. He ended up getting a Bachelors in MIS and a Minor in Cybersecurity, because none of the schools he liked had that specific major. 5 years ago, most schools didn’t have that major, but perhaps that has changed. One school that did have it, which is in a typically warm place, was the University of West Florida in Pensacola.
One thing to note and I checked ABET (accreditation) because I could only find cyber engineering at UAH.
Bama - just to give a name - and you’re not interested and would need a 1360 SAT to hit budget- it is ABET in Cybersecurity. Huntsville doesn’t even offer. It is ABET in Cybersecurity engineering. I’m guessing there is a big difference course wise with engineering being much more mathematical but you might look schools up and look to ensure you even have the right major.
Two maybe worth a look from ABET - C Arkansas works full pay and K State works with automerit as is. Both are cybersecurity.
University of Hawaii West Oahu has a cybersecurity major and seems to fit most of the above criteria, but (with WUE discount) appears to cost about $36-37k.
I know you didn’t ask this, but why not a Comp Science major with Cybersecurity as a concentration? Is it because you feel it will be more competitive (which it will be), or no interest?
A business major with cybersecurity, may not serve her goals as much, especially if she wants to be focused on technical side of things (you mentioned she’s nerdy.)
As a tech executive with 25+ years experience I’d recommend she considers a Comp Science degree with minor in Cybersecurity, even if latter is where her core interest lies.
The foundational skills she’d learn will serve her very well through her career.
I’m generally of the opinion that specializations are better as minors or post grad degrees. Undergraduate degrees offer best value with relevant core majors.
Not judging her decision to major in Cybersecurity; in fact I’m glad to see that the kid is clear and intentional about her goals. Just sharing my 2 cents.
The University of Colorado – Colorado Springs has a Bachelor’s of Innovation in Computer Security, and I believe that with the WUE tuition exchange it would come in around $30k, though their website’s a bit hard to parse in that regard.
D26 also is interested in maybe double majoring at U of A in Intelligence & Information Operations, or double majoring at Embry Riddle in Global Security & Intelligence Studies (or minor there in Diplomatic & US Military History).
Tuition alone is over $20k. Why I didn’t include. It will be over $30k. Don’t know aboit merit. It was one of the 15 WUE. Would potentially work if WUE is auto and the family goes up $6 or $8k.
There are definitely will hit budget noted above and U of A is awesome. . I agree with @Idontgetthis. My dad’s financial advisor did Cyber at Penn State and his kid couldn’t get a job. One kid does not make something bad but he said the feedback his kid got was that he wasn’t technical enough.
U of A and Univ of Tulsa both appear to have good outcomes + are tech-focused programs. U of A’s cyber operations major used to be entirely online but starting this school year, it’s also an on-campus option at the main campus in Tucson. Cyber Ops has 3 sub-specialties & D26 would pick either Defense & Forensics or Cyber Engineering. PLUS, we learned recently that if you’re an on-campus student and have taken 1-2 specific cybersecurity classes + participated in 1 Wireshark competition, then you can get a part time job on campus job in cybersecurity.
Tulsa also has a college-wide program (can’t remember the name of it now) where throughout your time at Tulsa, starting freshman year, you go through stuff like job prep-related mentoring & related stuff (help applying for internships, interview skills, etc.), and if you don’t have a full time job lined up at graduation OR haven’t been accepted to a graduate school, they’ll pay for 6 months of grad school tuition at a Tulsa grad program. That’s a pretty attractive option. We ran the NPC there and if D26 can bring her SAT up a little bit, it’ll be within budget range. They’re also on the NSA’s NCAE-C list of schools.
D26 doesn’t want to have to take chemistry or physics in college + would prefer a major where her 4 on the AP Bio exam got her out of some or all of the major’s science requirements. So the chemistry is why no Computer Science major. She hated chemistry last year, got a B by the skin of her teeth.
Really appreciate everybody’s suggestions so far! We have some more schools to go take a look at.
BTW, ruled out the 3 colleges in NM because when we toured NM schools w/D24, D26 said she doesn’t want to live in NM. Which is a bummer because UNM & NMSU for sure would be super cheap.
I wouldn’t not major in something based on one class. She can muscle through.
Just my opinion.
I do worry about a student with this gpa and sat making through a CS program but that’s a different issue. And Arizona is tops in MIS - a nice fallback of it’s too difficult.
I would check cs requirements at the various schools of interest because it’s not necessarily a given that physics and chem are required. They aren’t at my kid’s school.
CS major programs that in liberal arts divisions or liberal arts colleges are less likely to have non-CS science requirements (beyond general education requirements), while those in engineering divisions or engineering-focused colleges typically do have non-CS science requirements. Note that non-CS science requirements are needed for ABET accreditation, so a CS major program would need to be a non-ABET-accredited one for your purposes.
If she prefers a more technical focus but without non-CS science requirements, a liberal arts based CS major would likely be better than a business-based cybersecurity major.
