My son is a High School Sophomore rowing for a solid club program. This is his second year rowing and he is now really taking it seriously with his fitness program, adding muscle and endurance. He goes to rowing practice 2.5 hours per day, 5 days per week. In addition to that he is working out at the gym 4x per week after school and weekends. He also has math tutoring 3x per week, so he cannot do weight lifting every day. We just added a weight bench at home with dumbbells.
He recently started eating 3,000 calories per day to add mass. He just turned 16.
Next summer (between Soph and Junior years) he plans to do 2x per day weight training and P90x cardio workouts all summer.
His summer will be 3-4 hours per day working out, plus daily math tutoring to prep for SAT in his junior year.
He is already 6’2" and weighs 160 lbs so he ultimately will be a heavyweight as he adds more mass.
The trainer at the gym projects he will be 180-185 lbs next year when he is a junior, then close to 200 lbs as a senior.
I am 6’4" so I would not be surprised if he gains another inch or two in height.
He has a respectable 3.7 GPA unweighted. Not perfect straight As, but mostly As.
Based on his math grades, I would not be surprised if he scores an 800 on the math SAT. The Reading/Writing part will be his weak side, so hopefully he can get enough so that his overall SAT is around 1450 to 1500.
His 2k erg time is at 7:20 and improving. (Just turned 16).
He was at 10 minutes a year ago when he did it for the first time.
I think we have the time to get his physical conditioning to where he needs to be as a junior next year. We have another 20 months of working out to build mass and endurance before that summer between his junior and senior year. He will be there and have the erg time.
My concern is the grades. Do Ivy rowing boys need to have the 4.0 GPA unweighted?
I read all of these stories about kids with perfect GPAs and 1500 SAT scores still being denied at Ivy league schools because 70% of the applicants have perfect grades and 1500+ SAT scores.
Let’s say my son has a 3.7 GPA unweighted and a 1450 SAT score.
If he is 6’3" and has the 2k erg times in that recruit range (which I think he can reach as a HS Senior), is that a profile that will interest Ivy coaches?
Can’t speak to the rowing times, but a friend’s son was recruited by and currently rows for Princeton. Our valedictorian, whose lowest grade in 4 years of high school was a 97, was rejected from Princeton. The boy rowing there didn’t make honor roll some marking periods, so he had multiple B’s on his transcript. A middle of the road public school. If the rowing piece is there, his grades are fine.
That is what I have heard. Harvard, Yale and Princeton could fill their entire classes with valedictorians if they want to based on their applicant pools. And while I love my son and I am proud of him, I recognize he is not going to get straight As. But he is certainly a solid student with a 3.7 GPA, but he doesn’t LOVE to study.
We have to nag him into getting the grades and take him to math tutoring so that it is easy for him. If he was doing all of the math on his own, he would be much weaker. Mathnasium is an amazing program which I highly recommend to everyone. Two years of Mathnasium will take your B or C math student to a perfect A math grades and probably a near perfect math SAT score. He doesn’t even worry about the math SAT portion any more and he isn’t even taking it till next year.
The rowing physical numbers will be there by the summer before his Senior HS year. The rowing program locally is strong with coaching for technique and strength coaching. His technique will be rock solid for a high school rower. His personal training schedule will get him to the physical milestones that he needs.
I just worry about the grades that he already has from freshman year in high school and the occasional B grades that happen to drag him down to a 3.7 GPA.
I don’t think it’s going out on a limb to say that the answer to your question is actually very clear: no, the grades you describe, for freshman year and fall of sophomore year, will not him from being recruited by anyone.
Whether he get recruited anywhere is, of course, a very different question, but it seems you understand that. For that, it is very important that he take the most challenging classes available to him - whatever those may be. It is also important that his grades not drop - though if he is taking more and more challenging courses, keeping his GPA at around 3.7 is probably OK (and it’s still better than a 4.0 GPA, taking less rigorous classes).
Standardized test scores also matter, as you note - and a word of caution: it’s great that his math SAT is on track to be an 800, but it is important that his verbal not be too low.
Also, I don’t want to sound negative, but he will have to have a plan to significantly improve his 2k. It doesn’t matter how slow he was when he started a year ago; for heavyweight men, recruits at top programs are expected to be at 6:20 or faster by the summer before their senior year (and that’s a floor - his goal really should be 6:15). That’s 18 months to take 60 seconds off of his 2k. If he’s still growing, getting stronger, and all that, this is certainly doable. But he should make a plan with his coach, now, to try to reach that goal. Whether he can do that or not probably comes down to whether he actually enjoys rowing - if he does, he’ll probably find the will and the way to reach his goals, and he’ll have the kind of attitude that will make coaches want to recruit him. If he’s only doing this to get recruited, he’ll find it that much harder to reach his goals, and the coaches may well pick up on the lack of genuine dedication to the sport.
Happy to give you more details on individual programs and details; send me a PM.
