<p>Haven't ever rowed before. My lifts are as follows:</p>
<p>200 lb 1 RM (bench press)
250 lb 1 RM (dead lift)</p>
<p>140 lb dumbbell press x 8
8-10 pull ups</p>
<p>My height is 6' and my weight is 145lb. </p>
<p>I'm not looking to see if I can get recruited (already in college), just want to know if I could walk on.</p>
<p>See if you can find a Concept2 rower at the gym and see how fast you can do 2000m</p>
<p>OP Living in Cambridge?
Contact the coach at your college</p>
<p>And as Varska said–your 2 k matters.</p>
<p>Are you a girl or guy? what year?</p>
<p>Freshman male. </p>
<p>I would be going out for the team next year most likely.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t have terribly great lung capacity, but I am quite strong for my size.</p>
<p>Develop your aerobic and anerobic capacity.</p>
<p>As a walk on soph yr of college…you may have a hard time…</p>
<p>You are in a city with great club programs…
good luck</p>
<p>Try it out as a walk on! Like previously stated, when you decide which college you go to or you narrow it down email the coaches from those colleges.</p>
<p>I’ve been reading posts for awhile and finally decided I should ask my question. My son is a lightweight rower for a highly respected club program. His 2K is 6:39. He has won many big races and even junior nationals in crew. His GPA is 4.16 with SAT (taken once) of 1980. He was also a 4 year varsity water polo player with many honors. He is an all-around great kid, smart, many honors and awards but not “brilliant”.
He keeps telling me that he has a shot at getting recruited to a top Ivy league college for crew. He has been exchanging emails with one particular coach who tells him he is a strong candidate for that school based on his athletics and academics.<br>
However, I have seen the stats of admitted students and honestly most seem like they have academic perfection and the ECs are unbelievable - honestly I don’t know how they could have had the time.</p>
<p>I don’t want my son to get his hopes up, but if this is possible, I want to support him anyway I can. Does it sound unrealistic for him to be recruited to an Ivy for crew?</p>
<p>Hi Rowmom,
Your son sounds very accomplished. Is he a junior? I think his stats, erg time and water performance are on par. Especially his gpa provided he is taking honors and ap classes.
We printed the page from row2k and systematically went through every light weight men’s team listed. We used the Fiske guide for reference and websites to narrow down the choices.
Finances were a big component so basically what we were left with was the Ivy League.
My son filled out recruiting questionnaires from each team’s website. He started to get emails from coaches in the spring. He arranged to meet them during the two days off he had from training in April. The coaches are very nice at this point. They are responsive and accommodating. He went out on their launches during practices and was given advice that ranged from academics to weight training.
On July 1 the phone calls start. That is when you get a better idea that the coaches are interested in you. This narrowed things down to four schools, one was HYP. Transcripts, test scores, essays start going back and forth, weekly phone calls and then official visit invitations.
I’m sure all this info is pretty redundant if you have been reading these threads but I think your experience will be similar so I thought I would go into detail.
I think if your son would like to seal the deal, he should work to get his 2k to sub 6:30 by the spring. There were many boys with 2ks slower than your son that were recruited but I feel the process shifting a little with less spots being offered and tougher guidelines with grades and test scores. Also, his SAT could be a little higher but again his gpa is great. The coaches will love that.
Get ready for a ride. I think your son will have a good position in it.</p>
<p>Thanks BumpyPup. Does your son row at a college where he was recruited? Did you find the coaches to be direct? At what point did your son, his chosen college, and you all decide and commit?
S is taking SAT again. I was advised by hs counselor to send the scores for the first test, and stupidly did so. Now reading CC I realize that was a mistake - hopefully not a deal-breaker. His math and writing were decent, but Crit Reading a shock at 600.
What makes you feel the process is shifting to fewer recruits? I have read that each IVY college typically gets 8 rowers per team.
Sometimes I yearn for the days when kids applied and went to one school.</p>
<p>Both my son and I felt that things were changing in the world of recruited rowers. One of the schools he was seriously looking at went from 8 slots to 4. 2 ED and 2 RD. Another school’s requirements seemed to get stricter as we went along in the process and it seemed a surprise to the head coach. Also it seems in rowing, it is possible for walk ons to have success in a relatively short time. The lightweight men’s coach where I work actually stands outside the science center at the start of the year and stops tall, fit looking students and asks them to join the rowing team. Unsettling for our boys who have devoted countless hours in this sport.
That being said, we found all of the coaches to be straightforward, good guys/girl. I felt that there was definitely less need to be artful than what is portrayed here on cc. My son did all of the talking to all of the coaches from the beginning to the end. Remember, everything up to the official visit invite is going to be them casting a wide net though.
I think committing happened after his third official which was the first week of October. It was between two schools by then and was a little nerve wracking. He was told he would get a likely but didn’t but he was accepted ED just the same. He will be a freshman at Cornell in the fall.
Don’t worry about having sent in your son’s initial scores. Statistically all kids improve with their second try but a tutor for the critical reading or some practice testing would probably help a lot.</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing your experience Bumpypup. We are just getting started, feels like we’re at the top of a water slide…when did the OV invitations go out? Mid-summer, early fall?</p>
<p>The official visit invitations happen after test scores and transcripts have gone through a pre-read with the admissions office. The coaches will say something like, “get excited for officials” or “it’s almost time to talk official visit” but they really can’t do anything until the pre-read comes back with a positive verdict. All of my sons ovs were scheduled in August.
My son did three official visits and I think that is a good number. He kept his options open for a fourth because it was near our hometown but in the end decided against it. I recommend keeping the number to three even though five are allowed.
Also, if finances are an issue, you should ask for a financial pre-read once an official is official.</p>