Cybersecurity major looking for college suggestions where it's "not cold" [AZ resident, 3.64 GPA, 1170 SAT, <$30k]

College Search & Lists
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Check out the minors

“The Cybersecurity Center brings together expertise from a range of disciplines including political science, information systems, journalism, criminal justice, philosophy, psychology, history, and computer science and engineering.

On the strength of its cybersecurity program, the University has been named a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD) by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. This prestigious designation is given to institutions of higher education that provide exceptional theoretical and hands-on experience in cybersecurity. “

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Is this really the whole state or is it not wanting to be in SoCal or avoiding aspects of big city life like San Francisco? I suspect that there are some cool options via WUE, but if California is really a dealbreaker, then I won’t bother looking there. Sadly for those of us not in the midwest or on the east coast, we don’t have the same density of colleges, which means fewer college options to consider. On the other hand, it can make applying to college so much simpler!

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Entire state is a no. Cost of living too high. Plus political reasons. Will go there to visit Disneyland & relatives periodically, but living there for 4 yr…D26 said, “No way.”

Disclaimer:
I’m not going to discuss or debate the political reasons here in this thread or in PMs/DMs.

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Correction: we’re visiting Embry Riddle in April. Going to tour U of A this month. Too many things coming & going in our household to keep track of it all sometimes!

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Pensacola might be an option since D26 is willing to consider UAH. :slight_smile: The “no Florida” is mostly she doesn’t want to be in the Jacksonville-to-Miami part of FL, feels that’s “too far away.” But something that’s physically closer to Alabama is in the realm of “eh, maybe.”

At the end of the day, it’ll be up to D26 to decide. Like D24 told us a year ago, “I’M the one going to college. I’M the one who has to go to all the classes and do the work.” :slight_smile: You or I or anybody else here might be willing to ‘muscle through.’ And that’s great! But we’re not the ones taking the class. D26 & I are going to go look up the info on a bunch of the colleges everybody’s suggested here…and then the kid can decide within the confines of the budget, geographic, & weather requirements she has.

Re: U of A being tops in MIS -
They’re definitely a top-ranked MIS program. It’s also become pretty challenging in recent years to actually get into the MIS program there. For example, for guaranteed admission, you need to maintain a 3.75 college GPA. And cannot get fully admitted to MIS until you’ve completed the foundational college classes. Oh and there’s a professional interview process, too. You have a max of 2 attempts to go through the ‘professional admissions’ process for the major you want and if not selected into your chosen major at the end of round #2, you remain as a regular Business Administration major.

I showed D26 all that a few months ago when we first started exploring this and she said, “So at the end of doing the 2 yr of pre-reqs, you still might not end up in MIS? That sucks! Then you have to start over with another major. Forget it. I’ll major in something else if I go there.”

And that’s when we started digging some more, looking at other majors at U of A…that’s when we stumbled across the Cyber Operations major, which she got pretty excited about. There’s also an Information Science major or Applied Computing, too.

I’ve also had D26 do the same thing we did w/D24 when starting to compare majors at different schools. We have a shared master spreadsheet that we’re populating with all of the general ed requirements, major requirements, etc. for each major at each school being considered. that way, you just have to look at it all in one document and scroll through it to be able to compare apples to oranges.

Not all cybersecurity majors at every college is built the same. Even the ones within a computer science major.

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Somewhere up-thread, a couple of folks commented on concerns re: threading a needle, maybe D26 is pursuing a career interest that is too specific, etc.

The intelligence major thing came up sort of by accident when we were looking at the Cyber Ops major at U of A. The kid & I were looking at the website together…we saw “Intelligence & Information Operations” and, at her request, we looked more into the weeds. She’s a huge American history buff & loves US military history (does not want to enlist though).

And she looked at all of the required & elective classes for that major, and then we took a 2nd look at the required & elective classes for the Cyber Ops major and my kid said, “Could I major in both of those or do I have to pick just one?” Sure, you could double major.

Then the kid said, “I think you’ve probably found the perfect combo of stuff I’m interested in: computers & tech stuff and American military history-related stuff.”

IF she attended U of A and double majored in both of those, the Intelligence major would be a “just for the heck of it because she’s interested in it” thing. Do I think she’s going to be a spy or work for the Foreign Service when it’s all said and done? No.

If a college doesn’t have an intelligence major, it’s no big deal. She’ll minor or double major in history instead.

