At Row New York, our student athletes have proven to us again and again that they are able competitors both on and off the water. After helping them get fit and thrive in high school, our mission is to guide them along the often challenging road to the next big thing: college. You might know that Row New York provides our students with free year-round tutoring and SAT prep, but here are just a few other ways we help.
Our academic coaches work with Row New York’s 9th and 10th graders to complete college roadmaps, to help our students start thinking about and preparing for college early. These roadmaps teach students the importance of maintaining strong academic records, how to develop relationships with teachers and guidance counselors, how to involve their parents in the college process, and how to fully take advantage of college visits. This spring Row New York students will be visiting Harvard, Smith, Northeastern, and Boston University. Most important, these roadmaps help establish a mindset of raised expectations for our students.
Our annual financial aid workshop aims to take the fear and complexity out of a daunting process. This year it was attended by 10 students and parents. The workshop focused on the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), the form that determines a student’s eligibility for federal aid including Pell Grants, federal student loans, and federal work-study programs. Filling out the FAFSA is often the point at which our students realize that the college process is really underway, and they start to take it more seriously.
Coming up in March is our annual career week. Students athletes learn fundamental skills such as resume writing and how to dress for interviews, as well as how to network. And we attend events outside of Row New York, including the Maverick Capital Professional Women’s Lunch, to give our girls exposure to successful women in a variety of fields, and to help steer them toward long-term goals.
With these and other tools at their disposal, Row New York’s current seniors have accomplished big things. They are currently mulling offers from Middlebury, Bucknell, Northeastern, Iona, George Mason, and LaSalle.
Good luck to all our students! We know that they will continue to make us proud.
