Hahaha nope! When I visited Tennesse, Alabama, and Georgia recently I realized wherever I go there's gonna be a little bit of culture shock. But I'm ready for the transformation! Lol Did you graduate from Mason? I live about 15 minutes from the campus and it's absolutely blowing up! Sometimes I wish it just wasn't in my backyard. Also from what I've heard from friends at GMU, since it's such a commuter campus, either participating in athletics or going greek are some of the only ways to get that "college experience". But obviously you chose the latter so I'm sure you enjoyed mason :)

I took your advice and checked out some of the bid lists to find a few girls who graduated from my school on them! Not girls I'm very close with but one I even played basketball with! I go to a high school of about 4,000 kids though so it's not exactly an everybody knows everybody kind of thing. But I'm hoping since there aren't thattt many of us down there, seing their hometown on a rec sheet or something could spark their interest? I'm not sure the new rules about contacting actives but atleast we're already facebook friends? Haha.

I knocked out basically all of my applications this summer so those have been sent along with transcripts and scores! Thanks a ton for all of your helpful information!

Good luck! When getting recs, begin with who you know and move out in expanding circles. Your cousin probably had friends or classmates in other sororities at UF. Ask her if she can contact people. Those friends may have friends as well.

As others have said, you probably know more sorority women than you think. Some of your teachers are greek, some of your parents' friends are greek. Some of your friends' older sisters or parents are greek. If you know a fraternity man, (father's business associate, golf partner, etc.) he probably knows a sorority woman--perhaps his wife or daughter.

My best advice for a great recruitment next year? Enjoy THIS year. Try something new and challenging. Study hard and maintain or improve your grades. Practice being a great conversationalist. Make graciousness a habit. Meet new people and take a genuine interest in their activities and thoughts. This will make your senior year so full and rich that you will enter recruitment with a great spirit and attitude.

Heh. You can find those outside Northern cities too. Not so much in New England, but certainly in places like Indiana.
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Great advice as well as being sure Alabama is where you want to be. You won't have a problem getting in with the grades you list, but make sure it is the best fit for all reasons and for all of your goals.

You are on track to be thinking about recruitment now, with your big emphasis beginning after the 1st of the year. My daughter rushed this fall at a big SEC school, had great everything like you and tons of recs. It was still brutal. Here are some suggestions:

1. Ask your mom to write her circle of friends. For my daughter, I emailed my tennis friends, church friends, club friends, etc and said she would be going through rush. I listed the sororities on campus and asked for help. Other moms in sororities love helping girls like you and I was honored at how much they cared. I am sure this will be the case for you. We asked everyone we ran across and kept a list. Once you have your list, prepare a nice package for the rec writer, including your pictures, resume a nice cover letter, a blank rec form for their sorority (you won't be able to do this for all houses, many are restricted to the members only) and self addressed envlopes with LOTS of postage.

2. Once you are SURE you want UA, you really must start trying to get to know girls in some of the houses there. This is what we did not know going into rush this year. There are just so, so, so many girls going through that on paper they all start to blend together. The girls that have the best rushes are the ones that have girls in the houses swinging for them. I would suggest making some road trips to Tuscaloosa and have an AGE APPROPRIATE, best manners weekend. Make getting in front of girls in the houses your priority. Combined with the rec's you will be in much better shape.

Good luck!

I know you are very interested in Alabama, however I have first hand knowledge about South Carolina. My daughter just completed recruitment there. We are also OOS, but still from the deep south. Surprisingly enough the majority of out-of staters at SC are from Penn, Maryland and New Jersey. That being said, my daughter told me that certain chapters are comprised of girls mostly from the south. Good luck and Roll Tide/Go Gamecocks.;)

DING! Katmandu is right on. As a fellow NoVAite, (and yes, we are considered Northerners, you aren't Southern until you hit Richmond!) I can tell you that there are a lot of SEC/ACC/Big 12 grads in this area who "get" the importance of recs. (Not to disparage those from other areas of the country, but recs aren't always of such importance elsewhere in the US.) Starting off asking your friends' moms and older sisters, your mom's friends, your favorite teachers if they are sorority members and would be willing to write a rec for you is a good first step. You could even connect with other girls in your class that are thinking about joining a sorority in college and help each other find women who would be willing to write recs for the girls in your future sorority member group. Ask nicely, be gracious, and give them enough time to write them!

Keep those grades up. I know, there are so many other things to distract you during Senior year, and you are feeling burned out, but still... keep 'em up. GPAs count. Is your GPA based on the old 94-100 A scale, or the new one?

Southern schools have become increasingly popular with NoVA kids. So. Carolina and Alabama, along with Clemson, seem to be popular schools at my daughters' high school. I know girls that have had successful recruitments at both universities, and are very happy. Good luck and have a wonderful senior year! I am assuming you are a ram, bruin or bulldog?

LOL. This is funny.

NoVA is the south, as are D.C. and Maryland. That's both regionally and culturally. Of course, it is often not considered south if you're regionally and culturally comparing it to places further south.

City living and a Northern influence (transfers and commuters) does not make a place nonsouthern. Some of the "biggest bamas" and "most country folk" live in NoVA, D.C., and Maryland.

I think you will find most Southerners do not consider Northern Virginia, Maryland and DC to be "true southern". Voting in these areas tends to skew more liberal as compared to areas further south. A substantial number of people living in these areas are not originally from there, they are from all over the US and have moved there because of military, government or business requirements.

Alabama has just passed a new set of rules regarding pre-recruitment, which includes no contact during the fall semester. Therefore, while blondieee3 may visit campus as much as she would like, she can NOT contact/be contacted by sorority women until after final exams this semester. She should use this semester to enjoy her senior year, as should all PNMs considering Alabama. There's absolutely no harm in finding women right now to write recs for the PNM come this spring/summer, but no PNMs should be focusing on getting to know sorority women, yet. (For more info, look at the "Bama Sorority Recruitment 2010 thread- these rules are better discussed there)

They are very much the south.

(I already mentioned how people further south view that area and transfers and commuters--still the south)

True. I should have clarified, second semester visits. This is good policy and it is the part of rush that surprised me most (how the girls knew so many girls in the house prior to rush). It is making rush in the SEC become increasingly difficult for OOS girls and I wish something more could be done. Every house that cut my daughter simply becasue she wasn't well known enough lost out on a great potential sister.

Sorry, ask anyone who's actually from NoVa and they would never say they are southerners. That area is such a modge podge of people, it just can't be called southern. Now, pass over the beltway into Prince William County and beyond, and then maybe I'd believe you.

That's not true. :) There are born and raised Northern Virginianers who say they are from the south. But, if you can believe Prince William County and other areas that are Northern Virginia, then..... :)

And there are people in padded rooms that say they are Jesus Christ. So? :p

So I would never say there aren't.