4 year degree?

[Coastie 585]

I am stuck right now. I do not know if I want to get a criminology degree or a degree in something else.

I have been told by every cop I know NOT to get a criminology degree. Why? Because it does not matter what you get your degree in, you just need a 2 year degree to get hired. (I'm getting 4)

I enjoy my crim classes now but I have two friends that are graduating in one month. They ABSOLUTELY HATE their crim classes. They liked them when they first started but they say they got old very quickly.

I could get a degree in something I enjoy more, and I could fall back on that but as of now I enjoy the crim classes.

To those officers that got a 4 year degree in crim, how did you like the courses? Is the degree "useful" in your line of work?

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One last question, lets say Officer A and Officer B are up for promotion. They are exactly equal (same time in, same awards, etc). Officer A has a 4 year degree in Criminology, Officer B has a 4 year degree in Art History, Will Officer A be selected for promotion over Officer B?

I know what degree you have does not affect your hiring process, but not too sure about promotions.

Thanks.

[Kimble]

CJ classes were okay. Only took a handful of them at the undergrad level, but majored in CJ for my MS. It helped that I was interested in pursuing the field. Some classes were better than others, but the opportunity to do CJ internships was what really helped out come graduation time.

[1depd]

The CJ classes were interesting, until I actually got on the job and finished my degree. The classes I took my first two years were essentially background information and were informative, but useless to any actual application. My last two years were done while on the job. It was only then I saw there was a large divide between what was being taught and what was reality. The theories taught in my upper level CJ classes had no real relevance to the people I was dealing with or the job I was doing.

[Hop]

I'm just finishing mine up so that I can retire to another field when I hit my 20 which is right around the corner and I'll still be young enough to get a decent career;) Unless you are going to specialize in the lab, case management or something else, I would skip the degree in CJ... But that is just my two worthless cents;)