Sparks Consulting : Catch onto college. Spark your potential.

The Sparks Consulting staff have taken part in the recruiting process at every level - as collegiate recruiters at top-tier institutions, athletes, and as Olympians hoping to see the sport we love grow. We've worked on a intimate basis - our associates normally work with 10 clients or less - with hundreds of families looking for the best collegiate rowing programs and universities for their students' success given our intimate, life-long relationship with the rowing community. Our client admit rate for their first choice is over 90% - though we judge true success by the impact college has on clients after four years.

What is the college rowing experience (actually) about?

Everyone sees the intense coverage of Division I rowing programs throughout the year in various rowing media outlets. That said, some Division II and III programs take their rowing just as seriously and have benefits Division I schools do not offer for different athletes. Club teams also offer a student-run experience. Each of these divisions has a general culture and a specific programmatic culture that is usually a large and meaningful part of years 18–22 for students. The college rowing experience is actually about how these various divisions, leagues, and programs impact and relate with you – the student-athlete.

What is truly the ‘best’ experience?

The "best" experience is the place where the most positive impact can occur for both the athlete and the school. We're of the opinion that the best undergraduate experience depends wholly on the qualities of the student-athlete and school (including the rowing program) and their chemistry together. The essential relationship between student and school is one that affects both at a deep level. Any other pairing makes for an expensive, lukewarm experience – which is unfortunate at the price tag most of these educations carry.

How We Match

In part, we consider ourselves a matching service and seek to provide schools with ideal student-athlete matches for their specific needs, cutting through the chaff on recruiting coordinator's desks. Simultaneously, we work with student-athletes to present the qualities most important to their ideal schools in the admission and recruiting processes.

We're a win-win solution; while that's our mission, it's also why we're very good at what we do. We're looking to develop college rowing through educating our clients on themselves, the recruiting process, and working to connect the rowing community in everything we do.

Coaching in Our Natural Element

We're ultimately coaches at heart. We seek to understand the potential and value of each athlete we work with and express them at their fullest. Our associates are given very small clients loads so as to develop intimate relationships with our clients and their families.

We're also intimately familiar with the rowing student-athlete's admission process given our own experience with the rowing recruiting process. This is a distinct advantage over many private firms, or even some counselors employed by schools.

We specialize in helping student athletes present the specific attributes of themselves that make them a good match with specific universities and rowing programs through the college admissions process – applications, essays, phone calls, emails from coaches and official visits are our natural element. We understand the market on every level.

Integrity and Passion

We limit our clientele. We do this to provide the better service to those we work with while providing a better match for colleges. We also believe this is a good way to establish trust, which we think is the critical bond in any coaching (or good business) relationship.

Thus, we seek out athletes with the passion to continue their rowing on the next level and then examine each case individually to help align the athlete with the best opportunity to enjoy their college experience.

When and How to Begin

We're free for freshmen and start a pricing plan for sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

Though the most intense work generally occurs with juniors and seniors during their fall semester, work can begin earlier. Ideally, many clients work with us over the course of their junior year such that they can save energy and expense on the process in their senior year. We like to build a relationship with our clients. It's important to know them if we're to help them as college and recruiting guidance counselors.

We seek to provide a coaching experience as we would have our clients' college experience be – character driven, enjoyable, efficient, and effective.