<p>I know that some PDs want at least a college degree/college credits...but is a major in Social Work from a School of Social Work that is in the top 10% in the country okay? Like, will it help in the job or anything? Just wondering.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Like, no it won’t - totally, for sure - ya know, right?</p>
<p>Police departments care nothing about your degree, other than you have one and it’s accredited.</p>
<p>Whether you graduate from a school in the top 10% or the bottom 10%, they care very little either way. A Harvard grad wouldn’t stand any better chance than a grad from State University of Timbucktoo.</p>
<p>Your major is also very irrelevant. Sociology is fine, but so is basket-weaving and underwater basket-weaving. The top majors to have (if they cared) would be Accounting and Computer Science.</p>
<p>Very few (I’d say 5%) of police departments require a Bachelors Degree. Most just require an Associates Degree or 60 college credits, many have no educational requirement beyond HS and others will waive their educational requirements in exchange for military experience. Federal LE agencies all require a colleged degree, with the exception of DEA (which basically only hires TFO’s without degrees, which is why they changed the requirement).</p>
<p>Your major won’t help you in your career, at least not in terms of job performance and promotion. A degree is a degree in this field, anyone who has one is eligible to take the tests for higher rank. Promotion is based on performance, timing and sometimes connections.</p>
<p>I’d prefer an applicant with military experience over a Sociology major ANY DAY!</p>
<p>If you are concerned about making yourself more marketable to agencies, go join the Reserves or the National Guard. That experience combined with a college degree (in anything) will make you an attractive applicant.</p>
<p>However, I must say, the most important qualities to have are 1) Meeting the minimum requirements, 2) Doing well in your panel interview, 3) Having a clean personal history and successfully pass a background investigation.</p>
<p>Of course, you then also need to pass the physical requirements (they differ, but usually 1.5 mile run, bench press or pushups, situps, 300 yard spirit), and a polygraph test.</p>
<p>Your education will be mentioned once during the entire process, during the application. It will say, “Please list your highest level of education”, you will then list your Bachelors degree and it will never be asked of, or mentioned again - besides possibly when they are verifying it during your background investigation.</p>
<p>BTW, if you mention that your degree is from a 10% school, the panel/BI will say, “Wow, that’s fantastic - good for you!”, Then laugh at you as soon as you leave the room.</p>
<p>First of all, that post was ** rude** and a bit off topic. Sorry I used the word ‘like’ once. I was trying to clarify my question.</p>
<p>I know what it takes to get on the police force; I asked whether this major would help with some aspects of the job itself…Not testing and promotions, but the actual job. The interacting with people, etc. </p>
<p>Does anyone else have any input?</p>
<p>@BigEastBeast: your post was kinda mean. She was just asking a question (which you didn’t answer that well), and I agree with her last post…she used the word like ONCE…that’s no reason to mock her for it. Jeez.</p>
<p>It was a joke, stop getting so huffy.</p>
<p>It the OP is so easily offended than law enforcement is the wrong career for her.</p>
<p>But, to answer the question - no, a sociology degree (even from a top 10% college) won’t help her on the job. </p>
<p>Sociology theory and reality often clash on the streets - violently. While it’s important to have empathy and a knowledge of environmental conditions, it’s much more important to develop a good command presence - which in my opinion is the best quality to have in a new officer.</p>
<p>If the OP is interested in gaining skills to help her on the job, she needs to look into self-defense courses, Verbal Judo courses and other training that implements Stress & Response techniques. </p>
<p>The best preparation is a military deployment. This cuts the learning curve greatly when put in patrol and effectively dealing with a hostile situation.</p>
<p>The FBI recently did a study (I will see if I can find it online) that researched attacks on police officers, and why these officers were attacked. The number one answer was that officers were who were attacked by perps usually had a poor command presence and appeared intimidated. </p>
<p>Sociology is great, but if you talked to officers who are in patrol they would rather have a former Marine anyday.</p>
<p>If the OP wants a career that allows her to practice more “sociology theory”, I suppose social work would be the appropriate field.</p>
<p>Every police officers starts in patrol, and depending on where you work you could be in patrol for a long time. Patrol is by far the most dangerous work in LE and that is really where you cut your teeth and prove your worth. If you can succeed in that environment, your future aspirations in LE will be limited, so really focus on preparing yourself for 1) The Academy, 2) Working in Patrol.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that Sociology and LE don’t have an obvious relationship, I’m just saying it really won’t do much in the actual day 2 day, other than make you feel more empathetic.</p>
<p>I’d sign up for the national guard, get a deployment in and then get into LE. After a deployment you will be much more prepared and have more on-the-job skills.</p>
<p>Sorry if I got ‘huffy’ or whatever, but it was late when I posted, I have a lot going on right now (so I’m really stressed), and I don’t really like random people on the internet mocking me.</p>
<p>As I stated in <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/other-college-majors/968620-better-have-head-start.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/other-college-majors/968620-better-have-head-start.html</a> (which you commented on), I would need a waiver to join any of the military branches, and I am still in the process of finding a new doctor for a second opinion (like I said, there’s a lot going on).</p>
