Anonymous
07/04/2025 15:28
Subject: Crew recruit at a top college
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Is 5'9 tall enough for a boy?
My Boston area college had a sign for new freshman boys. "Are you 6'4 or above? Come try out for crew!"
Crew has one of the highest quit rates of college sports. Any sport that is just always exhausting (practices, meets, etc.), requires a commute to practice and has almost zero general student engagement has a high quit rate.
Actual college crew teams have a fair number of walk ons to replace the recruited kids who quit.
They aren’t quite the same as walk ons for soccer or swim team, though. Colleges have novice teams, and you can only spend a year on novice. Doesn’t matter your year, you can be a sophomore or junior novice, but in rowing a “novice” is in their first year of competition. Not all novice rowers will make the varsity or junior varsity the next year. So yes, novice rowers fill spots vacated by rowers who quit (though most who make it through their first collegiate year stay) and others are cut. No crew anywhere is putting people who haven’t rowed into varsity or junior varsity boats. The boat wouldn’t be able to function - you need to learn to row first.
Anonymous
07/04/2025 09:57
Subject: Crew recruit at a top college
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Is 5'9 tall enough for a boy?
My Boston area college had a sign for new freshman boys. "Are you 6'4 or above? Come try out for crew!"
Crew has one of the highest quit rates of college sports. Any sport that is just always exhausting (practices, meets, etc.), requires a commute to practice and has almost zero general student engagement has a high quit rate.
Actual college crew teams have a fair number of walk ons to replace the recruited kids who quit.
Anonymous
07/04/2025 07:14
Subject: Crew recruit at a top college
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What does it take in addition to ERG time and winning races? For top 10 colleges, are there rough guidelines for grades, SAT/ACT cutoff? How about height? For boys or girls. TIA
For girls, next to nothing. I know a girl from our HS who was not very athletic at all. Was cut from other team sports. But rowed crew. She's super tall, which I understand helps, but that's it. She won no awards or anything like that. Just rowed at a mediocre level. And she's very smart. But it got her into at TIPPY TOP D1 program (think, Ivy, MIT). The only other kids I know who got in to this school, and other similar schools, were also crew. Their parents plainly stated that they gamed this to make it happen and push them over the edge in admissions (among applicants who are all smart). Good for them, I guess.
If the kid is good enough at crew to be recruited, is it really gaming the system any more than any other sports recruit is gaming the system? This kid found a sport they were good at and presumably worked hard at it.
Therein is the issue, though. She really didn't. She had zero accolades to speak of as a result. The bar for female crew is much lower than other sports. This is well known and they took advantage of that. Fine. My kid was not gearing for the school this kid was accepted to and recruited for. And we don't hate the player, but hate the game. That said, it WAS easier to manipulate the kid's acceptance knowing this. The parents don't deny it.
The bar is lower in that it's not like soccer or lacrosse which basically require that you started playing by age 6 if you want to play in college.
Rowing for girls (or boys) is sort of like football is boys---you can start in 9th grade and if you're athletic you can be a recruit by 11th grade.
That said, the girls who are recruited for rowing are super athletic. The only exception is those who are 6'2" or similar. They can catch a break.
But the rest of the recruits are very, very athletic. I have a daughter who is a life-long soccer player and runner and she started rowing freshman year and she's really terrible on the erg. There is one girl (out of 15 or so) on her team who is a pheomenol erger and she is a super athlete.
Regarding football, you still have to be good, if you're referring to Ivy. Maybe not "as good" at some of the academic D3s, but many of those don't have relaxed admissions requirements for athletes.
Anonymous
07/04/2025 06:43
Subject: Crew recruit at a top college
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What does it take in addition to ERG time and winning races? For top 10 colleges, are there rough guidelines for grades, SAT/ACT cutoff? How about height? For boys or girls. TIA
For girls, next to nothing. I know a girl from our HS who was not very athletic at all. Was cut from other team sports. But rowed crew. She's super tall, which I understand helps, but that's it. She won no awards or anything like that. Just rowed at a mediocre level. And she's very smart. But it got her into at TIPPY TOP D1 program (think, Ivy, MIT). The only other kids I know who got in to this school, and other similar schools, were also crew. Their parents plainly stated that they gamed this to make it happen and push them over the edge in admissions (among applicants who are all smart). Good for them, I guess.
This is like every kids from NCS crew the past 15 yrs. Also mit isn’t D1, but I can think of multiple kids sent there from ncs crew.
You know everything about every girl who got recruited from NCS crew for the past 15 years? You don’t even know that MIT is D1 rowing, so maybe you don’t know much. Go crawl back into your hole.
