I am just finished my Junior year of High School and I need to look for colleges and more importantly a degree to major in. I want to join the FBI and specifically work my way up to the CRIG team but I am not sure what degree to pursue. Some things i was looking at were Forensic Psychology, Psychology, Behavioral Science, Criminology, and maybe Criminal justice or Homeland Security. What would be the best option out of these or any other recommendations? I would like to get my Bachelors and Masters in the degree that I choose. I would also rather major in a degree that I would be interested in so that is why I did not want to do Accounting or Finance or something like that.
I would imagine something like Criminal Justice or Homeland security (per what is described on the FBI website), as that makes the most sense. After looking at the website for CIRG, I would say something with Criminology/Criminal Justice and something with Psychology; although by description it sounds like they are tasked with a great deal, so I do not know for sure.
According to the FBI website: “The FBI seeks Special Agents with degrees/expertise in physical sciences, computer science, engineering, architecture, law, accounting and other disciplines that require logical analysis and critical thinking.”
While criminal justice or homeland security are obviously great options, I would recommend going for something like computer science or engineering. That way, you would still have a good chance while also having a widely-applicable degree if an FBI career doesn’t work out.
If you have your heart set on law enforcement, consider other federal agencies like the ATF, DEA or DHS. You may find upon graduating that the FBI isn’t even hiring (sometimes applications are closed for years at a time), so it’s a good idea to have other options in mind that you still feel enthusiastic about.
In the old days, the hired only lawyers and accountants. Criminal justice isn’t offered at top schools, from which students don’t generally go into police work. It is sort of obvious how accounting, computer science, or say chemistry would apply. It might be good to have a combination of the fields that they mention, maybe with some criminal justice. Or say a law degree after undergraduate in one of those.
However, you might not get hired by the FBI, so it is probably good to have some backup plans. Study something you are interested in, and has other career possibilities.
Criminal Justice tends to be a very easy major. Criminal Justice majors are the lowest scoring group on the LSAT test for admission to law schools out of 25 or so majors compared.
I believe the University of Mississippi may have a program designed specifically for those seeking a career in the FBI.
I would strongly encourage you to take the advice on the FBI website seriously. Computer science, engineering, accounting, biological sciences, as well as other fields provide the FBI with strong analytical thinkers who possess immediately relevant skills. Look also into the FBI’s excellent and competitive internships.
You should consider the fields listed on the FBI website and the majors related to them. Your major should depend on your desired position within the FBI. They do far more than traditional law enforcement. Some areas often overlooked at the FBI and law enforcement in general are computer forensics, language interpretation, and legal services. If you’re looking to be a traditional field agent, you should consider a degree in criminal justice. You could also minor in a foreign language or one of the physical sciences in order to make yourself a more well-rounded candidate. There are also some universities offering classes in homeland security, which would definately be useful for a future career in law enforcement such as the FBI.
The FBI does hire some people right out of college for administrative jobs, computer specialists and as investigative assistants. There are many jobs other than special agent, including as intelligence analysts. However, the Trump Administration is in the middle of transferring 2,500 FBI DC headquarters jobs to Alabama and Idaho.
I believe you need to be 25 to be eligible to apply to be a special agent. I believe most successful special agents have military or law enforcement experience when they apply. It is extremely competitive.
Keep your nose clean. The background check process is very extensive for any job in the FBI. The more time you have spent overseas, the harder the background check process.
As a current Special Agent with another department, I would highly encourage you to choose a major other than criminal justice or homeland security as they would be the least likely to yield you a job offer from the FBI as an agent.
I would recommend something in a hard science, computers and have foreign language skills.
Feel free to pm me if you have any specific questions related to the career or process.
OP: Please consider the advice in post #11 above from @Jay1811. FBI agents tend to be highly intelligent–while criminal justice tends to be among the easiest, least challenging majors offered in college.
@nICKEM2012
Do not major in criminal justice unless your goal is to be a policy officer or dept of corrections agent.
Data analytics and a critical foreign language would be my recommendation, but if you’re interested in psychology pair that with, say, a critical language flagship or a bioinformatics minor.
From what I understand, the FBI approaches who they want, when they want, at the colleges. They are very specific in what they expect. I know of someone who was recruited before he graduated, at a top ten school. He majored in engineering and CS (was a top scorer on his SATs and GPA).
@auntbea: It may happen when in dire need of a certain skill set such as CS or a particular foreign language, but folks that apply on their own can be successful as well.
The ones that get approached by different federal agencies tend not only to have needed skills & talents, but also high IQ type test scores.
@“aunt bea”
That is more like the CIA or State department. The FBI will not recruit you while in college unless you are older and going back to college after working or doing time in the military. The minimum age is 23 to be hired and the average age is 28. They unofficially require two years of relevant work experience. Without this work experience you would never pass the situational interview questions they pose to you in phase 2 of the hiring process.
OP, it sounds like you want to be more of an analyst as opposed to a special agent (S/A). Both are extremely competitive. You have a LONG road ahead of you, and I would advise you to forget about the specialized stuff (CIRG, for example) for now, and just focus on meeting the basic age/experience/educational requirements to apply in the first place. No specific degree is required, but the FBI in particular hires from candidates with certain backgrounds during different application periods (at least for S/A). Accounting and LS graduates have been hot in the past, but it changes with the whim of the administration based on what they need to meet their “diversity criteria.” Sometimes any degree will suffice, sometimes they look for specific work experience, you just never know. I would advise against criminal justice. It’s viewed as too “cookie cutter,” sort of like biology in pre-med.
A good rule of thumb if you want to have a realistic shot at any of the alphabet soup agencies is to have some kind of a degree combined with law enforcement and/or military experience. They tend to place a bit more emphasis on actual life experience, but it needs to be something substantial. Alternatively, a lot of agencies will hire into special development programs. The US Marshals, for example, run a “recent graduates only” hiring phase from time to time, and the FBI currently offers a program for those with significant tactical experience (Rangers, SEALS, SWAT, etc.) to hire on as an S/A with a guaranteed shot at HRT after a few years. Getting in to the fed is a lot like getting into the ivies- you need to make yourself stand out and have a bit of luck as well.