Flatt plans to skate through college

silverlake22 · Jan 8, 2010

kiz_4Ever said:
I don't know how it works in US, but I think it's very difficult to combine college and work/high level sport. But I'm sure that if one could do this well, it's Flatt..

only, I hope she will stay in competition, I think she has still much to achieve and in the next four year she could become one of the top skaters..

Isn't she already one of the top skaters? I agree with your point though.

I actually think skating might be a saving grace for her in college. A lot of people don't like college because it is such a luxurious lifestyle full of staying up late, sleeping late, parties, binge drinking, and junk food. I would assume Rachael has virtually no interest in these things and thus when everyone else at college is acting like an idiot, she can go skating instead and only hang out with the other kids when they are behaving like normal people. Just my 2 cents on the issue. I really don't like college because of those reasons

mskater93 · Jan 8, 2010

College (if you live on campus) is a step into the real world with a safety net. It's where you learn to make your choices for good or ill. THAT and learning how to think and apply knowledge, is what makes the college experience.

FlattFan · Jan 9, 2010

I just remember Rachael mentioned about SCEA to either Stanford or Yale. If she's applying to a bunch of other schools, including Denver (obviously a safety school), it is possible Stanford/Yale deferred/rejected Rachael Flatt?

silverlake22 · Jan 9, 2010

FlattFan said:
I just remember Rachael mentioned about SCEA to either Stanford or Yale. If she's applying to a bunch of other schools, including Denver (obviously a safety school), it is possible Stanford/Yale deferred/rejected Rachael Flatt?

Stanford is still on her list, Yale could have deferred/rejected her, but that would be only if she applied early. They don't reject many people early and if she was deferred she could still get in. Or maybe she didn't end up applying there because there was no skating facility nearby, or she just didn't like it. My guess is that she did SCEA to Stanford and maybe got deferred so is still hearing and applied elsewhere, these days unless it's a binding early decision contract it's harder to get into a school in the fall than in the spring.

wanda · Jan 10, 2010

Rachel could have been accepted to Stanford or Yale SCEA and then chosen to apply to additional schools. An early action acceptance means that the school accepts you, but you don't have to give them your decision until May 1 and you are free to apply to additional schools. Early decision and early action applications usually have higher acceptance rates than regular admissions, which is why they are so popular.

In terms of elite competitive skating in college, it's relatively rare and while the schools she applied to might have skating teams and available ice time, several of them lack top coaches nearby. Only University of Denver (Tom Z. in Colorado Springs), Harvard (Mark Mitchell and various other coaches at SC of Boston), UCLA (numerous coaches in Southern Cal.) and Johns Hopkins (she wouldn't be too far from U Del or Denise Cahill in Maryland or some D.C. area coaches) might work. Neither Yale, Duke nor Dartmouth have nearby top freestyle coaches, at Stanford she'd probably have to go to Oakland/San Francisco (is Christy Ness still coaching there?) and at Princeton, she'd have to go to Hackensack (about an hour away).

It's very very difficult to go to a top college and have the full college experience while trying to pursue elite skating. As you can see, the Hughes girls took off time to try and pursue skating and Michelle Kwan didn't really complete much college until after she stopped skating.

silverlake22 · Jan 10, 2010

wanda said:
Rachel could have been accepted to Stanford or Yale SCEA and then chosen to apply to additional schools. An early action acceptance means that the school accepts you, but you don't have to give them your decision until May 1 and you are free to apply to additional schools. Early decision and early action applications usually have higher acceptance rates than regular admissions, which is why they are so popular.

In terms of elite competitive skating in college, it's relatively rare and while the schools she applied to might have skating teams and available ice time, several of them lack top coaches nearby. Only University of Denver (Tom Z. in Colorado Springs), Harvard (Mark Mitchell and various other coaches at SC of Boston), UCLA (numerous coaches in Southern Cal.) and Johns Hopkins (she wouldn't be too far from U Del or Denise Cahill in Maryland or some D.C. area coaches) might work. Neither Yale, Duke nor Dartmouth have nearby top freestyle coaches, at Stanford she'd probably have to go to Oakland/San Francisco (is Christy Ness still coaching there?) and at Princeton, she'd have to go to Hackensack (about an hour away).

