<p>Anyway, I'm wondering whether I have any chance at gaining an edge at the Ivies I'm applying to through rowing. I row heavyweight in highschool (I could never be as light as 150 lbs.), but am 6'2" and within striking distance of the 160 lbs. I'd need to weigh in order to row lightweight in college. I'm only a novice now, but my 2k is currently a 6:58 and dropping steadily. How fast do I need to be in order for rowing coaches to make at least some push for me with the admissions folks?</p>
<p>Hi Nabokov:
A Princeton coach told someone I know that all the lightweight rowers they recruited last year ended the spring of their Junior year with 2Ks around 6:35. Bear in mind that Princeton LW men won the IRAs last year so their team is very, very good. The very best LWs will clock in at sub-6:30. </p>
<p>One interesting question your post brings up is how much power the Ivy coaches have with admissions once they have used up their likely letters. I wish I knew more about that!</p>
<p>Re: D3, are there any Varsity lightweight programs at that level?</p>
<p>3xboys, take a look at shutterflee’s story. She was not given a likely letter at any Ivy, but was told coaches would “support” her application. Sadly, she was rejected by all Ivies, and is evaluating LAC opportunities. Anecdotal, yes, but adding evidence to the theory that anything short of a LL is possibly worth little or nothing in admissions. </p>
<p>I’m sure admissions knows the commitment of non-recruited athletes- the 10th best athlete on a high school team often puts in the same number of practice hours as the best one. However, to create a balanced class, I wonder if being an athlete but not recruited works against some candidates, since there are plenty of recruited athletes on campus filling that niche, and admissions sees a need to gather students with lots of other passions: musicians, artists, thespians, reptile collectors, amateur astronomers, poets and so on.</p>
<p>Interesting point, riverrunner. A lot must depend on the number of slots a coach has to give and how freely the school allows them to give out likelies. Obviously, the top tier recruits get the likelies, but kids DO get recruited and accepted without them so there has to be a second level of recruits that get in to fill out the rest of the spots on the team. I remember the H coach telling me that after the first wave of likelies given out before the EA/ED deadline, there is always a second wave of recruiting that happens in the Spring. He said that kids often come back around then (when their hoped for likely didn’t work out or their EA/ED app was rejected) but he also said that H often ends up recruiting international students in the Spring because none of the top US recruits will wait for the RD process to unfold</p>
<p>I do know, however, of a girl who wasn’t on Harvard’s radar (i.e. no official visit) but was recruited and got in RD.</p>
<p>3xboys, I know a couple of kids who were very late Ivy recruits as well. I think it must be somewhat sport-dependent. I agree, most of us can’t stand the waiting process. If someone is willing to offer a likely letter or LOI, it’s hard to resist. And the scenario changes from October to March: if the coach is lukewarm toward a recruit in the fall, but his top picks don’t chose him, or aren’t admitted early, a lower ranked athlete can become suddenly desirable. Kids who are willing to wait must be ready to communicate with the coaches and be listening for a change in message from a coach. I think kids and parents have to be pretty thick-skinned, too. So what if you weren’t on the first round list? Move forward and look at the opportunities presented.</p>
<p>Hmm, thanks for the input. I think that with seriously hard work (which I’m willing to put in), I can break 6:40 before next fall, but breaking 6:30 sounds immensely difficult. Jeesh.</p>
<p>Nabokov, don’t worry about breaking 6:30 - that’s an insane time. Get below 6:40 before next fall (I’m assuming you’re a Junior, right?) and you will be in the elite group.</p>
<p>I got recruited for Georgetown Lightweights this year. My score was 6.24 by the end of my junior year in HS. But knowing the other guys who applied for a spot in the team, most of them are at least under 6.40. However, that score gets better every year. </p>
<p>What the people above said about the application process is absolutely right! There are waves of likelies, I think 3 of them. </p>
<p>First round is the EA guys. The second wave is the one of the early RD guys. And then the somewhat desperate round to fill empty spots because some guys decided to attend other schools. </p>
<p>It is very important to stay in touch as much as possible with the coaches, and with as many as possible! They tend to be very unreliable, they keep forgetting to call you, mail you and so on. So you have to make sure you stay on their radar.</p>
<p>As for the third round, here’s my story. After a couple visits with several schools I narrowed down my possibilities to Columbia and GTown. In February, after having comitted to Gtown all of the sudden I got contacted by coaches I didn’t hear from for months. All of the sudden Brown and Cornell started to recruit me again! For me the choice was done, so I turned them down. But then, later on, my coach got contacted by Harvard, asking if there are any candidates around. That was weird, given I’m from Switzerland! I never inquired because I was very happy with GTown!</p>
<p>If there are any specific questions, let me know. I’d be more than glad to answer them!</p>
<p>Wow! Congratulations on Georgetown, and thanks so much for putting your story out there. It illustrates what we’ve been trying to say so perfectly.</p>
<p>^^ Thanks for sharing your story…
perhaps you can share a thread about your recruiting process.
While sports differ–the whole thing about PRs, and what coaches can and cannot do is a mystery.
Verbals vs liklies…</p>
<p>What you did, and what you would change if you had it to do again
Congrats on G’town. Amazing school and DC is wonderful.</p>
<p>I filled out all the questionairres of the programms I was interested in. Some coaches contacted me, some not. I tried to keep in touch with all of them, sending them a great deal of info. i.e. resumee of rowing career, transcripts, test scores and so on…</p>
<p>As long as you hear nothing substantial from them, you can tell them that you consider others. Be honest, they often talk with each other. But make it clear if you like their school! But don’t commit before getting something from them. Always sound interested.</p>
<p>If they really want you, and can get you in, you will know. Visit invitations are a very good sign!</p>
<p>Some more specific questions would help me to elaborate! Also it would be helpful to know if it’s about heavy or lightweight!</p>
<p>If its about LW rowing, here’s a list of programs to consider:</p>
<p>Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Navy, Georgetown, Columbia (in no particular order)</p>
<p>That’s it really. Dartmouth and UPenn really became weak. </p>
<p>And I’m sure that the OPs academic stats are good enough to qualify, but the erg score needs to improve. And the lightweight is 155lbs, not 150!</p>
<p>I’d be more than glad to help you more if interested!</p>
<p>1) it really depends on school, HYP is different than the rest of the ivies, normally somewhat above 1800 is sufficient if you’ve got a very good erg score. The rule here: the better of a candidate you are, the more they will be willing to accept lower academic stats
2) minimum is hard to tell, 6.40 for lightweight is in the ballpark, 6.30 for heavyweights…
3)a little over here in Switzerland
4) I did get official visits in GTown and Columbia
5) February, but I was told late Jan, that I would be in…</p>