Understanding
Rowing Scholarships
Rowing is an expensive sport, with equipment and travel expenses far beyond those of other sports. Athletic departments can change their athletic budgets, and coaches decide how much money to allocate for scholarships and how to disperse it.
Earning a rowing scholarship to a prominent college is a tremendous achievement and many athletes and families will start their recruiting journey with this goal in mind.
If you are a woman wanting to pursue the sport at the collegiate level, you have an advantage over male rowers when it comes to being offered rowing scholarships. This is because women’s rowing is sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), while men’s rowing is not sanctioned by the NCAA.
When it comes to rowing opportunities on many levels, our experienced advisors are able to help you define your goals, evaluate your options and make the right decision:
OUR
SCHOLARSHIP
SERVICE
Athlete+ Scholarship Consulting is a service tailored for international Student-athletes who are seeking the best possible academic and athletic opportunities in the USA.
ROWING LEVELS
HIGH
SCHOOLS
If you’re looking for a way to fund your education, a high school rowing scholarship might be the answer. There are several different types of rowing scholarships, and they come from different sources. Rowing scholarships are typically awarded to players who have a strong record of achievement on the court and also have good grades. If you’re interested in pursuing a college degree and rowing in college, then it’s important that you consider all of your options carefully before making any decisions about what kind of scholarship is right for you.
JUNIOR COLLEGE
Junior college is not as simple when it comes to rowing scholarships. There are only 4 junior college rowing teams for females and no official teams in male competition. To compete at this level our advisors will often recommend clubs that are usually connected to schools but do not compete in official NJCAA races. In addition to an athletic scholarship, some juco teams will often pay for an athlete’s transportation costs by direct route once per year.
INTERNATIONAL
ACADEMIES
We understand that there are many reasons to study abroad: maybe you’re looking for a new challenge, or maybe you want to learn more about another culture and make some friends from other countries. Whatever your reason, we can help you reach it. Our international academies give players the opportunity to work on their game and academics, surrounded by experts who will help them thrive. We’ve partnered with many of the top sporting institutions in each country, so if you’re looking for a place where your talent will be recognized and rewarded, this is your chance!
COLLEGE ROWING
LEVELS AND OPPORTUNITIES
As a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), women’s college rowing has rules on the number of scholarships that schools may offer. Women’s rowing is an equivalency sport and Division 1 and Division 2 programs may offer partial or full scholarships until they reach the limit of total scholarships that can be offered per team. NAIA college teams and junior college teams are allowed to offer athletic scholarships as well, though this depends on a team’s budget—there are few women’s rowing teams found at these levels. On these levels there is a very limited number of possibilities for mens teams. NCAA Division 3 programs can’t offer athletic scholarships but college coaches tend to work with the admissions department to create appealing financial aid packages made up of merit-based scholarships, need-based aid and grants. It’s important for student-athletes to understand the financial aid opportunities at each division level and be proactive in their recruiting so they can get evaluated early on.
YOU CAN GET TO YOUR DESTINATIONBY FOLLOWING THESE 10 STEPS
6
Student-athlete
promotion
7
Gathering &
presenting offers
8
Making a
decision
9
Admission process &
Visa procedures
10
Flying out to
your Dream School
ACADEMIC
REQUIREMENTS
If you are a student-athlete and are interested in attending a 4 year college, you will need to meet the same academic requirements as any other admitted student. The following information is provided to help guide you through the process of applying for admission as a student athlete.
HIGH SCHOOL GPA
When you are applying for college admission, your GPA is one of the most important factors that admissions officers consider. But if you’re a student athlete, there are lots of other factors that matter too. Different schools require different GPAs. In addition to having a good GPA, some schools may also ask you to write an essay about your athletic experience and why it’s important for you.
SAT / TOEFL
As an international athlete, you’ll want to make sure that you take the right standardized tests. 4 year institutions require certain SAT or ACT scores while your TOEFL requirements will depend on a school and your US high school / prep / junior college experience. Before you take the test, check out the minimum score needed for the universities you’re hoping to be recruited to. If your score isn’t quite there yet, don’t worry! It’s never too late to take another test and improve your score.
ELIGIBILITY CENTER
As part of the academic certification process for both NCAA and NAIA, all prospective student-athletes must submit their academic information to organzation’s eligibility center. Academic records include documents such as transcripts, yearly grade reports, mark sheets or official exam results. If English is not the primary language of instruction at the school you attended, you must submit complete, line-by-line certified English translations for all your documents in the same format as the native language documents.
HOW GOOD IS
COLLEGE LEVEL ROWING?
Rowing is an expensive sport. As a result, there are few programs in the United States; however, those that do exist distribute a large budget of sports scholarships and can almost guarantee an elite level degree.
Ivy League universities, such as Harvard or Yale, generally do not award sports scholarships; however, with the right help it is possible to obtain very attractive scholarship offers.
In contrast to other sports, rowers have competitions in fall and spring. In principle, the fall season is seen as a preparatory phase, accompanied by regattas with long-distance races in their program. In winter the focus is on preparing for the spring regatta season with ergometer competitions as well.
NCAA PROOF
OF AMATEURISM
Initial-eligibility standards help ensure you are prepared to succeed in college. The eligibility process also protects the fairness and integrity of college sports by ensuring student-athletes are amateurs.
If you want to practice, compete and receive an athletics scholarship during your first year at a Division I or II school, the NCAA Eligibility Center must certify you as eligible. International college-bound student-athletes planning to enroll at a Division III school must also receive an amateurism-only certification from the Eligibility Center. Throughout the process, Eligibility Center staff members partner with students and their families, as well as high school administrators and coaches, to guide you on your journey.