What should I do next?

[Jenny Gunter]

I recently graduated from ASU with a BA in athropology. While I loved most of my classes I always enjoyed my forensic courses. I was wondering if anyone had any words of wisdom on what I should do next if I wanted to pursue a career in forensics.

[Paul Wren]

I would suggest learning more about both of these things:

1. What a career in Forensics would be like (there's good info at the American Academy of Forensic Science)

2. Where are the good graduate programs for Forensic Anthropology. Here are some resources:

So You Want to be a Forensic Anthropologist (old posting, but good info)

Forensic Anthropology and Human Osteology Resources (lots of good stuff here byond just which colleges offer programs)

Also, if you do a Google search on "forensic anthropology graduate" you will get many hits for universities who offer such programs: UNC, UCSD, LSU, UC-Santa Cruz, NYU, U of Montana, and so on.


I know this is just a start, but hopefully these breadcrumbs may be helpful. I'm surprised no forensic anthropologists have responded to this thread, but this does tend to be a cultural anthro site.

[Francine Barone]

Hi Jenny,

Are you only thinking about programs/careers in the US or are you considering other countries?

[Ben Stride-Darnley]

This process can be quite intimidating. Six things to ponder on:
1) Confirm to your own satisfaction that your grades are good enough and that you want to work in this field - perhaps have a conversation with one of your former professors that you took Forensic Anth classes with.
2) Remember that you are a potential asset to both the department(s) you apply to as well as anthropology as a discipline (for example even if they don't take you or you decide on another department, a dept can still use you in their stat's to argue for expansion hires). YOU ARE VALUABLE TO DEPARTMENTS!
3) Do not be afraid to approach faculty whose work you respect / are inspired by / and even what to add to. Prepare a short, polite and focused email that fits your interest with a specific supervisor / department - you could approach them directly or ask the graduate coordinator if Prof XYZ is suitable / considering taking on masters students (i.e. send an email that shows you have some resaerch skills by demonstrating that you at least know who is in the dept!)
4) Don't just consider the U.S.A or even the state around where you presently live - at this time of life you are relatively easy to move, so think BIG.
5) Be pragmatic about funding - if Dept / Uni webpages / graduate handbooks are vague, ask politely if you can have some more information; ask about dept support / suggestions for funding applications.
6) don't be intimidated and go for it

Good luck
Ben

[Francine Barone]

Another suggestion I might add to this list is that, once you have decided on a short list of institutions, it is fairly easy to find alumni, either by referral from the department or a search of networking sites like Facebook. If you really want to know what a place or program is like, the best person to ask is a current or recent student.


Ben Stride-Darnley said:

This process can be quite intimidating. Six things to ponder on:
1) Confirm to your own satisfaction that your grades are good enough and that you want to work in this field - perhaps have a conversation with one of your former professors that you took Forensic Anth classes with.
2) Remember that you are a potential asset to both the department(s) you apply to as well as anthropology as a discipline (for example even if they don't take you or you decide on another department, a dept can still use you in their stat's to argue for expansion hires). YOU ARE VALUABLE TO DEPARTMENTS!
3) Do not be afraid to approach faculty whose work you respect / are inspired by / and even what to add to. Prepare a short, polite and focused email that fits your interest with a specific supervisor / department - you could approach them directly or ask the graduate coordinator if Prof XYZ is suitable / considering taking on masters students (i.e. send an email that shows you have some resaerch skills by demonstrating that you at least know who is in the dept!)
4) Don't just consider the U.S.A or even the state around where you presently live - at this time of life you are relatively easy to move, so think BIG.
5) Be pragmatic about funding - if Dept / Uni webpages / graduate handbooks are vague, ask politely if you can have some more information; ask about dept support / suggestions for funding applications.
6) don't be intimidated and go for it

Good luck
Ben