Do you think it would be better to major in biology or biochemistry?
I would choose the one which has more analytical chemistry in the curriculum.
bump - I would be interested in a career as a lab analyst.
Most, forensics departments hire people with a BS in Chemistry or Biochemistry (molecular biology DNA) and train them for a year on how things need to be done. They really don’t prefer forensics degrees at all. After working in the field a while, an MS or Ph. D. in forensics might be helpful if you want to move up to director of a lab or something, but I doubt even then that it is really necessary. Specializing at the undergrad level is not beneficial and actually hurts your career prospects. With a chem degree you could at least get jobs elsewhere and just as easily get a job in forensics but not with a forensics degree.
Note, that I am not advocating getting a chem degree if you see my other threads I believe getting either a bios of chem degree offers absolutely rotten career prospects with insulting pay, lack of benefits, and poor stability. However a narrow forensics undergrad degree is even worse.
Forensics is usually more of a routine technician job running the same GC test for cocaine over and over again or running an assembly line of DNA tests exactly as the well established protocols dictate without deviating in the slightest. The main thing is the paperwork has to be spotless and completely in order or the Lawyers will go after that. They don’t argue the science as it is really well established they nit pick crap like protocols and forms/dates. From what my contacts in forensics tell me it is a really mind numbing job with all the boring paperwork and routine analysis.
Most forensics technicians are employed by state and local govts and some of them do not pay well at all to put it mildly and a lot of the fabulous pensions and other benefits have been really scaled back or gotten rid of entirely.
I applied for forensics jobs back in the day. In Illinois they had me take aptitude tests which I got A ratings for both chemistry and molecular biology so they put me on a list. Pres. Bush gave the states a huge grant to hire more techs and deal with the DNA back log but Illinois misappropriated the funds and as a result there was a rapist who went free because they couldn’t get the testing done in time for the trial. I never heard back about the job and the list expired. I am not shlepping downtown to take them again.