College Planning · Surfside Beach, SC
Surfside families: enter the Arena.
Surfside families — College Planning Centers' home base — get the strongest college planning support on the coast.
Surfside Beach is where College Planning Centers started, and where College Arena was built. Christopher Parsons' 'Entering the Arena' came out of working with families exactly like yours — students at St. James, Socastee, and Myrtle Beach High, all navigating the same admissions pressure with very different paths forward.
High schools we work with
Built for Horry County's public, charter, and private schools.
Why local matters
Surfside doesn't apply like the rest of the country.
Generic college planning advice misses the things that actually move the needle here. These are the local questions College Arena helps your family answer:
- The 9th-grade 4-year arc — start early without overwhelming your student
- 6-week summer ACT bootcamp that has worked for 100+ Surfside students
- Test-optional 2026 strategy — when to submit, when to skip
- FAFSA planning the week aid opens (October 1) — what trips families up
- Surfside Beach in-person meetings + the digital workspace anywhere
“Chris and the team know our area, our schools, and our family. The app made it real — we could see exactly where we stood every week.”
— Surfside parent · St. James HS
Your move
Ready to enter the Arena?
Take the free quiz, build your account, and get a personalized plan for Surfside in under ten minutes. No card. Free during beta.