Anonymous
07/04/2025 06:27
Subject: Crew recruit at a top college
Can someone specify helpful books on rowing recruitment? Also. Is there a height that is too tall for boys?
Anonymous
07/03/2025 20:35
Subject: Crew recruit at a top college
OP mine was a LW recruit at HYP.S. In addition to school rowing, (private HS), she did summer rowing at TBC. Was also recruited for D1 FH, but preferred rowing. She loved it. There are some good books on Amazon about recruitment for rowing.
Anonymous
07/03/2025 20:21
Subject: Crew recruit at a top college
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What does it take in addition to ERG time and winning races? For top 10 colleges, are there rough guidelines for grades, SAT/ACT cutoff? How about height? For boys or girls. TIA
For girls, next to nothing. I know a girl from our HS who was not very athletic at all. Was cut from other team sports. But rowed crew. She's super tall, which I understand helps, but that's it. She won no awards or anything like that. Just rowed at a mediocre level. And she's very smart. But it got her into at TIPPY TOP D1 program (think, Ivy, MIT). The only other kids I know who got in to this school, and other similar schools, were also crew. Their parents plainly stated that they gamed this to make it happen and push them over the edge in admissions (among applicants who are all smart). Good for them, I guess.
This is like every kids from NCS crew the past 15 yrs. Also mit isn’t D1, but I can think of multiple kids sent there from ncs crew.
Multiple rowers to MIT from NCS? Not true.
You are a miserable human.
Anonymous
07/03/2025 20:03
Subject: Crew recruit at a top college
Anonymous wrote:Is 5'9 tall enough for a boy?
My Boston area college had a sign for new freshman boys. "Are you 6'4 or above? Come try out for crew!"
Anonymous
07/03/2025 18:44
Subject: Crew recruit at a top college
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I am so sad that my 5'1" daughter is too light to be a cox!
no such thing
+1. If a cox is too light, they have to carry weights in the boat, but its usually better to be well under the weight than have to worry about staying under the max weight if it is hard for you. Unless your daughter weighs sub-85 lbs and is sickly, she can be a cox.
Oh! So like a Jockey. When they said 120 lbs, I thought the kid had to be 120. Learned something new - thanks!!
Anonymous
07/03/2025 16:05
Subject: Crew recruit at a top college
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What does it take in addition to ERG time and winning races? For top 10 colleges, are there rough guidelines for grades, SAT/ACT cutoff? How about height? For boys or girls. TIA
For girls, next to nothing. I know a girl from our HS who was not very athletic at all. Was cut from other team sports. But rowed crew. She's super tall, which I understand helps, but that's it. She won no awards or anything like that. Just rowed at a mediocre level. And she's very smart. But it got her into at TIPPY TOP D1 program (think, Ivy, MIT). The only other kids I know who got in to this school, and other similar schools, were also crew. Their parents plainly stated that they gamed this to make it happen and push them over the edge in admissions (among applicants who are all smart). Good for them, I guess.
This is like every kids from NCS crew the past 15 yrs. Also mit isn’t D1, but I can think of multiple kids sent there from ncs crew.
You are a miserable human.
Anonymous
07/03/2025 15:49
Subject: Crew recruit at a top college
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I am so sad that my 5'1" daughter is too light to be a cox!
no such thing
+1. If a cox is too light, they have to carry weights in the boat, but its usually better to be well under the weight than have to worry about staying under the max weight if it is hard for you. Unless your daughter weighs sub-85 lbs and is sickly, she can be a cox.
Anonymous
07/03/2025 15:41
Subject: Crew recruit at a top college
Anonymous wrote:I am so sad that my 5'1" daughter is too light to be a cox!
no such thing
Anonymous
07/03/2025 15:39
Subject: Crew recruit at a top college
I am so sad that my 5'1" daughter is too light to be a cox!
Anonymous
07/03/2025 15:21
Subject: Re:Crew recruit at a top college
Anonymous wrote:All these answers are anecdotal based on the ONE person you know. My DD is at a top NESCAC crew team and there’s no way any recruited girl will get on the team with no water experience or not being athletic.
They may be based upon the ONE person responders know, but that's all that will reasonably be found on a general college / non-rowing specific forum, unless a D1 college coach randomly spends their idle time perusing DCUM. While none of these answers shine an exact light on top college recruitment, most offer at least an effort at insight while yours is noticeably lacking in detail.
Also, "top college" is a vague mark to hit... top academic college or top/elite rowing program?
Anonymous
07/03/2025 14:45
Subject: Re:Crew recruit at a top college
I, too, know a girl, who is probably not the same girl mentioned here. She excelled at other sports at my kids' high school, which does not have crew. She's also 6'1", lean and muscular. D1 came knocking! (Not a powerhouse program, but a good one.)