<p>In case the title is unclear, which it may very well be, I'll try and clarify what this thread is about. It's basically a list of sports, backed by opinions/testimonials/etc., that you think students only participate in to be recruited by top colleges.</p>
<p>I'll start off with rowing.</p>
<p>-Rowing is an elitist sport… mostly only private schools can afford to have teams.
-As such, the recruitment pool is a lot less competitive compared to football or basketball or even tennis.
-An Ivy League tradition. Starting with Oxford and schools of the like, rowing has embedded itself in the heart of the Ivy League and other elite institutions.
-Teams are huge, thus recruitment is large.
-Coxswains are recruited for… being… zealous cheerleaders…
-The only top schools with great crew teams are Ivy League schools. As such, schools like MIT have terrible crew programs and recruit average students with above average rowing schools, giving them an easy ride in.</p>
<p>Well, I dont really know how many people actually row to just get into college, but more should. I wish I did, because of this experience…</p>
<p>I was visiting my sister up at Duke (about two years ago, my sophomore year), and at a football game, a man approached me as I was going to get a drink. I was with my twin brother (we are both about 6’3’', 170 lbs, I guess the desired build for a crewer) and the man asked us if we were interested in crewing at Duke. Turns out it was their rowing coach. He said we “looked like crewers”, and was being serious about us rowing for them. Unfortunately neither of us have ever crewed, and have no desire to, so we said no. </p>
<p>I really wish this had happened a year later, not in my sophomore year when I wasnt thinking about getting into college, as I would have no doubt said yes, as it would have helped a lot in admissions.</p>
<p>Just goes to show how bad they need them.</p>
<p>I would guess that football actually wins this purely due to the numbers involved. College football teams have upward of 100 players which dwarfs other sports. And I would bet that an equal % of parents got their sons involved with football in the hopes of getting a college scholarship as any other sport.</p>