ctf to cs

posted dec 2024

I spent most of my last 2 years in high school competing in Cybersecurity Capture-the-Flag (CTF) competitions. I was pretty obsessed, and I’d say almost all of my time I spent on tech / computing was spent on CTFs. I had a lot of fun, and I was reasonably successful, though the Singaporean CTF scene back then was far less competitive than it is today.

It would thus be natural to expect me to pursue an education (and a career) in cybersecurity. However, I chose to study Computer Science instead. I’ve gotten a lot of questions about this decision over the years, and I also know of a few CTF-playing juniors who are mulling over the same choice, so I thought I’d share my quick thoughts.

When I left high school, I did actually intend to continue with cybersecurity. In my first year out of high school:

• I applied for, received, and accepted an offer to study Information Security at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
• I applied for, received, and accepted offers to do cybersecurity-related contract work at multiple companies.
• I applied for, received, and considered an offer to accept a bonded scholarship from a cybersecurity-related government agency.
• I considered applying to overseas universities specifically for cybersecurity degrees / programs.