<p>Hey all...quick question.
As of this past May I am ranked 8th in the nation for my division in IEA. There are about 10,000 total IEA riders, I'm unsure about the specific number in my division, but it had a tendency to be larger than many others at the shows we attended. Maybe around 2,500? Is there any advantage in college admissions to being a nationally ranked equestrian, since it doesn't seem to be as popular of a sport as, say, football? Would they consider the advantage to possibly having me on their IHSA team? Or is it basically counted as much as any other EC? Thanks! </p>
<p>The advantage is primarily for recruited athletes. While many fine schools do recruit equestrians, they don’t tend to be high on the list of CC applicants, so it depends where you are thinking of applying. That said, showing you can excel in anything is going to be a positive–especially if you write a compelling essay explaining that.</p>
<p>At minimum, it will be considered as a good EC by any college. I don’t know if any colleges recruit for equestrian but, if any do, they’d surely give you special consideration. Congratulations on your accomplishments and good luck with admissions and your sport.</p>
<p>@qialah thank you for your answer! I wasn’t definite about what made a “recruited” athlete, but your post does help with how ! could possibly highlight and work with the experience! </p>
<p>@sherpa Thank you for your insight!!</p>
<p>These schools would likely care more:</p>
<p><a href=“http://varsityequestrian.com/membership/universities.html”>http://varsityequestrian.com/membership/universities.html</a></p>
<p>You may actually be recruited by them.</p>
<p>Other schools may or may not care.</p>
<p>@PurpleTitan hmm…interesting! Exactly how does one go about trying to be recruited? Is there forms or something, or is it just something that’s added in an application for them to notice? </p>
<p>OP:</p>
<p>I would try to contact the coaches. Do you have a coach? If so, ask for advice.</p>
<p>coaches</p>
<p>Ok, I will…thank you! @PurpleTitan @APsooof </p>
<p>worst case you have a very good EC, best case you have a god-tier EC, things look good for you ;)</p>
<p>I know Auburn has a top team. There is a link on their page to a recruiting questionnaire you can fill out. I believe the University of Virginia has a team as well. I’m sure with a little research you’ll find opportunities for you to continue your sport at the collegiate level and maybe get a little scholarship funding to boot.</p>
<p>@foolish:</p>
<p>Actually, I’m not sure that all highly-selective schools without equestrian teams would care so much about athletic ECs in a sport they don’t participate in, actually. I know some private elites where athletic acheivements really don’t matter at all (they’re all DivIII).</p>
<p>that doesn’t make any sense - schools don’t just say “eh, we don’t like this activity, so you never spent any time or dedicated anything to it, k?”</p>
<p>it will be treated as a normal EC, granted, but it’s still quite strong</p>
<p>@foolish:</p>
<p>You’re making the assumption that all schools treat all ECs equally. At some schools, that’s simply not true. Caltech just doesn’t value athletic ECs (and likely value academic ECs highly). From what I hear, WashU and UChicago are the same way.</p>
<p>For example, would you expect Harvard to care if you are top 10 in WoW? That’s an EC as well.</p>
<p>Well, Caltech does have sports teams, so I’m assuming that they do place some value on athletics.</p>