<p>I am a female lightweight rower with academics on par with admitted students to universities such as Princeton, Stanford, etc. I have racing experience and both scull and sweep. However, I know my 2k is too slow (8:05). Is it worth contacting coaches or am I just wasting their time? Thanks!</p>
<p>Sorry I think your just wasting your time. Stanford has a really competitve cross country and track team, so I dont know if you would have a spot. You could definitley do intramural sports though!</p>
<p>I believe she is talking about rowing not track. </p>
<p>And yes, those schools are looking for SUB 7:40s, sorry! I don;t mean to be discouraging, just realistic/helpful/insightful.</p>
<p>In fact, I cross checked past Crash B 2K results and Lwt rosters at Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and there are Lwt (!!) girls who pulled 7:15s/7:20s as high school juniors there (whic is THE time coaches will look at this Spring for recruit comparisons)! </p>
<p>I have heard firsthand from one of these coaches that they don’t really even reply/look seriously at anything above a 7:35 and that getting high academics (hi “AI”) has not been a problem for crew as GPA/SATs of most rowers are on par with the other non athletic accepted students. Plus they only have like max 4 ot 5 “slots” a year to carefully/preciosuly give out to those killer 2K times to get maximum “bang for their (slot) buck”. And they have turned to foreign countries for some of those killer times as well as there are a number of openweight girls with more killer 2K times who will drop 10 lbs post getting those top erg scores and get recruited as Lwts as well as PG prep older girls who will have had another year to get their times way down. </p>
<p>The coaches will go for top 2K time with sub sub par GPA/scores any day over average 2K and high/top GPA/scores as they know that if high GPA/Scorer kids can get in without them having to "use’ (waste) one of their precious few slots and their limited Admissions support/influence, they get semi-decent freebie walkons as a bonus to these killer 2K gals…</p>
<p>sorry, it’s getting tougher and tougher & faster and faster as a Lightweight … especially at these highly athletically competitive schools. Coaches are looking for top rowers , not top GPAs/Scores and they do even get a lot of leeway with the latter via accepted deviations from the AI.</p>
<p>An Education,
I would ABSOLUTELY contact the coaches at schools where you are already qualified to attend academically. Your sculling experience is very valuable to them, and although your 2k is slower than they might like to recruit, leave that for them to decide. You are not likely to get scholarship money (and that’s not even a factor for the IVYs), but if there’s a CHANCE that you might be interesting to them, let them decide. Remember that your high academics and slower erg time might be used to offset an athlete with faster erg time but lower academics. I believe it’s ALWAYS worth the chance.<br>
Seriously, the worst thing they can do is not reply to an email or say that they can’t help you get admitted. But, if you DO get admitted, and you show up as a walk on, they would be happy to have you.</p>
<p>I am curious as to why a coach would consider sculling experience so valuable – the vast majority of boats these Ivy schools the poster was referring to field sweep.</p>
<p>Cetainly I did not intend to sound at all negative – as i specifically wrote, " I don’t mean to be discouraging, just realistic/helpful/insightful" and so I shared the info I have received/researched from those 2 exact schools the poster noted. </p>
<p>Of course, any Ivy would not be giving any athletic scholarship money to anyone… including the best 2K timer in the world … as Ivies onyl give out aid based on need as proven by your financial documents.</p>
<p>I hear you, tallgirl. When you have firsthand experience with the standards that coaches are looking for in any particular sport, it can be a real eye-opener. Academics are important, of course, but only to the point that you’ll pass muster with admissions. A 2380 SAT is only marginally more valuable than a 2000 to a coach. The main thing the coaches want are great athletes who can contribute and help the team win.</p>
<p>Of course, there is no downside to sending the coach an email other than a few minutes of you time.</p>
<p>Tallgirl, I would add to your first post that going under 7:30 is pretty darn unusual for a true lightweight high school girl. I believe those Crash-B scores you referred to were achieved by openweights who scaled down to 135 lbs. for that competition, but don’t normally compete as lightweights. My understanding is that a lightweight will garner serious interest at 7:40 and under. That was definitely the case this last recruit year and there were at least a couple of women who achieved spots on teams whose 2k times were a bit above 7:40. Agree with Imafan and varska that an athlete has nothing to lose in contacting a coach if she’s academically qualified…</p>
