Best College SCUBA Club?

[mrfixitchapman]

One of my favorite granddaughters is planning college visits for spring 2015. She has narrowed her interests down to biological sciences. She hasn't really identified a particular specialty. She has, however, decided that she wants to find a college/university with an active SCUBA club.
What does the Scubaboard membership recommend?

Thanks

DC

 

[lemke]

University of Hawaii

 

[Steve_C]

Eastern Carolina University has a large scuba program (they also teach marine archeology at the graduate level)

Univ. N. C Wilmington is right on the coast. Do not know about their scuba club but they have a very active marine bioscience program and many of their students dive. Aquatic Safaris my favorite dive op is only 20 easy minutes or less from Campus in Wrightsville Beach. Nice town.

where I work NC State has scuba classes (NAUI flavored) as part of the PE program and they do some scuba trips. I know that UNC a few miles away has a scuba program since I dove with one of their instructors a couple times when we met down in the Florida Keys.

 

[mrfixitchapman]

Excellent! Keep 'em coming! See, my ulterior motive is that I might just, ahem, accompany my dive buddy on a college visit or two. So......

DC

 

[drrich2]

You're in Iowa. Is she? I ask because out-of-state tuition can be bad news. Ideally she'd attend a university with local access to the kind of diving she likes to do, which I suspect would mean the east coast of Florida, for example, if she really wants to dive a lot.

Now, if she wants to dive locally, cold & maybe deep, or has the means to join the group for travel, that's another story. Then again, if you're going to travel, you can probably just join a local dive shop group, or even a 'not local' group.

Any idea just what kind of diving she wants to do? Is she a reef diver, a wreck diver, etc…?

Richard.

 

[FM1520]

University of California San Diego (UCSD) would fit the bill nicely both academically and a very active dive club. However, its very competitive and if you're out of state probably pretty pricey.

 

[mrfixitchapman]

You're in Iowa. Is she? I ask because out-of-state tuition can be bad news. Ideally she'd attend a university with local access to the kind of diving she likes to do, which I suspect would mean the east coast of Florida, for example, if she really wants to dive a lot.

Now, if she wants to dive locally, cold & maybe deep, or has the means to join the group for travel, that's another story. Then again, if you're going to travel, you can probably just join a local dive shop group, or even a 'not local' group.

Any idea just what kind of diving she wants to do? Is she a reef diver, a wreck diver, etc…?

Richard.

Somehow she is the only member of the Holdam Family with large measureable amounts of talent. In her high school she is usually first violin in the orchestra and concert band. She can actually sing and play guitar very well. Most importantly, she has learned how to learn. SCUBA was not 'natural' for her, but she dug down and conquered the skills that she needed to learn. Last Christmas she and I did seven dives after she completed the OW certification. (BTW, I can recommend a couple of most excellent instructors in Key Largo), and she gathered herself very well in some challenging conditions.
The 'in-state tuition' is not a deal-breaker. She might be able to have the resources for travel, in fact, that is one attractive feature of a college SCUBA club.
Right now she is OW diver. Wrecks are out of her skill set, maybe later. She has a keen interest in corals and reef wildlife.

DC

 

[drrich2]

If she goes out of state, less coming home economically to visit. I live in a different state from my parents, and they seldom get to see their granddaughter (if we don't count Skype), so I think about that when I consider your situation. And an area she travels to for college might turn out to be an area she settles down into to live. Professional higher education brought me to KY, and here I remain. So where kids go off to college can have long-lasting impacts on their lives.

Here's a thought. Find out what out-of-state tuition & total costs for some college in Florida or California costs, compare to cost for an in state college (and find out if your state has agreements with immediate neighbor states on the tuition issue), and figure out how many dive travel trips she could have for the difference in cost.

I'm not pushing one way or the other, just analyzing the options.

Richard.

 

[bada3003]

IU has scuba related programs, a medical school (biological sciences), and a top music school. No reef corals though.

One of my favorite granddaughters is planning college visits for spring 2015. She has narrowed her interests down to biological sciences. She hasn't really identified a particular specialty. She has, however, decided that she wants to find a college/university with an active SCUBA club.
What does the Scubaboard membership recommend?

Thanks

DC

 

[mrfixitchapman]

If she goes out of state, less coming home economically to visit. I live in a different state from my parents, and they seldom get to see their granddaughter (if we don't count Skype), so I think about that when I consider your situation. And an area she travels to for college might turn out to be an area she settles down into to live. Professional higher education brought me to KY, and here I remain. So where kids go off to college can have long-lasting impacts on their lives.

Here's a thought. Find out what out-of-state tuition & total costs for some college in Florida or California costs, compare to cost for an in state college (and find out if your state has agreements with immediate neighbor states on the tuition issue), and figure out how many dive travel trips she could have for the difference in cost.

I'm not pushing one way or the other, just analyzing the options.

Richard.

Thanks, man. The 'adjoining state tuition' is a small factor,but she is prepared to go as far as necessary to find a college/university that seems to be a good fit. Looking around Boston, for example, there are about a hundred, (!!!), schools. Florida is interesting to her, but she wants to look over the landscape before making a decision. Her high school's guidance counselor doesn't have many good suggestions other than in-state and adjoining state schools.
She's on her own. Well, except for us.

DC