<p>What are the best ‘Beach Colleges’ in the US?</p>
<p>UCSB and UCSD are great schools that sit basically right on the beach. If you’re looking at Floridia then Eckerd’s not a bad choice.</p>
<p>[Colleges</a> for Beach Lovers - 14 Schools by the Coast](<a href=“http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegerankings/tp/colleges-for-beach-lovers.htm]Colleges”>Colleges and Universities for Beach Lovers)</p>
<p>Thanks! Will a degree from Pepperdine or UCSB help you enter the job market?</p>
<p>
There are very few schools where just a random degree plus the college name gets you attention. At the rest you either need to major in something leading directly to a job (nursing, engineering, accounting, etc) or get a more liberal-arts oriented degree PLUS have internships and other career-related activities. Internships are a good idea even for the vocationally-oriented degrees, too, since the better employers in a field look for applicants with them.</p>
<p>So the answer, which may not be what your looking for: can you go to SB or Pepperdine and have a great future out of college? Sure. Can you also go there and struggle to find a job better than waiting tables? Yes.</p>
<p>BTW the beach proximity at SB and SD is not the same. At SD you walk 1/2 mile or more down a hill to get to the beach, while at UCSB 2 sides of the campus are actually the ocean. Look at an aerial view…</p>
<p>Also I clicked on your previous posts and it looks like you are a Colorado resident hoping for aid. So I suggest crossing the UC schools off your list. The UCs do not give much merit aid. They give absolutely zero dollars in need-based aid towards the OOS tuition, which is 23K per year. If you can afford 23K extra per year, I’d either spend the money to attend a college with smaller classes and more personal attention or attend your state college and spend it on summers at the beach (when you have time to enjoy the atmosphere instead of doing homework).</p>
<p>University of Miamii !!!</p>
<p>Depending on your stats: Coastal Carolina, UNC-Wilmington, Flagler, a large number of the Florida public universities or state colleges, (for honors, especially if you’re interested in the sciences: FAU’s Wilkes Honors College in Jupiter), Southern Miss Gulf Coast</p>
<p>College of Charleston</p>
<p>Sorry to tag on here, but does anyone have first or second hand knowledge on College of Charleston or Coastal Carolina? Atmosphere? Quality of Academics? Welcoming to Northerners? 
D is trying to find a college where she can get some exposure to marine science as part of her biology program. We’ve seen a lot on Eckerd and UNC-W but not much on the others…</p>
<p>dory123: The College of Charleston has a very good reputation. Charleston can get rather humid and unpleasant during the summer/fall, but it’s a nice city with plenty to do. The C of C is reasonably small as publics go (~12K students) and focuses primarily on undergrads. My impression is that it has become pretty popular with northeasterners, at least those on CC. The social and athletic scenes are tamer than at USC (Columbia). </p>
<p>I’m less familiar with Coastal Carolina, and my info primarily comes from a marine science professor there I’ve worked closely with in the past. At least from what I’ve heard, it’s reasonably strong in terms of marine biology faculty and course offerings, but the level of student ability and engagedness leaves much to be desired. I think most OOS students could do better.</p>
<p>For those with the stats and money, Rosenstiel at U Miami is the best option on the east coast. Its double major system (marine science and a core science) means students usually come out significantly better prepared than those in marine biology programs at colleges that are considerably weaker in the basic sciences (e.g. U New Haven). </p>
<p>Unfortunately many undergrad marine biology programs are mostly flash and very little substance, and colleges with little focus on marine biology but strong science offerings and undergrad research support are often much better options. Marine science experience is always available during the summer, either through a marine lab (e.g. Duke, Shoals, Dauphin Island, etc.) or through an [REU</a> program](<a href=“Search Results for REU Sites | NSF - National Science Foundation”>REU Sites | NSF - National Science Foundation). </p>
<p>ChrisJC: LMU is not directly on the beach, but you can get to it pretty easily. Most of the other LA area colleges like USC and Occidental are further from the coast but still closer than most colleges.</p>
<p>Northwestern has its own beach, if you’re willing to take Lake Michigan in lieu of the ocean. The water quality is generally a lot poorer than coastal beaches.</p>
<p>University of San Diego and San Diego State are also fairly close to the beach. A substantial number of undergrads drive there every weekend (and it’s not hard to take public transit to get to the ocean).</p>
<p>College of Charleston is a hot school - great city, close to beach, public LAC. You can look at their website - they use proximity to great beaches as a selling point:</p>
<p>[The</a> Great Outdoors is Calling - College of Charleston](<a href=“Page not found - College of Charleston”>Page not found - College of Charleston)</p>
<p>Of schools that offer Western University Exchange tuition (1.5 times in-state tuition), the University of Hawaii campuses and California State University - Monterey Bay are near beaches.</p>