Three days til we move in. We both had a good cry tonight. I know she will be back for Labor Day weekend but I'm gonna miss her.

Auburn has their home opener against Arkansas Labor Day weekend. I hope she's not going to miss it.

Yes ma'am.

We need some good weather thoughts, prayers, & dances out there! Auburn forecast is 50% chance of rain/scattered thunderstorms all week....until Bid Day when it goes UP to 80%. Of course this doesn't stop it from being 88-90 degrees, too! Fans, umbrellas, and the good hairspray will be needed!

Good weather prayers going up! Good luck to all the PNM's on move in day and throughout rush as well!

Good luck to the girls going through recruitment! I'm looking forward to hearing all about it. My daughter will be headed to Auburn and recruitment in two years!

Have fun & War Eagle!!!

____________
Tri Delta Alum

I heard 1401 PNMs? That's huge! Good luck tomorrow! War Eagle!

I talked with a couple Pi Chis yesterday during move-in and was told that there were 83 Pi Chis with about 17 PNMS each. My daughter's group went out to dinner last night and there were 4 groups of 18 at the restaurant! :) There was so much energy on campus yesterday, it was amazing! Even with the rain!

Hi Ladies! Just wanted to add my daughter's experience going through rush at Auburn this week. We moved her in to her dorm yesterday and left her walking to her Pi Chi meet up last night.

Some facts which will make her recruitment unique... She has no knowledge of any of the sororities on campus and is excited to be in A sorority not a particular one. Her gpa is high (above a 4.0) but her SAT was average. She is out of state and has a rec for every sorority but one. She is a legacy to one.

I will keep you posted on the results! :) Today is a full day of ice water teas.

Good luck to your girls!

Good luck PMN dads
 

My second annual post.
Daughter moved back to the the loveliest village on the plains for her second recruitment as a member and just as excited for recruitment as she has ever been. For all the stress she went through as a PMN during recruitment she loves her sisters and enjoys recruitment week with them.
For the dads, like me, who don't understand the process, but have to face the stress, my advice is to tell your daughters to be themselves and embrace the whole process. Somehow it seems to work out. Girls really do find their homes.
My other advice is to keep the corkscrew and the tonic handy to keep mom hydrated during the week!!

WAR EAGLE!!

LOL. Great to see you again AUDad! Good advice for the moms, cause if momma ain't happy then noone is happy! Someone posted a photo on FB of a back to school display of wine(complete with Back to school signs all over it). I thought that had to be in a college town and the stocker was solely thinking of PNM parents!!

War Eagle to all you other Tigers! Hang in there--it's an exhausting week but keep your eyes on the prize!

So it started today. Twelve houses today and five tomorrow. She is having a good time so far. Told me that hair is now in a ponytail bc the humidity is crazy high. High chance of rain tomorrow and for most of the week. The good thing about rain is it is the great equalizer. Everybody looks the same. Soggy.

Good luck to all PNM's! Daughter reporting 1,402 coming through recruitment -- not sure that's an official number. Can't believe she is a senior this year. Her recruitment seems like it was just yesterday!

Okay I'll join in. D also going through recruitment. She is another one who did zero research and just wants to be in a sorority where she'll fit. She's also out of state and had at least one rec for each sorority.

I've gotten a few texts, she's having a lot of fun and it's super loud. She is a hair straightening champion, but I wonder if her naturally curly hair is starting to show itself.

I live in a climate that gets hot and humid, but boy that sun is STRONG in Alabama!

I'll join in, too
 

I joined this group five years ago, a year before my DD graduated from high school. It is so hard to believe she is participating in her final recruitment and next weekend, we will attend our final Bid Day together. Greek Life at Auburn has been the most amazing, wonderful experience for my DD. Time has surely flown! These girls work so hard to make this a special week for the PNMs. It is truly amazing to see all of the behind the scenes work that goes into recruitment. I wish all of you a great week and I can't wait to hear your stories!

Just for your encouragement, my DD is from Alabama. She attended a very small private school outside of Birmingham. She had a great GPA, but a mediocre ACT score. She had no legacy to any house, and only knew a handful of girls in any of the houses on campus. She did her homework and had a Rec for almost every sorority. Her recruitment was not "perfect", but she maintained an almost full schedule - I think she had 10/12 visits on Philanthropy Days, but all the rest were full and maximized her options after Pref and got in the house that was her first choice from day 1. She has been a leader in her sorority and has made life long friends.

Enjoy this week as crazy as it will be!

Every year, in both Auburn and Tuscaloosa, we tell people to expect extremely high humidity and rainstorms.
And every year, people think we're kidding.

Talked to my daughter briefly last night. She went to 12 houses yesterday. Her feet are killing her and she is losing her voice having to talk over everyone's conversations! She only visits 5 houses today and then list her favorites for philanthropy days. :)

She told me some girls in her pi chi group were worried that they didn't have any recs. I feel the panhellenic council at Camp War Eagle really steered these girls and their moms wrong. They were adamant that you did not need recs, that recs were just "extra credit". :(

That makes me crazy. A lot of those girls will be cut tonight for lack of recs.

