This study aimed to identify the impact on the students' professional project from their entry into a popular pre-entrance examination course linked to a Federal University. Considering the qualitative approach that was chosen for the study, the semi-structured interview was the instrument used for data collection. The subjects were seven students from the popular pre-entrance examination course, four women and three men, from 18 to 22 years old. The research findings, based on the technique of content analysis, identified the project subject, as well as the analysis categories "Expectations related to the professional future" and "professional goals". The life project, according to the study's data, took the shape of a project of "becoming someone", "becoming part of the world", intimately connected to work and study, especially through access to higher education.
college; entrance-examination; professional project; professional future