Very true. My daughter is from out of state and did not know a soul going into Bama Rush. She found a home and loves her sorority. She had strong recs from our college town.

Following this thread the past two days...just want to say good luck to all those who are going through. And to parents, things happen. Sometimes great girls get lost in the crowd of 1500 others and fall through the cracks. Being on the other side of rush is also difficult and can be excruciating. Each girl dropped is a decision made by a hometown. And each drop is not taken lightly. As for the cutting system currently in place at UA for the past 3 years is a difficult numbers game. The higher the return rate is for the house, the greater the cuts. Houses must identify "Tops" or RTP's early on. The biggest cuts happen after philanthropy and after skit. Just be prepared. Often massive cuts after skit day, because those girls coming to pref all have the opportunity to be on one of your three bid lists. Once again good luck.

I'd be careful saying that -- you can't assume this is the case for everyone.

What does that even mean?

I heard from my daughter a little while ago. She got invited back to her top 7 so she was VERY happy. She did say there was a lot of talk about the number of cuts made and some tears. But there was not much time for moping around because they started skit rounds immediately.

Heard from my daughter this morning! She tried to scare me and said that she only got 2 invites. I told her that was ok...it only takes one! But she then texted me back and said that she got 7! She also mentioned that three of her friends got 5 invites back..so that seems to be the norm.

Certainly, the role of hometown connections/locality can't be discounted. Not only are these chapters making huge cuts at this stage, they also have a vested interest in bringing in girls who will stay connected and loyal to the house as local alums.

Please know that I am not saying that women from out of the area cannot be loyal alums--far from it. But there is indisputable value in a person who is from the area, whose family roots are in Alabama, and who could be a contributor to the chapter someday, not only from a financial perspective, but also in terms of the alumnae network and advisory boards. I don't think that the collegians think this far ahead of course, but the mindset for getting the local girls sorted out geographically and certain towns represented in the new member class does go along with this idea of keeping it regional, and then, from certain regions preferably.

I definitely saw this going on at LSU with many of my classmates from HS. They all tended to get into the same 4 houses.

I was surprised yesterday when I was at Auburn. My son's roommate said that sorority girls were calling him asking him about certain girls going through rush that were from our hometown and state. He politely gave them no information as he didn't think it was appropriate....

Wow...several posts treading into Membership Selection territory.

You'd think people would know better... :rolleyes:

Just heard from one of my Bama girls. She's going back to 5, and is not sure but thinks the others are going back to 5 or 6. What is strange to me is that the houses she's going back to are random...all over the spectrum. I just told her (and told her to tell ALL of them) to smile, be themselves and everything would shake out the way it needs to be.

That is the best advice you could give the girls!!

^^^^^^
Agreed. Great advice Lamplighter.

Good luck to all the Bama PNMs as Bid Day nears!

Has anyone heard if people got bad news? Ours was not great and it's to days away.

Please define bad news.

How interesting for you that you have personally participated in membership selection for "a majority of the houses" to know how things work with other NPC groups. :rolleyes:

(this might be a good time to edit your post, and just back away quietly...)

My daughter's roommate is good friends with an Auburn boy who is dating an AU sorority girl and roommate called him and begged him to talk her up to his girlfriends sorority and he kept calling her back all night with questions from the GLO. I thought it sounded ... not right but then after I heard about the gift cards, food, and flowers being sent by a legacy's sister one of the houses I figured it was the norm. :p

Small print is the best Advise here.:cool:

I 'm a bit worried about FreshmanDad- Any news???:confused:

I'm glad Zillini QFPd. She didn't just make one indiscreet post, she came back and CLARIFIED.

but I read Pledged! (laughing)

i think it's this way with most schools. my school (3000 students) had about 300 girls participate in recruitment with 7 houses & were told that it's rare to have a full schedule. unfortunately, i was one of the minority & had a full schedule everyday...i was excited at the time, but then i was wishing i had a break to be by myself & away from estrogen. haha :)

Ya think?

Back to the UA thread...
I was relieved to hear that a girl from our area got 5 back for next round--she is out of state. Encouraging her to stay the course and hope for another good return1

Big cuts for skit!
 

My daughter texted me her list around 9:45 this morning. She was very excited to have six invites back to skit today, but disappointed to have been cut by 2 of her favs and some others. She likes all six chapters that she is returning to but has 2 actual favorites! I was worried about her to start with but felt relieved when she texted me soon after with, "I love ---, they're great!" BTW, she is also going back to her hometown friends chapter this afternoon. I'll post later to let everyone know how things went!:)

Good luck to all the girls (and their parents). One of my daughter's best friends is going through at AU. She still has her very top fav in her 3. Stressful, huh! :eek:

My daughter still has 6 on hers as well.. Being out of state and knowing a handful of people from panhellinic..

The Trunk??
 

bamamom13---That sounds like an excellent idea! Do you happen to still have the phone number to The Trunk (or anywhere else like that in T-town) for all of us out-of-towners???

My daughter got six invites today, two were old row. We live out of state and she only knows one person in a sorority at UA. We made sure she got a Rec for each house. So it appears the selection process is fair for out of state girls. I like her chances for getting one of her favorites but I am keeping my fingers crossed. :)

Google it. They have a web site. They will get the bid list and have pkgs. ready to go...Just get that Mastercard out and they will handle it all for you.

The Trunk
 

I believe the phone number is 1-800-Hey -bama. also very reasonable prices at the Trunk!
Good Luck

In fact, you should take care of it asap. they will be swamped. The Trunk tuscaloosa will bring it all.. a phone call away. The girls love the flip flops

:)Awesome! I'll do that tomorrow morning. Thanks so much! I'd thought about flowers, but would rather get her something she can use...something with her new Greek letters on it!:) Sure do hope she gets a bid.....ugh!:eek: I am so ready for this part to be over.

I sent flowers to the house during initiation week. 800-hey bama is the number for The Trunk. They will be open early tomorrow and be open very early and late on Sunday. Bid Day last year was about 105 degrees at 5:00pm. By the time my daughter had had all of the pictures taken, eaten and found out what came next, she wanted to quickly go back to her dorm and change out of her sweaty clothes and to pack a bag for the night. We went to The Trunk after all of this, and they were still open, very crowded and all of the employees were sitting on the floor still making up Bid Day packages. Those people are wonderful.

There also is another store called Letters that has some stuff too...
LETTERS
701 Paul W Bryant Drive
Tuscaloosa, AL 35401-1214

Phone: (205) 366-1055


info@lettersofalabama.com

Also, In tuscaloosa when I was younger the shorts with the sorority letters on the leg were big. Picture frames are always good because your daughter will take lots of ZAPS over the next few years.
OH yeah at Bama, the leather keychain wallets with sorority letters on them are really popular. They hold you id and keys along with a little money or credit/debit card as needed.
Believe me when I say, Parents should go if they can. Though they will not spend lots of time with their daughters, it will be nice to share the memory with the daughter. You also will get a meal and in some houses they will have someone there to talk to you and make you feel comforted about your daughter's new house. I know I went to my cousin's BID Day in high school and everybody was eating with their parents and other family and friends.
Also there is a good florist in town who is a little cheaper but just as good whose name is Miriam McFarland of Lilies of the Field her number is 345-4081. She can do arrangements and deliver them normally.

There are actually more out of state girls rushing than girls from Alabama. It can definitely hurt a girl if she is not known in some way - girls without recs can be released after the first round - the other two main reasons are grades and reputation.

Interesting comments. So do you think out of state girls have a big disadvantage?

Best of luck tomorrow, bama girls and parents.