Spring Recruitment at UF?
 

Hello,

I was curious if anybody had any information about the Informal Spring Recruitment at the University of Florida. I was curious how exactly it works, is it at all similar to the recruiment process in the Fall? How many sororities will be involved? The fraternities just had their Spring Rush and I know that almost all the frats were involved, only a handful did not accept new pledges. Just curious since I want to participate in Spring Recruitment but know nothing about it! Thanks

You could check with the Greek Life office to see if any groups are eligible for spring recruitment. Most of the groups at UF are normally over total so would not be eligible.

Alright thanks, one more question...do you needs recs for spring/informal recruitment or is that something that is done normally for formal recruitment?

Assume you always need recs.

Is it normal to ask sororities up front what their dues/fees are during the recruitment period?

If you go to the University of Florida's Panhellenic website, on the main page there is a link to Spring recruitment.

http://www.ufpanhellenic.com/page.ph...72&parent_id=0
The Panhellenic Council is currently getting ready for Spring Recruitment! If you are interested in learning more about the Panhellenic Council or Spring Recruitment, please attend one of our Spring Recruitment Information Sesisons:
-- Jan. 20, 7 p.m. in Broward Basement
-- Feb. 2, 7 p.m. in Broward Basement
-- Feb. 3, 8 p.m. in Hume Hall

Spring Recruitment will be held on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. in the Reitz Union.


So.. make sure you attend one info. session and then next week is informal recruitment. I would highly recommend recs.

As for mentioning dues to the sorority, I wouldn't do it. I would direct that question to the Vice President of Membership, her email can be found if you go to the link above. Actually, you can email her any question you may have about the sororities.

Thank you so much mittens!

wait until after your information session before you ask any questions in regards to dues. that might be one of the topics discussed that night.

Another quick question...What I should I wear!? We have one night of a more "formal" rush setting where we go and meet all the sororities in roughly 30 minute parties in one evening. They told us to wear nice dark jeans and nice top and maybe flats...I was curious if I wore a dark jeans that are inbetween skinny and straight, and one of the following tops, input would be loved :)- A skinny oxford or a polo (not sure if I should tuck or untuck) or a cardigan. Also, do you think khaki would be acceptable as well or no. Thanks!!!

do you know any sorority girls at uf? they would be your best bet for advice on what to wear. if you don't, then go with what was suggested , but maybe a little dressier. if the wardrobe suggestion did not include khaki, i would not wear it.

if most of the pnms are wearing dark jeans and a nice top, wear some sort of accessory that will set you apart(in a good way)-cute flats in a bright color(like the kind j. crew sells), a cute head band, scarf or piece of jewelry.

are the parties being held at the sorority houses? if so, make sure those shoes are comfortable and broken in, but still look in good condition(no scuff marks).

Well I did ask someone I knew in a sorority and they said polo and flats before I even asked about wardrobe-thanks for your advice about accessories at least this gives me an excuse to shop :)

good luck kat, and let us know how everything goes.

I would of said polo or a cute girly top with maybe some flower prints or something (since its spring :o) but always good to get advice from sorority women! Good luck and let us all know how everything goes.

I honestly think that 99 times out of 100, dark jeans are much more flattering than khakis of any kind.

yes!

So I am going to update this for all my future gator girls out there that may participate in spring recruitment at UF!
So there were 7 sororities participating this year with roughly 130 pnms! So that was interesting, considering there is at most about 10 spots open in each house.
We were divided up into 7 groups of roughly 20 girls per group. Each sorority had a different room in the student union which you were led to and stood outside of until the panhellenic council gave the sororites the go ahead to let us (there was one group at a particular house at one time).
We were in these "parties" for 20 minutes exactly (I called it sorority speed dating) and depending on the house you were interviewed/talked to by one member of the house of several memebers of the house. In the party you gave them a card with your name and pnm number. After the 20 minutes there was a 10 minute break between "rounds" to give the sororities a chance to dicuss amongst themselves what they liked.
The whole event was about 5 hours long and quite scary but exciting! Then today at noon the panhellenic council released our information to the sororities and gave them permission to contact us, and they are able to contact us (if they want of course) for the rest of the week x_x! So it is quite a sit and wait situation. So far I have been contacted by three of the seven houses which is quite exciting but confusing since you are unsure of who else may contact you (but thats just me)!

