Ask a Forensic Scientist anything

989 Questions

Last Answer on July 21, 2022

if you could choose, would you rather work in a lab or on a crime scene?

Asked by kenia over 9 years ago

I like doing both, because being in the lab all the time can get tedious, but being at crime scenes all the time can get exhausting.

889 Votes

Do you usually have a lot of free time or none at all?

Asked by Emily over 9 years ago

Not much free time, no. There's always work to do.

888 Votes

So you wanna be a Forensic Scientist?

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Hello. I'm a high school student trying to become a forensic anthropologist. My parents and many relatives disapprove of my career choice because they think it's morbid. Please tell me something I could use to reason with them. Thanks.

Asked by Maeve over 8 years ago

Well, you could simply say you're going to be an anthropologist, which is true--I believe you'd have to be an anthropologist first and then specialize in forensic work. They might be disapproving because they believe it will be difficult to get a job--which is probably also true. When I was at the coroner's office our anthropologist was a college professor who would drive two hours to come and consult whenever we had skeletal remains. Very few agencies are large enough to have a full-time anthropologist on staff. So you might want to have some sort of back-up plan.

888 Votes

Where would you say is the best university to study forensic science?

Asked by Dom about 9 years ago

I'm sorry but I wouldn't have any idea. They didn't even have forensic science degrees when I went to school.

886 Votes

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what work experience is recommended ?

Asked by kenia over 9 years ago

Any kind of lab work, lab courses or internships in laboratories or with the criminal justice system.

886 Votes

I’ve always wanted to be a forensic scientist and I’m in first year of college. Im struggling in the college level biology class and losing hope. I just think I’m not smart enough because many teachers had told me I’m not. Do you have any suggestions

Asked by Julia almost 9 years ago

First of all, no teacher should ever tell you you're 'not smart enough' for a field.

Second, not all forensic work involves a great deal of biology--really only DNA analysis and serology do. Toxicology will require a good chemistry background. But specialized fields such as latent prints, crime scene investigator, questioned documents, digital evidence, ballistics and impression evidence would use little to no biology.

If a formal degree becomes a problem, you might want to see if you can start out in an Evidence/Property area and work up from there.

Best of luck!

885 Votes