Hello everyone,
I’m currently a senior in hs and would like some advice. I’m currently doing college apps and can’t seem to make a strong decision between going to NYU Tandon School of Engineering (Applying as Computer Science major, and hopefully minor in Cybersecurity when I meet the requirements) or Penn State (UPark, hopefully. I’m really interested in the Security and Risk Analysis major (SRA), but I still want a strong CS/Programming background, so maybe double major with CS if I can ).
I’m really interested in working in cyber defense/security after graduating. I’m out-of-state from both colleges.
I know both are very different schools.
NYU’s “lack of campus” doesn’t really bother me, I actually think it makes the school unique and it could be a refreshing experience by going there for 4 years, but I’m not sure how I feel about the lesser presence of school spirit/school-focused activities (I’ve heard lots of people say that most extracurricular activities for a lot of students aren’t even school related, except maybe research), and because of that I’m mostly worried about the difficulty of making friends over there. I’ve looked on their website and the selection of courses in CS and cybersecurity looks very interesting. It is in New York though, and I know NYU has great connections there for student to further their studies and education in the city. Their ASPIRE program is also pretty neat for cybersecurity. Not sure if NYU has any clubs/organizations related to cybersecurity or CS.(Anyone know if there are any?)
Penn State’s SRA program seems really cool to me as well. I’ve seen their youtube video and it looks like a great educational experience. However, I know that the typical class schedule at Penn State may only usually include about 1 major-related course per semester, but at NYU Tandon most/all of a class schedule will be more career/major focused since the school is focused in the technology/engineering disciplines. But like I said, I’d still like to have a good Computer Science/Programming background because I know that’s important for applying for a job in cyber defense, so if I end up at PSU I’ll probably try to double major with CS (QUESTION: is it hard to apply for/manage a double major at PSU? How good is the CS program?). I know there are some great-looking clubs at IST like SRA and IA clubs and CCSO.
Please post your questions and thoughts! I’m trying to decide whether or not I should apply EDII to NYU, since they have that as an option (EDI probably won’t be an option for me because I most likely won’t have the time to make it by the end of November)