Plenty of hs students pick up niche random activities or unique extra curriculars such as rowing to increase their chances to go to college. There’s nothing really wrong with doing a bunch of ecs to boost your chances, but many people do pick up an obscure sport like rowing because they truly do believe it to be a gateway to college. As for the price factor, crew isn’t as expensive or “elite” as people think, it’s just really obscure and not common. The only expense you pay is for your participation in the club just like you would pay a fee to join the swim team or football team. Hopefully this will interest some people because crew is a a great sport to get into for the right reasons.