<p>Tallgirl, we’ve been told by many, many coaches that sculling experience is tremendous for rowers who want to sweep in college; the balance, stroke skills, experience in “other” boats all adds to depth. We’ve also been told by a TOP ranked coach that a recruitable erg score is about 7:50. We were shocked. Now, that didn’t mean that was a scholarship number; just that it held interest with coaches. Again, this was a top women’s program who gave us this number.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the insightful responses everyone! I have to say it’s pretty uplifting to hear that my sculling experience has such value and that a recruitable erg score isn’t as far off as I thought. Oh and don’t worry, Tallgirl. Your response didn’t come across as negative at all, just realistic and helpful as you said. :)</p>
<p>So seeing as the general consensus is that it wouldn’t do any harm to contact the coaches, I have some more questions. Do I contact now or do I wait a few months until I’ve done another erg test and have this spring’s race results? And when I do contact, do you recommend that I fill out the online questionnaire or send an email? Thanks again!</p>
<p>I’m assuming you are a junior. My D is a junior and has already heard from over 20 programs. This means you should contact NOW and OFTEN. Fill out the recruiting questionnaires, send introductory emails, and then update EVERY time you have news - regatta news, erg news, schedule news, when you might be in their area etc. Open a berecruitedprofile. Do it now. Do not wait.</p>
<p>elileo & imafan… i sure hope you’re correct as i am one of those true/natural lightweights currently stuck between elileo’s cited 2K # of “a bit above 7:40” and actually closer to imafans’ “about 7:50” cut off. I row year round for a highly competitive program and reknown boathouse/coach and i successfully compete more in scull (including 1X) than sweep, although I do both equally and stroke both. </p>
<p>As I am only a junior right now, my only try at the ACT yielded a 35 and my first try on the SATs consisted of 2 sections nicely into the 700s and an 800, plus older subject tests of 790 and 790. I am basically #1 so far at a large TOP known NorthEast public school with straight unweighted As taking ONLY all Honors and AP classes (over a dozen APs in total by next year). And without hubris, but for reference in this discussion, I’ll hesitantly also disclose I have several known national and international academic awards as well as strong leadership/Prez roles in ECs/community service and several summers doing research at an Ivy. And those stats, I am afraid to say, are the bare minimum for not going into the non-recruited-athlete/non-legacy/non-development trash pile at the schools in which am genuinely interested.</p>
<p>What I’ve learned so far from my exploring of trying to be recruited for rowing now is that my academics, while impressive to most, are a far far 2nd factor in college coach’s eyes … and that I 100% do not have the erg score for an Ivy/Ivyesque/D1 school which does not have lightweight rowing (say Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Yale). As for those schools WITH lightweight rowing (say Harvard, Princeton, Stanford), my 2K as stated above (+ my decent regatta medals/natls) is not turning heads even though I have been welcomed to walk on as “With those excellent academic/EC stats, I’ll likely get in without any coach’s support.” </p>
<p>But realistically, the coaches have noted that the upcoming pool for Lwt recruits at these schools is ALREADY over-the-top impressive… internationals, PGers, 7:20s and perhaps even dieting light OWs included. Hence that is where the coaches will understandbly put there limited limited Admission support (the precious handful of “tips/slots” they have … which are wisely reserved for the killer 2Kers with lower academic stats.)</p>
<p>I, too, have hear from over “XX other programs” … but to be honest, these are not colleges I as strongly prefer to attend. And i am not looking for an athletic scholarship (I believe my parents’ financials will indicate some “need”/EFC, and then my limited aid will be need-based aid if I get into these schools as Ivies do not offer athletic scholarships anyway).</p>
<p>and there you have it. first hand. very recent. very candid.</p>
<p>Though, of course i agree with Imafan, elileo and varska (they all give EXCELLENT advice in here) that “an athlete has nothing to lose in contacting a coach if she’s academically qualified.”</p>
<p>Good luck!!! :)</p>
<p>^great post, Tallgirl.</p>
<p>Understood, Tallgirl. I don’t know what the current crop of lw recruits is like. But keep your oar in there (so to speak). You have so much going for you and you have some months still (the summer is by no means too late) to keep whittling away at that 2k time. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Tallgirl - That was an excellent post, and clearly details the level of competition for crew recruited slots/LLs.</p>
