Because the Biology Major was designed to provide students with the broadest possible access to life science disciplines the major is shared between the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS). Your college selection is determined by your desired track within the Biology Major.
To help you evaluate which of the tracks match your goals, carefully review the curricula of the tracks and the careers listed within the “Utilizing Your Biology Degree” page under the “Tracks & Careers” tab listed above, where you will find information regarding job descriptions, salary ranges, and employment outlook for the different careers. Although each of the tracks provides a solid foundation in the biological sciences, each track places extra emphasis on the preparation for specific disciplines within biology.
If your career goal is one of the health professions, then you may prefer the Preprofessional track in either CALS or CLAS. To help you select a college you should consider the differences between the colleges in General Education course requirements and approved life science electives. CALS students must take one course each in economics, public speaking, and research/technical writing, while these course are not required for CLAS students. On the other hand, students in CLAS must meet the foreign language proficiency requirement, which is not required for CALS students. If you have a strong preference regarding the above differences in General Education requirements, then this may influence which college you select. A final and important factor to consider is that the approved life science electives differ between the two colleges (see link at left). If you observe that one list contains more of the approved electives in which you are interested, this may also influence which college you select.
CLAS BIO students need to make at least a “C” in their foundation and core courses. A “C-” grade or lower requires that you repeat that course. CALS BLY students can make a “D-” in a foundation or core course as long as they maintain the required minimum GPA.
CLAS BIOPRO students may use up to six credits of undergraduate research courses towards their 12-credit additional life science electives requirement, while CALS BLYPRO student may use up to three credits.
If you intend to transfer to UF as a junior with an Associate of Arts degree from a Florida community college, then please compare the requirements for transferring into CLAS BIO with the requirements for transferring into CALS BLY. Transfer students interested in the UF Biology Major may only apply to one college at a time.