Criminal Justice Degree Not Good Enough

[studentcj]

I'm in college right now majoring in cj with a minor in pysch. All through high school when talking to counselors and other people they told me to major in cj because law enforcement agencies like to see that. Then when I get to college I keep reading how the degrees are useless and that most agencies want you to have a degree in something else especially federal agencies. So are my college years a waste. What i was wondering is if something happens to me where I'm not able to work in L.E. would I not be able to get a job anywhere else?

[Switchback]

There are many fields out there, to include the feds, who care little what your degree is in. The key is to study something you like, you'll tend to do better in it. I studied molecular bio. I loved it! Worked in a lab for a while, but, believe it or not, it paid peanuts! Luckliy I had some military and a lot of good luck and timing to get in the feds first try.

The ony place where a specific degree will really help you is the FBI. Currently, their flavors of the day are middle eastern languages, engineering, biology, and chemistry. I am sure there are some that I am missing, hit their website, as they are always updating this list. With these backgrounds, they will fast track you. The only problem is, in the 4 years it takes you to get the degree, plus some work experience, your specialty very well may be off thier list.

Study what you like. I know if I had failed to get in the USMS, I could have lived with a bio related degree.

[Island_Girl]

Batman (my husband) works for the government. It has been our experience that college is not always the most important thing. They were happy to see the college, but it was the actual law enforcement experiece that appealed to the hiring team. Some agencies are real specific. My advice to you is to figure out where you want to be (ie. agency or department), figure out THEIR requirements, and then make decisions based on that information. Also, remember that knowing the right people can get you to where you are going quicker too. For instance, if you want to join agency B, find a mentor that can tell you first hand what you will need to do to achieve a slot with them.

[recontroy]

If you decide not to work in L.E. don't worry, most people don't work in the same field they studied in college anyway.

[Tex24]

Everyone I talked to in LE said do not get a CJ degree, so I stayed away from it. But then again, I guarantee you there are fed agents in every agency that have CJ degree's.

The fed just likes to hire from a majority of different backgrounds. The reason one might say do not get a cj degree is that most know that a CJ degree is easy to get, you will stand a better chance if you really did something challenging with your life.

Any BS degree will help you. They want variety, so they may hire a few cjs, a few history majors, etc. They are not going to hire every cj applicant, just because he or she has a CJ degree. My advice would be to learn a foreign language (whatever you are interested in) and get the best GPA you possibly can. What you get your degree in is not that important. Good luck! I applied with about 6 different agencies after college (3 years ago)and am just starting my fed career next month...it can be stressful and hopeless....but you will get in somewhere.

[tunlrat]

...most know that a CJ degree is easy to get, you will stand a better chance if you really did something challenging with your life.

Gonna have to agree and disagree with you there Tex24. My CJ degree wasn't THAT easy to get. My main CJ professor was a Yale, Harvard, & Princeton grad and was Bill & Hillary Clinton's classmates. Needless to say he demanded the same Ivy League standards on us.

However, if I could do it again, I'd probably MINOR in CJ and major in like you suggested--a foreign language. From what I've observed, practically all Fed agencies look for people with language skills, particularly asian & mid-eastern languages.

And yes, GPA is important! To me there is a big difference at coming in at a GS-7 than a 5 (Superior Academic Achievement).

[tunlrat]

One more thing studentcj,
In my opinion, the only viable option in using your CJ degree in non LE is law school. Of course, that takes more of your time & resources but having a Juris Doctorate certainly would be very helpful later in life if you wanted to switch to LE. Just my 2 cents...

[knucklehead]

I think the reason you were told that departments aren't so excited about a cj degree is that a business management degree would sometimes be more valuable depending on the size of the department....

As you promote to leuitenant and higher, unfortunately it becomes more and more like running a company...and you need to know how to manage your officers effectively.

But a degree is a degree and it shows that you have the determination and ability to complete one regardless of the major.

so GOOD JOB and stick it out...

It took me 12 years to get my degree at night and moving from base to base in the military...

[kelly]

I just got out of the Marines last January. I worked at NSA and am fairly familiar with the federal process. Other than the FBI the type of degree your earn is not that important particullary if you have military or law enforcement experience but I was a Russian Linguist and language skills are a definite plus. Most of the federal officers I talk to say all you need to do is get your foot in the door and go from there. Whatever agency hires you will send you to whatever training you need so I would say a criminal justice degree is just as good as any other. Im am a full time student right now and Im majoring in CJ and minoring in forensics and police science. Also any military MP and or intel experience is a big plus right now.

[Lawson]

I was going to go to college before I decided instead to go into the Marine Corps as an MP. I was talking to one of our commanders who is incharge of recruiting and he said to not even worry about a CJ. He said get something like a Public/Business Admin. Degree. All the stuff in a CJ class you need to know comes with academy, so its better to get something else to fall back on when everyone else comes in with a CJ.

[kelly]

Gotta disagree a little, a lot depends on the school you attend. I know at the University of Maryland Criminal Justice is a broad field. There are differnet career paths you can take with it especially now. If you earn a four year degree in Criminal justice than you have studied a lot more than what they cover in the police academy. Criminal Justice is just a good a major as any other. FBI agents typically have law and or graduate degrees so if your looking to get on with them you will most likely be getting a degree beyond a B.S./B.A. somewhere along the way anyway so you should study what interests you if it's criminal justice go for it.