help choosing a degree route
what would give me more variability in future careers: a cs degree or a cyber security degree
5 Replies
Straight up: a Computer Science (CS) degree will give you way more variability in future careers than a Cybersecurity degree.
Here’s why:
• CS is broader. It covers algorithms, software development, databases, AI, machine learning, systems, and yes — cybersecurity too.
• Cybersecurity is a specialization. It narrows you down early to defense, risk management, compliance, and securing systems. Important, but focused.
• With a CS degree, you can pivot into cybersecurity if you want — but you can also pivot into software engineering, data science, product management, cloud engineering, AI research, game development, etc.
• With a Cybersecurity degree, you’re mostly locked into security roles. You can branch out into IT or compliance-heavy roles, but it’s harder to convince companies you’re a fit for pure software dev or tech research positions without extra coursework or experience.
Bottom line:
• If you want flexibility and options? CS degree — no contest.
• If you already know you want to be a security specialist for the next 30+ years? Cybersecurity degree is fine.
Yes, I used GPT.
thanks anyway
i think i should use ai more
I initially went down the CS route and now I'm in cybersecurity fwiw
there are plenty of classically trained cybersecurity folks out there, but I'd argue the degree matters way less than just going out there and doing stuff (CTFs, homelab, all that jazz)
My advice is to pick something you enjoy doing that'll build hard skills in the area you can envision yourself building a career out of
I recommend you weight them out and look within your area for types of jobs; Software Engineer jobs etc... Those play an impact because there's nothing worst then having a degree and not being able to get a job with it and before you say oh i can move away try plan it out picking a route isn't always the only route but better have an understanding
oh alr thank you
thats acc very important ngl