Welcome ideas on HS junior who needs some focus in his search

aquapt
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 07:24:35 +0000

He sounds like a great kid who is self-aware about what he wants in terms of activities and work-life balance. He’s clearly not somebody who would be happy trying to juggle a heavy “grind” academic program (especially in engineering) with a demanding varsity sport. He’s a smart kid who needs a school with strong academics and a good reputation, but not someplace hyper-competitive. Going for something relatively affordable could also reduce pressure in terms of pacing and taking a little extra time to graduate, between the need to moderate workload and the possibility that he may need time to explore rather than hitting the ground running in his major from day one.

What’s the nature of his interest in marine bio? Is it that he likes all things aquatic (for example, would he be interested in something like the Ocean Engineering major at Stevens, or even one of the maritime academy schools (Maine Maritime and SUNY Maritime both have men’s DivIII swimming)…? Or is it more purely a love of bio and especially the marine angle within bio, aquatic plant/animal species, etc? One thing to consider with this major is that students often take time away from campus - one marine bio major I know did a semester in Australia, and others do programs like https://www.seamester.com/ , but these things can be hard to reconcile with a sport like swimming where athletes train all year. Just something to think about - it might make being at a school with direct access to a marine research setting more important. A lot of the best schools for this are larger universities that tend to be Div I.

St. Mary’s of Maryland, which has men’s DIII swimming, has a gorgeous setting and a more laid-back vibe in a coastal location. They’re launching a new marine science major which sounds very cool. The Marine Science Program - Marine Science They also have an Applied Physics track in their physics department, which funnels students in to tech-related careers and engineering grad programs. There’s a Business Administration minor in the econ department in addition to the econ major.

In the vein of Applied Physics, Case Western Reserve (also Div III) has an Engineering Physics major. Doing that with a MechE concentration could be a bit more flexible than a full-blown MechE major, but still offer a strong foundation and ABET accreditation. Plus, Case has an open door policy as far as changing majors, and a great variety of offerings including six different undergrad majors in the business school.

WPI could be worth a look too - good offerings in both STEM and business, and not as grind-y as other DIVIII peer schools like RPI. Maybe Clarkson too? And the LAC’s that have engineering: Lafayette, Union, Trinity, Bucknell, Lehigh…? Bucknell has a five-year dual engineering/management degree that might spread out the heavy engineering classes a little (but of course he’d still only have 4 years of athletic eligibility). Lehigh has a four-year Integrated Business & Engineering program with the option of a 5th year if a full ABET engineering degree is desired.

SUNY Buffalo is one of the few larger public universities that is DIII for sports. They have very strong engineering (including a MechE/MBA track as well as Industrial Engineering which can be a good way to blend engineering and business) as well as a variety of other majors including some interesting options within geosciences and geography that can be tilted toward a marine specialty.

UC Santa Cruz has a full-blown marine bio BS and a variety of engineering majors, a “chill” vibe and DIII swimming. Downside is the OOS cost, if you don’t happen to be in CA.

Pitzer (which shares a DIII team with Pomona) and Claremont McKenna (joint team with Harvey Mudd) both offer interesting programs including a Science & Management major.

For a top-notch business-focused program, Babson could be a terrific choice.

Just tossing ideas out there - what resonates for you?