<p>Yesterday I've got the opportunity to speak personally to a Stanford's Representative. The question I asked, among others, was whether Stanford University offers some athletic scholarship. She told me yes. But, she was very specific telling to me that in order to earn a athletic scholarship I needed to be the man who represents my country. She just said that. </p>
<p>Whether a representative or not, I do not trust 100% in her words. So, I would like to know if any of you, guys or any who applied, have heard something similar to the representative's answer.</p>
<p>Are you an international student who is looking to get recruited? What is your sport?</p>
<p>I believe the answer, because what would it be about you that would make a better athletic recruit or athlete over the 1000’s of student athletes who are US citizens, permanent residents?</p>
<p>Seems like you would have to be a nationally ranked athlete in your country</p>
<p>Stanford only gives out 300 athletic scholarships each year. In addition, at their website, they note that they sent more athletes to the Beijing Olympics than any other school in the US. Putting two and two together, in the event you are an international student, it sounds like what she meant is that you might receive an athletic scholarship if you were of Olympic caliber and to the extent that you would be representing your home country.</p>
<p>In other words, are you good enough for the Olympics? If not, then an athletic scholarship from Stanford is probably very unlikely.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m an international student. I play as a wide receiver in my high school at La Paz, Bolivia. Since in Bolivia football is not the top sport for us, my competition level is by far one of the most competitive around here </p>
<p>To receive any significant scholarship, you need to be a player who will make a significant, immediate impact on the team. Most people of that caliber are, indeed, nationally recognized (on the sr nat’l team for their sport, etc).</p>
<p>Some, who are not given athletic money, may be given preferred walk on status. Meaning you are flagged at admissions for some additional consideration. Each year coaches have a certain number of picks, whom they can lobby for in admissions. The better your grades, and the better you are in your sport, the easier it becomes for a coach to support you. </p>
<p>Chesterton, during the year of the London Olympic Games (2012), our Athletics Athlete went to the games by reaching a qualifying mark of 10.62 seconds at the 100 meters sprint. In addition, that race was run above 8000 ft. During a qualifying race in my high school, I made a personal record of 10.35 second in the same race. In order to get the scholarship, I should send a video about doing the same race to prove that I am an Olympic caliber Athlete?</p>
<p>Stanford is a D-1 school. Football is a ‘head count’ sport, which means that if Stanford gives a scholarship in football, the entire scholarship has to go to one player, not split between many. A D-1 school can award 85 scholarships for football, and I think no more than 25 to incoming freshmen.</p>
<p>You need to contact the football recruiters directly. The admissions people have very little to do with whether you get a football scholarship.</p>
<p>@abdonsara… from my perspective, your athletic achievements are very impressive. The 100-meter sprint is one event I love watching and I always try to watch that one event during the Olympics or other track and field competitions (Chariots of Fire is my favorite movie and ever since I have loved watching races, living vicariously through those who can run so fast!)</p>
<p>But I have no idea what Stanford is looking for when they recruit athletes. Can you get back in touch with the representative you already spoke with? Maybe, if you can afford it, you should just go ahead and apply and see what happens. </p>
<p>No, you do not want to just apply. If you want to be recruited for football you need to email/call football coaches. If you want to be recruited as a sprinter you need to contact T&F coaches. You can find contact info on Stanford athletic website. You may want to post your questions in the Athletic Recruitment forum here on CC - people with first hand experience may give you better advice. <a href=“Athletic Recruits - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/</a></p>
<p>You need to contact the coach at Stanford that runs your sport and ask him if s/he is interested. There is likely a contact form on the website if you go to your sport. They will tell you what they want You have to go through the coach. The coach will request info, maybe films and can determine if you are Stanford recruit/ scholarship material.</p>
<p>Having said that; I’ve just noticed that your record was at altitude, which does offer a significant advantage, so they might take it with a pinch of salt. But worth asking about, perhaps.</p>
<p>When are you planning to go to Stanford? As I said above, a football scholarship is for everything and can’t be split. A track scholarship can be split among a lot of teammates. It is VERY unlikely you’d get a walk on scholarship. You must speak to the coaches. Check the NCAA rules for international athletes to see when you can contact them (probably any time) and when they can contact you back (probably not until after July 1 if you are a junior).</p>
<p>If you are interested in other schools that are not D-1, there are other rules and timetables.</p>
<p>It’s not easy to get a track scholarship, especially if male. My nephew was 20 something in the country (US) and still did not get a dime from any of the major universities. Track money is scarce. Again, the coaches, both football and track will want info from you and that info will determine whether they want you or not, whether an athletic scholarship is a possibility or not Fill out the forms, email the coaches and ask what you can send them for such a determination.</p>
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