Hey, I’m an incoming 21’ Gator. I was wondering if anyone could tell me the difference between the Biology major path at College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and the Biology major path for the College of Liberal Arts and Science (CLAS).
They have different tracks within them so that’s a big component. I have a friend and CALS and I met the CALS Advisor… She told me the college requirements are a little different so Instead of taking a foreign language you’ll take public speaking and stuff like that. She also told me that CALS is a little smaller so it’s easier to meet with advisors but that could just be her saying that. I really don’t think it makes a huge difference but talk to students if you can and see what they say.
Yep CALS may be appealing because (I think) it is a bit smaller.
The CALS track focuses much more on agriculture/insects/native animals (and makes you take economics, public speaking)
whereas the CLAS you need to take a foreign language and more “general” science classes.
So would either one be more preferred for someone seeking to go to med school?
My daughter faced a similar dilemma when she applied to the University of Minnesota, and she wound up with a major in the ag college rather than the biology college. She had no idea what the differences were when she applied to one versus the other – this was a quick choice without much thought. Now that she is there, we have discovered the differences.
All the pre-med students are in the biology college, and the courses there are extremely competitive, with the professors giving out average grades of 60. She has taken a couple of courses in that department so she knows first-hand. The courses are also larger, with grad students handling a lot of the responsibilities. Meanwhile, in her ag department, there are smaller classes and an overall sense of camaraderie, and the grading in the classes is normal and reasonable. She is not a pre-med student but rather intends to get a PhD and pursue a research career. However, she is so glad she is in the ag college versus the biology college. She can take whatever classes she needs to prepare for grad school in the biology college, without having the bulk of her classes there. For that reason, it is much less stressful and she is likely to wind up with a higher GPA than if she was in the biology college.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong but mes schools don’t care what your major is, let alone the specific college it comes from.
You’re right. Med schools don’t really care about the major as long as you have taken courses to meet their science prerequisites (at least from what I’ve heard).
I am just primarily curious if it would benefit to take the CALS or CLAS path for biology. Anyone have advice?
Thanks for everyone who responded so far!
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CALS biology does have “pre-med” track, so either CALS or CLAS biology can work for pre-med. CALS and CLAS biology do share many of the same classes, taught by the same teachers. Best to compare curriculums and pick the one that works best for you.
CALS is a good option if you want the option of branching off into other fields (dual degree/minors, etc.) within CALS (same with CLAS). Eight UF programs are ranked in the top 10 in the world, from among more than 26,000 degree-granting institutions of higher education. Notice that the first 6 are in CALS:
CALS has the scholarship money and an upper division honors program. The major is shared so those classes are the same. CALS requires Speech, Tech Writing, & Economics to graduate from UF. CLAS requires Foreign Language. They are both completely fine for premed.
^ What do you mean CALS has scholarship money @Melissa96
FYI OP, both CALS and CLAS have Preprofessional tracks, which are for premed…
There will be people in your shoes at either college.
Like everyone and I have said earlier, pick the one that interests you most, really.
CALS is for more specialized sciences like Bacteria, Fungus, insects, animals, etc, and its electives will reflect that (these electives are more agriculture based and “random”: cropping, mosquito biology, sustainable agriculture, avian field techniques, parasitology… etc)
If you are looking for your not-so-classic Biology degree that holds just as much weight, try out the CALS. It seems real neat.
UF CALS offers undergraduate scholarships. They even offer them to freshman.
http://cals.ufl.edu/students/scholarships.php
Edit I put up a posting about the CALS scholarships, back in February…