It's very very difficult to go to a top college and have the full college experience while trying to pursue elite skating. As you can see, the Hughes girls took off time to try and pursue skating and Michelle Kwan didn't really complete much college until after she stopped skating.

Yale is an hour outside of New York right? She could probably go to the SC of New York if she really wanted to. Would have made more sense if she had applied to Columbia. I don't think there's any rink near Dartmouth in NH....it's in the middle of nowhere.

wanda · Jan 10, 2010

Yale is an hour or so outside of NYC. However, there really aren't many excellent coaches in NYC (and if she tried to skate in NYC, you'd probably have to add another 1/2 hour travel time to get to a rink). The main possibilities would be Hackensack and Monsey, but they would probably be about 1 hour and 20 minutes each way and 3 hours of travel time would be very very difficult.

Tinymavy15 · Jan 10, 2010

silverlake22 said:
Yale is an hour outside of New York right? She could probably go to the SC of New York if she really wanted to. Would have made more sense if she had applied to Columbia. I don't think there's any rink near Dartmouth in NH....it's in the middle of nowhere.

Yale is not driving distance to New York... it is up in Northern Connecticut, probably like a three hour drive(?). Maybe she could go to NY on spring break or somthing but certainly not daily. Dartmouth has a very strong collegiate skating program, (although they are not as powerful as they were a few years ago). They probably have a facility on campus or else very close by. Yale probably has a rink nearby if Racheal is considering it. I am not sure what Racheal wants to major in, but maybe Columbis does not offer her major? I am guessing she wants to do something with science?

wanda · Jan 10, 2010

Yale is about 70 miles or so from NYC and can take anywhere from 1 hr. 15 minutes to 1 hr. 45 mins to drive to the city, depending on traffic and where you're going. It is on the southern coast of ct.

Dartmouth definitely has a rink with lots of skating time available. However, there is currently no high level coach there.

dorispulaski · Jan 10, 2010

Actually, Yale is in Southern CT-New Haven is on the coast of Long Island Sound. It has a really cool looking ice rink, too (called colloquially the Yale Whale) but actually named Ingalls Rink.

http://yaletomorrow.yale.edu/news/ingallsrinkrenovation.html

LeCygne · Jan 10, 2010

dorispulaski said:
Actually, Yale is in Southern CT-New Haven is on the coast of Long Island Sound. It has a really cool looking ice rink, too (called colloquially the Yale Whale) but actually named Ingalls Rink.

http://yaletomorrow.yale.edu/news/ingallsrinkrenovation.html

Yeah, that's correct. My parents work at Yale and I used to skate at Ingalls Rink when I was little. I have great memories there but it's definitely not a facility for an elite figure skater like Rachael.

However, there is the International Skating Center of Connecticut (ISCC) in Simsbury, CT. Many top skaters have trained there in the past with Tatiana Tarasova (Cohen, Arakawa, Yagudin). It's about an hour away from Yale and I think Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukov are there now, as well as Vladimir Petrenko. Katia Gordeeva and Ilia Kulik live close by and are often there too.

heyang · Jan 10, 2010

I think Emily Hughes went to Yale and Sarah went to Harvard. This allowed Emily to continue with the same coach since it's not that bad between Yale and Long Island.

If Rachel were to go to Princeton or somewhere in Penn, I believe there's a good facility in the PHilly area. About an hour between Princeton and Philly.

The Ice House in Hackensack is about 90 minutes to 2 hrs from Princeton - mostly due to traffic in proximity to the city and the GWB. If she were to choose a school in the NYC area, Hackensack is a reasonable distance for training.

heyang · Jan 10, 2010

mskater93 said:
College (if you live on campus) is a step into the real world with a safety net. It's where you learn to make your choices for good or ill. THAT and learning how to think and apply knowledge, is what makes the college experience.

