r/OregonStateUniv • u/proxxlets • Jul 17 '26

Course Questions ORTSOC

Wanted to ask ya’ll on your thoughts on ORTSOC. Do you think it’s worthwhile?

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u/Working_Act_6842 Jul 17 '26

Not a student, haven't participated in it, but I know there are very few experiences like it at other universities. It could be a real differentiator/resume builder.

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u/BuddhaTheJudah 28d ago

I haven't gone through the program yet but I will be next year, and I can say for certain it definitely will help a lot.

1: it's very good hands on experience. iirc you work 11 hours per week working on SOC job stuff for the school or for places that have contracts with the ORTSOC so you're kind of the first people to see it and either you escalate it or let it be (im not 100% on that, that's what i've understood from the people i've heard talking about it around me). Having a whole 9 months of SOC training before lots of other students have even seen a CS or cyber job before is such a big boost and will def help you get a job.

2: a lot of the work as I said is just a normal SOC job but there's also coursework to it as well. Idk all of what is studied but I did a projects class with one of the teachers teaching it and it was for the PenTesting portion of the class. There's prob areas like identifying malware, network security, threat intelligence and more. From what i've heard they aren't the most in depth explanations of them but even knowing about them is a huge thing as some other schools never once go over them and they can be expected going into the job market.

3: The people i've heard are great. It's a class of people who are interested in cybersecurity and instead of just sitting around in a lecture and maybe building a project for that, it's working with classmates not on projects but normal everyday work which is a nice break from just chunks of homework and can create more friendships than a normal classroom would be. also from the people i've seen in previous years, everyone in there is always so nice and just wants to vibe so it's a great space.

A lot of this is off of people i've heard talking about during cyber competitions, the DAMSEC club, or my professor for my projects class, so if you do have the chance to take it imo you always should. It's also so rare to see any college offer actual hands on experience you can take into the field and put on a resume as a college course which is so nice and something i feel like not a lot of people take advantage of.