Yes, I was confused about the NPC! Thank you VioletPretty for clearing that up for me. :)

Hmm...so do you think that sororities would not be too happy with my prior membership to another sorority? Should I tell them that I was in one before while rushing? I know that my sorority would not have cared about prior membership just as long as she fit in well with the sorority, but I understand it all depends on the rules/standards of each sorority.

33girl...do you think I wouldn't be able to get into the "best" sorority on the campus? I just was a little confused by what you meant by "top chapter." I already have a sorority in mind that I want to rush, I am just unsure of how and where they stand in comparison to the other sororities on this campus...

..and if this is the case, how much of my situation should I keep to myself or let the sisters know about during rush?

Thank you so much everyone, you have been an amazing help to me!

You might have to bring it up, but I wouldn't make it the first thing that comes out of my mouth. It can be a positive or a negative depending on how you present it. When you say you're a transfer, a natural question would be to ask what you were involved with at your old school. If you say something like," I was involved with a local sorority for X years, I liked _____, and I am looking for _____ in an NPC sorority," that would be a good way to present yourself. If you trash your local sorority, or act paranoid about being cut because you were in a local at your first school, that makes you look bad, so don't do that during recruitment.

There was a 29 year old on GC who received a bid from her first choice chapter at a noncompetitive school. Depending on the competitiveness of a campus and a particular chapter, a 22 year old student with fewer than 3-4 years left may face more cuts. Some chapters are forced to cut more women per this really complicated system that helps to match the most potential members with a chapter.

Don't worry about things out of your control. Play up your good qualities. Good luck to you.

I might advise you to leave the fact that you were in a local out of your conversations simply because there might be confusion among NPC actives just like the confusion you (and I!) had over this. I could see that a random comment about being in another sorority might throw someone for a minute.

BUT, I don't know anything about your campus and local orgs and related rules governing pledging others might be common knowledge there. It is not anything you have to hide, but as Violetpretty said, it doesn't need to be the first thing out of your mouth.

If an active were confused about whether she is eligible, the question would most likely go to the chapter's membership advisor, who should know that the OP is eligible for membership in an NPC sorority.

Depending on how many people are rushing you might not get a bid exactly where you are thinking of - just keep your options open. I'm saying that more in regard to the being a junior part than the you were in a local at your other school part.

However - I thought before you meant that you were at a school that had nothing but locals - did your school have locals and nationals and your local was part of Panhel? (I'm not trying to out you, honest, just getting a handle on the situation) If the local was on the same "level" as the other nationals, that might get a little dicey. Honestly if that is the case, I would resign from your "old" sorority before you rushed again at your new school.

Yes, my sorority went to the weekly panhel meetings with one other local sorority and about 3 other national sororities. My next question would have been to see if I should officially "resign" from my old sorority before rushing...someone earlier in this post mentioned the idea of not doing so, but if in not doing so will cause problems then I probably should before next fall, yes?

Also, I spoke with a girl I went to HS with who pledged the sorority I'm interested in, back several years ago. She told me that when she rushed there were some older girls who got bids but it honestly all depends on how well I fit in with the sisters, and not so much on how old I am and how long I will be there, so we'll see how it goes!

True, but you know that sometimes there is talk going on before the info ever gets to an advisor. She might be cut (in the active's mind) before they even vote. I don't know where she is transferring or the type of recruitment she will experience. This of course, has bearing on how this info is handled, but I could easily see that info being discussed and dismissed without asking an advisor.