More college talk..help

bbdottk's response is spot-on although I will beg to differ on the potential importance of your college GPA. A very good to excellent GPA can grease the skids in qualifying for financial assistance in grad school or placing in an company/corp/govt internship or recruiting program. The intern program where I worked for some 25+ years placed nobody but the cream - most of the intern resumes I reviewed for placement on my projects were grad students that had 3.8+ GPAs in their undergrad studies. I earned as graduate teaching assistantship on the strength of my last two years undergraduate work and the grades in a couple of key upper division courses. Like college itself, your grades are all about opening doors and enhancing your opportunities. Go to the best college/university that you can, but regardless of which one you attend, seek out the most challenging professors.

 

It doesn't matter where you go. . .

what matters is why. Professors are not there to dole out wisdom, they're there to assist you with growing yours. In the end, you wind up teaching yourself, and if you don't, it's no one's fault but your own. The most important thing about college is that it teaches you how to learn, and how to think things through for yourself. ALL of my professors helped me do that.

Thirty-seven years ago I got away from the ocean to go to school. It certainly helped with concentration, and of course finding a solid career that has kept me 2 miles from a wide range of breaks with substantial quality waves for a lifetime, and is now sending me a decent monthly check for surfing. It sure beats the commute from Annapolis to surf, if you know what I mean. . .

 

MDSurfer... what do you do? I understand the Navy career... and Annapolis is one hell of a school...

 

in terms of west coast

USC? I know how it is to get in, but i haven't done my surfing research yet

 

The hard part

. . . is getting in. Once you are in, every school is pretty much doable if you have the proper work ethic. Honestly, they're all human beings and any educator worth their salt will do their best to see that you succeed if you want it enough. The next hardest part is paying for it in these economic times without becoming an indentured servant for the rest of your life.

Educate yourself so you can surf for the rest of your life, not the other way around. Is not 2-4 years worth the sacrifice for a lifetime of fun?

 

Yeah that's the way I see it. If surfing is your #1 priority then certainly a lot of other things in your life is taking a back seat to it. Something to think about

 

Grad school/Navy

So...I'm moving into my last year as an undergraduate and I will (if all goes well) be graduating with a degree in meteorology and a degree in physical oceanography. Now it has become time to look into either graduate school or the navy. I am currently at an internship at the University of Delaware and so far really like what I have seen. I also plan on looking at U of Florida, University of Maimi, FIT, Rutgers, and U of Rhode Island. Any suggestions?

My only implication about graduate school is I am unsure if a GPA of 3.1 and major GPA's of 3.6 and 3.3 will get me in. Granted I have a fair amount of research experience but I'm not sure how much weight that really pulls.

Also from what I understand the navy provides some good opportunities in this field and I'm in condition to meet their standards but I'm not sure if it would open similar doors as going to graduate school. Also, I know if you qualify the navy will send you to the post naval graduate school but I really don't know to many details.


Any suggestions/thoughts/ideas?

 

good song, I have a great live version of Francis Dunnery playing that solo acoustic...

 

I would explore the opportunities to work as a Navy civilian or in one of the Federal departments such as NOAA, get a couple of years experience and then decide whether graduate school makes sense (probably). At that point your employer will probably help you get your masters degree instead of you having to take out a huge loan. Unless you can find a teaching assistantship. Not all the Navy meterological locations are plum, e.g., Mississippi. But Monterey would be a great posting as a civilian and some of their other locations wouldn't be too bad.

 

Coastal geomorphology with an engineering degree/certification is something you might want to look into.

 

Unfortunately, a coastal engineering specialization requires a masters in addition to an undergraduate study usually in civil engineering....I'm a civil and wish I had the patience to go back and obtain my coastal masters....and the other kicker is maybe a dozen schools in the country offer coastal.

I did my undergrad work at UD and even though I was a hike from the beach it was worth it. I wouldn't let surfing dictate your school choice. It's only 4 years, the degree will give you ample options to live near the beach when you graduate as you are a valuable employee, and frankly you'll have so much to do between drinking, girls, sleeping, drinking, oh and school too! Pick a school based on the social and educational merits and think about the location as a side note. The time will fly by once you're there.

 

Someone mentioned Coastal Carolina. If you are looking at S.C. for waves, Charleston is your best bet. Not great, but you'll have more rideable waves than in northern S.C. It can get really good on hurricane swells too. The girls are easy on the eyes down that way too. May want to look into it.

 

Go to UNCW. Thats where ill be for the next four years.

 

Man... So much complaining...

Im just saying... I lived at the beach my whole life. Started surfing when I was about 4, and was about as much of a surf rat as you can get. And now I go to college in CO.

Suck it up... If you wanna go to college there may not be waves.. Its that simple. But I'll tell you what, if you do get into a college that has no surf, Don't go feeling sorry for yourself and complain about it all the time.

There is so much more to the world than surfing... Hell, I'm on my way to becoming a music producer. Would that have happened if I lived at the beach? Probably not, I'd be to busy worrying about surfing.

 

Plus you get, Thanksgiving Break, Winter Break, Spring Break, and all Summer home to surf.

So just suck it up.

Your in college now, Its time to be a big boy.

 

boner...you got any beats up on youtube or anything?


and about your college...you should really put surfing way down on the priorities list when choosing a college. i dont know anything about colleges near the beach so i cant help you out but pick a place that's gonna provide you with a solid education to build a future off of, then start looking at the other things that you enjoy after you look at the important stuff (majors available, living conditions, and so on)

 

I agree, I sometimes wish I had not only looked at two schools, Salisbury and UNCW, but wanted to stay close to the ocean. I am glad I stayed in state just because of tuition, but the social scene at Salisbury got pretty old after a couple of years. If it weren't for surfing I would have never lasted there. I live up in Newark, DE now and UD looks like a sick school, lots of ladies. and it is big so you will not recognize every girl on campus after two years and if you like mountain biking there are some sick trails around here. Surfing and being close to the ocean is awesome, but there are other things to look at too.

 

I have a friend that recently (a year or two ago) graduated from Sheffield Production school in Towson, MD, which has one of three insane (in the world) machines for production.

He is now working as a bill collector.

I'm working on getting his head out of his ass, as I play music, spent years spinning records, make beats now, and know a few highly talented freaks who need someone to turn them on.

There is not much money in music, but somethings got to give, you just have to be sly with WHERE IT GOES (ie. keep it OFF the internet if you wanna make money)

You have good taste in music, and understand the simple concept of TAKING IT FURTHER, so keep at it!

(sorry this has NOTHING to do with college, but really, I don't care)

 

While I agree with the above posts, I do think you can find a good school near the beach, although i don't think that should be your number one criteria. To add to the list, philly schools (villanova, st joes, drexel, la salle, etc) are under 2 hours to the beach. When there are no waves you can go out and do all sorts of activities in philly and in the pocono mountains to the north. I went to school in philly and while I did miss some epic days, I was also able to take the train back to jersey on the weekends and get the occasional swell.

Oh and one more thing, look into studying abroad. You can literally go anywhere (provided you keep your GPA up). While abroad classes tend to be easy, leaving more time for surfing, chasing local trim or traveling.

 

ya, agreed. It is like an hour from Philly to Atlantic City. I did a study abroad in Costa Rica - awesome! I recommend anyone with the chance to study abroad to do so... It didn't even cost more than a regular semester.