So I want to go into Law Enforcement. Once I graduate UCONN I want to go into the police academy, and then hopefully the state police department (probably a local police department first) and then head to the FBI headquarters in New Haven, CT or in some other part of CT.
When I went into UCONN I went in undecided, planning to go into computer science. Unfortunately, as I began taking CS courses, I lost all ambition of wanting a CS major. I decided a CS minor would suffice, but over winter break and thinking long and hard about it, I really don’t want to do a CS minor. I don’t have any interest and it won’t pertain to what I want to do at all when I’m older. Really, I was trying to keep it to please my parents.
All my life I was a high honors student, got straight A’s, and did really good on the SAT and ACT. Now, I’m in college (as a sophomore) and my GPA is a 2.2. I was taking really hard classes, I was working 5 jobs (way too much), and my mental health was piss poor. After many, many panic attacks and crying (my self-worth is extremely tied to my academic performance), I decided I couldn’t do it anymore so I switched my majors. Now I’m thinking political science major, criminal justice minor.
But, my thing is, all my life I’ve been getting these really good grades and I was always told I was going to make a difference one day (again why I think millennials weren’t raised properly). I have people still telling me I’m really smart and all and then I turn around and I’m a polysci major? From what I’ve heard, that’s really easy. I go to a good school and major in something easy, even though I’m supposed to be really smart?
I don’t mean to take a crap on ‘easy majors’ or ANYONE else so I’m really sorry if I’m offending you. These are just my thoughts. I keep asking my parents about advice or opinions and all they say is ‘do what you want to do’ and don’t offer anything else. I don’t want to let them down, that I’m their only kid going to college, I’m their smart kid, and I’m going to major in something easy and be a police officer. That’s what I really want to do when I’m older, but everyone was expecting me to be a doctor or something. I feel like I’m letting everyone down.
So, with the direction I’m going in (major in political science, minor in criminal justice) and being a sophomore, I could take 4 classes this upcoming semester, 9/10 classes next year, and 3 classes my senior year and graduate a semester early.
I know you guys aren’t therapists but I’m just looking for advice from more people. I will be emailing my academic advisor after I post this for sure, but I want other’s advice as well.
Thank you so much for reading this all and for helping! I hope you have a wonderful new year!
Joining the FBI through a local/state police department isn’t the only path to the FBI.
The FBI also likes to hire ex-military folks without necessarily having any previous law enforcement experience as shown by a relative and some family friends who took this route.
However, having special skills whether it’s computers/technology or foreign languages would be a great boost. Also, all those folks who were ex-military are college graduates before joining the FBI. Either through GI bill or before joining the military(ROTC/Academy). Majors don’t seem to matter, but having special skills will give you a leg up.
First, I think it’s great that your parents are saying “do what you want to do.” If they seem sincere and not sarcastic, treasure their support. Second, I think it’s great that you want to be a police officer. It is an important job. I wouldn’t consider it a letdown if one of my children went into law enforcement (although I’d worry about her health and safety).
Business degree or econ with compsci minor puts you at cutting edge of law enforcement. Hacking, wire fraud, identity theft etc.
You sound like my D18 who’s a junior in HS. She wants to get into the FBI and solve crimes. She also has high SAT/ACT and straight As … and wants to get a minor in CS (I’m a software engineer like your father, so she probably thinks that to placate me). As a parent, I look at the world as I know it and at my kid who I’ve watched closely for many years and try to figure out how their capabilities best fit in the world. Your viewpoint is totally subjective and your parents’ viewpoint is mostly subjective (you’re their kid and they only want the best for you) and a little bit objective (from a longer experience in the world). When they say, “do what you want to do”, it means that they know you’ll be successful at what you want to do based on watching you grow up and seeing your capabilities.
What’s funny is that I was just on the fbijobs website this morning, looking at what they wanted and their preferences in majors. I was also on the CIA website because D18 wants to do some international travel in her job. Many listings on those sites were related to computers and/or electronics. Like it or not, that’s the “hot” field these days and for the foreseeable future. People who know how to do things with a computer (write code, create websites, etc.) advance in their chosen field faster than those who only know how to use computers (create spreadsheets, docs, etc).
