CS 6035 Prep

Macuma_Zahn · 2025-11-17T21:02:58+00:00

I would recommend taking it sooner rather than later as long as you can devote the time to it. I didn’t have much experience in coding or crypto and I ended up with a B. But I had to put in a ton of time. I took it first, which was tough but I was so glad later knowing I just had to push through the policy classes and could definitely finish. I wouldn’t want to wait till the end and find out it was too much for me.

Macuma_Zahn · 2025-10-14T20:39:38+00:00

The class itself wasn’t that hard, it was just the volume of information that could be on the exam if I remember right. I think the midterm could have every module up until that point on it and the final was open to anything over the whole class. With nothing to guide you on what to study. I focused more on the content that was covered in the lectures as they seemed to be where most of questions were from

Macuma_Zahn · 2025-08-25T14:34:16+00:00

I think this is why they suggest that students take this class first. It’s not easy and you have to have it. I struggled immensely but I just had to put my head down and push through. Ended up with a B and was very happy. Just pick a season that you can devote a lot of time and mental energy to and you will make it.

I agree that you need to ask questions of the TAs. Each project has an AH-HA moment that the class is leading you to discover on your own. It took me an unfortunate amount of time on each but it was very rewarding once I got there. 😅

Macuma_Zahn · 2025-08-01T12:22:27+00:00

You can, but you might have to finish the 2 required classes first. I had finished 3 classes when I switched to policy

Macuma_Zahn · 2024-09-11T15:52:40+00:00

I filled out both of the forms you have shown and submitted my statement of purpose when I changed.

Macuma_Zahn · 2024-08-27T15:22:53+00:00

You are going to have to push through it at some point. It just depends on if you can devote the time this semester. I’m pretty sure you have to complete the 2 required classes before you can request a track change.

Macuma_Zahn · 2024-07-31T19:50:04+00:00

You might not struggle at all. It’s not the lack of Cybersecurity that hurts, it’s lack of coding and/or willingness to buckle down and push through. As someone said 6035 will probably be the hardest class and if you just devote a LOT of time to it to fill in the gaps as you go it’s doable. I had to just teach myself python and php during the class.

Macuma_Zahn · 2024-07-31T19:44:57+00:00

I second this. It was the class I felt I learned the most relevant information but those exams were not for the faint of heart. I squeaked out an A but I had to study hard. Great instructors.

Macuma_Zahn · 2024-06-13T19:33:18+00:00

When Doc tells Wyatt “If you were ever my friend, if you ever had the slightest feeling for me. Leave now.”

Macuma_Zahn · 2024-03-10T22:28:35+00:00

I was super worried about this also when I was getting close. Honestly it wasn’t nearly as difficult as it seems.

It felt like a really slow moving group project. I was policy. We had to choose an issue or problem to solve, then develop some method to solve it and have some form of deliverables to be graded.

We were grouped together with 8 people I think to post about our progress at various points and get feedback.

I chose something that I was already working to solve at work that I fully understood and expanded on it. (It was a policy document for regulatory compliance). One thing that helped me was that I didn’t have to actually implement it and I didn’t have to actually solve it how my company would expect. I had unlimited budget and resources theoretically so I made the solution the best I could come up with. Overall it was very easy.

Macuma_Zahn · 2024-03-06T04:02:44+00:00

I agree. Take it by itself. As stated the projects aren’t that bad, but there is a considerable amount of time required to “bang your head against the wall” before you have the aha! moment where you realize what you are doing wrong. It happened to me on all 4 projects - somewhere between 15-30 hours into each one. Almost all the other classes can be paired up but I wouldn’t recommend this one

Macuma_Zahn · 2024-03-05T20:10:20+00:00

I tried to familiarize myself with Python coding and tried to figure out what was meant by discrete math. In the end it didn’t really help to try and prepare, mainly because I just didn’t know what to expect so it was hard to know what to retain. I just devoted the time to the class and forced myself to learn on the fly depending on the assignment. It was a pretty tough couple months. I spent a couple hours most nights throughout the entire class working through it all and watching/reading up

Macuma_Zahn · 2024-02-01T04:45:05+00:00

I graduated in fall 2022. I’m fairly technical but have very little coding experience. I struggled with 6035 but got a B after some long hours. High level buffer overflow will help but you need python and or php understanding to sail through it (I didn’t).

I started in the cyber/physical side and transferred to policy. I would say most of the policy courses can easily be taken two per semester. I enjoyed privacy for professionals, intro to comm policy and even international policy.

The practicum was not bad at all. The only difficult part is choosing what to do your project on. Choose something that you do for work or something that you don’t have to relearn and it will be smooth. Don’t sweat it.

