RowCollege

Do You Need to Interview in the Admissions Office?

Going to the campus of the college you are considering and having an interview can be very important part of your college application process. The interview is an excellent way to highlight areas about you that go beyond your test scores, college admission essay, and application materials.

However, do you need to interview in the Admissions Office? Are there other ways to get an interview? That all depends.

My school requires an interview on campus in the Admissions Office, however, like other schools they make exceptions. For example, a visit to campus and meeting with the rowing coach is a suitable substitute for a visit to the Admissions Office. And at some schools interviewing with selected alumni or other college reps in your hometown or close by to home, especially when distance from campus is an issue, can be substituted.

Yet, if you are considering either of these two options there are two questions I would prompt you to ask:

1. If I don't have an interview in the school's Admissions Office, does that count against me in the admissions process?, and
   
2. Will interviewing with a rowing coach or a rowing alumni give me answers to the questions I need answers to?

The college's Admissions Office is the best source for an answer to question #1, and if you think that you might be a borderline candidate then make sure you do contact the Admissions Office for their answer.

For question #2, you and your parents/guardians are the ones who can best answer it. This is especially true if you think you will require financial aid to attend the school. In some instances, such as in NCAA Division III member institutions, rowing coaches are not permitted to be involved in the financial aid process at all, and therefore may not even know details that you might need.

So, sorry to tell you that there is no straightforward answer—it depends on you and your situation. However, before you do decide to interview make sure that you have connected with the Admission's Office to get their outlook.

After all, in the end they are the ones who will be making the final decision about your application.

5 Clues From a Smart Boathouse Tour (part 2)

Here we go again looking for clues at the boathouse that might give you insight into the program you are considering . . .

Oar Handles

The third clue to seek out is the condition of the oar handles. When you have a moment wander over to the oar rack(s) and check out a few of the oars. How are the handles? Good condition, free of dings, dents, and damage? Or are they beat-up, and need of repair?

It makes a heck-of-a-difference what their condition is when you are rowing with them. Bad oar handles can make your rows miserable. If you see bad ones that might be something to put on your list to ask the coach about later.

Boat Names

The next clue may well seem silly even to consider, but give it a shot. Ask where the names on the boats came from?

The logic here is that if the names are to honor someone, say like a person who rowed in the program then went on to become a famous astronaut (US Naval Academy has an "Allen Sheppard" eight,) then that is a nice honor and  is a clue to tradition and success in the program. Or, if it is named after a significant donor, that may indicate good financial support.

However, if the name is for something like a movie or a TV show that the rowers watched one weekend, well . . . that shows a wasted opportunity to honor someone. [Unless, of course, the movie is a fantastic one like "Oxford Blues." Yup, I am joking].

Display Area

The final clue to scout out is basically this, is there an award/trophy display area? Is there a place where honors, such as All-American plaques are placed for all to see? If not, ask yourself, "Why?" Possibly they are not at the boathouse, but instead at the Athletic Department. Maybe there are no honors to display. Again another clue for you to dwell on.

Five clues (tracks, bathrooms, oar handles, boat names, display area) that may give you valuable insight into the program and school you are considering.

If you look around, the boathouse just may be talking to you.

5 Clues From a Smart Boathouse Tour

For a recruit, touring a collegiate boathouse can be a special event. Often those boathouses are filled with equipment, athletes, and coaches that you don't see in an average high-school boathouse. Medals, trophies, and interesting trivia (did someone say "race banners") can be everywhere.

Exciting as all that may be, the downside of a boathouse tour is that it is very easy to get distracted. This can cause you to miss out on little details that can offer up important insight into what type of rowing program, and college, you are looking at. Following are five of those clues, and what they just may tell you.

Shell Tracks

Without tracks rowing just isn't, well . . . just isn't rowing—at least not like most of us know it. Shell tracks can hold an interesting clue into the rowing program that you are considering.

How's that?

When you have a moment, slide a finger inside a shell's track, and see what you get. Greasy finger? Might be a clue about how well the boats are maintained.

Poorly maintained boats just don't last. In an article I wrote, "Last Almost Forever: 13 Steps to Help Your Rowing Equipment Last An Eternity!," I stress one of the critical steps in helping equipment last is cleaning them, inside and out. Really well.

So if a boat isn't going to last, how will it be replaced? Through fundraising? Does that mean that you will be doing a lot of fundraising for funds for new equipment?

Something to think over.

Bathrooms

This is probably one of the most important clues at the boathouse, and it comes in two flavors. First, are there bathrooms? Second, if yes, what condition are they in?

I'm not talking about fancy locker rooms (although there are boathouses that have beautiful ones), I'm talking just plain-old-bathrooms. Here is a basic question to ask yourself, "If they're aren't any bathrooms, where the heck is a person in need of one supposed to go?

Out in the woods? Don't go?

That may well give you an idea of how thought out the process is of having athletes training in an area for a couple of hours.

And if they do have them, are they clean? You don't have to be able to eat off the floor, but is it scary in there? Does it look like the worst gas-station bathroom along I-95? If so, what do you think that tells you about the support of the program?

Coming up, three more clues to some very important items . . .

13 Musts on Your College Visit

Visiting a college campus can be  daunting. Thoughts about "Getting in," "Will I like it," "Distance from home" all can distract you from getting valuable information on the visit that can help with the big decision.

To help, here is a list of what I recommend as 13 steps you really should do on a visit.  As you will see they are basic, but so often prospective students forget to do a number of them.

1. Take a campus tour.
2. Have an Admission's interview.
3. Attend a class of a subject that interests you.
4. Talk to a professor in your chosen major or in a subject that interests you.
5. Talk to the rowing coach.
6. Read a student newspaper.
7. Eat in the cafeteria (very important for rowers).
8. Hang out in the library and see what it's like.
9. Ask student-athletes what they hate about the college.
10. Ask student-athletes what they love about the college.
11. Browse in the college bookstore.
12. Ask students what they do on weekends.
13. Tour the boathouse and waterfront.