<p>Wishing you and AnEducation BEST WISHES AND GOOD LUCK!!!</p>
<p>aww, you guys are SO helpful and supportive in here, thank you. I truly value your advice as i know you’ve “been there, done that” (and successfully to boot!) and as i don’t have any parental or siblings guidance/help on this. thank you!</p>
<p>Wow, tallgirl what a great post. Thank you so much for all the insight you’ve offered me. From what you’ve shared about your 2k, clearly you’re a talented athlete. Hopefully you’ll keep everyone updated on where you wind up. Best wishes </p>
<p>Thank you all so much for the advice and support. It looks like I’m going to try walk on but with the competitiveness of admissions as tallgirl said, it is unlikely. Perhaps I’ll muster up the courage to email some coaches if only to get a response saying “you’re too slow” haha we’ll see…</p>
<p>Question for you, tallgirl - looking at the LWT roster for Harvard, I see 36 women. So maybe they bring on about 12 freshmen each year? Any idea how many are recruited / LL supported? </p>
<p>With your 2K (admittedly I don’t know much about crew), even if you aren’t quite at LL recruit standards, I would think you would be one of the more talented walk-ons. Do you know if there is a second tier of support in crew (coach letter, etc) that isn’t as solid as a LL, but could be just a little extra bump in what sounds like a terrific application?</p>
<p>^^Yes, Varska there is - and I am thinking specifically of Radcliffe with this, although many other coaches probably do the same. If they are unable to offer you a LL, they may definitely offer to write a letter of support to admissions for you. This is obviously nowhere near the support of a LL, but it is something! Coupled with a fantastic transcript, this internal letter of support could make a real difference, I imagine.</p>
<p>I am much more experienced with openweight women’s crew than LW, but I do remember hearing ages ago that a LW girl could be expected to be about 10 seconds slower with erg times than an OW girl. If an OW girl had a 7:12 2K time for example, the LW’s 7:22 would be equally relevant. Does this sound right/true?</p>
<p>AnEducation: You’re a Junior and it’s early March. You have time to lower your 2k. No need to resign yourself ‘trying to walk on.’ You would need to take a lot of time out of your current 2k to be a top recruit, but that wasn’t your question. Look at results of recent erg competitions, notably CRASH B’s, but plenty of others to see Junior Women’s LW numbers.</p>
<p>If you have your heart set on one particular school & program, then you may end up going the walk on route to satisfy that goal if you’re not recruited there, but there’s a lot going on between here and there. Things change. You’ll change. You have spring and summer rowing regattas, new PRs, dialogue with coaches you haven’t even spoken to yet, unofficial and official visits to take that will open your eyes to new possibilities, or make you wonder how you thought that school/program was for you. An exciting year to be sure. </p>
<p>Go ahead and email coaches with LW programs. You’ll get feedback and as you continue to work on your 2k, get racing results, you will continue the process in your quest for the right fit for your academics/athletics. Good luck!</p>
<p>Hi Varska – Our boathouse has sent rowers to Harvard so we have a bit of inside info, though there is a brand new Lwt women’s coach this year. We’ve been told they have NEVER gotten more than 8 slots (to kinda fill/replace a boat im Admission’s eyes), but that in the last 5 years it’s been more like 3 to 5 slots for Lwt Women’s crew specifically. Of course there are walk ons and unsupporteds (like me?) and that gets you up to that 36 divided by 4 = 9 freshman. And if you look at a few years past Crash B Lwt erg scores (specifically at the top Lwt JUNIORS in HS times) and at Harvard’s rosters, you can see some of those 7:20s times. we know of 2 very recent Lwt girls with 7:20 and better. Plus you can see times from state by state Indoor erg competitions which draw from beyond the Boston area that the Crash Bs are mainly comprised. Look at FL or CA indoor erg championships (where these Lwt gals get to row outdoors year round) and it’s evident that there ARE a number of low 7:00s Lightwieight girls for Harvard to recruit across the country. And these girls also get an added Admissions “bump” of not being from the NorthEast like many of us are, lol.</p>
<p>Mayhew: This above does support/fall into your theory/info about Lwt = 10 seconds slower than OW for recruiting. so with a NUMBER of girls in the 7:00s and 7:10s for OW on the National team (their hard cut off is 7:15 I believe), the 7:20s is realistic for Lwt recruits. Same holds for Princeton where the Lwt coach usually gets less slots we hear.</p>