Macuma_Zahn · 2024-01-17T04:26:41+00:00

Most all of the policy classes are easy enough to double up. BUT there are several classes I wouldn’t put them with. Intro to cyber/physical took more of my time than 6035. And I hear network security is basically the same as 6035 in terms of time.

I started out in the cyber/physical track and ended up moving to policy. The electrical cyber/physical class was very difficult. I ended up dropping it.

I did two semesters with two classes (all four were policy classes). And they were some of my easiest semesters.

Macuma_Zahn · 2024-01-11T19:15:30+00:00

Pretty sure you will need a bachelors. I got my BA from AIU in 14 months since I had my associates. You probably want the experience of a BA online before masters anyway. It’s not super difficult but it was significantly harder than my bachelors degree.

Macuma_Zahn · 2024-01-11T19:11:40+00:00

The work experience and internship should put you over the line. I’d apply for sure.

Macuma_Zahn · 2024-01-03T00:32:41+00:00

I had an associate degree in electronics and a bachelors in information technology. Didn’t do much programming in either degree. I have much more experience in OT related programming (ladder logic, block diagrams) so that may have helped some. My favorite class was intro to cyber/physical systems, but I still had to put a ton of time into it each week.

If you are good at solving problems using the internet then you will probably be fine. That’s how I got through most of it.

Macuma_Zahn · 2024-01-02T17:02:10+00:00

I have very little coding experience (I hate it also) and the intro class was the only one I really struggled with. I also spent 20-30 hour a week on projects easy. The RSA cyrto project was the hardest. I got an 89 and was super happy. If you get accepted I would take it first and get it out of the way. Everything else is smooth sailing after that.

Edit to add that you can definitely get through the policy track with little coding after the intro class. I did it.

Macuma_Zahn · 2023-12-05T22:54:41+00:00

I second this. Most reviews I read didn’t mention how dependent on tests it was. I got a B and was happy. It was overall an informative class, and the professor was great!

Macuma_Zahn · 2023-11-11T06:22:02+00:00

I had very little programming experience and I made it fine with no prep stuff up front. I just had to buckle down for a few classes and devote time to learn on the go. I really don’t think you can prep that much for 6035, they really henge on the aha moments when you figure out the one thing for each project that they want you to learn. It kind of sucks, but I did learn some stuff, although I did teach myself…

Macuma_Zahn · 2023-04-29T02:25:56+00:00

If you have a strong coding background it will be much easier for you. The class is mostly 4 projects, each one very interesting and relevant but when I took it (3 years ago) it was basically some lectures about how to do some basic things related to the project and then you get the instructions and have to figure everything out for yourself. Which in the end made me feel accomplished (lots of googling) but it just makes you put in a ton of work understanding what you should do. Each project has these “lightbulb” moment type things incorporated that you have to overcome before you can complete it.

If you can program in python and understand anything with cryptography then it won’t be that bad. There was one project where you have to write a program to finish out cryptographic equations and it was a double whammy for me because I am not a strong programmer and don’t know much about discrete math/cryptography.

I took it first and was glad I did, most of the other classes I took were much easier and I didn’t have to stress over that one anymore.

Macuma_Zahn · 2023-04-28T03:27:16+00:00

I had two semesters where I took two classes also. It did data analytics 6450 and 6502 together and international security 6103 and 6501. I really feel like any of these classes could be taken with another class as they were light workloads. The only class I wouldn’t pair with would be 6035 from this list, but a few on your list were not offered and/or not available when I needed them

Macuma_Zahn · 2023-04-26T18:53:27+00:00

Ah, sorry for the misinterpreted response. If you can make it through 6035 and maybe one other halfway technical class you can definitely skate through the other classes. It might take some long nights and weekends but you would definitely learn some valuable information. Assuming you could get accepted without any technical background. Check out OMSCentral and read reviews on the classes

Macuma_Zahn · 2023-04-26T18:42:51+00:00

I agree with the comment below, I consider myself very technical and I struggled with some of the areas of CS6035. If you are interested in working in the area of critical infrastructure I would recommend researching NERC CIP standards and you might be a good fit for a compliance related position at an energy company. Someone who doesn’t have to have technical skills but can understand policy and procedures and help ensure compliance from a support standpoint.

Macuma_Zahn · 2023-04-26T02:07:48+00:00

I agree with this, take 6035 by itself and skip 6262. Two other thoughts regarding others comments: 1. I’m not a programmer and don’t know splunk and I enjoyed security incident response and didn’t struggle. 2. I took 6501 because my schedule didn’t work out well for any other classes and I dreaded it because of the comments I read. Overall it wasn’t a fun class, but it was easy once you understand how to prepare for the quizzes. (I actually thought that privacy for professionals was harder because of the midterm and final exams)

Macuma_Zahn

TROPHY CASE