are you an equestrian? A hook for Stanford!

Applying to College
1

<p>If you are a champion equestrian (state level) then you have a great hook to get into Stanford! An article in a Bay area paper reports that Stanford is closing its horse center to the public and plans to upgrade their collegiate equestrian program to be competitive with the best colleges nationwide. </p>

<p>To do so they are going to need to recruit good riders, so if you are such a person you can bet your application will get a second look in the admissions office. And you should be sure to let them know of your interest; write the admissions office to ask express your interest in the program and ask them to put you in touch with someone in the athletics dept who can answer your questions (BTW you better have some good questions ready when they get back to you!) </p>

<p>Right now Stanford is well known for many athletic programs like volleyball, basketball, gymnastics, and so on. But their equestrian program is in the dumps according to the article, so they aren’t going to be getting applications from the best riders who want to continue riding in colleges. According to the article, " <code>Stanford is looking at attracting students with a whole different caliber of riding,’ said Rip.</code>The university has championed a bunch of very high-profile athletic teams – and now they’ve focused on riding.` To succeed, the university plans to hire a nationally renowned trainer. Alumnus John Arrillaga, who made millions in real estate, is donating $2 million to get the project going." </p>

<p>This gives you, the skilled rider, a golden window for the next year or two until the word gets out; its the proverbial “hook” people are always looking for. Of course you have to be a competitive applicant, but if your stats are in line with those who have a decent shot at Stanford this is something that may very well put you in. </p>

<p>See the article at <a href=“http://■■■■■■■.com/73rlx[/url]”>http://■■■■■■■.com/73rlx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

2

<p>Well I’m an equestrian but not a good one…LOL</p>

3

<p>do you know if stanford recruits alot for crew or soccer?</p>

4

<p>my friend would b perfect and im getting there…so i will tell her and I Will keep working on it…i still have a couple more years till i start applying and stuff</p>

5

<p>do you think it has to be champion rider. What if you don’t show as often as you used to, but ride at the 3’6-4’ level?</p>

<p>Note: I don’t show very often because I’ve become really involved in this cross country riding group that meets every sunday, and most shows are on sunday so i haven’t been showing very much.</p>

6

<p>The new horse center just opened in September 2005. An article about it is at <a href=“http://www.kentucky.com/mld/mercurynews/living/education/12640415.htm?source=rss&channel=mercurynews_education[/url]”>http://www.kentucky.com/mld/mercurynews/living/education/12640415.htm?source=rss&channel=mercurynews_education&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>I personally don’t know much about horses or what the various levels mean (such as 3’6-4), but you could go to the team’s website on stanford.edu and contact the head coach to see if they’re recruiting people with your credentials.</p>

<p>My gut feeling is that anyone is welcome to walk-on, but Stanford is reknowned for its athletic program (winner of the past several Sears Cup trophies) and sees this area as a weakness they want to fix pronto. So the better caliber rider you are the more interest they’ll show (and the bigger the thumb on the admission scale) :slight_smile: But I’m not an adcom or even a Stanford alum, so don’t let me discourage you; contact someone on the team and ask them if you’d be recruited or not.</p>

7

<p>thanks… btw. 3’6-4’ means i jump 3’6 to 4’ high jumps on a regular basis.</p>