What do I do?
 

So I'm in an interesting situation. I'm a junior and I have always wanted to rush ever since I was a freshman, but due to the nature of my major (I'm a pharmacy/pre-med major) I couldn't rush because of how difficult my classes were and the chance that I may not be at my school for more than two years. I want to go through rush this year, however I am unsure of where I will be at next year. The possibility of transferring is floating around, but I really want to join a house, so I can at least experience what it would be like. Would it really be worth it, or should I just not rush?

~Lizzy

It's hard to explain, really. There were other issues besides school and my major (ie: finances, family issues, etc.) that prevented me from rushing. Honestly, before I got to college my freshman year, I didn't want to. One of my best friends is in a sorority, and she got me interested my freshman year. My sophomore year, I did informal rush, but I just didn't "fit" with any of the houses. So I should rephrase the school thing to school + other circumstances. :)

Hi!

I had to respond to this thread becaues, even though I'm only a PNM, I am also a Pre-Pharm major :)! Woohoo!

Anyway, I just wanted to share with you what I'm doing to maybe help you out? I know you have some different circumstances but hopefully this will help...

I did one year at JMU (before I realized I wanted to do Pharmacy). Somewhere near the end of the school year I realized I wanted to do Pharmacy, and so I transfered back to a state school to do my two-year pre-reqs for Pharm school (cheaper, I want to invest my $$$ in Pharm school). Anyway, I'm going through formal recruitment at my school next semester, even though I'll probably only be here for one and a half/two years (depending on when I complete my pre-reqs and the PCAT). I figure that this won't affect my chances much because my school isn't terribly competitive, and takes a lot of sophomores. However, we are different. You have a different school, different circumstances, different sororities, and you're a different person.

What would I say to do? (Once again, I'm only a PNM, but...) I would figure out when you're planning on going to Pharmacy school, and if you're going to transfer. If you're not sure, don't rush. You don't want to get a bid and then go through the "New Member Education" and then transfer. It's not fair to you or the sisters. So, figure out what you're doing .. and if you're going to be at your school for two more years or something, go for it!

ps. Good luck .. especially with Pharm school :)

The thing is: I could be here from a year to 4 years. And only a few houses participated. I don't want to try to do it next year, and not get in, because technically I'll be a senior, and I've been told that none of the houses on campus take seniors.

She said she's a PNM and in other threads she's mentioned plans to go through recruitment in the fall.

One of my pledge sisters went through rush, knowing she was transferring, because she wanted to make the best of the time she had left at our school. there has also been several seniors in the past few years rush or do COB because they wanted the experience and to join. if you want to rush, i say go for it. you never know it might help you decide to stay at your school. that has also happened with other girls at my school determined to transfer. joining a sorority and forming close relationships with their sisters helped them decide to stay.

It seems that you have lots of excuses for why you never went through recruitment and now, three years into your education regret it. Your classes (in any major) are bound to be more difficult mopw and your academic life in general is likely more time consuming than it would have been two-three years ago. Not knowing anything about your school or how competitive the recruitment environment is, you have to know that the active members will look at all of these facts in determining if they believe you could fit in with their group. In other words, if you are unsure of your abilbity to comit to a group, they will likely be unsure about you. Good luck.

KSUViolet,

If you read my actual post, I mentioned several times that I'm only a PNM. You're either trying to be smart with me, or you didn't read my post...

I only wanted to give her advice because I'm the same major, and I know where she's coming from.

If you are not a member of a sorority, it's inappropriate for you to give advice about becoming a member of a sorority. That'd be like me telling you how to become a pharmacist and expecting you to weigh my advice as heavily as someone who is a pharmacist.

Stay in your lane.

My 2 cents: Go for it!:)

Good luck to you (and good luck to court4short too!)

:)

agzg said;

If you read her post, you will see that she stepped in as a fellow pre-pharm major, NOT as a sorority member giving advice. She shared how she is planning to handle sorority responsibilities as pre pharm.

I don't think she did anything wrong. (If she did anything, she got her hackles up a bit over KSUViolet's post, but nothing serious.)

