In addition to the other reasons mentioned, I imagine it is also a decent proxy for a number of other characteristics (white, from a wealthy family) that you might not want to make explicit in your recruiting strategy. I guess Harvard just isn't doing a good enough job screening on those things these days.
"There's no surefire way to get into Harvard, but it certainly helps to have every advantage you can get." --A Harvard faculty member on why 2/3rds of the white students are Jewish.
What possible benefit would being a rower bring to working in an investment bank?
Perhaps I'm being cynical here, but rowers are usually white, tall, and fit. The usually have broad shoulders, long limbs, and tanned faces. Much of the job of an investment banker is looking the part.
"What possible benefit would being a rower bring to working in an investment bank?"
Something about the nature of rowing tends to self-actualize people. Not everyone, but a good chunk of those who commit to the program. I think it's some combination of:
- The kind of people who enjoy waking up at 5am to work hard for something that will never make them any money.
- The massive time commitment (30+ hours per week) forces people to get their shit together.
- The ability to undergo extreme pain without showing it or complaining. ("Harvard doesn't care. Princeton doesn't care. Navy doesn't care.")
- Never making excuses. ("There's no asterisks in rowing.")
- The ability to recognize when a team is or isn't working together, and he ability to learn to take pleasure out of firing on all cylinders as a team. There is this feeling called Swing in rowing that's completely ineffable, but basically it's where the boat is moving faster than the sum of everyone's inputs. It's also incredible elusive, and you tend to spend 1,000+ hours per year for a chance to experience it for twenty minutes a year. But when you do experience it, it completely rewrites your model of effective teamwork.
- Develops the Buddhist concepts of right view and right intention, and the hindu concept of non-attachment to outcome. ("The Olympian stands alone.")
- At the same time, you learn to take pleasure in getting to go out and fuck up someone else's day.
Plus there are all sorts of aesthetic benefits as well. And the fact that rowers tend to be much smarter than the rest of the student body as well as athletes in other sports.
Yeah I don't get why rowing is seen as significant. What this article is trying to point out is the top firms are looking for people like the winklevoss twins(harvard, olympic rowers, connected family, etc).
What possible benefit would being a rower bring to working in an investment bank? I can see student government, but rowing?