It doesn't mean that your visit cannot be a success if you do only a few, or even just one of these steps. However, each step will give you just a little bit of information that when totaled together can help paint a picture of whether this college is the right choice for you.

One word of warning, preparing ahead is so vital to making a college visit successful. For example, often Admission offices are scheduling visits days, if not weeks, ahead. And rowing coaches are rarely just sitting around their offices waiting for prospects to knock on their doors. Planning is critical to getting the appointments that you need.

Thirteen steps . . . may seem like a lot. However, you are looking at making a huge invest of time, money, and effort by attending a college. It makes insuring it is the right choice for you a necessity.

Next up, I'll discuss 5 things you need to do during a boathouse visit.

 

3 Questions You Really Need to Ask a Coach

When you visit a college one of your main goals should be to get information. One of the best ways to do this is to ask questions.

In the process of your visit, if you are meeting with a coach, there are three important questions to ask.

To the point, here they are:

1. How long do you plan on being here as a coach?
2. If I were to come to this school, and row for your team, how do you see my role on the team?
3. What can you and the rowing program here at school XYZ do to help me get where I want to go in my future?

Not earth-shattering questions, but nonetheless, one's whose answers are important, for obvious reasons.

As a coach, when I am asked questions like it indicates to me that the recruit is thinking about his or her future and the big picture.

Nervous or fearful to ask these questions to the coach you are thinking of rowing for?

Well . . . you could have your folks do it for you, but . . . if this is a person that you are considering to coach you for four years, wouldn't you want to have a relationship with him or her in which you could ask questions?

You might find the reaction to these questions as meaningful as the responses.

Should you "overnight" on a college campus?

               . . . yes . . . and no.

Let's go with the "yes" for a moment. An overnight, when done right from both your end and the institution's, can offer a wealth of information. It can be revealing. For example, on an overnight some of the areas where you might have some very interesting and informing experiences are:

• dorm life
• cafeteria food
• class room atmosphere
• social priorities and campus life
• practice

And these are just a few.

An overnight can certainly give you a much greater insight into the institution than just an Admission's interview, campus tour, and coach visit. An overnight can give you the time to be on your own a little bit on campus. Go to the library, what is going on there? Vibrant academic life, or dulls-ville?

Walk around a few of the academic buildings. Know what you want to study, or major in? Go to that building, floor, or area, and look around. Read the bulletin board.

Talk to students, and student-athletes. Find out what goes on on campus. Be nosy.

Parents should also spend an overnight in the town at a B + B or motel. This way you can get a community perspective of the institution, and a feeling if it is a good place to make a large investment of time, effort, and money.

When I was looking at colleges after high school, I took three overnights. I knew immediately which was the right school for me, and which were not.

However, an overnight might not be the right choice for you if:

• a practice or regatta schedule conflicts
• there are other time conflicts (arriving too late to attend classes or practice)
• your parents are opposed to it
• your coach is opposed to it
• you don't feel comfortable or safe taking the overnight
• student hosts are not trained or don't seem responsible

Overnighting on a college campus is an event you should take seriously, and safety should be yours, and the institution's top priority.

If you do decide to overnight keep in mind that all overnights are not the same—different schools do things quite differently.

When we recruit, we suggest an overnight visit after a recruit has done an initial campus visit of an Admissions interview, campus tour and meeting with myself or one of my assistants. We only allow prospects to overnight on a week night, or a Friday. Saturday and Sunday are out. We also training our hosts on how to run a safe visit and help the prospect find answers to his or her questions.

However, many schools do not allow overnights, or restrict them in different ways. I strongly encourage you to have a serious conversation with your parents, and coach before you think about an overnight.

It might be a good decision—it might not.

The Flavors of Rowing-Pick Yours

So many things these days come in variety. Computers, coffee, cars . . . seems like there are endless variations to almost everything. You can get almost any flavor of ice cream that you want.

Collegiate rowing is really no different, it too comes in different flavors. As you search for schools and rowing programs you will be well served to keep this thought in mind—and pick the one that best suites your taste.

The flavors of collegiate rowing range from row-once-in-a-while-program-for-
the-fun-of-it to feeder programs for the national team. Following is a list of the different variations of collegiate rowing that you will find:

• Division 1
• Division 2
• Division 3
• Club
• Intramural

I will go into more detail about each of these types of programs in future posts, but in the meantime here is a brief synopsys of each.

Division 1: Although Division1 rowing programs range from hardcore to those rowing just for the experience, most consist of very dedicated athletes with a goal of high performance and winning the "big one."

Division 2:  Sometimes considered the step child of Division 1, Division 2 programs have a different philosophy, which we will discuss later. The main focus here is a student-athlete with a balance between the two—athletics and academics, with athletes who are pushed hard and have high expectations in both areas.

Division 3: This is where the true amateur philosophy holds. Division 3 student-athletes are not treated any differently than the general student body at their school, they get no extra benefits such as might happen in Division 1 or Division 2 (such as athletic based scholarships). They are very hard working and some Division 3 programs are very fast.

Club: There are numerous colleges that offer club rowing. These are rowing programs that are usually run by the club or recreational division of their school, instead of the Athletic Department. These programs can range from some extremely competitve programs to ones that are barely able to field a team.

Intramural: Some college, more notably the larger schools, offer intramural rowing. The focus here is competition on campus against other collegiate members or teams.

Picking a flavor that suites you well will take an investment of time. It is a very worthwhile investment. Watch out for the brussel sprouts!