Who Here is Going in to Forensic Science?

Thanks! Grissom_Mad I just had a look and I never realised how many places around near me actually did the course now i can go shove my career advisors face in it. lol only kidding (damn it)

 

As was pointed out before, for those interested going into forensic sciences, consider first doing a more general science degree e.g. in chemistry, the various applicable fields of biology etc. and doing your degree work or a postgraduate degree in the forensics field.

It will give you several advantages:
-it will give you a profound understanding of the methods involved and the meaning of the data generated. Depending on how far you take it, it will even give you the tools to advance existing methods or even develop new ones.
-it means you're not 100% stuck with forensics. Should no opening be available when you're done, you can bridge the gap until you get the position you're interested in while remaining at the cutting edge of science. You could, for example, go into a diagnostics lab some of which double up doing DNA fingerprinting and applying two or three years later for that dream job in an actual CSI unit, having several years of experience in fingerprinting will likely be very conducive to having your application being treated favorably. Consider that there's just so many actual positions in offical public CSI units available and that thanks to CSI, there's likely much more people who want a position than positions available. The better your own qualifications, the better your chances.

 

If I can add to the above post, if you have your heart set on CSI, be sure and try and get some vounteer/intership time in at a forensic lab. It makes you stand out from the crowd of applicants.

 

I've been reading about forensics and stuff like that, and I kinda wanna be a Crime Scene Investigator (goes to the scene and collects evidence) but I've been reading and most Crime Scene Investigators also specialize in some other, more science field. I'm thinking of forensic psychiatry. It sounds interesting. But I'm not sure if its one of the fields you can do while you are also a Crime Scene Investigator.

Does anybody know?

 

I'm definatly going to be a Forensic Scientist.. I've already started studying at the age of 14.. It has always been my ambition. ^_^

 

i would love to be forensic scientist and im defiently going to try, but i think that now so many people want to be that its going to be hard to get in, i wouldnt mind being a lab tech or something i guess

 

I don't want to go into Forensic Science as such (well I would but I'm not good at any science, so wouldn't be wise for me to do), but at the moment I am doing a degree in Politics and once I've finished this degree, (in about a year and a half time), I'm looking at doing a Masters or a Bachelors Degree in Criminology, which has been inspired from watching mainly CSI but other crime dramas!!!

 

i wanna go into a chemistry major at NYU. and than im going to go for a criminology degree at a college closer to home. and than im going to move to Chicago or Los Angeles and pursue some sort of career as a forensic scientist.

i need to finish high school.

 

Hey everyone I have a question and was hoping someone could answer. I'm planning to go into Forensics like everyone else here, but I've been doing some research and haven't got a clear explanation.

I've heard that all Crime Scene Investigators do is work on the field and collect evidence and send it to the lab, but I want to do some lab work to, like work with the evidence and help detectives solve the crimes, sorta. And I've read that you have to be a criminalist to do that. And that Criminalists aren't CSI's and that they only work on the lab.

I always thought Criminalists and CSIs were the the same thing. Can someone please help me! I want to be able to do both and I think you can, but I just need someone to clear up if they are different or not? Thanks!

 

i couldn't have said it better myself.

 

I've been doing my research and I'm going to get a Bachelor of Physics and a Criminology degree then I'm going into ballistics through the RCMP so I don't have to be a cop first. I have to talk to my guidance councillor about doing my job shadow at the crime lab or the Court House to get and idea of real life.

 

It really depends on where you work. In Arizona the two jobs generally are done by two different sets of people, with two different job requirements, and two highly different pay scales (criminalists being much higher than crime scene response generally).

On the other hand I've heard that in southern California it is more common for a criminalist to go out to the crime scene.

Something for you to look into before you submit a job application for wherever you try to get a job.

 

Thanks! I'll have to get some books and ask around, I'm going to a forensics camp this summer in Chicago for about a week. Its gonna be intense, we don't get to sleep that much. I'll ask the teachers there probably. Thanks again! If anyone else has any information please tell me I'd much appreciate it!

 

I really need to find a Forensics Camp here in Canada...I don't care where in canada, but I don't really have the resources to go to the states for a camp.

 

i am about to start college in two weeks. i'm going for associate of science degree in criminal justice and some of the course i will be taking has to do with forensic.
-criminal investigations and evidence processing
-survey of forensic science
-also going learn the lab and DNA stuff
after i graduate with the associate i am going for the bachelor of science degree in criminal justice.