FEATURE
The EQUESTRI AN
COLLEGE
How Randi Heathman Guides High School Equestrians on Their College Journeys
I
F YOU ASK independent educational consultant Randi Heathman what she does, she’ll do her best impersonation of Liam Neeson and tell you that she has “a very particular set of skills.” What Heathman means is that she is uniquely positioned to guide high school students and their parents through the college search and application process —more specifically, high school equestrians. Under the umbrella of The Equestrian College Advisor, the educational consulting practice she founded in 2011, Heathman employs ten years of experience in college admissions and another decade inside the daily operations of a varsity equestrian program to help families understand both the academic and athletic side of the college search with the goal to find the right fit for each individual student. Supporting parents is also a substantial part of the equation. “There’s an option on my inquiry form that says ‘I’m the non-equestrian parent of a horse-crazy child—help!’” Heathman says with a laugh. “I think eighty percent of parents select that one when they reach out for the first consultation.” Growing up on a small horse farm in Michigan, Heathman didn’t have the issue of non-equestrian parents (hers actually met in a barn), but she did face a familiar college challenge: striking the delicate balance between her academic and career goals while still finding ways to advance her skills in the saddle. “For me, riding while I was in college was non-negotiable,” she tells The Plaid
76
THE PLAID HORSE
Horse. “For my parents, a college degree was non-negotiable, so my search ultimately was for colleges within a close enough radius to home that I could get back on weekends to ride, but focus on school during the week.” Heathman’s search culminated at Albion College, a private liberal arts school just 16 miles from home. She majored in English and, after graduation, earned her Masters degree in organizational communication online while working full-time in Albion’s admission office—a career that fell into her lap as a result of the honors thesis she’d written senior year. That thesis—Enhancing Education Through Equitation: A Promotional Plan for an Equestrian Facility at Albion College—had sparked donor interest at her alma mater and the Nancy G. Held Equestrian Center was built in 2004. (One donor, a longtime family friend, even contributed to name the indoor arena in Heathman’s honor.) Over the next several years, Heathman immersed herself in learning about admissions, financial aid, enrollment management, and the specific recruitment factors that influence equestrian
December 2023/January 2024
students and their families. Then in 2011, a mentor suggested she look into the growing field of educational consulting to help students better understand all of their school and riding options and, by 2012 she joined one hundred other new educational consultants at the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) summer training institute in Swarthmore, PA. “It was life-changing,” she says of the experience. “My favorite part of working in admissions was getting to know the students and helping them plan their path to college. They’re always nervous about the unknown and I enjoyed being in a