D26 has a good head on her shoulders. She knows that the Bank of Mom & Dad are only paying for 4 years (possibly some wiggle room here based on how it goes) and the goal is to be able to support yourself & to pay your own rent at the end of those 4 years. :wink:

Earlier, somebody (or a couple of you) made a suggestion to also pay attention to AP credits, don’t count on it shaving off a lot of time, etc. I appreciate you pointing that out. We’ve already been keeping track of that in the master spreadsheet. For each potential college being considered, we’re tracking:

  • the current AP exam scores D26 has already
  • AP exams for courses she has this year
  • how many credits/units each exam would get you at each college
  • if a college doesn’t give you credits for that AP exam, we note that, too.
  • whether a certain min score is required for each exam
  • for each score for each type of AP exam, what the course # is that you’d get credit for at College X, Y, or Z.
  • if it gives you credit for a specific general ed requirement, we put that down, too

So we already know what classes she’ll get credit for (or not) for the AP exams she’s taken in:

  • AP CSP (and yes, not every college gives you credit for this but guess what? That’s ok!) :slight_smile:
  • AP European history
  • AP Precalc
  • AP English Language
  • AP Biology
  • AP US Gov & Politics

Some colleges (Southwestern is an example) don’t say on their website what specific classes they’ll give you AP credit for. And other colleges (Top 20/25, for example) often won’t give you any credit at all. But at least the kid will be able to make an informed decision when the time comes! :smiley:

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New Mexico State was my first thought. Cybersecurity is in the CS department but is a completely separate major.

Seems like your D needs to do her own Venn diagram and see what’s in the overlap area of desired weather, manageable budget, desired major/program, preferred campus culture/vibe, and “no other deal killers.” And then she’ll need to decide whether some of her constraints are flexible, or whether a very short list will be okay.

Maybe Kansas State? Presumably not as warm as she’d like but maybe an acceptable compromise. https://engg.k-state.edu/academics/undergraduate/cybersecurity/ Only 20% Greek, known for happy students, and relatively affordable.

Also think Texas Tech is a great idea - the major leans business-y which seems like a good thing for her preferences, and the school could give her the nerdier vibe she wants.

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I don’t think anyone’s mentioned these yet, so thought I’d offer these up:

Christian Brothers: This school with about 1200 undergrads is located in Memphis. It offers a Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics major which does not appear to include any physics requirements and which it describes as including “courses spanning business, computer science, electrical engineering, and management information systems.”

LeTourneau: This Texas school of about 3200 undergrads describes itself as “THE Christian Polytechnic University” and requires four religion classes, at least three of which are biblically based. I don’t know whether that would be a good fit for your D, but it does have a cybersecurity major that does not require physics.

She’s already interested in UA-Huntsville, but she may also want to check out UA-Birmingham. Some majors that seem as though they might be of interest include Digital Forensics, Information Systems with a concentration in cybersecurity, or the BA or BS in Computer Science, none of which require physics. (The CS degrees require 8 credits of a natural science sequence and physics is an option, but so are chemistry and biology.) There are about 12k undergrads here.

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In no way was I implying that her career interest is “too specific”. Just that even the most directed, ambitious, self-assured and confident kid who wants to major in X often changes direction once they are actually IN college, not just planning to get TO college.

This isn’t bad- and in fact, is often great. So it’s great that a Cyber program, not CS, warm weather, affordable is step one. Step two might be to identify a few other majors/programs, etc. which any college on the list has which would be equally compelling if Cyber turns out not to be “all that”.

Cyber/Intelligence is a LOT bigger than diplomat/spy/national intelligence. Any electric utility whose grid could be compromised has a cyber team. Ditto hospital systems, airlines, railroads, banks and credit card companies, large cities, ports…

Just voting for MORE optionality rather than less.

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I’m a UTSA graduate, so my recommendation is going to be a little bias. UTSA is one of the original pioneers of Cybersecurity as a degree program. This basically turned San Antonio into the biggest cybersecurity outlet next to the Pentagon. And it has a 100% job placement. It’s definitely not cold…2021 was a weird exception. The Mexican food is second to none, and the university is less than a half mile from Fiesta Texas.

Also, if he can take the SAT again and score a bit higher, he would qualify for a bit of merit aid if he’s in the top 25%, which automatically waives the out of state tuition.

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Yep. Every industry these days uses cybersecurity!

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thanks for the info! That’s pretty great. Our kid is planning on retaking the SAT this summer in June & probably again in August depending on how the scores go. We visited San Antonio briefly a few years ago on a cross-country road trip. Went to the Alamo & took pictures in front of the old house my family used to live in many moons ago when I was a kid (lived there for ~ 5 yr when I was in preschool & elementary school). It’s definitely been built up a lot since I was a kid! :slight_smile:

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I just heard two students talking about UTSA cyber program. They recently got in touch with a student who started at UTSA in fall 2019. He is currently working in DC. For students in our school (title 1 campus) this is beyond what the vast majority would dream of doing.
On the other hand, one of my seniors has decided to choose Texas Tech over UTSA. He has received merit offers from both. I didn’t ask how much though. My impression is that Texas Tech offered him more. His GPA is top 10% of his class.

