I'm really glad she liked so many of the houses...and again I say, "AMBIEN"! ;)

Texasmom, I'm a Longhorn, but I am really enjoying reading this thread. Best of luck to your daughter - it sounds like she is having a great time.:)

tinydancer how long ago was gamma phi beta at UT? I just transferred in and didn't know they had been on campus here before, cool stuff.

Good deal! Keep us updated...we appreciate your night time posts!! GO TEXASDAUGHTER!! GET SOME SLEEP TEXASMOM!!

Quite a while ago. I would need to look at my directory at home to find the exact dates. I want to say they left in the 80's but don't quote me, I'm just guessing.

My thoughts are with you TexasMom. Hope you will soon get good news and things went well today for TexasDaughter!

My daughter is going through day three of rush. I was in the dentist's chair today with a drill in my mouth when the phone rang from across the room. I knew it was her with the next list in hand but I couldn't answer, she left no message. Don't know if it was a call of joy or tears...as Tom Petty says, "The waiting is the hardest part."

Oh my gosh - my daughter (and I) were in the same boat last year. Yep - a big Texas University. She (and I) were filled with anxst!! I was with her for day 1 (5 parties) but had to go home for the rest of rush. I was tied to the phone!
So, here we are a year later and she's now a Sister, a rusher, and while she's very, very happy and "at home" - being a rusher is much harder than she thought and also very stressful. She and I have often talked about how great Rush was for her last year and here's her top suggestions of what worked for her. She was invited back to the max parties every night:
1) Be totally open minded. Yes, thanks to the local Panhel and my unabashedly contacting every sorority woman I knew for a rec - "B" had at least one rec at every sorority. At least in my neck of the Texas woods, the local PanHel will ensure it.
2) Practice, practice, practice - yes, my daughter, "B" ,practiced the handshake, the small talk. My neice, an active Pi Phi, at Ole Miss helped her. 'B" is quite shy and the practice really helped. Today my daughter told me that it's quite apparent the girls who are asked an open ended question and can somehow turn it into a yes or no. Not a good thing.
3) take notes - after you leave the house - jot down who you talked with and about what -- not only so you can remember but so that at the next party you can say "yesterday I really enjoyed chatting with emily. we talked about your intramural softball league..."
4) CLEAN UP THE FACEBOOK. This year --- girls at this Texas school are being cut left and right because their Face Book has suggestive words, pictures of the girls with alcohol, allusions to alcohol, sleezy outfits. Sororities don't like this!!! My girl's facebook picture and profile was clean, cute, and interesting.
B and I early on decided to treat this like a job interview and followed everything you've heard - smile, BE PREPARED with questions, small talk; eye contact, remember - everyone likes the sound of their own name, etc. and it worked.
My daughter had a tough, tough time deciding which sororities NOT to return to. Odd as it sounds - she cut one because the house was just too loud - music on top of conversation. months later she learned that this house was, supposedly, one of the "tops"
I think your girl is in good shape - they like girls with good grades and who dress appropriately. She'll do great and if she goes where I think - all of the houses are fantastic. Keep us all posted.
CB

TexasMom, I'm enjoying your updates. I hope that things continue to go well for TexasDaughter. Hopefully you'll be able to get some sleep soon...:)

Amen! We discussed this at the Houston AP Round Table this year for the rising freshmen-- I think the younger alums caught the older ones off-guard when we were talking about it with the PNMs because the older ladies didn't know what Facebook/MySpace/LJ, etc., even were, but we've worked it into our print materials for next year.

What sorority is your daughter a member of?

Great post, Cindy1028. Sounds like your daughter was well-prepared! Glad it was a positive experience.

Don't take this the wrong way, but at some big, competitive Greek campuses you run into quite a few prospective new members who are so "well-prepared" that I refer to them as "professional rushees!" :)

One more thing I forgot to mention--- after all of the excitement, hoopla, stress, and exhaustion of RUSH and then several weeks after that my daughter said "Mom, you know I am sooooo happy and have NO regrets but in retrospect I think I would have been happy at several of the sororities." So, I think that's a testament to the character of sorority girls in general and it really says that there is a place for everyone. "B" wants to be a ... what do you call it - the anonymous Pan Hel girl next year so she doesn't have to hear the heartbreaking "SBE" - "shines better elsewhere" (who invented that brush off?!) esp for the girl who you've heard through the grapevine only wants your house. Glad it's all in the past for me! Good luck.

Well, invites are back, and TexasDaughter got three... the good news is that they are all to houses she really liked yesterday. I'd be lying, though if I said she wasn't discouraged. It does seem like she's getting cut hard. She's scared and not even trusting her instincts at this point, because she was rushed really hard at several houses and not invited back today. It's excruciatingly difficult because she gets her invitations, then has to swallow her disappointment & put her negativity behind her and go immediately into that first party.

I don't know if I'll be able to post anymore this evening, because I know she wants to talk to me after her last party. As I said before, TexasDaughter thinks things through by talking them out and I have a feeling she'll be thinking and talking this p.m. I know it's' important I stay positive for her -- and I feel I need to be there for her tonight.

For those keeping score, she got invited back to Chris, Fantasia and Paula.

Thanks to all my new friends on GC! Y'all have been wonderful!

Tell her not to be discouraged! It only takes one house to make a successful recruitment. She's still absolutely in the running with three invites. Good luck to her, and stay positive. I'm crossing my fingers for TexasDaughter.

I agree...be positive. I know this is really hard...but as you saw with my daughter...it can still work out!

can we find out what houses she's been cut from?