GradGirl90

Hello all, I'm in a rather interesting situation, and i'm hoping i can get some advice. I have an undergrad in psychology and an MS in criminal justice. I've been struggling to find a job lately, and i think it is partially due to the fact that i did my program online (from a reputable school, however). I wasn't able to attend any networking events or truly get to know my professors. I've also found myself very interested in epidemiological criminology (EpiCrim for short). I've been considering an MPH or a PhD in criminal justice. The MPH is from GSU, and they have research projects specifically in violence and mental health. A great combo for me! However, if i get more education, i would really like to know the employment outlook for an epidemiologist. Grad school is very expensive, and i have a decent amount of debt as it is. I've heard mixed things...some people say MPH is worthless if you don't have an MD to go with it, others say it's a great degree to get. Can someone elaborate on this? I just have to make sure i'm not screwed if i get this degree (to put it bluntly). Also, which is the better concentration for jobs - epi or biostats? Thank you so much!

Hello all, I'm not sure if anyone has posted something about this recently - if so, i apologize for asking a repetitive question. I've been thinking a lot about getting my PhD in criminal justice, but i have struggled to find a job with my CJ MS. I really love CJ but i have to make sure i get a job if i'm going further into academics. I've checked out the bureau of labor statistics for information about CJ/criminology employment, but it is a bit confusing. I've looked at the post-secondary teachers and the sociologists tab, and the employment outlooks don't look all that stellar. Perhaps i'm wrong and there are lots of jobs out there for CJ PhD holders? I'm trying to get an idea of how competitive it will be. I can't afford to not find a job after i earn a doctorate. I'm completely okay with being a professor or a researcher, but i need some kind of information before i commit to it to ease my stress. Thank you!

Thanks!

Hello all, This may seem like a strange question, but I cannot seem to find any information regarding salaries for those with PhD's in criminal justice. I know there are a variety of career options for this (which may be why i can't seem to find much info), but I'm trying to find salaries for the professors and researchers. It's not that I'm entering this field for the money, I already have my MS in CJ. I'm very passionate and interested in the field, howver, it is still worth knowing how much I'll be making on average. I have a decent amount of college debt to pay off. Thank you for any info you can provide!

Could anyone possibly shed some light on the employment prospects of a CJ phd holder? My husband and I want to go forward in becoming a scholar, but I want to make sure there are a lot of jobs out there for us. I would rather be a researcher/consultant than a professor, but at the end of the day I need a job. @AspiringScholar17 @RoadtoPhD do you guys know?

@AspiringScholar17 if I applied for this year I would unfortunately be missing UMD. Their application deadline is December 1st I think all the other schools are due in January though.

@AspiringScholar17 I totally agree with you about it feeling insulting to not be funded. It upsets me a lot that Florida State does this because they are a great school for biosocial! If you check out the Biosocial criminology association, all of the people listed on their site went to FSU. Ugh. It's very frustrating for me. I'm so jealous that you got to meet the facult at ASC! Im really hoping to attend next year's conference. in terms of the reference letter, I can email a past professor and ask them to write it for me. I mean, I could ask my prosecutor friend, but if I can contact a past professor who I know has similar research interests as my own, I think that would be a better option. I'll just explain how I was a past student and it was an online course. I'm already planning on asking Dr. Wright and Dr. Fisher (not sure if you met them but I loved their classes!) for a recommendation. Thanks for giving me some insight about the GRE scores. That at least gives me some feel of how my application will look once I've taken the test. It looks like I'm most likely going to try to work for a year and spend a lot of time studying up, so I don't think I'm going to apply for 2017. December is already here basically, so I feel kind of rushed, and we all know this is something you want to do your best on! I'm trying to plan out everything to the best of my ability. I actually haven't checked out MSU or Northeastern. What are their primary research areas? Also, is it worth stressing about the ranking of your school for crim? From what I know, the only ranking system is on US News for crim grad schools. I've been told that basically you find professors who are more actively involved in research in the top schools. Needless to say, I would definitely like to go somewhere where there are plenty of well respected researchers, but is it going to hurt me if I attend a school ranked below #25 or so? Happy Thanksgiving to you as well!

Hi @AspiringScholar17 ! Thank you for the reassurance. It's such a stressful process!!! Agh!! Do you have any recommendations to make sure your statement of purpose is strong? I'm pretty good at writing, but my mom used to be an English teacher. I could ask her to look it over for any possible grammatical errors. I can ask another professor for my third reference. I find it interesting, and kind of odd, that someone who is in the CJ field wouldn't be a good choice for a reference. I guess they really, really want those only in academics! I suppose it makes sense given that I'm trying to be a researcher\professor, and not a lawyer. Do you know about those other schools application process? I'm particularly worried about getting funded as well. I know Florida State is a great school for what I want to do, but they don't offer full funding to all of their students and they also have a longer time period to graduate! At least UMD and UC can be done in 3 years (but usually 4).

Thank you for the references tip. I will remember that! As far as the biosocial thing goes, Cincy and Florida State are the best two programs for it, as far as I know. I did days worth of research for which schools had professors with biosocial backgrounds, what the school's research areas were, etc. I want to go to Cincy especially because they seem to care more about biosocial than other schools (considering they actually have a class dedicated to it in the MS and PhD program). I chose all of these schools specifically because most of them mentioned something pertaining to biosocial. Also, I read over the little biographies from those who have been admitted to the programs. Several people expressed interests in biosocial crim at a few of these schools. I know Arizona State is more concerned with policing, and I can't recall everything that American Univ. is interested in. I will definitely review all of these things when it is time for me to type my letter of intent.

Hello all! I'm new to this site. I was using the college confidential website, but I didn't really get a lot of help, so I'm hoping you guys can help me out. I recently graduated with my MS in CJ from the University of Cincinnati (UC) with a GPA of 3.788. My undergrad is in psychology with a minor in CJ, but my GPA wasn't as good due to me moving around a lot (3.32) from the University of Washington. I have not taken the GRE yet and I'm insanely nervous about it! I have some prep books, but I haven't been studying due to me being sick. It's mostly the quantitative section that worries me because it's basically all math from high school that I don't remember *sigh*. I've contacted several schools. UMD and UC seem confident that I could be admitted. In particular, UC has told me that using their professors as my references would be beneficial. My MS was online, but I made connections with a few professors. One of them even used my demo project (cap stone course similar to a thesis) paper as an example for her future classes (yay!). I do not have publications or research experience, but I do have 9 months worth of volunteer work as a court appointed special advocate (CASA). I was an advocate for neglected\abused children. I met some great people who also told me they'd be happy to be a reference (including a prosecutor friend). Granted, prosecutors are more valuable for a law school admission, but I don't think it could hurt, right? I also had a long conversation with her about the differences of law vs PhD track because I've always considered going to law school. In the end, I think a PhD is the better option for me due to my desire to do research and teach. I'd also be concerned about not getting into a top tier law school. I've heard this can effect your employment outlook a lot. I've researched schools to the best of my ability. I am primarily interested in biosocial crim, but I'm also interested in epidemiological crim (fairly new area of research), gender and crime, juvenile justice, and terrorism\national security. Here are my school choices: -Univ of Cincinnati -UMD -Florida State -CUNY -Penn State -Arizona State -American Univ Can anyone tell me if I have a good shot at being admitted into any of these schools? Let's assume I do decently on my GRE. I really want to go to UC, but obviously you can't always go where you want. Thank you!!