<p>I'm currently a junior and I'm just about to start my third season of spring crew.
Personally I don't enjoy crew a great deal and as anyone who does crew will tell you it takes an
immense amount of energy and dedication. I was wondering if I should continue on or if my time
would be better spent elsewhere.</p>
<p>Now if I was a great rower and had a chance of being recruited for ivy leagues I would certainly keep
rowing. However, I'm only an average rower and will not likely improve a great deal more. I made it into
the lightweight varsity boat last year and I will likely make it again this season. There is a decent chance
that our boat could win 1st or 2nd in our region and qualify for nationals as well. I don't consider myself
exceptionally athletic, so it would take some serious hard work and I would be pretty exhausted every day.</p>
<p>In terms of my academics I have great grades and good test scores, so its not like I'm counting on sports
to appeal towards colleges. I also swim for my high school team and I will be captain next year, so I will
have some athletics to include on my application. </p>
<p>So basically I was just wondering if you guys think it would be worth it for me to dedicate my time to crew,
when the most I would get out of it is possibly making it to nationals in a lightweight boat. If I didn't do crew
I would definitely spend the time finding other activities like volunteering or maybe developing my leadership
skills, so it's not like I would just be sitting around.</p>
<p>Hmm qualifying for nationals would definitely make your app stand out, even if you don’t get recruited. Normally I’d say “If you hate it, quit it.” However, it seems like a good opportunity to show commitment, even if you drop it right after high school. I’m contradicting myself so much here lol, but can’t you stick with it a little longer? I’d never recommend starting an EC for the sake of impressing colleges, but since you’ve been doing it for a while, might as well finish.</p>
<p>You’ll be surprised at how many doors that making nationals will open, and not just at Ivies. And once you’re in at a school. there’s no rule that says you have to keep rowing all four years, especially if no scholarship is involved. </p>
<p>If you look at the edge athletes have at getting in top schools, I’d seriously consider keeping it up a few more years, enjoyable or not - it may be the closest thing to a sure ticket you’ve got.</p>
<p>National level recognition or achievement in an extracurricular should stand out compared to typical extracurriculars that you might do instead, even if you do not get the extra bonus of being recruited for the sport.</p>
<p>Obviously, if you make it onto a boat that wins regionals and qualifies for nationals, you are a bit better than an “average rower”.</p>
<p>If your 2k erg time is 6:45 or better, then lightweight rowing might be a hook for you (though below 6:40 is much better). If it isn’t, then you won’t be a recruited athlete, regardless of how your team does, and rowing would be just another extra-curricular.</p>
<p>I know how hard and demanding crew is. If your heart isn’t in it, it’s just going to be misery. And your swimming captaincy is already a good extra-curricular. So I’d say explore sticking with it if your time would make you a possible recruit. But go ahead and focus on things you actually do love, other than crew, if you’re not likely to be recruited. Lots and lots of good lightweight rowing discussion is available on the “Athletic Recruits” subpage of this forum.</p>
<p>Even if one is not recruited for the sport, national level achievement or recognition should count for more as “just another extracurricular” than typical school clubs, volunteer hours, etc…</p>
<p>Of course, if the OP really dislikes it, then the OP may want to stop doing it anyway. But the OP should be aware that the level of achievement or recognition in the extracurricular matters.</p>
<p>Speaking completely out of ignorance here, but I’m betting the Ivy’s turn down a lot more kids who qualify for nationals in some sport than they accept.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t want my kid to spend two years devoting a lot of time on something he didn’t like on the assumption that it will change the outcome at a long-shot school. </p>
<p>But athletics are the one thing that will change a student from a long-shot into a certain thing at certain elite schools, especially selective D III colleges that aren’t Ivies, but are Ivy level. Even Stanford lets in students with remarkably low-level stats (for them) just to gain an athletic recruit they want, and we’re not even talking about a money sport or someone who is even state champ.</p>
<p>The basic rule is, be good enough to be a top athlete and flexible enough to go anywhere, and some college you wouldn’t otherwise qualify for will let you in. Not every time, but it’s enough of a game-changer that it’s worth a shot. It wouldn’t even hurt to talk to coaches now about if they’re interested, these schools recruit lacrosse players as freshman.</p>