Forensic Science

     Last week, I gave a short summary about what kind of courses you could take in college in order to get your criminal justice degree. Now, I want to explain more about one of these courses that I found interesting to me. I went on the internet and found a site that had a lot of undergraduate and graduate courses. I noticed Forensic Science was one of the undergraduate courses offered by most criminal justice programs. Before I started to research more about it, I always thought forensics was only surveying dead bodies at crime scenes. 

     However, it's way more than that; it includes scientific analysis/identification of evidence and documents, interpretation of medical reports, and a scientific way to help juries/attorneys in understanding and solving a case. I looked for some good colleges that offer this degree and saw a lot of them. A few colleges that stood out to me were Pennsylvania State University, Syracuse University, and UC Davis, which happened to be at the top of the list. Syracuse offers many master degrees in forensic science, and talks about how the CIA/FBI offer internships that students can participate in. Pennsylvania State University offers a Masters of Professional Studies (M.P.S.) in forensic science and gives you the chance to be part of the Penn State Forensic Science Club. If interested in these colleges, go to http://educationcareerarticles.com/education-articles/higher-education-articles/top-forensic-science-colleges-in-the-united-states/

     After seeing this, I wanted to learn more about forensic science as a profession. I searched the web, and saw that a forensic scientist should have a major in science like physics, chemistry, and biology. Some requirements that I saw for a forensic scientist is to be able to re-create crime scenes, collect/analyze DNA samples, and being comfortable to testify as an expert witness of what may have happened at a crime scene. Next week, I will continue to examine certain criminal justice courses and find out how you can apply them to an everyday job.

Colleges for Criminal Justice

Last week, I began my topic on criminal justice, and ended up talking about colleges with these types of degrees. Now, I want to go into more detail about what are some requirements that you need in order to get into these certain colleges, and what kind of courses you would take to get a criminal justice degree. My last post had a link to the top 20 criminal justice colleges, and I chose to research American University because I have never heard of this college. I looked it up and saw that it is located in Washington D.C., which I bet is the best place to get a criminal justice degree. I was on their website when I stumbled upon this beautiful photo of the campus.

 



 

I was looking up some of its basic information, and found its, "Admitted Student Profile for Fall 2013", which will probably give you an idea what kind of grades you need to get in. The average GPA was 3.56-4.02, the average SAT was 1210-1387, and the average ACT was 27-31. From these results, you can see that American University is quite a selective school. Then I researched some of its minimum admission requirements and found out that you need 4 years of English, 3 years of math, 2 years of science, 2 years of social science, and 2 years of foreign language. I finally discovered that American University offers a B.A. in Justice and Law that gives students an in-depth understanding if the criminal justice system.

 

After looking at American University, I researched what courses you would take for a criminal justice degree. Some core courses I found for a B.A. in criminology were: criminal justice ethics, and research methods and analysis in criminology. Then, there were some elective courses that you could take that include: computer crime, forensics, and intro to homeland security. These all seemed interesting and could apply for all sorts of jobs. Next week, I will go into even more depth on what you do in college to get a criminal justice degree, and begin talking about what jobs you are able to apply for. If interested in American University, check out their website at http://american.edu/ for more information. Also, check out this nice School of Public Affairs building at American University! That could be you some day. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 



The Start of the Criminal Justice League

Throughout this week, I have been curious on how to start my criminal justice blog. I decided to just start with the basics and ask myself, "What is criminal justice?" I looked it up on Wikipedia and it said: criminal justice is a system of institutions of government directed at upholding social control, preventing/diminishing crime, and sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties. After reading it, I thought it was a lot to take in. Basically, I interpreted it as: criminal justice is the study of how to stop crime and deal with people who violate the law. I am a junior in high school, and have been looking at this certain field of study quite extensively because I would like to pick a major by the time I go off to college. As a result, another question I wanted to answer was, “What are some good colleges that you can get a degree in criminal justice?” One college that caught my eye was University of Pennsylvania, which happened to be at the top of the list (probably because it’s an Ivy League school). I found this picture of a quad in University of Pennsylvania and thought it was stunning.

As I was researching, I found out that this is only Ivy League college that offers an undergraduate degree in Criminology. The acceptance rate to this university is 16%, so I better not get my hopes up too high. If you are interested in getting a criminal justice degree, go to the following website to see more colleges: http://www.america.edu/top_20_criminal_justice_programs_in_america_.html
In the following weeks, I will go into more detail about the various colleges to go to, and what you do in order to get a criminal justice degree. Now, let’s get out there and make this world a better, safer place!

 

My Project Plan

Hello there! My name is Matthew Ludwig. I am creating a weekly blog about the world of criminal justice. I am a junior in high school and have been looking for certain career paths, and been getting increasingly interested in this subject. Throughout this year, I will be researching the criminal justice profession as a whole, such as some good colleges that offer this degree, what jobs that you can get, and what you do in these jobs. Also, I hope to be able to clarify any misconceptions about what happens in certain national defense organizations (e.g. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency), and show that it is not always the same as an action movie, like "Salt" or "The Bourne Identity." By reading my blog, I hope you will start to have an interest in criminal justice like I do, and begin thinking of having a possible career in this field of study. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to submit them, and I will try to answer them with the best of my ability. I am looking forward to doing this blog, and to learn along the way with you about the world of criminal justice!