I was originally gonna just get an AA but now I wanna get into Cyber Security.
IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)
- Thread starter fendi_mane
- Start date
The Community College I go to has a Network Administrator & Support AAS with Security specialization degree plan: https://www1.dcccd.edu/catalog/programs/degree.cfm?degree=network_admin_supp_aas&loc=RLC
You should check if your local Community Colleges or JUCOs has something similar.
Ice_MF_Mike
Pro
even if they have a bachelors is it credited? unlikely and it still has the whole bad rep thing.
Your best bet is to take community college classes that can transfer to a 4 year school and be put towards a bachelors. Even if you dont plan to get a bachelors, you may change your mind in 2, 5 or 10 years. best to have more options.
sure. Wish I had this info before I started paying.
From what I'm seeing Devry is accredited.
Accredited by The Higher Learning Commission | DeVry University
Is DeVry University Accredited?
Ice_MF_Mike
Pro
DeVry University Lawsuit Again Shows Downside of For-Profit Colleges
I feel like im bashing DeVry and im not. I know folks that went to Devry and have great IT careers, so at the end of the day do you and do what works best for you. But if im getting a AS or BS i am doing it from a not for profit school that is well respected either nationally or locally. Not saying it has to be harvard. But aim for the best you can get into in your budget. Its a small difference but sometimes that can make a BIG difference in your career. Perception is everything.
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Noted. I have to evaluate how to get out of this situation now. Thanks.
I just remembered the Community College I go to also has a Cybersecurity AAS degree plan & you have the option to specialize in Cyber Defense, Digital Forensics/Cyber Crime, Information Assurance, Network Security Administration, or System Security Administration: https://www1.dcccd.edu/catalog/programs/degree.cfm?degree=digi_forensics_aas&loc=RLC
So definitely check for a Cybersecurity AAS degree plans at your local Community Colleges or JUCOs.
Any one know any good loan forgiveness plans?
Redguard
Hoonding
TheGreatMTB
All Star
I just graduated so I can probably provide some recent experience...my GPA was good but from some of my classmates I know:
- Most of the higher paying organizations (and even a lot of smaller orgs) want to see at least a 3.0....and these days (because so many people are going to college) they can even be particularly picky and request a 3.5. The reason this is troublesome is because a lot of orgs have GPA filters...and will automatically toss out applications without looking at them if they don't meet the GPA.
- That makes it harder to get a position if you have a bad gpa, but not impossible. If you know your stuff and go to career fairs (or find a contact within the company) you can articulate yourself better than a resume can, and truly show your GPA doesn't represent your IT knowledge.
- Additionally if you can get a solid year (the more the better) of IT experience (even if it's just a student help desk position) while in college it'll make it a lot easier.
The job market has changed a bit...experience is still a huge factor...and definitely is king in some realms....but overall the IT market is becoming so saturated networking is becoming the king. So go to career fairs, make and keep connections on Linkedin, and you'll be fine. I had a classmate who graduated with a 2.3 gpa to a 65k job...just because she happened to have connections.
Freedman
Choppers For Karate Nggas
Coli brehs I would like some input. I want to get into the Networking/Network Security field. I'm currently a 4th year student just changed my major to CompSCI from Engineering so I have about 2 years left. Our CompSci program is mostly Programming ,there's maybe 2/3 courses related to networking. I haven't been feeling all the programming lately especially since It isn't relevant to what I want to do so I was thinking of changing my major to Math.Due to all the time i spent in the engineering department I'd only need 2 more semesters to graduate with a BS in Computational Mathematics. I'm not sure though either degree I would have to do a lot of self studying to get into Networking but I feel CompSci would be more beneficial as far as job prospects but with the Math major I'd be doing something I actually enjoy and I'd finish in over half the time and be able to begin learning Networking/get a help desk job for experience/etcc vs being in school an extra year and a half
Unless money is a huge issue don't trip about the time it takes to graduate. I know someone who, for some reason or another, took 10 years to finish an aerospace degree. If you want to get into networks look if your school has a Computer Information Systems major and get into that. It's closer to what you want to do. On top of that you should want the degree over chasing certs to land a help desk position. I mentioned it in another thread but I have friends who graduated with a degree in the field and are looking to land jobs a few steps higher than help desk without having those certs. Join your school's technical clubs and attend their events. You can learn some cool things - I learned (and forgot) how to use Wireshark to view plaintext packets sent over an unsecured network back when I was a freshman. It was also my first time using Linux. Don't be in a rush to leave, you have a lot of resources around you.