No career in criminal justice and the legal system is possible without a forensics degree. The admittance to a computer forensics program is very harsh, and some of the requirements may even seem absurd. Did you know for instance that there are states where you will be discarded from getting a forensics degree if you smoke? A history of drug use or a criminal record also make one incompatible with a forensics job. Therefore, you need to know what to expect in order not to face rejection. Consider the following sub-domains for which you can get a computer forensics degree.

Technical and psychological assistance, medical examination, crime scene investigation, forensic engineering, crime laboratory analysis and applied science are the most common of computer forensics jobs. The forensic degree you’d get for the technical and psychological categories are a bit more special; thus, you will learn how to create psychological profiles and understand social science, or how to work with the polygraph or become a computer analyst. Academic studies are also needed in addition to the forensic education required for the job. Hence, besides the forensics degree BAs or MAs in computer science, psychology, engineering, medicine, psychology, genetics or biochemistry are also necessary.

People with a forensics degree for medical examination are the best paid, but the work level and the education necessary for such a career are more than demanding. Only the education takes more than seven years to complete with all the college and the forensic training afterwards. Degrees in biology and chemistry are supplementary to that in medicine, but still necessary under certain circumstances. Similar educational requirements are found with other jobs for which you need a forensics degree such as crime laboratory analyst or forensic odontologist. For laboratory work, a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, biology, biochemistry, mineralogy, botany, entomology, zoology or anthropology will be a condition depending on the kind of position you apply for.

Crime scene examiners and forensic engineers will face different forensic challenges. An engineer will mainly face fire investigations, injury cases or traffic accidents. Similarities do exist here between the job of a crime scene analyst and that of a forensic engineer. The forensics degree makes the difference in wages, and the educational requirements usually refer to electrical engineering, civil engineering or mechanic engineering. Crime scene examiners are the ones with the most chaotic work schedule: they work whenever a crime takes place, you can’t fear work routine with such a profession but be prepared to come across lots of messy situations.

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