My S23 was accepted at Eckerd College with a really good scholarship. I had never heard of Eckerd before and he only learned of it during an admission counselor visit to his school. I’ve researched their website, watched Eckerd videos on YouTube (student made and those the college created), and checked out sites like Niche, Cappex, US News and the like. We will be attending an Admitted Students Event in April. Does anyone have any feedback about Eckerd that they can share? Thanks so much!
We know a couple kids who went there for majors related to marine sciences. They were very happy there and went on to grad school and love their careers. The majors, a more laidback campus vibe plus the access to outdoor activities were a big draw.
I believe @Creekland had a kid who attended Eckerd.
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A good friend’s kid attended Eckerd and had a good experience. We live in the NE. I don’t think the kid minded the beach front campus.
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Creekland’s Son here, graduate of 2018. It’s been a few years since I’ve graduated, but Eckerd is an amazing school, and they just nominated a new president who was amazing with the students while I was there. When it comes to environmental sciences, and in particular marine biology, they are a top tier school by far. At the time I was there they were beginning to advance and develop the arts as well, to broaden their educational facilities and capabilities.
For student life, they’re a subtropical school with warm weather all year, so it’s a bit of a party school. I’m not a party student, and felt no shame in not participating. There are a plethora of clubs and activities always going on, and one would have to be extremely introverted and never leave their room in order to not be involved in something.
I found it to be an amazing school that broadened my horizons more than I thought possible, and relish my memories a great deal! Hope this response helps!
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Maybe @ECmotherx2 can chime in if around - she gave me valuable info on Eckerd a while back
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Congratulations to your son! We have 2 children who graduated from Eckerd and are very enthusiastic about the college. DD graduated with a degree in Marine Bio and Visual Arts and went on to veterinary school. DS graduated with a degree in International Business and Chinese and went on to law school. I would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. The Explore Eckerd College Admitted Student events are very well designed to show the student and parents a glimpse of student life, academics, internships, study abroad, and career opportunities and assistance.
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Thanks so much, everyone, for your feedback! I very much appreciate all of you taking the time to respond. The more I learn about Eckerd, the more I REALLY like the school. In the end, my son will have to figure out where he wants to go but after scholarships, Eckerd is about $17K cheaper than High Point University, which my son just told my husband was his first choice. The only thing he ever said to us about High Point was back in November when he told us he was applying. 
Not sure how I feel about High Point after reading through CC forums. I’m hoping the admitted student days will help my son make an educated decision.
My son only applied to three schools and his other choice is Vermont State University where he was accepted to their BFA in Fine Woodworking and Furniture Making program which is a joint program with the Vermont Woodworking School in Cambridge, VT. Background: my son spent 9th grade at a vo-tech high school, spending the second half of the year in carpentry. We then encouraged him to switch schools to one that works with students with dyslexia because he was diagnosed with dyslexia right before 9th grade and the vo-tech school was doing nothing to remediate his dyslexia. He was on an IEP from 5-8th grade in our public school with a diagnosis of verbal learning disorder and their support was nothing to write home about because he left 8th grade three years behind in reading and not able to produce writing of much length. Anyway, his skills have come a long way at his new school and he has taken 2 years of woodworking and he is in a carpentry class this year. His woodworking/carpentry teacher has told us that he is very talented.
He is interested in majoring in either business or psychology at Eckerd or High Point so comparing them to the BFA program at Vermont State is like comparing apples to oranges. Sorry for going off tangent but my husband and I are trying to figure out how to guide him in the decision process without him feeling like we’re pushing him in one direction or another. My husband is afraid he will go to Eckerd or High Point and then change his mind about pursuing woodworking, which would be a shame because my son is quite talented. We have told our son more than once that he can study for a business or psychology degree and then attend the Vermont Woodworking School, and he just asked me this recently and I reassured him that he could certainly do that. Thanks for reading this far.
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We live in New England as well and I’m sure my son wouldn’t mind the beach front campus either…lol. 
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Thank you so much for sharing your personal experience! I really appreciate you taking the time to respond.
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Thanks so much for your feedback! We are going to an Admitted Student event in April and I can’t wait. My son is thinking about business or psychology as a major. He loves woodworking and has a talent in that area (see my post near the bottom) and told me that he feels that majoring in business would be a good idea so that if he has his own woodworking company, he’d have the business background to start and run a company. If I think of any questions, I will definitely reach out. Thank you for offering!
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Enjoy the weekend. Your son sounds very talented! Just an FYI, during the weekend, ask about the MakerSpace at Eckerd. www.eckerd.edu/makerspace/
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Thanks for letting me know about the MakerSpace. The description says there are opportunities to build projects and learn about a variety of topics including woodworking. We certainly will ask about it during the Admitted Students event. I think I saw on the school’s website that students can create their own major so maybe my son will be able to incorporate woodworking/the arts into his degree somehow.
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