<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>So I'm a lightweight rower and for the past six months of my life I've been trying to coordinate my college plans as much as possible. During the summer I visited almost all the Ivies (not Cornell, Columbia, or Dartmouth) and a lot of the other lightweight rowing schools. Over the summer contact really accelerated, then all seemed to halt the minute Yale told me "we're not in a position to support you." I've lost contact with Columbia for over a month, and the same with Penn. So I dove into a mini-depression.</p>
<p>But last week I realized I never contacted Dartmouth (I never really was in love with rural settings, so it never crossed my mind), so I decided just to email the coach with my athletic stats, GPA, SAT score, and some ECs. He immediately called me and we started to talk about planning an OV.</p>
<p>What should be going through my mind? Is this what people call "recruiting?" (I'm pretty foreign, so I'm not acquainted with the college system.) Should I still be looking at other schools/still planning to apply elsewhere? Help!</p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>Hi Stressed - In response to your question, this is definitely “recruiting!”</p>
<p>An offer for an OV is always good news! The first thing I would do is read all the threads already up and running on this forum about official visits - there is lots of good information there. </p>
<p>If you think you could learn to love Dartmouth (a great school!), I’d jump on the opportunity for an OV there. However, given that you’re not so sure about rural settings and it’s only Sept, I’d also definitely continue to look at other schools. You don’t have a likely letter, so nothing is guaranteed at this point. It sounds like Yale has politely closed the door in terms of recruiting, but just because there has been a lull in hearing from Columbia and Penn doesn’t mean you are off their list of potential recruits. Those coaches may be busy with their own seasons or you may not be at the top of their list of recruits. But schools don’t always get the athletes at the top of their lists, so it would be premature for you to assume they definitely don’t want you. And of course, you can always apply to Yale, with the support of the coach if you’d like. Good luck!</p>
<p>Why don’t you contact some other schools about rowing? Nothing is set until you have the likely letter in hand.
So yes, unless you have the likely letter, apply/contact to other schools</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses! Runners2, you’ve definitely gotten me more excited/less depressed about everything! </p>
<p>And that answers a lot of questions, I didn’t know that the LL is what writes things in stone. So I’m guessing that if multiple coaches are contacting someone, they have to choose one school to receive a LL from? That must be a really stressful decision if that’s the case.</p>
<p>Thanks again</p>
<p>No reason to be depressed, alwaysstressed! You are in the very enviable position of being a recruited athlete at an elite institution - as I said, this is GOOD news!</p>
<p>I agree with Jumper - I’d be continuing to contact other schools. And yes, a LL is what seals the deal for the Ivy’s - though some will encourage athletes to apply ED to get everything wrapped up (often the case with Dartmouth - at least in other sports). And for the vast majority of athletes, you do have to be willing to give a verbal commitment to a school for the coach to be willing to ask admissions to consider giving you a LL. And I left a typo in my earlier response that I can’t edit out now - I meant to say that of course you can apply to yale without a coach’s support as most applicants do :)</p>
<p>always: your junior coach should be advising you on this, the comments here are helpful but you need someone in person helping you. can your junior rowing coach do this?</p>