My daughter not only had friends on her team but also other athletes. As a freshmen she lived with her teammates but as a sophomore lived with 3 softball players because one was also in the same major as her. As a jr and sr she lived in an off campus house with teammates. She was also in a sorority and could have lived there or with members off campus. It all works out.
Daughter did get priority for class registration. Sometimes it didn’t matter since there was only one section, but for classes like Calc or chem when there were dozens of sections, it mattered.
At her D2 school, the men’s crew had many regattas and contests against top schools (Dad Vail, Head of the Charles). Watching the men head to head against Michigan was one of the most exciting sporting events I’ve ever seen (like Secretariat running!) For many years, the athletic director was also the men’s crew coach, so the rowers had an advantage in the athletic department hierarchy. Better work out times in the shared facilities, better transportation options if teams needed the vans and buses at the same time, new uniforms, new equipment when needed, more scholarship money.
I see! I’ll keep an eye out for D3 LACs then, as I would love to continue rowing in college (moped around today for a while after realizing this would be my last fall season). Though like @JustVisiting76 below has said (which is pretty much what the lovely Wellesley coach told me early this year) it does seem to be a large time commitment, regardless of what division. Hopefully my search yields schools that are less so? (Though I doubt it; the general consensus of everyone I’ve met is that no matter where, crew is a time-sucking cult lol.) Regardless, thank you!
Lewis and Clark College, in Portland, OR, is a great DIII school that has some large merit scholarships; and the Willamette River is a lovely place to row. U of Puget Sound could be worth a look as well.
Most young rowers can’t “quit” it cold turkey though - you don’t devote time to such a physically strenuous activity to then just …stop. If you don’t keep with it you’d likely switch to another sport, right?
But indeed, even at D3 level, it’s a 20-25 hour commitment, with very early wake up times, for about 3-4 months, and it’s physically exhausting.
The advantages of D3: the season is short (training/conditioning continues in the off season but it’s probably ~8 hours a week, unlike at the D1-D2 level) and, if you see it’s too much, you tell the coach and your teammates and just stop (obviously not a point to make now if you’re being recruited but if you have friends from classes, from another activity…it’s okay). Basically, the point of D3 athletics is to allow young athletes to prioritize academics while being able to continue their sport at a high (collegiate) level.
A BIG issue would be: can you walk from your dorm to the location where training takes place or do you have to be driven there?
The D3 rowers I know, including my own kid, have both a fall "long course " season (Head of the Charles, etc) AND a more traditional spring sprint season with indoor training in the winter in between. It is probably more year round than other sports with captains practices.
Many of the kids I met were still involved in other things on campus. I would say the distinction was more one of having a different schedule than of simply time commitment. A college schedule includes a lot of unstructured time and many of the kids liked the structure their sport provided. But yes, it was an early start to most days, some weekends away, etc.
I think OP needs to figure out if this is something she wants to continue. It’s hard to imagine life without a sport you’ve been doing seriously through most of your non childhood life but it’s also the case that when many athletes stop, they find something else to fill that time that’s even more satisfying.
Wesleyan overaccepted by about 20% of its incoming class this year. So, its not just applications that are being affected. It’s yield is also being affected. A 34-36 ACT is indeed impressive, but by this time next year probably no more for Wesleyan than it would be for Amherst.
Two D3 athletes on the US olympics team, a swimmer from Emery and a track athlete from a very small school I don’t remember. I think there are also D3 athletes on teams for other countries too. D3 football player on the Broncos squad this year (“The Belly”)
It’s a hard choice to continue with sports but it’s hard to give them up too. My daughter was very happy with the balance of academics and athletics. From her team, she’s an engineer, one in medical school, one in dental school.