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Find a school close-to-home

Ten years ago, you had to pack up your stuff and drive 10 hours to find a decent forensics training program. No longer. There's one in every state in the country. Take your pick!

California Forensics

You can give them a ring if you're interested in learning more: 408-924-2940.

California State University at Sacramento

Forensic Chemistry Bachelors - California State U. at Sacramento

Cal State Sacramento offers a BA in chemistry with the ability to specialize in Forensic Chemistry. While Sacramento also offers a BS in chemistry, you are not required to take the harder, more science-centric courses for the BS in order to pursue the Forensics route. Instead, the BA is specially picked for the Forensic Chemistry concentration.

The Forensic Chemistry concentration requires all the same courses as a standard BA in chemistry would, but has some quirks: first, you have to take two courses in Criminal Justice, the first an introduction course to Criminal Justice and Society, the second a survey course on Physical Evidence.

California State University at Los Angeles

Masters in Criminalistics - California State U. at Los Angeles

Cal State LA offers a Masters in Criminalistics from their graduate school, combining the rigors of science training with the liberal arts background of a criminal justice major. To apply to the program, you have to have B average or better in the last 60 semester hours of your undergraduate training. GRE scores are also required, and there is no minimum cut-off as in many programs.

Unlike some other schools, you have to make two different applications: the first to the graduate school, the second to the forensics program. The real kicker is that admission to one does not guarantee admission to the other. This is something you often see at less-than-competitive schools with more-than-competitive individual programs. If you have more questions about the program, call the school office at 323-343-4610.

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