Whether it’s decisions about law enforcement training or debates about police body cameras, actions taken within the criminal justice field have deep repercussions for all of society.

Those who want to shape and improve the field, whether as police officers, paralegals or professors, might consider an online graduate degree in criminal justice. The degree, popular among working professionals, allows people to keep their day jobs while earning an extra credential.

The odds of getting into the top online master’s in criminal justice or criminology programs are fairly favorable. At the top five programs ranked by U.S. News, for example, the average acceptance rate was 82 percent.

Graduate online criminal justice programs have much of the same criteria as their on-campus counterparts: strong letters of recommendation, solid undergraduate transcripts, polished resumes and persuasive personal statements. But since the programs are delivered differently, prospective online students might want to take a slightly different approach to applying, experts say.

Below are several things for students to keep in mind as they apply for online master’s in criminal justice programs.

[Explore the 2015 Best Online Programs rankings.]

1. Don’t bother proving your tech skills: Although online students will be required to do a lot of work on their computers, admissions experts say there is no point in using valuable space in a personal statement to talk about tech skills. Even if you’re an older adult, school officials will assume you can maneuver just fine in a learning management system — partly because the technology isn’t that hard to use.

“I would have guessed that the younger students would be more technically savvy than the older students, but I have found that our older students are very strong technologically,” says Mary Ellen Mastrorilli, faculty coordinator of the online master’s in criminal justice program at Boston University, which ties for the No. 2 spot in the U.S. News rankings. “But our program has a good infrastructure for support — our learning platform is relatively easy to navigate.”

2. Demonstrate your writing ability: Joseph Ryan, department chairman of the criminal justice and security department at Pace University, also tied for No. 2, says writing samples are hands down the most important part of the application to his program, more so than for students applying to an on-campus option.

“The online environment is completely based on your writing skills,” he says.

[Make the most out of an online criminal justice degree.]

Students should spend time crafting a well-written statement and polished resume to prove they can write well, he says, particularly since they will be spending so much time working on discussion board posts and other writing assignments.

3. Show you can multitask: “Online education is all about time management,” Ryan says. Put off studying for two days, in other words, and you’ll be overwhelmed on the third. If students can tout their time management skills somewhere in their personal statement, he says they should absolutely do so.

Mastrorilli, with Boston University, says officials from her program read applications to get a sense of whether a student has the discipline for rigorous study in the face of multiple time commitments, and whether they will have any external support as they push through.

“When you are a full-time working professional you are not just juggling your work responsibilities — you are juggling life,” she says. “Students will often write that they have family support or that their employer is supportive of them taking on graduate education. That’s important information for us.”

4. Track down an academic reference: Experts say it’s best for students to try to get at least one academic reference letter, even though they realize it could be a challenge for online students, many of whom have not been undergraduates in quite some time.

“Typically we suggest that the student have at least one from an academic,” says Cassia Spohn, director of the school of criminology and criminal justice at Arizona State University, also tied for the No. 2 spot in the rankings. “If they need to have one from a supervisor or something, that’s OK.”

[Learn about online criminology master’s degrees.]

James Sartell, a police chief in Hollis, New Hampshire, who graduated from Boston’s online program in 2010, says one of the ways he was able to land an academic reference was through connections he’d maintained while on the job. Although he had finished his bachelor’s degree eight years earlier, he kept in contact with his former instructors and made new connections through ongoing professional training.

“Use somebody that really does know you as a student and really knows your capabilities,” he says. “You don’t want a situation where it’s generic and it’s one of the 15 recommendation letters they have to make for graduate school. It doesn’t ring true and it can be harmful.”

Trying to fund your online education? Get tips and more in the U.S. News Paying for Online Education center.

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Land a Spot in a Top Online Master’s in Criminal Justice Program originally appeared on usnews.com