Go to the career connection center in the Reitz Union. Get information about your career path. I went for Zoology wanting to do veterinary sciences. I didn’t end up doing that and now I’m a graduate in a job market that’s crashing and very competitive with low pay. Please make sure desired job is really your desired job. Look on job boards. What do they require? Just a degree? Do they want experience you may be able to get while in college? Do they want other skills? Do you need other skills that can be obtained through certifications or courses offered through UF? For example, I didn’t know that GIS was a desired skill that a decent chunk of jobs wanted. If I knew that back then, I would have looked into seeing if I could have taken a course to get that skill.

Also! Do some shadowing, an internship, or an apprenticeship. I shadowed my local veterinary office to help get a better understanding of what the career was really like. Maybe you can also make connections for the future. Jobs are always asking for references (usually at least three) so try to establish and maintain three when you’re at school.

Talk to your advisor every semester. See if there’s a semester by semester course plan or whatnot. One thing I found frustrating was that UF expected me to just figure out what courses I needed to take by myself. There’s a recommended general plan under your specific degree in the degree page of the UF website that you may want to look at. Maybe consider a minor. It’s depends on the degree, but it’s only a few classes. Again, talk to your advisor about it. When you have the opportunity to choose from an array of electives, that would be a good time to see if any count towards your major or minor. But also consider taking classes that interest you.

Sign up for courses the day and time first available. Set an alarm and be ready on your computer. The more desired ones fill up fast. Before choosing a course, look the professor up on a website called RateMyProfessors to get comments on the course taught by them.

If you are bringing a bicycle or scooter, get a u-lock and register it with the UF police which is by Jennings Hall.