History and Overview

Degree Programs
Career Planning and Placement
Scholarships

The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) offers students a high-quality education that results in knowledge and skills for employment, productive citizenship, and life-long learning. CALS is an educational leader in the areas of food, agriculture, natural resources, and life sciences as they relate to human resources, the environment, and communities.

CALS students are taught by a distinguished faculty who have been educated at some of the best universities in the world. Our faculty are recognized nationally and internationally for their teaching, research, and extension expertise. As a college known for its student-centered focus, CALS prides itself on educating society ready graduates.

Degree Programs

Majors

The majors offered by the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences are listed on the right. Several majors have specializations. Some of the majors are coordinated by more than one department and three are interdisciplinary studies majors. Consult a specific major for its requirements.

Minors

College of Agricultural and Life Sciences minors are available to students in any college, including this college. Students interested in earning a minor must complete the application available in the CALS Associate Dean's office.

• Agricultural and Natural Resource Ethics and Policy
• Agricultural Communication
• Agricultural Law
• Entomology and Nematology
• Environmental Horticulture
• Extension Education
• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• Food and Resource Economics
• Food Science and Human Nutrition
• Forest Resources and Conservation
• Horticultural Science
• Management and Sales in Agribusiness
• Natural Resource and Environmental Economics
• Packaging Science
• Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology
• Plant Science
• Poultry Science
• Precision Agriculture
• Soil and Water Science
• Turfgrass Science
• Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

Pre-professional Programs

Several majors in this college have specializations that facilitate the completion of pre-professional requirements for admission to the Colleges of Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicine. There are specializations in agricultural operations management, animal sciences, entomology and nematology, food science and human nutrition, microbiology and cell science, and wildlife ecology and conservation that prepare students for admission to programs in medicine, dentistry or veterinary medicine. Food science and human nutrition as well as microbiology and cell science participate in early admission programs to the College of Dentistry. Students in Food Science and Human Nutrition are eligible to participate in the Junior Honors Medical Program. Students preparing for law careers may elect any major in the college. Pre-veterinary medicine requirements are listed in the section on majors.

Dental Early Admission Program: Through a cooperative agreement between the College of Dentistry (COD) and the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS), qualified students may be admitted to the early admission COD program after one semester of their freshmen year at UF. The Dental Early Admission Program helps highly motivated students complete a bachelor's degree and D.M.D. in a shorter time period than traditional programs. Early admission program participants major in microbiology and cell science or food science and human nutrition's nutritional sciences specialization. Both majors provide the science foundation necessary for dental school.

This seven-year combined B.S./D.M.D. program provides dual acceptance into both colleges. Approved students will enroll three years in the bachelor's program and four years in the D.M.D. program. To be considered for dual acceptance, students must be admitted to the university, have an overall high school grade point average of 3.4 as computed by the College of Dentistry, have a total SAT score of at least 1260 (or ACT of 28 or EACT of 29), file a formal application with the College of Dentistry and be approved by the Dentistry Admission Committee following a formal interview.

Final acceptance into the College of Dentistry is contingent upon progression through the prescribed curriculum with no less than a 3.4 overall grade point average and a 3.2 science grade point average, completion of the College of Dentistry application process, and completion of the Dental Admission Test with a score of 15 or higher on each section.

Interested students must be admitted to UF and should write to the Associate Dean, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Box 110270 (2002 McCarty Hall), Gainesville, FL 32611-0270, to initiate the Dental School Early Admission process. Please provide the following information: name, mailing address, telephone number, social security number, high school, high school graduation date, class rank, SAT/ACT/EACT score(s), grade point average and official high school transcript.

Off-campus Academic Programs: Recognizing the specialized needs of nontraditional students, the university established Bachelor of Science degree programs at Fort Lauderdale, Milton, Ft. Pierce, Apopka, Homestead, and Plant City.

As a unit of the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), CALS offers off-campus degree programs in landscape and nursery horticulture, turfgrass science, and entomology at Fort Lauderdale; landscape and nursery management, turfgrass science, and natural resource conservation at Milton; landscape and nursery horticulture at Homestead, Apopka, and Plant City; and horticultural sciences and agribusiness management at Ft. Pierce.

Students attending classes through these programs must first earn an Associate of Arts degree from a Florida public community college or other accredited academic institution, then apply for admission to the University of Florida. Once accepted, students can pursue a Bachelor of Science without moving to Gainesville. UF faculty teach and advise students. Upon completion of the requirements for the degree, UF confers the degree.

Off-campus program students are eligible for UF and College of Agricultural and Life Sciences scholarships. Courses offered through these off-campus Academic programs are also available to the general public as continuing education courses. For additional information about these programs, please consult the following web sites:

• Ft. Lauderdale: www.ftld.ufl.edu
• Apopka:www.mrec.ifas.ufl.edu
• Homestead: www.ifas.ufl.edu/~trecweb/
• Milton: wfrec.ifas.ufl.edu
• Ft. Pierce: irrec.ifas.ufl.edu
• Plant City: www.hcc.cc.fl.us/Plantcity/plntcity.htm

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Career Planning and Placement

The college has a career resource center placement liaison to help students prepare for interviews and find employment. The college also sponsors an annual Agriculture and Natural Resources Career Day each year in February.

Scholarships

The college and its academic units provide over $500,000 annually for student scholarships. Applications for college scholarships are available in 2002 McCarty Hall from November 15. College scholarships and letters of recommendation are due in 2001 McCarty on or before March 15 each year. Scholarships also are available through each academic unit. For more information, contact the undergraduate coordinator for the major.

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