How to Pick Your Electives for a Cyber and Network Security Degree
To the student who has already decided to brighten your future by pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Science (CIS) with an emphasis in cyber and network security, congratulations. Every step you take now to become educated and trained in the industry may seem fraught with risk, such as selecting the elective courses you take. Once you realize electives are courses you want to take, rather than have to take, perhaps you will feel a little more comfortable picking them.
What are Electives, Anyway?
Every degree program has a core curriculum, or a set of classes that are essential for understanding the topic. In cyber and network security you may have a core curriculum of 64 credit hours that provide a basic education and develop foundational skills. You will take classes in such topics as:
- Customer Service
- Networking I
- Communication
- Statistics
- Algebra
- Career Orientation
Add to that 24 credit hours of classes in your concentration:
- Ethical Hacking
- Intro to Routing and Switching
- Networking II
- Principles of Cyber Security
- Security Systems Administration
- UNIX Administration
Beyond those courses, you select various electives based on personal interest. In a concentrated program, getting through an undergraduate degree in 30 months, you may feel you have no time for electives, but you really do. You have a little wiggle room to explore niches and tangents to your concentration.
Evaluating Electives: Which Are Right for You?
Choosing electives is a freedom and a responsibility to embrace. For a cyber and network security degree, for example, the electives are from four categories:
- Business: The Applied Project Management Lab involves case studies to help you learn project management concepts.
- Electrical Engineering: The Wireless Security elective, for example, covers Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) standards, with emphasis on security issues.
- Health Care Administration: A course like Health Information Systems could be the groundwork you need to link your interest in cyber security to a career managing data in hospitals.
- Computers and Information Systems: Unsurprisingly, the largest choice of electives comes from the department providing your cyber and network security studies. At a top-shelf school you may find as many as 70 elective courses available; this is far more than most students would have time to absorb.
Computer and Information Science Electives
Within the CIS department, electives tend to follow industry interests, such as specific programming languages, mobile devices, networks, databases, and the like. One approach to choosing CIS electives is to sample a bit of everything, by taking a programming course, some fundamentals of networking, and, say, a web animation course. This allows the graduates to honestly say they have some experience with a network security topic on their resume.
Another approach is to delve deeply into one strand, such as programming:
- Object-oriented programming with C++
- Object-oriented programming with C++ Lab
- Object-oriented programming using JAVA
- Object-oriented programming using VB.NET
Impact of Electives on Your Future
By taking an elective, you could discover a surprising affinity for one topic and wish to pursue it further on your own, but nobody can punish you for your choice of electives. You will not lose out on opportunities because of your electives, promise!
No matter the electives you take on, you will be entering a dynamic field full of unique opportunities and experiences.
Earn your Bachelor's in Cyber and Network Security at ECPI University
A key center of learning for cyber and network security is ECPI University, where students can immerse themselves in the 30-month undergraduate program and work toward a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer and Information Science with a concentration in Cyber and Network Security.
You can select from more than 70 elective courses during your 2.5 years, which might broaden your understanding of an exciting field. Contact ECPI University today to learn more.
It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!
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