With this school year coming to a close, seniors are looking to college and how to get the best out of their experience there. For some seniors, that means looking into what programs universities have to offer and how these programs can help guide their future career and work ethic.

Senior Anna Feng, who will be attending Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has her sights set on becoming a dentist and will be participating in a seven-year dentistry program. Her program allows her to graduate with a Bachelors of Science and a Doctorate of Dentistry (DDS). The program also saves her one year of schooling.

“I wanted to do to the program because I wanted to go into the dental field,” Feng said. “The reason I decided to do the seven year program and go into the dental field is because I think alleviating others from pain is more rewarding than any monetary thing, and I want to spend the rest of my life pursuing that.”

While some programs push for enhancing a specific career field, others, like the University Fellows Experience (UFE) at the University of Alabama, are focused more on building character that can be applied to any major. Senior Carson Ford will be a participant in UFE during his time at Alabama as an international business major with a minor in Spanish.

“UFE is a program designed to focus on community involvement and leadership,” Ford said. “It enables us to enact our own outreach programs in both Alabama and our hometowns.”

The program aims to build up character in participants. Additionally, it also sets students up for success in their futures when applying for careers after graduation.

“The program provides internship opportunities with various companies across the United States,” Ford said. “It will also teach participants how to be a leader in their community.”

Other schools offer shorter programs, such as semester long programs that allow students to branch out of their comfort zones. Senior Arjun Gupta will be participating in a program offered by Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Gupta will be studying electrical engineering at the Swinburne Institute of Technology in Australia for his first semester of college.

“One of the tenets of Northeastern is the creation of a truly global citizen, and that is the main goal of the program,” Gupta said. “In addition to studying for classes, Northeastern requires its students to participate in weekly service projects to help the community around them.”

Finding programs can be as easy as knowing what major to pursue or being offered the program with your admission.

“I was offered the program at admission,” Gupta said. “There were six locations to choose from, but because of my major I had to choose between Australia and Greece.”

Students, who want to be challenged, are ready to push themselves throughout college and are excited to learn will do well with programs in college. College programs are designed to put students on the fast track for their careers and give them real-world experiences to set them up for success in their careers.

“I think the program will challenge me and teach me,” Feng said. “I think I’m going to learn a lot and come out as a more educated and skilled individual.”