Would a double major in CS and MIS be feasible if a student is interested in both?
@gearsstudio could it be done? If a student has lots of AP credits, then yes - but here’s the problem:
CS is a major in the school of engineering with some required engineering classes.
MIS is a major in the school of business with many required extra classes like Econ 100,101,308,309; accounting 210; and several upper level marketing and operations management courses.
Therefore, it might be able to fit both majors and all their other required courses into 4 yrs without a bunch of AP or CLEP credits.
Anyone out there feel free to correct me if you disagree.
I re-read my post above-
Next to last sentence should read “it might be difficult to fit both majors and their required courses into 4 years without AP or CLEP credits.”
On the other hand, it might be do-able if you are willing to take a few 18 hour semesters.
If you can imagine it, then it has probably been done.
There have been a few discussions on the Facebook forums about CS at UA.
I know my son is struggling mightiy in his first CS class. He only had one CS class in HS and this class is dragging him down something terrible. @dodgersmom post is an excellent summation.
A few of the FB parents have even commented that as much as they love UA and highly recommend it, they don’t feel the same about the CS program there. Others think there aren’t any issues that can’t be overcome. I would recommend doing more research.
Thank you @laralei!
gearstudio, just to answer your question about double majoring in MIS and CS. UA has a STEM to MBA program. I think if you are interested in CS and business, that is the way to go.
b Should a student take CS 200 and CS 201 concurrently?**
In my opinion, no. They are both 4-credit hour courses, and CS 200 includes a weekly lab. That’s a lot to take on at once, and the CS flowchart certainly doesn’t anticipate that a student would do that. Fill out the student’s schedule with math (discrete math & linear algebra) and gen ed courses.
But, if the student has so much AP credit already that there’s nothing left for him/her to do other than CS 200 and CS 201, then, yes, in that circumstance, go for it. Both of those courses need to be completed in order for a student to move on to more advanced CS classes, so doing them in sequence when the student has nothing else left to do would be an unnecessary delay.
b Which is a better path to a job in cyber security: CS or MIS?**
For a cyber security job, I’d recommend a CS degree combined with the new honors certificate in cyber security. The CS degree focuses on the tech aspects of the job. The certificate provides more of a manager’s overview of security, if that makes any sense. The guy who’s spearheading the certificate program is Ashley Ewing, UA’s chief information security officer - so he’s a guy who’s definitely used to looking at the big picture.
There are CS programs elsewhere that offer a degree in cyber security, and UA clearly doesn’t offer that kind of specialization. But with the new prof they brought in, whom I mentioned earlier, whose primary interest appears to be cyber security, I think UA students will have a lot more opportunities in this area than they had previously. And I could be wrong, but my understanding is that people hiring for cyber security jobs focus on what the candidate can do, not what degree s/he has.
Thanks @dodgersmom !!
I will re-do our CS plan in degree works and NOT put CS 200 and 201 the same semester.
Regarding this new cyber security honors certificate at UA, do you happen to have a link to it?
I googled and can’t seem to find it.
Roll tide!
Also: for those parents of CS savvy students, I notice in the flow chart that in the final semester, they recommend either CS 495 Capstone Programming or CS 499 (research?).
I also notice they don’t have any other CS classes the final semester.
Are CS 495 (and 499) pretty time consuming, or is there room for another CS elective with them?
Thanks!
^I think my son took the Capstone Programming (CS495) his 6th semester (he graduated in his 7th). He also got his Masters in CS so he was taking his grad classes at the same time so, depending on your student, I can’t see why you couldn’t take more than one CS class. My son also graduated with his software engineering certificate, which he finished up in his 7th semester.
@kjcphmom he sounds amazing! Thanks for the info!
@kjcphmom I agree that computer science and STEM MBA sound like a great combo for students also interested in business.
@SEA_tide I am curious what you think about computer science majors who do the STEM MBA program.
@Nerdyparent - Sorry, I don’t know where to find it either. Given that the focus of the program is cyber-security, you’d think they’d post something online, wouldn’t you? If you PM me with your email address, I can send you a document that describes it.
CS200 and CS201 are each only offered one time with one section each. Computer engr students skip 200 and go straight to 201. CS majors have to take both 200 and 201. Math 301 has to be completed before you can take CS 201 so most will take CS 200 first. My son completed Math 300 and 301 freshman year (tested out of calc) so he can take either first and is going to take CS 201 before 200. CS 101 and CS 201 are both data type courses. Hope this makes sense. I wouldn’t take 200 and 201 at the same time.
Thanks @Claire3
Since they changed the curriculum last year, it’s been harder to find out what’s new in the trenches.
Good to know that one can do CS 201 before 200 as well!
@dodgersmom I wonder if the cyber security program you mentioned is the cyber criminology minor described here:
http://courseleaf.ua.edu/artssciences/criminaljustice/#cybercrimitext
If so, it doesn’t sound like there is much computer science involved - more like an overview of cyber crime.
Of course, this may not be the program you were describing.
I do notice UA has some upper level computer science courses that might be helpful for those interested in Cyber Security:
CS 428 - Computer Security
CS 448 - Network Security
No, @Nerdyparent, that’s something completely different - and something I’d not seen before! The program I described earlier is a certificate program, which is different than a minor. And it’s also not particularly CS-intensive, although it can be adapted to fit the interests of a CS student (through electives).
Look at CS 491 - both this semester and in the fall. (It’s a seminar course, so the subject matter changes.)
I expect cyber security to be a popular specialization in the future.
My son had no interest, but I was really wowed by Penn State’s Security and Risk Analysis major: https://ist.psu.edu/education/degree/bs/sra
I’m thinking a CS student at most universities could piece together something similar.
I think UMD-CP has a really good cyber-security program too, with lots of ties to DC. DS got in there (yay) but no merit $$ unfortunately.
@Nerdyparent Living in Seattle, working in a technical field, and having a lot of friends with CS degrees, the general consensus is not to get a graduate degree right away. Focus on learning CS, mathematics, interviewing skills, and getting internships/jobs. The MBA in analytics might be good if one wants to become a data scientist, but in general, business skills are a lot easier to teach at work than programming skills.