Hi onefiftyfive -
I realize I’m responding to an old post, but would you mind sharing your son’s stats getting into Columbia? I’ve got a rowing class of 2019 LWT who has Columbia on his list and am curious. Also, what boats did he row in?
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, wykehamist, for describing the end stage of the recruiting process in such detail. It’s the part that makes me most apprehensive.
Two related questions for anybody with some experience: do colleges considering athlete applicants seem to care more about weighted or unweighted GPA’s?
And how exactly is an EC viewed positively, especially in the case of an applicant to a DI program?
It seems to me (drawing on my vast lack of experience 
) that while the admissions committee may be impressed that in addition to rowing achievements, a kid also plays an instrument really well, to anybody who’s thinking about what that kid’s life is going to be like at their school - like, say, the rowing coach - a second EC would be irrelevant at best and a distraction at worst. When would he/she have the time to ‘contribute to the college community’ in that second area?
I think if the applicant is a recruit, the admissions office isn’t looking at the extras most other applicants need to push them out of the pack and to the top of the list. The recruit has the ‘thing’ that makes him/her special. Admissions is looking at the stats for admissions and the coach’s push (pull, nod, slot, wink or whatever you want to call it).
Different schools accept different kinds of GPA. For example- Yale does unweighted GPA, however they want to make sure that the student took the most challenging classes available to them. Northeastern has their own scale to calculate GPA. Each school will be more than happy to explain their policy
My biggest advice- this process needs to be student driven. They need to be clear and realistic about their goals. Sell themselves without being boastful
Hello,
I’ve been following this thread since last year and it helped a lot to answer questions about recruitment. My daughter got recruited by a top 20 D1 school, signed an NLI last fall, received a small scholarship and started school in August. All seemed good and then the entire coaching staff that recruited her was let go and replaced in May. Well, everything seemed to move forward as planned, she started receiving emails from the new coaching staff which seemed positive and then we moved her in as a student-athlete. None of her recruiting class changed their mind because of the coaching change. Now, to be clear, my daughter just barely had the 2K time to get recruited, but they (the previous coaches) saw potential in her and genuinely liked her. So, my daughter knew going in that she might start at the bottom, but was ready to put in the work and excited to be a part of a great team. It’s now about 8 weeks in and she’s been near the bottom of the team with her erg times and seeing little time in boats with the other girls, but mostly with the walk-ons. She has, though, been showing improvement and has performed in the middle of the group in 1-minute watts/10 stroke watts/their intense 1x per week cross training workout. She is also 6’ tall, but could put on weight (she’s 150 lbs). All of this said, my question(s) lie within team cuts. The coaches have announced that there will be a cut of those who aren’t going to help the team go faster - in the next couple of weeks. Not next June or so, when one would expect that kind of evaluation to occur. I re-read the NLI and it is clear that a scholarship can’t be reduced or taken away based on athletic performance. For her, though, it’s not about the scholarship, but remaining on the team and at least getting more time to improve and prove to them she can contribute. Any advice or thoughts about this would help. She already talked to an assistant coach and voiced that she felt it unfair to be rowing with the walk-ons all the time - the asst coach’s response was not uplifting; she went right into mentioning the cuts and that my daughter shouldn’t make rowing her life. It feels like to me that they are trying to push her to quit, which is better for them. I am hurting for my daughter, as most of you could relate. She does love her school and I know wouldn’t transfer, but how to stay on the team too is the big question - at least until the end of the school year. I want to suggest to her to talk to the head coach? Maybe even an athletic academic advisor or the athletic compliance staff assigned to rowing (all of which would be confidential)? Thoughts? (Sorry for the very long post!)
I would think that your daughter would be valuable to the novice boat for her first year if they have that category of event at the regattas they attend. To have this for a year could buy her the time she wants to improve. Is that a possible path for her?
Thanks for your reply. Here’s more context: they have their first race soon and there are three 8’s and she’s likely not in any of them. They seem to reference the boats as the Varsity Eight, then 2V8, 3V8…it seems the walk-ons are referred to as novices only.