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When I was in middle school, I really wanted to be an Electronics Engineer from the best CoE. Why? Because I wanted to be able to fix all the electronics in our home, our neighbors home and what not. Little did I know what studying Electronics from an engineering perspective actually entails.
It’s very common for students to be disoriented about what they believe they will study in college, and for college students about what they will do at their jobs–and that’s OK.
But something to keep in mind for the parents to help guide them make the best decision of their lives for least regret.
I agree with you 100%

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Found another one, but it’ll be a no go for our kid because the general ed requirements include every BS student being required to take a year of general chem & a year of Calculus-based physics…

New Mexico Tech in Socorro, NM. https://www.nmt.edu/

They have a cybersecurity minor and a BS in Information Technology. ~ 6.5 hr drive from where we live. NM Tech is about halfway between Albuquerque & Las Cruces. And it’s in a small town, so if you want a social life, don’t go to college there.

(by the way - you can take courses there in explosives) :open_mouth:

D26 currently would qualify for one of their WUE scholarships. With ACT of 27 or SAT of at least 1260 & a min 3.25 unweighted GPA, she’d qualify for a WUE Plus scholarship, which gets you in-state tuition (which is about $4k/yr cheaper than in-state tuition here in AZ). And from what I can tell on their website, for OOS students, they also appear to give out additional merit $ on top of the WUE scholarships, based on your GPA & test scores.

Putting it in here in case this might be useful later on to somebody else.

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I’d love for @WayOutWestMom to tell folks more about this hidden gem!

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If the academic requirements work, I’d second UC-Colorado Springs. Many students at the school are military (Peterson AFA, Ft. Carson, NORAD) so the military offerings in cyber and in history are plentiful. The school is Div 2 for sports so offers some but isn’t a dominant part of campus life. Same with Greek life. Colo Springs definitely gets snow, but it is usually a day or two of a storm and then life is back to normal.

Fort Lewis College in Durango has a CIS major. It is a WUE school, but not automatic

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Gotta dispute that.

Know tons of kids who have gone to Tech. If you’re looking for big concert series like you might see at a state flagship U–that’s not gonna happen, but Soccoro isn’t dead. It’s a fairly hip small town. Microbrewies with live music on weekends, art galleries, some pretty darn good restaurants-- more Asheville, NC (without the hurricane!) and less Mayberry. Tech kids tend to be outdoorsy. There’s PGA championship approved golf course on campus. Mountain and road biking clubs. World class rock climbing within 20-30 minutes of campus. Skiing in ABQ, SF and at Ski Apache in Sierra Blanca. (60, 120 or 150 minutes respectively)

Tech itself hosts a wide variety of clubs that are open to both students and townspeople. The most popular club? Belly dancing. Plenty of video gaming if your child is into that.

The VLA runs daily shuttles between ABQ and Tech. Mornings to Soccoro/Tech from ABQ; afternoons from Tech’s campus to Abq. VLA staff get priority, but if there’s open seat, students can ride for free or a very small fee.

Most kids will have cars on campus so it’s fairly easy to find a ride to ABQ.

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Christian Brothers University:
Their Cybersecurity & Digital Forensics major looks like a great option, but the 6 units of required religion classes are a hard no. And from looking at the list of religion classes for general ed that one has to choose from, there aren’t any classes in the realm of ‘general study of different world religions.’ It’s all Christianity focused. Nothing wrong with that, of course. But probably not a good fit for my kid.

LeTourneau:
Probably not a good fit because of the required religion classes in general ed. I appreciate the suggestion, though!

UA-Birmingham:
Will take a look at this one! Thanks!

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Thanks for bringing that to my attention about Christian Brothers. It’s great that your family takes a deep look at both major and general ed requirements, as it really can influence how good of a fit a school might be.

Can you share a link to specified required religion classes? I didn’t find it, only the listing of their general religion classes and that 6-credit hours (i.e. two classes) were needed. At least based on the course descriptions, there appears to be non-Christian based classes like:

  • RS 250: Religion & Environment: Indicates that “Our approach will be both textual and experiential, exploring Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and Native American beliefs, practices, and sacred stories”

  • RS 270: World Religions

  • RS 200: Understanding Religion: Description starts with, “An introduction to religion through a comparative study of all aspects of religious experience in Christianity and other religious traditions.”

  • RS 356: The Holocaust: Religions and Political Dimensions

  • RS 347: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien: Biblical and Theological Themes: " An examination of prominent biblical and theological themes in the writings of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. Topics may include creation and fall, good and evil, death and resurrection, obedience and sacrifice, courage and cowardice, mystery and myth, calamity and redemption, freedom and coercion, and environmental ethics. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and/or Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia will often be the central texts, though the exact reading assignments may vary with each iteration of the course."

Of course, if the school’s not a fit, it’s not a fit, but if the school seemed like a possibility outside of the religion issues, I just wanted to highlight some classes that don’t seemed to be focused on just the Christian tradition.

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