high school rower who wants to row in college

Question
Mr. Pepper,
   I am a high school senior rower, and I am going to row at the Head of the Charles in October. I have been rowing in a double since freshman year, and have become very passionate about it. I have not paid much attention to my erg time, and have not done it for a while, but will soon get back on it. My question is what does it take to get into the crew giants such as Ithaca, Boston University and even Harvard, colleges that I plan on applying to. Someone told me that a lot of coaches will pull strings to get high school kids that have been rowing for four years just because they have that experience.
 I want to know how much doing well at the Head of the Charles would help me getting into a crew college. I saw last year's winning time, 18:07 for the youth men's double. I am a stroke, and my double's practice time was about four minutes longer; it was our first practice race at our club, and I KNOW we will shave off a lot of time. I consider my self an excellent student, and as a package, have a chance to get into some of these colleges. But still, I know the competition is tough. Please, any feedback would be great. I want to know what the standards are, if I am just floating in the clouds, or actually have a chance at rowing at the college level.
  Thank you for your time.
                                   Club Rower

Answer
Hi D N: As you are probably aware, college rowing is all sweep-oared rowing (i.e., no sculling).  That said, if you are able to move a double well, you should have no problem rowing in an eight.

Finding a good rowing program should parallel your search for a good college.  First, you want to find what colleges have academic programs that interest you. When you come up with a short list of colleges, research their college rowing programs' websites thoroughly.  They will have e-mail addresses for the freshman coaches if you want to ask them questions. You can also find out what programs are offered (open, lightweight, freshman, pairs), whether scholarships are offered, etc.

Almost all crew websites have online forms (some centralized via the college's athletic department). Those without questionnaires or forms should provide email addresses to write to the coach to signal your interest. Your initial email or letter is your opportunity to make a good first impression. In it, give your height and weight, erg scores, which side(s) you row (with you being able to scull, I presume you can row port or starboard), the number of years you have been part of your high school or club rowing program, and list some notable results, especially any big regattas such as your upcoming Head of the Charles race.  Also give your SAT scores, your GPA, class rank, as well as your coach's and guidance counselor's contact information.

When the coach writes back, he will probably send you additional materials and information, as well as suggestions for dates for recruitment visits. In some sports, the trend is that college coaches are asking to see videos.

Whenever a coach contacts you, respond promptly. Recruitment can be a time-consuming headache, for coaches, and full of uncertainty. Help the recruitment process by submitting information, applications, materials, etc. on or before the due dates at every stage. This will be seen as advance indicators of your organization and self-discipline, and thus of your future coachability. Make yourself easy to recruit, and you will be.

I would just recommend two things to make yourself more recruitable:
1) Do a 2K erg piece and get your time.  They really need this data to see what your potential is.  Realistically, you need to be doing at least 7:00 to be competitive.
2) This spring, ask the coach if you can give eights and fours a try.

Good Luck/AP