I say,"Good luck to both PNMs."

^^^Ditto.

Court4short said twice in her post that she is a PNM and she gave her perspective as a PNM in the same major on whether to go through recruitment. She never said anything about OP's chances of getting a bid or anything about MS. Give her a break. It's not like she's giving advice about SEC rush when she hasn't been to an SEC school.

Gees, if I knew I was going to feel attacked, I don't think I would have asked. I was just asking an honest question, looking for an honest answer. Not to be told I'm full of excuses. So I didn't rush my first two years...big deal. I was just focused, and had some other issues that needed to be taken care of before I could make a commitment to anything other than myself. It happens.

Oh please. If this thread were in the academics forum I'd give her a break. As it is, it's in the Sorority Recruitment forum. Logic would lead one to believe that the OP is asking for advice on recruitment, first and formost. PNMs, even those in the same major, have no place offering advice to other PNMs.

A simple "I feel your pain, I'm pre-pharm too and I'm going through recruitment" would be enough, not a huge post. If they want to sympathize together, that's fine, but they shouldn't be offering advice when there are plenty of greekchat members who DID have demanding majors, DID still join, and found a way to make it work who have yet to weigh in on this particular poster's situation.

Getting an attitude with KSUViolet is also uncalled for. She's one of the very few posters on this site who is almost always nice to any PNM (or poster, for that matter) and can still cut through the BS.

You're not being attacked. Most of the questions asked of you are an attempt to help you figure out your situation through self-reflection. Don't get your panties in a bunch. We can't tell you what's right for you.

Ok. Ok.
It was just getting a little rough the last few posts, and I was starting to think that maybe I asked a question I shouldn't have.

My comments are from the sorority side of things. I feel a PNM who plans on transferring should tell the Chapter during Recruitment. It is the fair and honorable thing to do. This way the Chapter can make their selections with all the information and choose the candidates that best suit their needs. Yes it might hurt a PNM's chances, but if a Chapter really wants you as a member they will issue a Bid.

Please keep in mind each Chapter expects a certain amount of members for a certain amount of years. If the Chapter unexpectedly falls below Total it could place them in a difficult position with their I/natl. On top of that, in this lousy economy every Chapter has members with tight finances. All are suffering increasing member losses because of parent job loss, scholarship loss, dramatic tuition increases, education savings that tanked in the stock market, etc.

Point being, the amount of dues charged each member is based on the expected number of active members. Sororities have financial obligations too, especially those with a physical house. Some costs are fixed and cannot be cut (mortgage/loan, staff salaries, house maintenance, etc.) Other costs are rising, especially from companies that are trying to make up for lost sales in a bad economy. Unexpectedly losing members means the remaining members have to pick up that tab.

So pretty much, if I decide to go through with it, then I just need to be like "Hey, I'm applying to pharmacy school this year, and I'm not quite sure if I'm going to be staying here or transferring to another school." during rush? That's fair. I wouldn't want to put the houses in any position that would in the end hurt them. That wouldn't be fair to them at all.

You got it - especially if to give you a bid, they pass up another girl who would have been there for 3+ years. That hurts the sorority and another person who could have enjoyed that Greek opportunity.

Bottom line: if the majority of chapters at your school are not at campus total and always have to COB in both semesters to try to get there, I would go for it. (i.e. if your school is noncompetitive). You're most likely not going to be taking someone's spot.

If you are at a competitive school (i.e. there is one big huge rush once a year, hardly any open bidding, all the chapters are at total) I would skip it.

Also, a word about all these "juniors rushing" threads. Coming from a school where juniors FREQUENTLY rushed, it isn't weird to me. Many of the students at these schools simply do not have extra $$ to spare and they aren't going to jump into something they aren't sure they'll dig that costs a lot of money - there are still a lot of first generation college students and if not that, first generation Greeks. Most of the time when these women do go through rush, they know either know members in most of the chapters or a lot in one chapter and are pretty sure they'll get a bid.