Finally, stop worrying about what everyone else thinks. Do what interests you. Be the best at that. Anything else would truly be a “let down”.
Police academies accept a wide swath of majors – even w/o any Criminal Justice whatsoever. Also, why the need to do 9/10 your junior year in order to graduate early? For what? To impress whom?
You should actually flatten out your schedule in order to take an orderly no. of courses and graduate in an orderly time to beef up your GPA. Good luck.
Have you really given up on the CS minor? Since you’ve already taken some CS courses, it would be an edge to have the CS minor for FBI or law enforcement. You could do the “easier” Poly Sci courses and CS courses. I would not graduate early… Lighten the load to reduce stress and improve GPA
If you are interested in a career with the FBI, read about routes to opportunities within the Agency https://www.fbijobs.gov/career-paths There are several ways to accomplish this goal.
@CollegeStudnt1 You should forget about majoring in something to “please” your parents. This helps no one. they will be thrilled when you follow your passion, whatever that may be. It sounds like you’ve researched how to graduate early with majoring in poly sci and minoring in criminal justice and it sounds like this path would make you most happy - so just do it! As you mentioned, your mental state is directly tied to your academic performance, so focus on this path you have researched and you think you would enjoy, this will help you to be successful.
@CollegeStudnt1 wrote
The two thoughts I had on this are:
- No easy majors. There are just majors that you can be more successful with.
- We need more smart, thoughtful police officers.
You say your parents are “no help” because they’re not telling you what to do, but I think (as a mom) that they are helping you enormously by forcing you to define yourself outside of their influence.
Stop measuring yourself by your old high school metric, and start defining what you want in your life that calls you and that you can be great at. That’s where you’ll find satisfaction with yourself.
The FBI loves CPA’s, language majors, psych majors. Don’t assume that criminal justice is the best path.
If you can afford to stay in college for the full four years you should do that. You don’t need a minor to study something- just take classes. Accelerating to graduate early with a weak GPA is a bad plan.
There are TONS of law enforcement jobs that are not policing. The SEC, DHS, ATF, Interpol, CIA. Each of these has a different focus and path- none of them require majoring in criminal justice. Some of them are very selective so getting a good GPA and getting into a good grad school (for the one’s that require it) is much more important than any content knowledge you will learn in a generic criminal justice program. Majoring in finance is better for the SEC; majoring in a strategic language (Arabic, Farsi, Korean) is better for the CIA. Math is good for all of them as is computer science.
You don’t need to pick a career this week. You do need to get on track academically- if you are interested in political science, that is a fantastic discipline to study.
Go meet with your advisor- you are paying for advising, take advantage of it.
My mother used to say, “I don’t care if you want to be a garbageman. Just be the best garbageman you can be.”
You have nobody to please but yourself. If you do something you love, and do it well, you aren’t “wasting” anything, or letting anybody down.
And as @MotherOfDragons said, this country has a desperate need for smart LEOs…
There is no such thing as an “easy” major, if excellence is your goal. You should drop that idea right away. Sure, there are majors where you are more likely to scrape a barely acceptable GPA, but to actually run with the big dogs in any field requires talent and hard work.
You’ve already gotten excellent advice here. I think you should forget the idea of graduating early–what on earth is the point of that?–and concentrate on taking courses in something that actually interests you and doing as well in them as you can. You don’t need to “minor” in something to study it. There are many routes to a career in the FBI or law enforcement–and BTW, I would bet that if you DO work for the FBI at some point you won’t be picking which office you are assigned to!
It’s great that your parents are supportive of whatever you choose to do. Now you need to stop putting pressure on yourself to plan every detail of your future as a college sophomore, and stop worrying about what would or would not impress your 17 yr old HS self and your then-peers. Goals are good. So is the ability to follow paths and opportunities that unexpectedly appear.
