My S16 decided somewhat suddenly to apply to Eckerd EA. It had been on early lists, then as he was leaning away from LACs it came off the lists. Then he was feeling sad at the thought of leaving his cats it suddenly became appealing because of the dorm pet policy. We haven’t visited yet but I’ve heard lots of great things. Anybody else applying EA?
hi! I actually applied last night. The app was easy and honestly it seems like the best school for me. Also, I want to bring my pets and be near the water haha
My guy is a sophomore there this year and loves Eckerd. 
He didn’t take any of his own pets, but he enjoys visiting with other’s.
Hi @Creekland, I remember you from my S14’s college journey. Your son’s positive experience was a factor. My S16 is looking at psychology or computer science among many other interests. Any knowledge of those majors?
Sorry, I can’t help with those majors specifically, but I can say my guy has taken a broad spectrum of classes and really likes his professors. One of those was a Psych class.
If in doubt, ask what recent graduates in those majors are doing and see if those paths are appealing.
We’ll be flying down later this week to watch my guy perform in their fall play (Midsummer Night’s Dream). I’m looking forward to it! We ought to just move into his dorm room for the winter months.
Hi, @Creekland, the description of Midsummer Night’s Dream sounds so interesting. We may be able to see the show this week. Best of luck to your son!
@crowlady and @HakunaMatata98, I have 2 children who graduated from Eckerd. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. I know Dr. Majorie Sanfilippo, psychology professor and assistant dean of faculty, you may be interested in her work: http://www.eckerd.edu/news/index.php?f=detail&id=3463.
The newly renovated Sheen center houses computer science classes and labs, physic and math classes and labs and has state of the art equipment. I don’t know specifics of the major itself.
Thanks @creekland and @ecmotherx2 . Looks like Eckerd may be be the first school to give S16 a decision. Hoping to hear in the next two weeks or so. Only snail mail, no email or online status to check?
@crowlady, I looked up the admissions section on the website. The EA applications state that notification is snail mail by 12/15. I’ll try to find out some more info. Did your son end up applying EA or rolling?
He applied EA. Last year’s CC group started seeing some acceptances by Nov 16 and I assumed those were EA.
My son received his acceptance letter today! Now we wait another two weeks for any scholarship offers. We plan to be in Florida visiting my mother over the holidays, might drop by though I’m sure nobody will be on campus.
Congratulations! Unfortunately I suspect you’re right that campus will be deserted over the holidays. My guy returns this Thursday. I’m looking forward to his visit.
Jan will be light for attendance too due to all the groups that head overseas.
@crowlady tell us what you think of campus! If you could maybe you could get some pictures or videos of it? I don’t think I will be able to go but since I got a very nice amount of money from them I think it’s worth considering going there. 
Also congrats to your son!
Congrats @crowlady and @RWHHHS. @Creekland’s son is a student at Eckerd now and I have 2 children who graduated from Eckerd and we help out on the Parent Council. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
Same here - send a pm if you have questions (or post them here if they are general questions). My guy flies home tomorrow night. I can ask him any questions directly or set someone up with his e-mail if desired.
We visited Eckerd last spring, and all loved it. The kids were so nice and welcoming, the waterfront and pet policy makes it very unique and my son sat in on a class and loved the teaching style. He made me completely crazy by only applying to Eckerd because it was the only place he could really see himself and luckily it all worked out and he got in with a nice amount of scholarship money too!
DD just found out today that she was admitted to Eckerd. It looks like a very attractive choice right now, and we plan to visit in a couple of months. I don’t have any specific questions, but am interested in finding out as much as I can about Eckerd. For those of you who have experience or have kids there – what are best things? Worst? Pros and cons? Okay, here’s a couple of questions that come to mind. How’s the food? Is it much of a party school?
Creekland’s son here:
Alright, as a sophomore at Eckerd who quite often gives private tours for individuals, I’d absolutely love to answer these questions for you and be able to discuss them with you in person. However since that’s not immediately possible, I’ll do my best to answer them on here for you .
First Question: “What are the best things?”… Obviously I decided to go back after my first year, so there are many things I can put down as superb things about the college. However if I had to narrow it down to only a few, I’d probably say the following: 1.) It’s very good when it comes to opportunities in education. Since there are no graduate students on campus, professors look to undergrads to get research done. It opens up many opportunities. Since it’s a small college, professors know students on personal levels, and it’s easier (less competition) to get research positions. 2.) Eckerd is it’s own campus. Though it is in the city itself, when you are on campus (which you’ll discover when you visit) you cannot tell you are in the city. This allows for all city conveniences such as stores and restaurants to be easily accessible without having to deal with city views and traffic. 3.) Great on campus activities. There are so many clubs and events that constantly go on, that you have to try to be bored. So long as you walk out of your dorm every now and then, you’ll find a great deal to do on many days of the week. And if you do stay in your dorm the whole time, the WiFi is great for Netflix :).
Second Question: “Worst?”… Well I love it there, so I’ll tell you the most reasons people leave. 1.) It’s a small college, so it physically cannot offer every possible major in the universe. If someone switches to a less common major, they often transfer to a college that’ll offer a degree in that field. 2.) For some on reason I have yet to explain, some people miss the cold, and winter break isn’t enough for them, so they transfer to a more northern school. 3.) It’s a party school (I’ll explain this further when I answer your question about this).
Third Question: “Food?”… Our food service, though often complained about (food complaining is a hobby for college students) is very good. Our food service is the same service which provides food for companies such as Google. There are two cafeterias on campus and a central hang out hub (The Pub) which offers food throughout the day. I find there to be plenty of options to eat while also remaining healthy.
Fourth Question: “Party School?”… This is a huge thing that they most likely won’t cover in a tour. Fact one is that it’s a Florida school, so party people will come to Florida schools (specifically ones with their own beach) because it’s always warm in the evenings. That being said, typically every Friday and most Saturdays people go out to the senior dorms or “Kappa Dorm” to drink and all. Now being one who doesn’t party, drink, or do drugs myself, I can say the following: If you party, great, there’s plenty of stuff on campus for that. If you don’t party, great, there’s tons of stuff on campus if you don’t. And I’ll say another thing, peer pressure is very very small at Eckerd. If someone asks me if I want to party, I say “no”, and they say “cool, see ya later”. I can’t say I’ve ever been really pressured into partying or doing anything I didn’t want to do. So you just have to know yourself. Besides, if you ever want a great group of friends to hang out with who don’t party, it’s not hard to find those people.
I won’t lie, the school parties a lot and people (including me) have their ups and downs, as is common with college life. But y’know what, I loved it enough to come again. I have many friends on campus and I love the atmosphere and the colleges’ opportunities. I honestly wouldn’t want to go anywhere else to college and I consider it my home as much as where I grew up. I hope this has helped, and if you want more information, I’d love to talk more! So feel free to message Creekland and get my phone number for any more questions or concerns you have .
@Creekland please be sure to thank your son for his very helpful answers to these questions. We are planning to visit next week, just to get a sense of the place. If that goes well, might have to visit again when classes are in session.
@crowlady I showed him your response. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. (That goes for anyone reading, of course.)
@Creekland (Crekekland’s son) – post #16 very informative – thank you so much. I noticed a reference to a play you are in? Are you a theatre major/minor by any chance? DD has been heavily involved in theatre for many years, so of course any information about theatre would be most welcome.