Good evening My goal is a PhD/DSc in Cybersecurity for private sector work, teaching or maybe research. I have finished my BS in Cybersecurity, and have 40 years in IT & Cybersecurity. I narrowed my Master's Degree down to two universities. "Georgia Institute of Technology" (GIT) OMS Cybersecurity) and "University of Central Florida" (UCF) Cyber Security and Privacy. Cost wise, they are the similar price. GIT is very well know in technology. UCF is "no one". My plan is to take one course per semester. I am full time employed, and on the road all the time. I am worried that GIT will be too hard, and I will not be able to take complete it, or it will stress me out and do poorly both at work and school. UCF on the other hand might not be good enough for my Doctoral program (which I have not selected yet). Any suggestion what path to take?
Given your long tenure in the industry, I'm honestly unsure why you're doing any of this. But... I vote for Georgia Tech if your goal is to get into a top tier doctoral program.
There's also a well known track record of nontraditional students doing Georgia Tech online master's, and a large online ecosystem around the programs. For instance, it looks like there's a sizable reddit specific to that Georgia Tech degree, r/OMSCyberSecurity.
By the way, it's actually best to find this out inexpensively at the Master's level, because if that's the case then doctoral study is not for you.
My vote would be for Georgia Tech. As Jonathan said, they have a very robust program with a very large community. I believe you would gain an incredible addition to your resume with Georgia Tech while also having access to a lot more than UCF.
It depends; if you are in the Orlando area, then UCF is a choice for local networking and on-campus resources. However, in terms of reputation, it is definitely Georgia Tech. I have thought about going for GIT's OMCS program because I live by the campus. I would love to get resources and networking, but I have too many Masters.
