College Life

Private Schools That Are Well Known for This Major

• George Washington University
• University of Southern California
• Northeastern University
• American University
• University of Pennsylvania

State Schools That Are Well Known for This Major

• University of California—Irvine
• University of Maryland—College Park
• University of Missouri—St. Louis
• George Mason University
• Florida State University

Classes in the Major

Criminology. There's a reason that Aladdin is the protagonist and Jafar is the antagonist, even though they're both thieves; Aladdin steals to survive, whereas Jafar steals because he's just plain nasty. Criminology classes discuss the sociological and psychological reasons behind crimes, as well as the environmental and economic factors that contribute to someone's decision to break the law. Maybe Jafar would also be stealing apples and wooing young princesses if he were born into poverty…or maybe he'd be ten times more evil. It's hard to say, but these factors are important to consider.

Criminal Justice. On a scale of one to ten—one being a slap on the wrist, ten being lifetime in prison—how bad was the crime? Hmm…seems a little arbitrary, wouldn't you say? Well, Shmoopers, this is kind of how it works. In criminal justice courses, you'll familiarize yourself with the different branches of the justice system: courts, correctional facilities, and law enforcement. Criminal justice courses discuss how these all interact to make one, well-oiled machine. Plus, you'll get to study specific cases as they made their way through each step.

Law. Accuse. Convict. Punish. Rinse. Repeat. No, Shmoopers, these aren't the instructions on the back of your shampoo bottle—this is (more or less) a typical day in the courtroom. The justice system isn't perfect, and it's important to know why. Law classes for criminology majors range from teaching you the 411 about basic laws to figuring out the basic structure of organized crime. You'll also cover sessions on the justice system responds to the law.

Psychology. Taking psychology courses is crucial to understanding why some people respond to certain environmental factors by breaking the law. An important discussion in most psychology courses involves the fact that laws are a man-made construction. While some laws (like murder) are in place for an obvious reason, some aren't. Take gun or alcohol laws, for example. Once you study how people respond to laws that they don't think should exist, it makes being a criminology/criminal justice major a whole lot more interesting.

Statistics. Like most social sciences, a statistics course is a basic requirement for criminology/criminal justice. Chances are, you'll take some courses on just statistics, and others on how to apply the numbers to crime patterns and behaviors. Knowing that poverty is negatively correlated with education level and that education level is negatively correlated with crime rate can influence your discussions on criminal behavior by providing some very valuable insight to how the system works.