<p>But thanks for the new input.</p>
<p>The OP said “like” once, lighten the hell up.</p>
<p>^ It was a joke, you lighten the hell up.</p>
<p>As I said, if the OP is that easily offended then law enforcement is a very poor career choice.</p>
<p>Also, to the OP, there are much better message boards where you can ask these questions. Very few members on this board will have any real practical experience in LE and you will just get bad advice from HS/college students who only know what they see on TV.</p>
<p>I’m probably not allowed to post other websites, but just do a google and you will find them.</p>
<p>Only the FBI is picky about majors. Other than that, no dept. cares what you majored in or where you got your degree from.</p>
<p>Bigeastbeast: As I said in a PM I sent to you a while ago about LE being a poor career choice: I just don’t appreciate random people mocking me via the internet. By the way, you can post links to other sites…you’ve done it before on my posts.</p>
<p>Thanks Homer</p>
<p>^^^ Cry a river, build a bridge - get over it.</p>
<p>seriously?</p>
<p>wow, somebody obviously doesn’t like being nice to people O.o</p>
<p>I don’t know the specifics of your respiratory issues that would require a waiver for the military, but I will say this: local and state LE can be slightly more flexible about issues such as that than the military is, however they will still DQ you if it is a serious issue. Federal LE can be just as strict as the military is regarding those issues.</p>
<p>The rest of my post will assume you can get a waiver, or that the issue is minor.</p>
<p>The law enforcement hiring market is terrible right now. The last agencies that were on hiring binges in Texas have seriously scaled back, and most of the rest of the country is either on a freeze or layoffs. Due to the amount of layoffs and the limited number of departments that are still hiring, most of the slots are going to those with prior LE experience. The standards for those just now trying to get into LE have gone through the roof. A degree plus minor retail experience will not make you competitive. You need “life experience” in addition which typically means one of 3 things:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>LE related (Dispatcher, reserves, community service officer, corrections…etc)</p></li>
<li><p>Military</p></li>
<li><p>Civilian job of significant responsibility (flipping burgers doesn’t count, but managing the night shift might)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Will need that for at least 2 yrs plus at least 2 yrs of college to be a competitive candidate. While life experience may substitute for college, college typically cannot substitute for life experience. In this market you should have at least 6 years of some combination of the college and life experience to have a good chance. Then you must complete the hiring process succesfully and do very well during the oral board and written exam. </p>
<p>The good news is that a recent article stated that 50% of American LEO’s will be eligible for retirement within the next five years, which means a massive hiring spree is on the horizon. The bad news is that it’s 5 years down the road, and those officers won’t be retiring and/or the departments won’t replace them until the economy improves. So you need somewhere to ride out the next 4-5 years and get good life experience. </p>
<p>In the other thread you mentioned law enforcement and the foreign service…well there is a way to sort of combine the two while serving in the military. </p>
<p>ENLIST (you cannot do this as an officer) in the Marine Corps. Pick any MOS you want (I’d recommend MP as the Marine MP’s still do some patrol functions unlike some of the other branches) and complete the training and serve at a station for a year and a half. Then you can apply to become a MSG (Marine Security Guard). You must be unmarried and be eligible for a Top Secret clearance. Then you will be assigned to a US Embassy for a year, you will do this 3 times for a total of 3 embassies in 3 years. While there you will be working the security of the embassy alongside foreign service officers and bureau of diplomatic security. It is also possible to draw presidential guard duty in the Marines, though that is not nearly as straightforward as MSG duty is. There are other security/LE like functions in the Marines, but I believe they are closed to females. A TS clearance will also be VERY helpful in getting a federal law enforcement job once you would leave the Marines. However, it should be noted that you could also end up training Afghani police or guarding prisoners or assisting the infantry/deploying while an MP or other MOS. I do believe that MSG’s are non-deployable.</p>
<p>Now should you discount the military, there are other ways to give yourself advantages.</p>
<p>Reserves, self sponsoring to an academy in states that allow that, community service officer posisitions, dispatching, corrections in the states that separate that from patrol sheriff’s offices…the list goes on. However all of those are not exactly on a hiring spree right now, they are all flooded with too many applicants…though they should be a little bit better than patrol LE agencies are.</p>
<p>BigeastBeast is right though…you do need thicker skin. You will be screamed at and all sorts of nasty insults will be hurled your way in either boot camp or the academy. You will find that a large amount of people have no respect for the police and are not shy about expressing their feelings. As long as they stay within the law you have to just let it bounce off you no matter how mean or rude they are.</p>
<p>^ I also recommend the Marines, but I’m biased.</p>
<p>However, looking at it from the viewpoint of a female, I could understan if she wanted to go a different route. I think intel (any branch) is a good option, as it provides some good transferable skills.</p>
<p>Her respiratory issue is propbably asthma, which is unwaiverable in most cases.</p>