How Can Rowing Help a Student Get Into College

Shaker Crew

Home of the Shaker Rowing Association, Latham NY

edited and reprinted from irow.com

College admission, particularly at well-known schools, is a daunting process. If a high school rower aspires to a top tier college, you’ll be happy to know that the time and effort spent rowing might be helpful. Admissions officers look for something that distinguishes the student, and most of the top colleges have rowing programs. All of the Ivies, plus colleges like Georgetown, Amherst, and MIT, have rowing programs and need rowers!

High school rowers interested in applying, and/or receiving a scholarship, have several opportunities to enhance their position. First, they must remember the critical importance of their ergometer score. Since rowing is the quintessential team sport, evaluating individual rowers is difficult for coaches. Most rely on the erg score to help them. Participation in one of the many indoor rowing competitions, Crash B Sprints in Boston for example, is therefore important. A good score at one of these events can generate significant interest.

Another excellent way of generating interest is to participate in a Junior National Team. National Team members are highly coveted by coaches and heavily recruited. These opportunities are, of course, extremely limited.

A more common strategy is to attend a summer rowing camp sponsored by a college. At camp, high school rowers can pick up good tips while being seen. But be judicious. Camps are expensive, so the rower should try to select a camp at the school he or she wants to attend. Also, make sure that the summer camp coach is the same as the school's year round team coach.

A rower needs visibility among the college rowing coaches, and a way to communicate his or her strengths. Communication is generally accomplished with a rowing resume, which summarizes both academic and athletic accomplishments. This can be e-mailed to coaches. Rowers can also register in the IROW College Recruiting Clearinghouse, a free service from Vespoli Boats and Irow.com

Finally, simply being an experienced rower provides an advantage at most rowing colleges, since there are only a handful of “top recruits” available. Most coaches prefer an athlete with previous rowing experience and will generally advocate for them with admissions departments.

Best of luck to rowers and parents!

SHAKER

CREW

Copyright 2008. Shaker Rowing Association, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.