Originally Posted by BackPacker
If you are going to the U.S. primarily for tourism, but want to take a short course of study which is recreational
You are forgetting that there is a difference between recreational and vocational.
Per the USCIS wording:
"..Courses with more substance or that teach a potential vocation, such as flight training, would be considered part of a “course of study” and thus would require approval of a change of status..."