big daddy fatsacks
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2001
- Messages
- 2,312
a little background:
i am turning 30 this summer. i graduated from a small liberal arts college with a BA in philosophy and a BA in Sociology/Anthropology. i have been working in the IT field for the past 6 years with basically the last 2.5 years in the information security area. currently i am working on a certification and accreditation project for federal IT systems at a consulting firm, am technical editor for a book on C&A that will be published in the fall, and will hopefully be moving back into more technically challenging (and thus interesting) information security projects next year.
i have an MCSE on windows 2000, i have the GIAC GSEC and GCFW, and recently got my CISSP. i am happy with the direction my career has taken, and haven't faced any real roadblocks to success despite my lack of a degree in a field related to my work.
so i am looking into getting my master's degree. the programs that i have found as possible options are the following (all 3 places are listed as national centers of excellence by the NSA):
John's Hopkins University Master's Degree in Information Systems and Technology
at first this seemed like the best choice since JHU is a great name, and the degree is only 10 courses so i can finish fairly quick. however, i have talked to some people that say JHU is a big name only for medicine and such and no one in the info sec field holds this program in high regard. also, the program is the most expensive so even though it is short, it might take the longest to finish. also, it is an IT degree. i could take courses which focus on security, but it is still not a security degree.
another point is that if you look at the courses, there are like 6 classes all about TCP/IP in some way. some focus on this or that aspect of basic networking, but it seems like there is also a lot of overlap. also, the information security courses offered don't seem all that great. for one i would really like to see a course on forensics, but they have nothing that comes close to that. the overall program of classes doesn't seem all that interesting/a good fit to me.
only maybe 4 of these courses can be done online. if i stay where i live now though the campus is 15 minutes from my house. if i move (which i probably will in the fall) then i'm maybe 45 minutes away.
University of Maryland University College Master's Degree in Information Technology
again, this is an IT degree where i'd have a chance to take security courses. the core courses are like half that program and again don't seem to be what i really want. i mean MSIT 620 Computer Concepts- seriously?? come on. they do have some cool security courses like the incident response and forensics one. they also require you to take a BS "library research" course.
with this program, i ought to be able to take the whole thing online which means putting upw ith 0 commuting BS. this is a pretty big point since i'm about 45 minutes to an hour from the campus.
Capitol College Master's Degree in Information Assurance
this program seems perfect. i can do the whole thing online. the entire program fits exactly what i am doing now, plan to be doing for the forseeable future, and is very interesting to me. the price is midrange between the other 2. courses are offered enough that i could probably finish this one real quick if i killed myself and took a couple each semester. i like this a lot.
the big downside here is- WTF is capitol college??? i don't want to waste a bunch of money, time, and effort on a worthless degree.
i've also looked at the SANS master's programs, and although this seems like the best hands down it has one big caveat- they are not accredited yet.
so, here are my issues/questions.
1) i definitely see myself staying in the information security arena for a while. is there any advantage to having an information assurance/ network security degree versus a more general IT degree?
2) sort of the opposite of #1. if i get back into a job like my previous one where i was a network administrator/IT manager- is there any advantage to having a more general IT degree versus a network security degree?
3) do i really need a master's degree at all? i am under the impression that it will help me get named on proposals that we submit to the government. would it help me in any way when i submit my resume to future employers? i think for some federal government jobs i would not be conisdered at all without the masters. it would immediately bump me to a higher GS level if i had it, right?
4) the BIG question. what is in a name? does the degree from JHU hold any more sway than the degree from UMUC or capitol college? how much sway? all three of these places are NSA national centers of excellence- does that have any meaning to people making hiring decisions for information security jobs? within the info sec field, what colleges DO mean something?
any other thoughts?
thanks,
big boi
i am turning 30 this summer. i graduated from a small liberal arts college with a BA in philosophy and a BA in Sociology/Anthropology. i have been working in the IT field for the past 6 years with basically the last 2.5 years in the information security area. currently i am working on a certification and accreditation project for federal IT systems at a consulting firm, am technical editor for a book on C&A that will be published in the fall, and will hopefully be moving back into more technically challenging (and thus interesting) information security projects next year.
i have an MCSE on windows 2000, i have the GIAC GSEC and GCFW, and recently got my CISSP. i am happy with the direction my career has taken, and haven't faced any real roadblocks to success despite my lack of a degree in a field related to my work.
so i am looking into getting my master's degree. the programs that i have found as possible options are the following (all 3 places are listed as national centers of excellence by the NSA):
John's Hopkins University Master's Degree in Information Systems and Technology
at first this seemed like the best choice since JHU is a great name, and the degree is only 10 courses so i can finish fairly quick. however, i have talked to some people that say JHU is a big name only for medicine and such and no one in the info sec field holds this program in high regard. also, the program is the most expensive so even though it is short, it might take the longest to finish. also, it is an IT degree. i could take courses which focus on security, but it is still not a security degree.
another point is that if you look at the courses, there are like 6 classes all about TCP/IP in some way. some focus on this or that aspect of basic networking, but it seems like there is also a lot of overlap. also, the information security courses offered don't seem all that great. for one i would really like to see a course on forensics, but they have nothing that comes close to that. the overall program of classes doesn't seem all that interesting/a good fit to me.
only maybe 4 of these courses can be done online. if i stay where i live now though the campus is 15 minutes from my house. if i move (which i probably will in the fall) then i'm maybe 45 minutes away.
University of Maryland University College Master's Degree in Information Technology
again, this is an IT degree where i'd have a chance to take security courses. the core courses are like half that program and again don't seem to be what i really want. i mean MSIT 620 Computer Concepts- seriously?? come on. they do have some cool security courses like the incident response and forensics one. they also require you to take a BS "library research" course.
with this program, i ought to be able to take the whole thing online which means putting upw ith 0 commuting BS. this is a pretty big point since i'm about 45 minutes to an hour from the campus.
Capitol College Master's Degree in Information Assurance
this program seems perfect. i can do the whole thing online. the entire program fits exactly what i am doing now, plan to be doing for the forseeable future, and is very interesting to me. the price is midrange between the other 2. courses are offered enough that i could probably finish this one real quick if i killed myself and took a couple each semester. i like this a lot.
the big downside here is- WTF is capitol college??? i don't want to waste a bunch of money, time, and effort on a worthless degree.
i've also looked at the SANS master's programs, and although this seems like the best hands down it has one big caveat- they are not accredited yet.
so, here are my issues/questions.
1) i definitely see myself staying in the information security arena for a while. is there any advantage to having an information assurance/ network security degree versus a more general IT degree?
2) sort of the opposite of #1. if i get back into a job like my previous one where i was a network administrator/IT manager- is there any advantage to having a more general IT degree versus a network security degree?
3) do i really need a master's degree at all? i am under the impression that it will help me get named on proposals that we submit to the government. would it help me in any way when i submit my resume to future employers? i think for some federal government jobs i would not be conisdered at all without the masters. it would immediately bump me to a higher GS level if i had it, right?
4) the BIG question. what is in a name? does the degree from JHU hold any more sway than the degree from UMUC or capitol college? how much sway? all three of these places are NSA national centers of excellence- does that have any meaning to people making hiring decisions for information security jobs? within the info sec field, what colleges DO mean something?
any other thoughts?
thanks,
big boi