Expert: Chris Larsen - 7/2/2010

Question
hi i want to be a forensic scientist and im not really sure what i should major in college and what classes i should take in high school

Answer
Hi Megan,

Thanks for the question.  There are several areas of forensic science that you can pursue professionally, so without knowing exactly what area you want to work in I will try to answer your question the best that I can.

While you are in high school, I would make sure and take as much science as you can (earth science, biology, chemistry, physics) as well as mathematics (all the way through calculus).  If you have some room for electives then psychology wouldn't be a bad idea.

When you get to college, I would choose to matriculate into a degree in Chemistry (make sure and use some of your elective spots to take some biology classes, too).  There are colleges around the country that offer specialized degrees in forensic science, but I personally would not choose one of them.  If you completed a degree in forensic science and you found at that time that the job market for forensic scientists was not good, it would be difficult to make potential employers understand that your degree qualifies you to work as a chemist (if you wanted to get a back up job or if you ended up changing your mind about your career goals).  Every college is different with respect to their curriculum.  To give you an idea of a 4 year college program leading to a Bachelor's degree (courtesy of my alma mater), here is a link to the chemistry program at SUNY Geneseo:

https://www.geneseo.edu/webfm_send/1027

In addition, if you do choose to complete a college degree in forensic science, here is a link to the American Academy of Forensic Science's website that lists all of the colleges which offer those programs:  http://www.aafs.org/default.asp?section_id=resources&page_id=colleges_and_univer...

Also, this is a good link with some great information about choosing a career in forensic science:  http://www.aafs.org/default.asp?section_id=resources&page_id=choosing_a_career

Hope this helps and best of luck to you!

-Chris