My cousin’s daughter who is from GA chose Coastal for the same program. She is very happy with her choice. I wish this were FB where I could tag her and she could share more.

Thank you for all the feedback!

Definitely UNCW is strong in marine biology. ECU is much more of a sports school and a more intense kind of party school. A strong alumni network if you want to stay in NC, especially east of Raleigh.

If your interest is marine biology though, I'd look much more closely at UNCW.

Anonymous wrote:I lived in North Myrtle Beach. I thought Coastal Carolina was more of a commuter school.

Check out UF when you come to Florida.

Coastal is 62% OOS.
https://www.coastal.edu/media/2024siteassets/contentassets/documents/iraa/datareportsampdashboards/externalandpublicresources/cdsf24.pdf

I lived in North Myrtle Beach. I thought Coastal Carolina was more of a commuter school.

Check out UF when you come to Florida.

UNCW has one of the top Marine Biology programs in the country. It has a charming campus in NC’s largest coastal town, Wilmington. The locals come out to support UNCW basketball, so that’s the only place you’d get the rah-rah environment. They have had the top club surf team in the country multiple years. It’s also a bargain tuition-wise, even out of state.

ECU hands out STD literature where you meet for the campus tours, which wouldn’t be the first impression most schools want to give. It had to big time sports and a loyal fan base, though!

Coastal Carolina is in Myrtle Beach- not particularly my taste (lots of touristy traffic, strip malls, and Calabash food places all over), but we’ve known kids who have attended and really loved the experience. Probably in between the two other schools in terms of rah-rah.

Three VERY different vibes. Recommend visiting. ECU is about 2.5 hours north of Wilmington, which is about 1.5 hours north of Coastal.

FWIW, ECU has its own strain of Chlamydia.

DS only attended for a semester. Due 100% to personal problems. ECU is a fun school. About 50,000 attend FB games. Baseball is excellent. Largest provider of teachers in NC. Has a med school. Alumni seem very proud. Graduation rate isn't great. 92% acceptance rate.

OP here - thank you for the heads up re: Coastal Carolina! UNC Wilmington has a super strong program so I think that could be a good fit and will plan Florida visits and New England ones too.

UNCW if you want to be near the beach. ECU if you want large rah-rah school. I know students who love each of them.

In SC College of Charleston is considered much better than Coastal - better school, location, campus, everything.

Try New England.
Does UConn?

Coastal Carolina’s not a good school. Half the kids don’t graduate.

UNCW has not football so maybe not as rah rah as other schools but it is a nice school close to the beach. ECU is in a typical college town and has a lot to offer.

We were not impressed with Coastal Carolina.

How would you compare these schools? Looking in Carolinas for DD who is interested in marine biology but also wants a fun sort of rah-rah school that's not gigantic. Also looking in New England and Florida (California is too far) but our first stop is a trip to the Carolinas. I know College of Charleston has a strong program but the female ratio and lack of bigger sports is not as appealing to her. TIA!