Technically, anyone in their first year of collegiate racing is a novice. Freshmen can be (and often are) in the varsity boats. But only freshmen can be in the novice boats. Many of the New England regattas have novice races (4 and 8, although the former is often favored by schools who have club teams, clearly not this situation. ) These races don’t count for anything except bragging rights (as far as I know), but they can be a good way for improving rowers to get time on the water. (This can also give rowers a chance to get accustomed to a new seat, especially if they have always rowed one side.)
I am guessing her school has both a fall and spring schedule. I would ask if the boats will be different in the spring. If she’s willing to keep putting in the work, she could be boated in the spring. The fall races are longer so she may be better suited for spring, especially if she keeps working.
I know some schools will change their boats during the season (from week to week), sometimes based on seat races. Others set them at the beginning of the season (fall and spring) and leave it alone. Some allow/expect unboated members to keep practicing, and some of these get an opportunity due to illness or injury. And of course, they can get in a boat the next season if they improve.
I feel for her. If she doesn’t end up in a boat, I would recommend that she schedule a meeting with the coach and ask what the process is for spring boats and what the coach would recommend be her plan for improving and getting a seat. Clearly, a conversation nobody wants to have, but done right, and with follow through, she could show her maturity and commitment.
All she can do is her best. I think if she does talk to the coaches she should focus on ways to improve, not that it is unfair that she’s with the walk-ons.
If she’s not interested in transferring, then getting a release doesn’t help her. All she can do it keep trying to improve. The coaches DO notice who is trying, who shows up early for practices, who is always ready for one more set, even who helps clean up. It is hard to have a good attitude when it seems hopeless but she has to do it.
Thank you for your advice. She has been a stand-up athlete and student the entire time and never gave up. Sadly, yesterday, she was cut due to her “athletic ability” along with two others who are upperclassmen. Apparently, new coaches have a grace period to cut athletes based on athletic ability. Yet, in researching this, I did not find anything in the school’s student athlete handbook, NCAA rules or the NLI to indicate this is a standard procedure. It’s sad that this could be an unspoken rule and, worse, was never communicated to the team when he was hired.
I am sorry, @RowerMom . Sending you all a cyber hug. That’s hugely disappointing, I am sure.
@RowerMom That’s crazy! I’ve never heard of such a thing. I’m so sorry for your daughter 
New question for those with female rowers - my current HS junior daughter has fallen in love with rowing and would like to row in college. She is aiming to attend a larger university which would probably mean D1. She is currently 5’8" and weighs about 127-129 pounds. She just did her second ever 2K this week and got a 7:39.5. Did her first 5K a few weeks ago and got 20:29. She is a hard worker and 4.0GPA student taking honors and AP coursework and also plays varsity basketball. She just finished her first full year of rowing in a small club program. She just took the ACT in October but did score 32 on a practice ACT test done before any ACT prep so should do okay. She felt good about the ACT test.
My question(s) for those who have been through this process are: 1). Is rowing as a lightweight a better goal for her vs open weight? Should she be targeting schools with LW women’s programs? She seems to be on the small side for an open weight rower but not many school have LW programs, but I worry that if she does continue to grow or wants to build muscle she will run into feeling pressure to use unhealthy weight management techniques, such as restricting food/calories. 2). With the current stats that she has is she a recruitable rower for D1 rowing teams, either LW or OW? Some of the schools that she is interested in do not have LW teams, so OW may be her only option. Thanks in advance for any input or advice, she is our oldest so this is new to us, especially since she just started rowing seriously last spring season.
@midwestrowmom your daughter will have many avenues open to her, depending on her goals. There are very few lwt teams (Stanford, BU, Harvard, Princeton, Wisco, MIT, Georgetown, Tulsa) and I think that your daughter could be recruitable for all of them, especially if she knocks ten seconds off her 2k (except MIT, because it’s MIT). 5’8” is on the tall side for a lwt rower, but whether she will have an easy time maintaining that weight for four years really depends on her build. If maintaining weight is a struggle, as it is for many of the lwt rowers, its a pretty miserable way to go through college. Your daughter could also be highly recruitable on many open weight teams, with the advantage that she could have the opportunity to get significant scholarship. Which direction she chooses is a personal decision for you and your family. Does she have Ivy League aspirations? If so, then the scholarship question is moot. She would likely not be recruitable to Princeton or Harvard open weight teams (or Stanford) because they are highly ranked open weight teams, so lwt would be her only option into those schools. However, she could have a shot at Columbia or Cornell openweight, because they are less highly ranked rowing teams. If Ivy is not a pull, she could look at a ton of other openweight schools and potentially get large scholarships. There are far too many options to list here, dozens and dozens…SMU, LMU, Clemson, UMass, University of Miami, UNC, Drexel…the list is vast. She would be a highly sought after D2 or D3 recruit as well. So the question is, what kind of school does she like and what do you want/require in terms of scholarship? I think your daughter will have many options, with the exception of the top open weight teams, who will be looking for bigger and stronger rowers.