The juniors at the SEC or other competitive schools are a different story. (Sweeping generalization ahead) These women seem to be the ones mostly who have had a lackluster to "ehh" first two years at college - it isn't The Most Awesome Thing Ever they were told it would be - and seize on a sorority as the way to remedy that. Unfortunately at those schools it doesn't work that way. Plus they often haven't really clicked with any other actitvities or clubs. All I can say is, if you're at the school of your dreams and it isn't fulfilling your dreams, either keep trying till you find your niche, or transfer.

Eeeeek..never intended to offend anyone. I simply wanted to share my advice with someone going through a similar situation as myself. Never did I ever state that I was "all-knowing", and I clearly stated I'm only a PNM! I went into such great detail because I felt it was necessary to explain my situation vs. the OP's. Also, I feel like I had the right to give advice just as much as members in a sorority. If you're not a Pharm major, you probably don't understand how weird our schooling is. Since I am, I understand where the OP is coming from. That's all. Just because I'm not in a sorority doesn't mean I don't have good advice to offer.

And sure, get mad because I got a little sassy with KSUViolet. I can see where that's upsetting..but it's not like I was completey out of line :rolleyes:.

Thanks for everyone who actually understood I was just trying to help. I'm not a person who acts like I know it all by any means.

Done ranting. OP - hope I helped in some way. Good luck to you.

YES. Honesty is the best policy here. I feel as though it is a tad misleading for you to join, without telling anyone during recruitment that you may leave in a year. If you're honest with them, it puts the ball in their court, so to speak and you're being upfront with everyone. Best of luck to you.

I know you're just trying to help, but as has been said a zillion times on GC, it is not appropriate for a PNM who has yet to go through recruitment to be giving recruitment advice. School/pharm advice, sure. But not recruitment.

It's like getting hair color advice from the dude down the street instead of your stylist at the salon.

Ok ok, I understand where everyone's coming from. I know I don't know everything about sorority recruitment, or intended my post to give off the vibe that she should follow my advice 100%. Just was trying to empathize and give my 2 cents.

I think you should go for it...you never know unless you try! If you don't get a bid, you've lost nothing besides the fee you paid for rush.

I'm not sure if it's different for your campus, but at my school, in my chapter and several others, sisters typically went "alumn status" or something similar after their 4th year of school. The truly active sisters were in their Fresh through Sr years of college.

I think you might be limiting your sorority chances by mentioning that. I think you will have some chapters cut you that wouldn't, if you didn't say it. Should you still, to be honest? Can't tell you what to do.

This thread is pushing on a year old.

Be that as it may.... I think it's pretty silly to tell girls to share information during recruitment which would harm their chances. That always rubbed me the wrong way about the advice on GC. I have quite often seen with people who were considering transferring that joining a GLO gave them more reason to stay.

I think the reason it is said has to do with the quota system. How some chapters would prefer to bid people who can actually stick around a bit to contribute to the chapter. I have a feeling that if the quota system wasn't a factor the advice would be different.

I think most chapters would prefer people who will stick around longer than those who won't, regardless of the quota system.

But whether I am Becky the PNM at 19 years old or Scott the Alumni Aspirant for an NPHC org at 40, why would I share information which would harm my chances if I could help it? I wouldn't.

True, but this girl was not talking about transferring but going into a professional school at another campus. She just didn't know if she'd get into Pharmacy School. If she knew what was smart for her, she wouldn't tell them that it was a possibility, but at many schools, it wouldn't matter anyway...she's a senior.

court4short, if you are not in a sorority, why do you have this in your signature: AΦ "If you find the girls that love the you, you love..well then that's just fAbulΦus."

She posted last July when she was a PNM and has since gone through recruitment I believe.

ah, i see. i didn't notice this was a bumped thread.

Yeah, I understand. And I really wasn't as interested in the girl's situation as much as I was observing the pattern of responses in this thread and in others. :)

Yeah...many times, the advice is geared to benefit chapters more so than individual PNMs. I guess because all of us have had the irritation of having members join then transfer the next semester. If a PNM knows that they are going to do this before they even go through, a lot of people feel like that PNM is just taking the spot that someone else would have enjoyed for 4 years. Of course, with quota systems every woman should have a place...every place just may not be equal.