Hollywin, I'm sure your daughter knows plenty of sorority women by now. Could she mention her interest in a sorority to them? Maybe she could be picked up informally this semester. Did she register for spring recruitment and not get any invites?

All this is my opinion based on my own observations, not anything official in any way.

It's more difficult but not impossible to get a bid as a sophomore

Some groups won't really look seriously at sophomores.

There's another set of groups who might be open to sophomores who are already close friends with a group of members and are extremely well qualified PNMs but this set of groups isn't really going to look at sophomores that they don't know and/or aren't spectacular.

Then there are groups that have sophomores as a part of the pledge class every year.

The cuts after first round for anyone who isn't a freshman will probably hurt badly, and there's like to be another set of painful cuts right after bid lists are made when groups look at chapter inventories and see that they can't afford to take as many sophomores as perhaps they'd like to bring back.

But a well qualified sophomore PNM with good character can often find a place in a GLO at UGA.

However, girls need to keep in mind that the pool of groups they have open to them is not likely to expand in sophomore year unless they've made some deep friendship with many girls in some of the GLOs that they didn't know anyone in the year before. The pool of groups interested in a particular PNM is likely to be a reduced number of the groups who were interested in her as a freshman.

You don't typically get cut as a freshman and then rush as a sophomore and get invited back more places.

If you rushed and dropped out freshman year, you're likely to be looking at the groups you had on your party list minus a couple when you dropped, not a new and expanded list. Be realistic. Make sure you are really rushing with an open mind or don't bother.

Thank you so much for your honest answers.
My daughter went through UGA rush in the fall and ended up dropping out, so she did not qualify for a snap bid.

I was in a sorority at UGA, I am so amazed at how things have changed. Legacies were so important in my day. After all if it were not for them the chapter would not be where they are today.

Recomendations were also important. We looked at each one. My daughter had at one house 3 recs and a sister rec and was still not invited to a Spring rush party !!
Courtesy was a huge part of my sorority in my day. How sad that times have changed.

The decision to participate in next years rush is up to her. I will not either encourage or discourage. She can make her own decision. She has a wonderful GPA and so many UGA activities. I am so proud of her.

If she dropped out, I have to assume it was because she did not get invited back to the houses she wanted. Numerous recruitment threads point to the fact that if you can keep an open mind and look again at houses you perhaps wouldn't have considered at first, you may in fact find your home. If she dropped out, that means she rejected some chapters - they didn't reject her. Of course that is her right, but I think it important to point out that her not getting a bid is because she chose to opt out of the system. That may have hurt her in terms of spring recruitment.
I was dropped by my legacy chapter during rush (after bursting into tears at a party after finding out my aunt had died of breast cancer) which I had gone into rush assuming I would pledge, but I figured out that I would rather be with a group that really wanted and loved me rather than one that took me because I was a legacy. I'm not being critical - I just want to give a different perspective.
I'm glad she has been active on campus, and hope she is happy no matter what course of action she decides to pursue.

She dropped out because she was only invited back to one house that she knew would probably not give her a bid. Religious reasons we assume.

She had recs at almost every house.

We are from out of state. She had a 4x legacy at one house and was dropped from many because they assumed she would pledge there.

The irony was that she was not interested at this house and they dropped her after 2nd round. The legacies were all from UGA !!

She was caught up in the system !!

I saw that highschools in GA. are already receiving information from UGA on rush. This gives the out of state girls such an unfair advantage. My daughter went to a great school (Charlotte Catholic Highschool), but there are almost no one from this school at UGA.

She is proud to be there from her parents legacy. She is now a Bulldog in her own right with or without a sorority.

I know that in Texas some high schools are practically feeders to certain chapters. It's tough for small private schools, like the one at which I taught in Houston.
I am so sorry your daughter got caught up in the cut-throat nature of rush at UGA - I'd love to hear that she found a home in a sorority there, but it sounds like she has a great attitude even if she doesn't.
And I'm with you as far as treatment of legacies - I'm always astounded when chapters seemingly fail to consider it. I have known of legacies being dropped for just the reason you state - it was assumed they would pledge their legacy house, when in fact they were not interested in it.

