For senior Sidney Riecker, boring, traditional jobs never sounded interesting. She knew she didn’t want to be in the military like her dad, but working 9 to 5 at a desk wasn’t going to keep her entertained. But ever since junior year when Riecker talked to her dad’s friend in the FBI, she has had her post-secondary plans set.
As soon as she gets her high school diploma, Riecker plans to major in criminal justice at St. Louis University and attend law school. After finding a job at a police station after college, she hopes to apply to Quantico to become an FBI agent.
“When I started thinking about potential majors, I asked him if I could get in contact with them,” Riecker said. “I started getting really interested after talking with people who were already in the FBI, and [criminal justice] seemed like an interesting major to do with it.”
Although students with any degree can apply to Quantico, Riecker chose criminal justice so she could gain experience in the crime field while also getting a background if she decides to go into law school.
Criminal justice focuses on law, psychology, sociology and public administration — all skills that will come in handy if she works for the FBI. Since it involves studying every aspect of crime, including law and the justice system, it will also prepare Riecker for law school.
The FBI is highly selective, taking roughly 16,000 applicants to fill 900 positions. With a less than 5% acceptance rate, Riecker thinks that majoring in criminal justice will help her become more familiar with the field and help her chances of getting into law school. Taking on an internship or job at a police station will also give Riecker experience — increasing her chances of becoming an agent.
Riecker knows that the job is different from her classmate’s plans of majoring in business or marketing, but she’s intrigued by the spontaneity of a career filled with undercover work and solving cases.
“[FBI agents] talked about how the job involves a lot of travelling and undercover work,” Riecker said. “That sounded like it would be a fun job that I wouldn’t get bored of.”