@Lovesrowing those are all good questions. Since we are from the Midwest she has focused her initial search on Midwest schools. She is most interested in the big state schools, UW Madison would be her dream school for OW or LW. While we come from a smaller city and I would love to see her look at smaller liberal arts colleges she is focused on more urban areas with large campuses. Next spring/summer we will try to narrow down some east coast colleges that are top of her list and have expressed interest in her and do some visits to see how she would fare on the east coast.
Clearly scholarship money will have an influence I think. Depending on how the ACT goes I think she would be a strong candidate for academic scholarships and would actually rather see her pursue scholarship money that is not tied to rowing in case rowing doesn’t work out for 4 years. She just took the PSAT and may also be in contention for National Merit Finalist based on how she did sophomore year. Is anyone aware if colleges will award both academic AND athletic scholarships? Does one impact the other?
Regarding OW vs LW she has never had to restrict her diet to maintain her current weight, but if she is going to shave of more time from the 2K she is going to need more muscle and she is already very lean, I don’t think she has any fat to lose so muscle gain will equal weight gain. It is encouraging to hear that with her current times as a junior she would be able to look at open weight programs as well. Thanks for any further input or advice in this process!
Colleges can award merit and athletic money. Some do, some choose not to, some make you pick one or the other. To award merit the student has to meet the same standards others receiving the merit money, and there are some NCAA requirements, which are a little different for D1 and D2, but basically be in the top 10-15% of your class, have a 3.5 gpa, or score ~27 on the ACT (can’t remember the exact numbers or percentages).
Really, it’s up to the schools whether they’ll give both, or either. The Ivies and many other rowing schools don’t give either merit or athletic money. If a women’s rowing team is fully funded, that’s 20 scholarships to award.
Apologies if this has been asked - searched a bit and didn’t see anything. I have a junior who has had a few east coast coaches interested and there is really only one upcoming window of time amidst school/rowing responsibilities that where we could go visit a few schools which is during this upcoming early winter. My question is: do “official visits” only happen in the fall of rising senior year? We are on the west coast and would love a plane ticket paid for ;), as we are visiting a few schools around the country. Also, wondering if anyone has advice on these visits we will be doing. Should we ask for an overnight with a rower/going to a class? Hoping to get visits in and a sense of the schools before senior year and while students are on campus (and spring rowing rules out visits during that time). Thanks in advance for your help/advice!
@mzzlizz, yes official visits are only offered in the fall of senior year, which means any trips you take junior year are on your own. As you identify, early visits are worthwhile to start to get a sense of the schools. Often times, a coach will make arrangements for junior athletes who are top recruits on their radar to spend the night in a dorm, attend classes, school activities, team functions and practice. Your athlete should be in touch with the coaches and let them know when you are planning to visit. If your athlete has the requisite stats, the coaches will be looking for ways to make an early impression. Lots of athletes visit junior year, so sometimes a coach may only offer a boathouse tour or launch ride along at practice.
@Midwestrowmom Hi! One option to consider if you haven’t already is the University of Oklahoma. They have a generous NMF merit package. Our DD is a sophomore there and made the rowing team as a freshman walk on. (She has always been a strong athlete, but her previous rowing experience was limited to a one week rowing camp before she left for OU.) She is now receiving both the NMF merit money as well as a modest athletic scholarship. Given your D’s club experience, if she is interested in OU it might be worth reaching out to the coaches.
@Lovesrowing - thank you so much! very helpful!