Legacies and recs are still a very important part of recruitment. DG strives to pledge a certain percentage of legacies every year. Also, just because you daughter had recs, does not necessarily guarantee that the recs endorsed her.

I don't know if this is true for UGA, but at UT a PNM who has dropped out of formal fall recruitment previously is much more likely to get cut in recruitment. If she does decide to rush next fall as a sophomore, she will have a very difficult time, but it is possible for her to get a bid.

UGA is an SEC school and let's face it, just about every chapter there is great. Instead of setting her sights on the "biggest and best" houses you should encourage her to keep an open mind through out recruitment. There is nothing better than being Greek and it's an experience that she will carry with her for the rest of her life.

Thank you..

My daughter has not found a home in a sorority, although she would love to.

I am not sure she will go through again. She has been hurt enough. One sorority that she loved did not even extend her an invitation to any parties during Spring rush even though she had 2 recs and several calls by alumni and a sister endorsement !!

Her best friend is a pledge this year and put her name on a party invite and she did not receive one.

Please understand, I know I am a mom who loves her daughter, but this is a girl who has done so much since arriving at UGA and had great highschool activities. Her fault is from being from out of state. I know from being a GA. girl that so many sororities set their sites on girls from the Atlanta highschools way before rush starts.

My daughter is a survivor and a great supporter of all philanthropies. She has already raised so much money for her charities this year. I am so proud of her.

Like I said, whatever she chooses to do with recruitment next year is her call. Her academics and activities speak for themselves.

If they invited her back, it is very doubtful that they wouldn't bid her for religious reasons.

Hollywin,

I'm sorry that your daughter's experience has been so bad.

I just wanted to note that I'm not sure your information about high schools in Georgia receiving recruitment information is actually correct.

It's possible that some do through their local alumnae panhellenics which could sponsor recruitment information sessions in any state, but I don't think the high school where I teach gets anything from UGA about recruitment, and if they do, they don't promote it. *

Anything that might come from the school probably goes directly from UGA to the admitted students through email or letter, I would guess, and goes to out of state girls as well.

Certainly, informally in-state hometown girls get information from from other UGA students from their hometowns, but this is probably the case at 90% of the colleges with Greek life. And I think it's the case that having hometown people pulling for you in the groups is an advantage, but it's an advantage that not even the in state girls have at all the chapters. Of 17 groups, the girls from the high school where I teach can be found in only five of them, I'm pretty sure. It's a difficult recruitment no matter where you are from.

I agree with you that it's a shame legacies get cut/ have to get cut. As you probably know though, UGA's Chi Omega chapter has more than a pledge classes worth of legacies going through in any given year. (Certainly, they aren't all 4 time legacies from the UGA chapter though.)And again, I'm sorry that your daughter hasn't found a home yet in the Greek system.

ETA: * I really don't think they get anything, but if they did, I really doubt the official word from Greek Life would really give a girl much of an advantage.

Wow. I'm sure they're all great and all their moms would love for them to be Chi Omegas, but it's just not possible. There was a sorority at my school that could fill over half of quota (which was only like 15) with legacies. So they naturally had to release some of them. PNM's and their families would be really upset over it, and it caused the chapter alot of stress.

The reality of it is that the chapters realistically cannot pledge them all, and I think parents should be cognizant of that fact. The chapters need to make room for others that may not have that legacy tie but would still make great sisters.

My daughter only had one invite back when she dropped out. She did not want to pledge a sorority that she did not feel comfortable in just to be in one. After round 1 she only had 3 invites back and after round 2 only 1. I really think she made a wise decision to drop out.
Yes she was cut by my sorority and I understand that they can in no way extend invites to all legacies as that would be impossible. Unfortunately being a 4X UGA legacy to this UGA chapter closed many doors for her at other sororities. When they have to make huge cuts after round one it is understandable that seeing her rec with such a legacy she would be an easy cut.

If she does go through again in the Fall should she not list her legacies ? Any thoughts..