<p>I was talking to a few friends who are on my school's crew (rowing team) today. We got to talking about recruiting, to make a long story short, if work out this summer, make the team next year (I'll be a sophomore), and stick with crew until senior year, I could hopefully get recruited by an Ivy or two. I'm not exceptionally athletic, but my GPA, scores, rigor of courseload, and EC's are all likely strong enough to make up for that. </p>
<p>As much as I'd love to get a boost in admissions, I feel a bit apprehensive about giving up a significant chunk of the time I currently devote to academic/artistic EC's in order to row. I'm also a bit concerned that being a division-I athlete would take away from my academic, social, and extracurricular freedom in college. Furthermore, I worry that at a school like Columbia, being an athlete is somehow "uncool."</p>
<p>If I ever get to go to Columbia, I'd like to work for BWOG or Spec, avoid living in a frat (I've heard that most athletes do), get good grades, and even have a bit of time to explore NYC. I'm not sure if recruited athletes are expected to compete all four years, but if so, I'd want to make sure that I could still do at least some of the things I mentioned.</p>
<p>So: it is possible to be a recruited athlete AND a "normal" college kid?</p>
<p>
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I'm not exceptionally athletic, but my GPA, scores, rigor of courseload, and EC's are all likely strong enough to make up for that
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</p>
<p>this statement is bordering on silly....</p>
<ol>
<li><p>you're not even a sophomore yet and you're already trying to look for a back door into an ivy league....why don't you work on getting in legitimately? </p></li>
<li><p>The whole point of recruiting is finding the best athletes who will make the biggest contribution to the team. I've never ever heard of someone's grades or SATs making up for athletic skills in recruiting. Grades and scores and the rest of that stuff has nothing to do with being recruited. Why would they take chose you when they can (and more often than not do) let in someone who will make a bigger contribution to the team but who has a 3.5 with 1100/1600 SATs?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>
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As much as I'd love to get a boost in admissions, I feel a bit apprehensive about giving up a significant chunk of the time I currently devote to academic/artistic EC's in order to row.
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</p>
<p>if you dont have a passion for it and aren't going to enjoy doing it absolutely don't do it because you'll probably regret it</p>
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I'm also a bit concerned that being a division-I athlete would take away from my academic, social, and extracurricular freedom in college. Furthermore, I worry that at a school like Columbia, being an athlete is somehow "uncool."
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</p>
<p>you're not athletic and you haven't even started rowing and you're already worried about being a DI athlete....this is the most delusional thread ever</p>
<p>i'd answer the rest of your questions but i feel that would just be a waste of time</p>
<p>Sorry, dumb post on my part. I thought I'd read something about recruiting mediocre rowers/other athletes who are smart in order to raise the average GPA of the athletics department or something. </p>
<p>I'm admittedly not passionate about rowing, but I feel like doing something to stay in better shape. </p>
<p>I was only asking about the demands of DI athletics because I don't want to work my arse off for three years on crew, just to find that rowing competitively ruins my college life. Also, I never said I'm not at all athletic. My split times on rowing machines are very respectable, but I won't argue about that.</p>
<p>Anyway, I sincerely realize that I probably shouldn't have made this thread in the first place. I think I'll enjoy my life a lot more if I just stick to doing things that interest me.</p>
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I thought I'd read something about recruiting mediocre rowers/other athletes who are smart in order to raise the average GPA of the athletics department or something.
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<p>those tend to be walk-ons who got in through the traditional manner and then tried out for the team</p>
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I sincerely realize that I probably shouldn't have made this thread in the first place. I think I'll enjoy my life a lot more if I just stick to doing things that interest me.
<p>I'd like to take this thread a little more seriously than Shraf. Some points:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Athletes (at least intercollegiate athletes) at most D1 colleges are "more cool" than the rest of the student body, and non-athletes (or intramural or club-team athletes) are "less cool".</p></li>
<li><p>At Columbia, everyone's regarded as equally cool, for starters, regardless of athletic affiliation. There is no first-class or second-class citizenship based on whether you're a football star or not. This is one of the things that appealed most to me about the school - despite being fairly athletic myself, I wanted to go someplace that clearly and unequivocally placed academics first.</p></li>
<li><p>Crew team, specifically, hurts your social life and your personal health. Rowing long-term ruins your lower back muscles on the erg, no matter how long you stretch them or hold push-up position for 5 minutes at a time. One guy I lived with senior year was actually in his 5th year, but he had to take a year off because crew had wrecked his back and he needed to recover.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Crew workouts are also obscenely early in the morning, like 7am. I have had several nights where I was out all night with friends or with a girl, and on my walk home, I passed crew-team guys heading for the subway to go up for their workout. That's how you know you really tied one on that night.</p>
<ul>
<li>Some of the coolest kids I know at Columbia were recruited athletes who then dropped the team. It's taboo to talk about quitting the team that recruited you, but if they're going to use you, it's acceptable for you to use them. And there are no athletic scholarships at risk here. (for those who know him, Cody Hess is in that category in my book).</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>All of this doesn't answer your question definitively, but hopefully gives you more data. As you've guessed, the best advice is usually to do what makes you the most interested, the most passionate, and put all the time you can into that. Pursuing crew on the side (i.e. not as your primary EC) is admirable but it is possible for it to be valuable to you in admissions without it being the focus of your admissions profile. I did cross country, track, and ultimate frisbee in high school, none of them intensively and passionately but enough to satisfy my need for recreation and competition, and to unwind. Top schools appreciate diversity of interests, even if they appreciate passion and focus and direction more.</p>
<p>I can only speak for the ultimate frisbee team (others should give their experiences), but there were 2 practices a week, leave campus at 7:45 or so, get back at 10 or so... and every couple weekends there's a tournament, which takes up the entire day for either one day or two. The tournaments are optional - if you can't make 'em you can't make 'em.</p>
<p>For spring break they usually do an extended roadtrip down south, go to Beasterns and Southerns on consecutive weekends, and hang out on a beach house in between. Again, optional, but awesome.</p>