Guide to College Recruiting
A PARENT'S GUIDE TO SUPPORTING YOUR ROWER · WRITTEN BY AN MRWC PARENT WHO HAS BEEN THROUGH THE PROCESS
Before you start
A parent who has been through it
This guide was written by a Miami Rowing and Watersports Center parent, not by the club — which is why it is candid about the parts that are hard: how few official recruit spots exist, why the rower and not the parent has to write the emails, and how much of the process is simply staying organised.
It runs from the early years, when erg scores and grades matter together, through junior-year outreach and senior-year decisions, and finishes on the NCAA and IRA rules that catch families out.
Being recruited is not the only way to row in college. Admissions support, letters of soft support and walking on are all real routes onto a college squad.
Talk to your rower’s coach early. They know the athlete, and they know which programmes fit.