College Club Rowing

Question
Hi Al,

I am a high school senior interested in rowing in college. I have already been
talking to coaches at schools with varsity rowing. However, I am also
interested in a lot of small liberal arts (like NESCACs and the like) and many of
them seem to only have club rowing. I was wondering if I should also be
emailing and sending my rowing resume to them. Will they help at all in the
admissions office? I am definitely on the lower end- middle of most of these
school's applicants (like grades, SAT scores) and would probably be on the
line. If one of these club coaches were interested in me could they help me
like the other coaches are willing to do?

Answer
Hi Emily: I don't know how much race experience you have or what your 2K erg times are like. But even if you are an above-average rower, your grades are going to be sticking point if you want to get recruited by so-called Varsity schools with scholarship programs. Not only do these schools typically have high admissions standards, coaches may have a concern that if your grades are not top-caliber in high school, you might struggle with maintaining your college grades while training all year in crew which most colleges do.  Unless you are an elite-caliber rower who the coach really wants on his/her crew, don't expect too much help from the coach going to the college admissions office to influence someone getting accepted.

College Club Crews compete in many of the same regattas as scholarship crews.  Purdue University is an example of a Crew Club that competes well.  The thing about College Crew Clubs is that they get no funding from the University and therefore do not grant scholarships.  They mostly accept walk-ons, many with little or no experience and train them to compete.  I don't know if they recruit that actively since they can't give you a scholarship.    

You need to pick a couple of schools that meet your academic needs first and foremost, and let crew be the secondary factor. I highly recommend you focus on getting good grades in Senior Year and consider retaking the SAT.