Stanford runner transfers to Cal Poly, 1:46 800

There are all kinds of reasons to transfer - higher scholarship, ability to focus on certain events, races you'll run, academics, places to train. Stanford is a great school but not best for everyone.

Vanhoy is a better middle distance coach. Also reunites with one of his school teammates according to the article you posted.

Cal Poly is a ridiculous school, and significantly better than Stanford if you want to go into certain disciplines of engineering, such as mechanical or electrical. He probably knows what he wants to do and is going for a specific academic discipline.

Living in SLO is far superior to living in Palo Alto or Seattle. These two kids made wise choices.

^ this

Cal Poly is a solid school, academically, and it is a state school. Even if he's getting significant money from Stanford and may still be substantially more expensive to attend than Cal Poly would be with no aid.

Correct. $30k as opposed to $90K.

He graduated Stanford early and starting a masters program at SLO

CPSLO has one of the largest US Government endowments ranking in the top 10 nationally. Cal Poly banks tens of billions of dollars in pre-authorized funds from the Pentagon, DoE, NIH, NASA, etc. to quickly start projects as needed without legislative bickering and political delays. The San Luis Obispo area is dotted with unmarked, top secret defense, energy, missile, chem/bio warfare, crypto, internet, chip labs.

lester is a psych major, not in engineering. i'd also say that the engineering ranks you're pointing at, while punching well above weight, are fairly parsed, ie, "master's programs among public schools," which, no stanford or ivies then (give or take the odd program at cornell), and a lot of people chase PhDs directly.

stanford is joint #1 psychology program in the country. unless he wants a major change, some of the rankings competition eg Cal and UCLA are in state as well. or harvard has a good program. cal poly ranks 118 in psychology, behind several other UC schools (irvine, santa cruz, santa barbara) and even SDSU.

also, he was running 1:48 in HS so was he a rare full/large % scholarship kid? and i know stanford is expensive but this is not do i go to the 50th best liberal arts school at expense, the ROI is obvious, and athletic scholarships are limited by cost of attendance and not some arbitrary absolute number like a pell grant or student loan. that is, if stanford costs $56k tuition plus room and board, and cal poly $10k, stanford's scholarship, as a nominal accounting entry, is larger. assuming they do "fulls."

i mean, we're talking a major conference champion and top 10 runner in his event, 1:46 800m, dropped 2s in the event, if the beef was he got a partial last year, give the man a full this year. if he hates the coach or town or school, with that CV, one assumes he could write his ticket on a full anywhere in the country with a full to give. could probably go to an ivy.

cal poly is supposed to be in a pretty area and apparently his buddy goes there. interesting thing is they already have a kid there running 1:46 who was a nationals finalist. so there is a potential you go from stanford lead 800 guy to cal poly bridesmaid. but you can hang out with your friend.

Is this true? I read the linked article, and it doesn't mention that Lester is a grad transfer. He wasn't listed as such on Stride Report, either. As a 2021 high school graduate, Lester would have only completed 5 semesters at Stanford so far. I know some strong student-athletes (such as K. Chmiel) can finish an undergraduate degree by the end of the fall semester of their junior year, but those students tend to go to state schools that accept a lot of AP or dual-enrollment credits. Schools like Stanford rarely accept AP or dual-enrollment credits, so students there would have to take huge course loads each semester in order to finish in 5. Does Stanford even allow students to load up that much?

Anyway, I'm not one of the people who think students MUST attend the most elite school that will take them; there are lots of reasons to look for the best all-around fit, rather than prioritizing prestige above all else. I'm just curious about how you and the upvoters seem to know this and/or how Lester would have finished a Stanford undergrad degree in 5 semesters.

Maybe he wants a cracker.

"SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Mustang track & field and cross country program ringed in the New Year in a big way Tuesday, announcing that a pair of distance runners from Pac-12 schools will be transferring to Cal Poly ahead of the upcoming outdoor track season."

I wonder if they singed Auld Lang Syne as they ringed in the New Year.

But if you're over halfway through your undergrad degree - at Stanford no less - why would you transfer to a significantly worse school? Especially as he'd be getting $ there

Other possibilities...

Doesn't like The Bay Area?

Doesn't vibe with Stanford teammates or students?

Finds Stanford a tad too rigorous or intense and wants a more chill collegiate experience?

Not happy with Stanford's move to the ACC?

Really wants to work with Vanhoy?

He is a Psychology major. A doctorate is required to practice. As others have speculated, SLO may be a debt avoidance measure (if not getting a 100% ride at Stanford). There is no reason why he couldn't return to Stanford for grad school. Grad school is what counts in this field.

Cal Poly invented low-earth orbit Cube Sat which has been commercialized by thousands of companies and by for example Elon Musk as Star Link.

What makes you say that? Palo Alto is a really nice place to live, only major problem I can tell is the ludicrous price of living.

He got tired of Lex and Leo showing up to practice with a camera crew documenting putting shoes and sweats on.

It's obviously about going to a school where he will get top 800 coaching. San Luis Obispo is a beautiful place but so is the area around Stanford. You have an enormous area west of 280 of open space/state parks/redwoods and mountains. You have a gorgeous campus and great weather. You have the top five graduate or undergraduate programs in the country in almost every area. You have immensely wealthy and influential connections in Silicon Valley. Hard to beat Stanford. But you do not have a top 800m program on the men's side.

Also, note that he already ran 1:48.24 as a junior in high school, 1:47.65 as a senior, and 1:48 as a freshman at Stanford. He ran 1:46.93i last year and did not compete outdoors. So, it took a long time for him to improve and he was injured a long time and you can assume there was some frustration about the slow development and the ill health.