Math needed?

atl_libra

Hello All.

I will be attending WGU soon, on the security track. Looking down the line....I would like to apply and hopefully get in to Georgia Tech INFOSEC Masters program. Seeing as I will not have any other college experience except for the WGU degree when I apply, what other classes should I be taking while doing the WGU online courses. There is a local community college that I could take online math classes at, that hopefully wont take up too much time. I'm being optimistic that I can do the WGU and Community College classes concurrently. So in short....what "Computer Science" classes should I be looking at?

dbrink

For math I would look into Discrete Math, Linear Algebra, and possibly Calculus. For Computer Science you might want to look into Intro CS classes that usually teach a programming language like Java, C++, etc. Then maybe look at taking a Data Structures and Algorithms courses.

Your best bet is to contact the department at Georgia Tech and find out what would reflect well with your WGU degree.

instant000

I just looked at the program of study for Georgia Tech. It doesn't look particularly challenging.

MS InfoSec Online

Still, I would recommend a good understanding of math (as high as you can stand) as it makes cryptography easier.

Heck, if you veer down their "Policy" track, you can get some really easy courses that way (of course, this is opinionated, as I feel that a policy class is easier.)

To me, things are usually made artificially "more difficult" if they require tons and tons of memorization, or if they require that you spend your weekend writing a paper based on an assignment you receive Friday afternoon.

The good news is that you should get a syllabus, so you should have a "ballpark" idea of the topics that should show up in the course, and you can give yourself some background knowledge in those areas, so that you aren't taken off guard.

Hope this helps!

EDIT: spelling error (hope there weren't more)

EDIT2: Their admissions requirements are based on the GRE. So, make sure that you are comfortable with taking this test. (If you're on this forum, you're probably comfortable with taking tests, or should be by the time you're ready for Georgia Tech.)

atl_libra

I already emailed and got a reply from the Degree Coordinator.

Equivalence is determined by comparison of both undergraduate coursework (via review of transcripts) and experience (e.g., job history, honors/awards) to ascertain whether the applicant's background skills are sufficient for pursuit of an advanced degree (i.e., MS INFS). If you wish to make a self-assessment, you may find BS Computer Science | College of Computing a useful reference.

> Also, aside from getting great GRE scores and letters of
> recommendation….what else should/could I be doing to bolster my
> candidate profile?

Speaking at well-known conferences, publishing papers in acknowledged venues (academic or industry), and starting (or contributing to) open source software projects are all strong positives.


So this is the reason I want to kind of bolster my transcripts with some math and other classes.