What @wykehamist said is correct. To be recruited to a top 20 (Ivy) program, solid grades and test scores are required. Your son’s are borderline but as long as he can improve them a little, he should be in the window. I highly recommend that he get a tutor to ensure that he gets above a 1500 on the SAT or 34 or greater on the ACT. Practice tests and tutoring will get him there if he puts in the work. You need to realize that his competition is doing that and 1500 / 34 is the standard. His 2k needs to be below 6:30 in his senior year. The coaches will like his size but they will want to know that he can pull a fast time.
Sometime during his junior year, have him start emailing coaches and filling out the recruiting forms on the team websites. Check them out now to see what initial info they are interested in to get a feel for what standards are important. Staying in contact with the coaches can be very important. I’d be happy to talk about my son’s experience. He is 6’ and was unlikely to get a look at top 20 rowing programs. (see the following for a subjective ranking of schools rowing programs http://www.row2k.com/polls/index.cfm?cat=college&ID=734&type=cMax%20Rankings). We focused on the east coast schools that are ranked 20-50 and have solid academics in the area he wants to study. You’d be surprised that these schools have many rowers that are 6’2" and row sub 6:20. Basically, you have to meet the academic requirements to get into the school and then the coaches can support you to give you a strong chance of admission if you are willing to apply ED. Good luck.
His grades and scores are totally fine IF he is a top recruited rower. We personally know athletes at these schools with lower scores and grades than you are reporting (30 ACT/1200 SAT and GPAs in the low/mid 3s and we have heard lower from very reputable sources), but they tend to be the very top recruits. Having high scores/grades at these schools as a top recruit just makes it much easier for a coach to get you in the school. The coaches will let you know if they are interested and exactly what you need, but it only matters if you have the rowing stats. For top D3 schools grades and GPAs have to be strong. (not perfect) The coaches have pull, but not as much as Ivies.
Since I started this topic back in October 2018, his 2k erg time personal best has dropped from 7:20 to 6:55 (February 2019). We seem to be taking 5 seconds off per month lately. Of course that will plateau at some point and become more difficult. Most of it has been just getting rid of bad habits on the erg to be more efficient while also increasing strength and cardio.
I highly recommend doing one on one ERG coaching if someone is qualified in your area. One of our rowing team coaches owns a fitness studio for rowing and is an expert at this stuff. We did several coaching hours during the winter break and it helped a ton.
His coaches think he is on track to reach below 6:30 this summer (before start of his Junior year).
His summer workout plan is 2 hours per day in the gym doing weights and P90 circuit training. Also jogging 2 miles regularly and lots of ERG work. (plus math tutoring all summer for SAT).
Then the target for the 2020 spring ERG sprints will be 6:20 or so as a Junior. The winning time this year at the state ERG sprints for High School Men (heavyweight) was 6:15 and that boy was a senior.
He is my project now and I am really enjoying helping him reach these goals. I wish my parents had pushed me like this when I was that age. All of the endorphins from the working out have really improved his mental focus and his personality. He seems much happier as an individual in recent months and his confidence is improving as his muscle definition has started to pop on his arms and chest. I am sort of jealous at how good he looks lately.
It’s great that his time is improving! Kuddos to hard work.
I’d advise on the following; focus is important but don’t saturate his interest otherwise you run the risk of him getting burned out. It happens!
Also his drive should be coming from him. Our role as parents need to be as support but if we pressure too much with timelines, “experts” and escalating expectations you run the risk of making it your dream, not his. Rowing is such a demanding sport that you need to find a balance. It’s tempting to put your kid on the fast track but beware of its trappings.
Good luck!
Hi tonymom, many teenagers these days lack motivation for anything other than their cell phones and video games. If we sat back and did nothing, most kids would choose the slacker lifestyle. We told both of our teenagers they need to pick a sport, any sport. I don’t care what, but they will find something physical to do after school each day. We think it is a healthy part of the teenage process to be involved in sports. They both have solid grades also. They both had friends on the rowing team, so they picked that.
I am not a believer in the parenting method of, “let them do whatever they want”. Most teenagers lack the maturity to be given that much leeway. They need direction and a push.
Our son seems to be becoming a gym rat. He actually enjoys being at the gym. But the first 2 months that was definitely NOT the case. He hated it. But once he saw the results of working out, now he seems eager to get there. So knowing that, I tend to ignore initial complaints when they are doing something new and just power through it.
@RocketGoBoom
I think you may have misconstrued my post. I have no issue with kids getting out, involving themselves in something active and becoming passionate about it. My point was that after that initial push it’s important to let them be the driving force. Your support is necessary but as a parent of a long time rower I’ve seen many parents push their kids too hard in this sport because they believe it’s the golden ticket to being recruited. That does happen for many but not all.
As I mentioned rowing is a particularly demanding sport and even more so at the collegiate level.
If your son feels passionately about it and wants to continue then more power to him.
Good luck!
