I have a questions about SoCal schools for a kid who just wants to surf all day. We have visited Chapman and Loyola and have Pepperdine on the list. UCLA and USC are out, he’d never get in. Chapman, Pepperdine and LMU are all likelies with his stats. Maybe LMU is a bit of a reach. In any event, he is a water kid who loves to surf, play water polo, swim. He is not good enough at any of these things to play in college but could play club. He is super smart but does not love school but wants a college degree under his belt. Probably interested in business or media studies or Rec management something like that. Quite possibly has ADD but not significant enough for a diagnosis. Are there schools that I’m missing? Any of these a better fit for someone who isn’t a traditional highly motivated student? Thank you for any and all help.
Have you looked at the CSUs? Maybe CSU Channel Islands.
How about a course from here: https://www.surfeducationacademy.com/surf-instructors followed by a job as a surfing instructor?
After a while of doing it, he may decide that surfing instructor is not what he wants to do for a career. If so, then he can go to college with more motivation to focus on school. That may be better than sending him to college now when he appears not to be motivated to focus on school.
I completely agree @ucbalumnus that spending money on college when he does not seem very motivated might be a great waste.
Let him take a gap year and getting a job as a surf instructor is an excellent idea. This way he retains his Freshman status and it will be easier to get some FA if he does intend to go to college.
Spending $60K+/year for Chapman, Pepperdine or LMU so he can surf seems a bit excessive.
I would add CSUs to the list as well. But I agree with UCBalumnus’ advice to consider not attending college until he is sufficiently motivated to prioritize academics.
We don’t know his stats (which makes recommending schools difficult), but Pepperdine had 31% acceptance rate last year, LMU 44% and Chapman 53% (although some Chapman schools have much lower acceptance rates than the overall)…so make sure you take this into account when segmenting schools into reach/match/safety categories.
Lastly are Pepperdine’s convocation and religion course requirements ok for you S? https://seaver.pepperdine.edu/student-life/spiritual/convocation/ Note there is a surf chapel https://community.pepperdine.edu/seaver/convo/alternativeconvos/surf-chapel/
Thanks for the ideas! Yes, I totally agree a gap year would be a great idea. I guess I wasn’t clear enough - HE wants to go to college. I have suggested a gap year or even the military (Coast Guard) or something like community or junior college for first couple years but he wants to go off at the same time as all of his friends and feels like he will do fine (I’m the one with the doubts…)…maybe that will change if he doesn’t get in to some of the schools he has set his sites on ie LMU. I know those are competitive schools but he tests really well and this is not my first time down the competitive college admissions road so I’m very realistic with him. I will check out CSU Channel Islands, hadn’t even thought of that- thank you! UC Santa Cruz is on the radar as well. We would totally prefer a CA state school financially just not sure if he’ll get lost in the shuffle at a really large school and feel like it’s justified to not attend really big classes and sneak off to go surfing.
PS He’s a junior so we have time. Maybe things will look very different in the fall.
Santa Barbara City College.
@Fairfaxfun . . . Chapman is in OC; USC’s downtown, but the rest you mentioned in your post #1 are westside. Instead of gapping or paying full price, would he consider somewhere like Santa Monica College, perhaps even at night, maybe one or two courses? Or maybe he can try UCLA extension for one or two classes also. Availability for the former might be tough because he’s be part time, and for the latter, he’d have to make sure the courses are transferable.
All the best.
How about Cal State Long Beach? It has both a recreational and competitive surf club to choose from. They have Business major and a Recreation and Leisure Studies major
Have him go visit Point Loma Nazarene College in San Diego. It’s a small, Christian, private college, very expensive but has a reputable history. They line their surfboards in the dorms. He should visit.
Good call on Cal State Long Beach, my mom actually went there. I will have him check it out.
UCSD is the best school for you. Or any state school in San Diego.
Santa Monica College:
http://www.smc.edu/NewsRoom/Pages/SMC-Maintains-Top-Spot-In-Transfers-to-UC.aspx
I looked for a board-shaping course at any community college, but I couldn’t find one surprisingly. (Edit: Deadpan intended.)
Is he interested in religion? All three are religious schools, though of different denominations and level of observance expected of students.
Sorry, UCB, for interrupting your legitimate conversation, but here’s a link to a non-credit crafts-class offered by Cal Poly with the afore mentioned board shaping:
Hey OP, since I have an avid surfer, too, one who likes Catch Surf clothing, in case yours does, too, today is the only day that they’re having 75% off everything on their site. I got a few holiday gifts taken care of ; )
DS is only 14 and in 8th grade, so we’ve got some time before college, but I know being close to the surf will be high on his list, too, so I’m enjoying reading this thread.
How about Hawaii. You might be able to take advantage of WUE.
@fairfaxfun . . . sorry, I didn’t have a chance to present an alternative earlier.
I wanted to add perhaps a positive reinforcement to the benefits of academia to UCB’s recommendation of showing your son the daily grind of earning a living within the sport.
Perhaps if your son can find a course that might kick in the scholastic gears in his mind, this might be a good start.
The natural tendencies of surfers, if they are studious, is to study things related to the entity that gives them their sport: whether it be oceanography, marine biology; or the active conservation of the ocean and its beaches. The latter is certainly the basis to Surfriders Foundation, etc.
Just some thoughts; all the best.