If the girls make it through this first cut, does this mean the recs become a non issue for the next round of parties?

With so many rushing this year is a girl with no recs in danger of being dropped?

I would think they'd be in even MORE danger of being dropped because there are so many people participating in recruitment...?

I think it's wrong that they mislead girls and parents into thinking recs were not required. I think there are going to be a lot of unhappy girls. As someone else stated, recs are never required (per se) to participate but to have a successful recruitment is a different story

We all know Panhellenic can't say "you must have recs to participate in rush!" Because that's a lie. You also don't need clean clothes or deodorant, if you want to get technical. The only things you must have are the required GPA and the required chromosomes (and even the latter might be up for debate).

But going to the other side and saying that recs aren't needed doesn't work either. They aren't needed for rush, but they ARE needed by some chapters to give a girl a bid. Unless all the chapters get together and agree they won't cut girls for lack of recs - which will never happen any more than chapters will get together and agree on ANY MS issue - if you can't find a roundabout way to say it, you need to just keep your mouth shut.

:eek: Dying over here!

My daughter is also telling me many, many girls are telling her they only got a few recs here and there, but that they really weren't needed anymore. I only knew because I read it here months ago. However, if you go look at the individual sororities websites they give you an address to send the recs. If they didn't want/need them, they wouldn't ALL have the address and info for receiving them.

What drives me crazy is when the Mom is greek and tells me that recs are not really needed any more. This girl is not going through rush at Auburn but is going through rush at a Texas school later this year. Of course, this mom also thinks that it is given that since her daughter is a legacy at a chapter at this school that all is good.

This happens so much. Greek mom went to BFE State U and "knows" that her sorority doesn't use recs.

Talked to my daughter after her last 5 ice water teas and her ranking. She had to list her top 5 to drop. She is exhausted and is starting to question if sorority life is really for her. She has been disappointed that she has not met any engineering majors in the sorority houses and knows her course load will take up more time than other majors. It would really help if she could talk to some sorority members that have done it.

She will text me how many houses she got asked back to tonight after her pi chi group meets. She is hoping she does not get asked back to a lot. I fear she might throw in the towel if she is overwhelmed. :eek:

I also think homesickness and left boyfriend are starting to catch up to her.

But if lots of PNM's don't have recs, or have only a scattered few, then most PNM's will still have invites, just perhaps a more limited number. I know nothing specific to Auburn, but from what I know of RFM in other big recruitments, there are likely chapters that have enough invitations to invite back everyone who makes the grade cuts. In fact, the rec confusion can, in a backwards sort of way, HELP some of the weaker recruiting chapters, because they might have a shot at top PNM's who don't have recs and therefore get released from the stronger recruiting chapters.

Which is to say, the advice from AU panhellenic is still dumb, but it's likely not catastrophic.

I agree that this situation can help WRCs, but it could be considered catastrophic from the vantage point of the PNM. If a PNM thinks she has a shot at a strong recruiting chapter, but doesn't get a rec since she thinks she doesn't need one, she might feel that disaster has struck.

The whole "I thought recs where only extra credit" whine makes me crazy on the PNMs/mamma's part. Even if recs were only extra credit in some alternate universe that was not the SEC, wouldn't you WANT any and all extra credit?

I am sure most young women (or their parents) put in a ton of effort with their college applications. Why put in less effort now when you are making a choice that will last a lifetime? Ask a few questions! Learn the current lay of the land! Secure your darn recs!

(steps off soap box)

Whereas if she traveled from BFE to Great Big City, she would do things differently -always locking the car etc. When you go to a different place things are different. Even if it is your sisters. How anyone gets through one issue of their national magazine and doesn't figure that out I do not understand.

But the problem with this is that it further diminishes the "mutual" aspect of mutual selection for the PNMs.

It must be stressful for the PNMs who followed AU Panhellenic advice to now hear that most in their rush group have at least one (and many two) recs to each chapter. They may be left wondering if a chapter they loved released them for lack of a rec -- especially since this is their most favorable (and perhaps only) opportunity to have numerous invitations during recruitment.

Best never to leave "extra credit" on the table in any competitive endeavor (that matters to you, anyway).

BINGO

Which is how joining a sorority might help. Please remind DD that just because she has not met any engineering students in the sororities does not mean each chapter does not have at least one member studying engineering (probably more). If she feels comfortable to do so, she might ask her rush hostesses at each sorority if they have any members who are engineering majors. Maybe the member would take that as a clue to introduce DD to said eng. major.

I hope that she sees recruitment through to the end. It is tiring and emotional and hot and sweaty, but it is worth it.

Yes, that's exactly what she should do - ASK! It's OK to do that - in fact, it will make her more memorable for all the right reasons.

My daughter is a junior at Auburn and has several engineering majors in her sorority. As a matter of fact, at least one of the members of exec is an engineering major. You can be a sorority and be successful at ANY major. You just have to want it and be willing to work for it.