Um, I was a poli sci major and I think I’m a reasonably intelligent person. I attended Bronx HS of Science, was a Regents’ Scholar and NM Commended student. I really don’t get why people think that people who study poli sci and humanities subjects are not as intelligent as those who study computer science or engineering. MAYBE some people just don’t find CS or engineering or math to be fun or interesting! After attending the HS I did, I HATE and despise math. My parents try to push me into computer programming but I refused. To this day, I have no interest in how computers work at all.
Anyway, off my vent - political science is an excellent major for someone who wants to work for the FBI or any other law enforcement. You learn how to analyze, read and write critically and, hopefully, to listen to all sorts of viewpoints.
What is easy or difficult really depends on the individual. When I started college, I was placed into a calculus class. Since I had tested into it during placement, but had never gone past geometry in HS (after I threatened to kill myself in 10th grade, I was allowed to leave Science, however, I never heard the end of it until my father died), I struggled and decided to drop it in favor of another history class. When I went to see the professor to drop, she looked at me and said: “But why ever would you take a history class? They are so hard!”
I guess my point is that there is no one way to succeed in college or in life but you will be much happier and more successful as an adult in the working world if you study something you enjoy and that stimulates you intellectually and then pursue it as a career. Yes, you can make a lot of money doing something even if you hate it, but I would think that would be soul-sucking.
Good luck in whatever you choose to do.
why are you working 5 jobs? why do you want to graduate a semester early?
the FBI isn’t going to hire you with a 2.2 GPA, so you need to work on fixing that.
a criminal justice minor will not do anything for you, IMO.
Here is what you should do:
- Choose a major THAT YOU LIKE, and get the best GPA that you can.
- Do #1 until you graduate.
- Then assess where you are and figure out the next step.
Just to echo soccerguy315. College does not have to be seen as strictly vocational in the sense that majors are not always related to future career. You can major in anything you want and anything you are good at. It seems to be a common misconception that you go to school, major in a subject, and get a job in that area. (Of course this IS true for some professions, such as engineering or nursing). The real world is more complicated than that. Study what you like in an area you have ability and things will work out.
You can help your career chances and clarify things by interning if you can afford it at some point. Depending on your current jobs, they can help too.
I have a kid who insists on working a lot while going to college. I recently convinced her to decrease her hours, and gave her a little more financial support. Working five hours while doing college is a recipe for disaster. Please work less and study more. If you and your family cannot afford this then attend part-time or switch to a continuing education, extension or adult learner program and live at home. A priority would seem to be working less, honestly. And stress management.
The difficulty level of college versus high school can be a shocker for many. Your GPA is going to be a problem for any employer who requests a transcript. I would do anything you can to bring it up, including withdrawing from classes you are not doing well in- regardless of cost, but hopefully within a refund period.
If you have been suffering depression, anxiety or panic, as you say, you should see a professional therapist or psychiatrist, whether on campus or off. If you get a diagnosis, you can register with the Office for Disabilities and get accommodations such as single room, extensions on papers if needed, and so on. Try to get treatment and continue with it: campus health should have resources.
If you have a diagnosis, it might be possible to retroactively withdraw from classes as well. Did you ever talk to a dean or other staff member about your problems?
Is it possible you have ADHD? This can become apparent at the college level, especially if parents helped you organize at home. There is not test per se but a professional could help diagnose this, and a college often has health staff who can help with this. Long shot but just asking.
Have you considered taking time off, either as a medical leave or as a regular leave of absence, to get things straightened out?
If you ever switch schools, your GPA will start fresh but you will always have to provide transcripts for all the schools you attended, for career jobs that want transcripts. Most jobs don’t of course. And if you can improve your academic performance somehow, the change will be clear on your record and anyone looking at your transcript will be impressed by a turnaround.
So things are still very hopeful for you.
One other thing: if you are not clearly interested in any academic area, you have two choices. Major in something you have no interest in but are good at (and it sounds like you have trouble studying things you are not interested in) or leave school for awhile until your path becomes more clear.