I totally agree. It really made a difference for me as I was shy and it really helped me come out of my shell. I made lifelong friends, as a result, too. I told all of my younger cousins that they should live on campus for at least a year - even if they were within commuting distance.

I think Michelle Kwan lived on campus her 1st year at UCLA to get the same experience and then moved off campus afterwards. It's also something that's better done when you're 18 or 19. I know that it was harder to live in a dorm situation after living in an apartment off campus during an internship.

heyang · Jan 10, 2010

kiz_4Ever said:
I don't know how it works in US, but I think it's very difficult to combine college and work/high level sport. But I'm sure that if one could do this well, it's Flatt..

only, I hope she will stay in competition, I think she has still much to achieve and in the next four year she could become one of the top skaters..

It totally comes down to time management. I think a lot of elite skaters are better prepared for it vs kids who go to high school only. Elite skaters have to do a lot of independent studying to keep up with their classmates who may or may not have extracurricular activities. College requires that students learn how to study independently since lessons are no longer spoon fed - it's one of the harder things to develop, especially if high school was 'easy'.

Also, since she likely does not need financial aid, she can choose to take fewer classes during the semesters where she may want to train more intensely for competitons and make up credits during summer semesters.

FlattFan · Jan 10, 2010

“I applied to the University of Denver, UCLA, Stanford, Princeton, Duke, Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins and Dartmouth,” Flatt said

I'm sorry, but if she's accepted to Stanford SCEA, there is absolutely no reason to gun for Duke or Dartmouth, taking her skating into consideration.
I could understand the Denver thing if she really wants to stay with Coach Z and Denver probably throws her a big bone.

In general, a student only apply for Yale or Harvard after getting in at Stanford. Stanford crushes even Yale in the cross admit battle.

Flatt definitely is deferred/rejected by one of the SCEA, and it's likely to come from Stanford. Too bad they don't do alumni interview.

R.D. · Jan 10, 2010

heyang said:
I think Emily Hughes went to Yale and Sarah went to Harvard. This allowed Emily to continue with the same coach since it's not that bad between Yale and Long Island.

It's the other way around. Sarah went to Yale, Em to Harvard

wanda · Jan 10, 2010

The Ice House in Hackensack is about 90 minutes to 2 hrs from Princeton - mostly due to traffic in proximity to the city and the GWB.

The Ice House is much closer to Princeton--I've driven it a number of times. It usually takes me about 1 hour and 10 minutes, never more than an hour and a half.

Flatt definitely is deferred/rejected by one of the SCEA, and it's likely to come from Stanford. Too bad they don't do alumni interview.

Don't know how you would know this, or why you would think this. I think it's at least as likely that Flatt either didn't apply SCEA or that she got accepted, but wants to keep her options open.

At any rate, she's a great skater and a highly intelligent student and she will have great college options in the future.

Tinymavy15 · Jan 10, 2010

Racheal has mentioned a few times that Stanford is her "dream school" so I guess she won't any decisions until she has heard from them. The nearest rink is i believe the redwood ice arean (not sure of the name) which is within a 30 min drive I think. Not sure of any "big name" coaches or skaters who train there, but I think they are a very freestyle-dedicated rink.

silverlake22 · Jan 10, 2010

Tinymavy15 said:
Racheal has mentioned a few times that Stanford is her "dream school" so I guess she won't any decisions until she has heard from them. The nearest rink is i believe the redwood ice arean (not sure of the name) which is within a 30 min drive I think. Not sure of any "big name" coaches or skaters who train there, but I think they are a very freestyle-dedicated rink.

Most towns or cities have ice rinks nearby for school and town hockey teams to practice at. Some may be more elite-skater friendly than others, but if Rachael just wants to skate but not competitively, I don't think it should be a problem.

millie · Jan 10, 2010

She may be able to do both while she is doing her undergraduate degree, Most students, that has the smarts like Flatt, can probably do both. After that, depending on what career path she takes, she may have to make a decision. If she decides to go to medical school, she may have to give up her skating. No matter how smart she is, she will not be able to concentrate on both.

Flatt plans to skate through college

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