What's the difference?- forensic courses (1 Viewer)

[tumunion]

I am doing my hsc this year and have been looking at science at uts, i am looking at forensics but i'm not sure what the fundamental difference is between the two courses- the forensic science (chem) one and the forensic biology one. I was wondering, are there some career options that would only be possible with one or the other? Is one more practical? Could someone please clarify!?

 

[jemsta]

the chem one is honours i think, and it deals with the chemical aspects of it hence why its called applied chem in forensic science and the other deals with the biological aspects of it like performing autopsys but i think you should have a look at the UTS handbook and have a read at the course outline

 

[Panda Bear]

uh no..

These are two different courses.

Forensics in Chemisty as the name implies deal with chemicals in forensics. Such as differentiating compounds through chromotography e.t.c.

Biological Chemisty is to do with analysis of facial structure, CCTV footage analysis, PCR and all that.

In terms of practicality? ALL UTS science courses are extremely practical, so I wouldn't worry about it

 

[tlodg]

uh no..

These are two different courses.

Forensics in Chemisty as the name implies deal with chemicals in forensics. Such as differentiating compounds through chromotography e.t.c.

Biological Chemisty is to do with analysis of facial structure, CCTV footage analysis, PCR and all that.

In terms of practicality? ALL UTS science courses are extremely practical, so I wouldn't worry about it

I read from another thread that it's extremely hard to get a forensic job in Australia though. There are not a lot of opportunities here.....if you graduate from forensic science. Is that true?

 

[tumunion]

Thanks azn gansta and panda bear, yer i've been looking at the uts handbook thing and i think im gonna put the bio one as first preference. I was also wondering about the UAI, it seems really low, like i thought it would be a really popular course and hence have a pretty high UAI. It was around 93 i think in 2003 but it was only 86 in 2006. Does anyone think it will go up heaps in 2007? I know UAI's are kinda unpredictable but anyone got any ideas?

 

[gracie007]

I been speaking to the course director at the UTS open day and through email. He said the UAI this coming year won't change much at all (he thinks-and I'd trust him) and also, I asked him your question ages ago and this is what he had to say:

"The forensic chemistry degree is with Honours, i.e. it lasts 4 years and you have one year of forensic specialisation and a research project. This is in option for the forensic biology degree. The forensic chemistry degree emphasises chemistry/materials (eg. fingerprints, paints, glass, fibres, toxicology, drugs, etc) while the forensic biology degree emphasises the biology aspects (eg. DNA, human remains).

The job prospects are very positive at the moment. We have more than 100 graduates working in the forensic industry. Hope this helps. "




There ya go. I a bit more interested in the Chem one but I wish it wasn't with honours. Tooooo long. I put that as my 1st preference

 

[thejosiekiller]

forensic chem would be very full on- but thats just because i hate chemistry at times

but if you have the skill set to be a problem solver and retain lots of knowledge then id imagine it would be a very good course to be enrolled in.`

 

[Panda Bear]

Employment opportunities in all science degrees are hard.. you have to bear in mind that you are also competing against students in other uni's as well.

I like to point out, most degrees offer an Honours component. However Honours is an optional component. It isn't compulsory.

So if someone says the forensic course goes for 4 years with honours, it usually means you can do the full course in 3 years, however if you want to delve into the research component it'll take you an additional 1 year. i.e. total 4 years.

Honours isn't something to screw about it either as you'll need to obtain a certain grade to be able to get in.. i.e. credit average or distinction average.

 

[tumunion]

Thanks for the info Gracie007, i was just really surprised at how low the UAI was but i guess thats good if it will (most probably) stay low. Yer i guess with the job opportunities thing its also a matter of being flexible, if u are willing to do watever to get a job (like travel or work in a nasty area) then i would have thought u could find one.

 

[jemsta]

yeah i think the main reason why the UAI is lower than previous years is that students tend to think that there are not many jobs on offer, so they decide to do something else
even though becoming a forensic scientist is the main occupation when doing this course, there are heaps of other alternatives you can do, so all in all your degree will not go to waste

 

[tabularasa]

Hey guy's i actualy do the applied chemistry course so if u have any questions just ask me.
To answer the UAI question, the reason it went down last year was because they increased the number of students allowed to do it. The 2004 class had a really high UAI but they only let in 15 students and by the end of the first year they only had like 7 people doing it, so they increased the number of students to 30 and thats why the UAI went down quite significantly. I haven;t heard any changes so its likely they'll let the same amount in this time.

 

[gracie007]

hey Tabularasa, just out of curiosity, what sort of marks did you get in the HSC for whatever science courses you studied? Just as a means of comparison. i don't wanna end up failing if I do science and it ends up being too hard.

 

[tabularasa]

Hmm well i didn't do to well in HSc sciences i ended up getting 75 for chem and 77 for physics so in HSC i was by no means top of the class in science. But now i'm getting like distinctions in chem so go figure, it might have something to do with the fact that chem 1C and 1A is more or less revision of Prelim and HSC course except without those dodgy essay questions.

 

[gracie007]

ahh cool thats awesome thanku! id be much the same i think