Hi I am just wondering on my chances into getting a elite college/rowing program. I am a sophomore and have been rowing for a little over a year. My 2k is a 7:36 and am planning on getting it down to a 7:25 by the end of the summer starting my junior year. My grades are okay, freshman year was a little rough, I had a GPA of about a 3.2. This year I have a GPA of around 3.5, my first semester I got more b+ than A’s, but now as I am almost don’t with second semester I have straight A’s. I am really working on getting my GPA up. I already started studying for my ACT’s, and am going to shoot for a 30+. I am about 5"9.5" and weigh around 160-165, so I am heavyweight. Let me know from your experience or from your knowledge of recruiting if I have a chance on getting recruited into top schools like Boston college, UPENN, University of Michigan, Brown university, Yale, Princeton, UVA, Georgetown, Dartmouth, Bucknel etc… If any one has been recruited to any of these schools, can you please tell me what your recruiting process was like/ do my stats look good and what I can approve. Thanks so much.
Since your post has gone unanswered, I’ll jump in - others may have more specific rowing knowledge. I think your planned trajectory, academically and athletically, looks pretty good. Obviously it’s better to have a little higher ACT/SAT and a little better 2k time, but I think a 3.5 GPA and 31 ACT or 2100 SAT would put you in a pretty good spot.
As for erg times - just checking results from CRASH-B Sprints, http://www.crash-b.org/past-regattas/2012-results/
I see women in the 7:25 range that are rowing at some of the schools you have listed. The erg is a nice, quantifiable number for coaches to see, but it also comes down to assessing your character, potential and the elusive quality of being a good boat mover. I think most coaches will want to chat with your current coach to get a feel for that.
Hope that’s somewhat helpful.
Based on our experience, I would say definitely yes to BC and Bucknell. Here’s the easiest way. Email the coaching staffs. Tell them your info- scholastic and rowing, and why you have interest in their school. They will let you know. Penn and Cornell came right out and informed us of their parameters for getting a Letter of Intent. I know girls who got full rides with a 7:36 this year to decent schools. 7:25 is obviously better. Our biggest regret was not pursuing a school in North Carolina since we didnt think my daughter met their criteria for recruitment. She applied anyway and after she was accepted , she emailed the coach about walking on and their first question was - “why didnt you contact us sooner, we could have gotten you some scholarship money”. Good luck. There are alot of other really good schools and rowing programs besides the ones you mention. While its great to have dream schools , dont limit yourself. Good luck.
Currently the Ivies are now recruiting only seasoned varsity rowers & no longer taking novice rowers. This is a dean’s decision to remove the novice class because of the lengthy time on the water that is taking away precious academic time. There are colleges that are giving money for rowing.
Someone on my team got recruited to Penn with a 7:38 2k, and she’s on the smaller side of open weight. I don’t know anything about her academic though
Hi, I don’t know if this is still pertinent but I went through the recruiting process and Brown, Yale, Princeton and UVA tend to prefer girls sub-7:25. You should be good for Georgetown, BC, and Bucknell. I’m not really sure about Dartmouth because they went through a change in coaches recently. If your goal is to row ivy though, you probably need to focus on your school work as much as your 2k. It sounds like youre in pretty good shape, but unless you wind up with a 2k that is out of this world Ivy League schools can’t accept you if for all intents and purposes you couldn’t get in on your own.