How exciting for u kat3!!! Cant wait to read your next installment!

i agree with twinkle-how exciting!!! i hope that you are able to attend as many events as you are invited to. 3 out of 7 is really good, with maybe even more to come. please keep us updated as you are able.

ps-did most girls wear the dark jeans/polo/flats ensemble?

So I decided to revisit this thread since I recklessly abandoned it :)

Anyways, I ended up getting offered bids from 5 of the 7 houses (which surprised me ALOT since I have no friends in sororities nor did I have any recs), but decided not to accept any bids because I was quite shocked by the cost. Once I found out it was going to be upwards of $2000 every semester I got cold feet and decided against it.
I do regret my decision since I did/do really want to be in a sorority, but in my mind I can't justify paying that kind of money. I have been going back and forth about rushing this upcoming fall so we will see where I end up.
Also, during informal recruitment a lot of the other girls were talking about their experiences in formal rush and how it was something everybody should experience, which made me feel like I was missing out on a great experience involved with joining a sorority. Not that informal rush is bad, I just am bizarre and felt weird not taking part in that tradition of "formal rush" if I was planning on joining a sorority. So I guess I have some "soul searching" this summer in regards to sorority joining :) Thanks for everyone’s help though!

P.S. The majority of the girls did wear dark jeans and a nice top, but some did wear nice summer dresses, and almost everyone was in flats!

Some honest advice:

Take a very realistic look at your financial situation and how you would pay for sorority membership if you did join this fall.

Sorority costs (in my experience) do not decrease from year to year, in fact they tend to increase (due to increases in things like national dues/fees). I'm just putting that out there in case you were expecting the cost to change dramatically because you decided to wait.

I might have missed this, but Is that $2000 inclusive of room and board?

Anyone who truly believes that everyone has to experience formal rush to have the full sorority experience is certifiable. Any girl who said that to you is a being passive agressive bia and trying to make you feel "less" for receiving a bid through informal rush.

I'm kind of wondering that you didn't even check into average dues with the Greek life office if money is a large factor to you. You would have known at least around the amount you had to pay, wouldn't have been so shocked and could have maybe figured out finances or payment arrangements. Unfortunately, now you turned down 5 sororities who probably are not going to give you another chance. Even if it truly is financial - they're going to think you didn't find them good enough and are trying to "trade up."

As KSUviolet said, the costs aren't going to be any cheaper in the fall. It might even be more expensive, with homecoming dances and whatnot.

If you can't afford it, don't bother going through rush again in the fall and wasting your time and the sororities' time.

That would have sucked if they were all-inclusive and she didn't know it. I've read many times here that on certain campuses, the costs of living in a dorm and on a meal plan are less than living in-house with a house meal plan.

The price I gave does NOT include housing, it does include a meal plan- depending on the sorority it came 2-3 meals a day at the house. Yes, I asked about dues and spoke with the President of Membership for the panhellenic council and the best they will do is give you a range of prices that went from 1000-3000 a semester, which is quite vague.
The cost of a sorority here at UF goes down after each semester- it does not go up since I asked members of every house that I had contact with and once again asked individuals on the Panhellenic Council.

I can pay for a sorority, and I am well aware that prices will remain the same come fall.... I just have to decide if I want to pay it. Also, I informed the sororities which I did receive bids from that I was turning them down because of financial reasons and was encouraged to try again in the fall if I felt capable- also at UF we have 16 sororities, I had contact with 5.

I know if sororities had been that much I would not have been able to join. If you want to join, I highly recommend talking to parents and working if you can all summer and figuring out how to get by. Also consider living in because while it may be more it will probably be less than paying for sorority & housing separately. I am so glad I had friends that I was able to ask before I went through and was prepared before as to how I would pay! good luck!

That's what I took it to mean even if she might have phrased it wrong

There is of course a drop off of about 200-400 dollars after the first semester, but the individuals I spoke with said it continues to go down, not as dramatically as after the first semester, till it essentially plateaus for your final two semesters as a senior.
UF is extremely expensive, I think it may only be behind Alabama and Georgia when it comes to dues. I really don't know why it is so expensive since almost all other Florida schools are 500-1000 a semester. Who knows

Is that in actual dues? Or because you get over the OMGIMASISTER phase and stop buying every piece of paraphernalia under the sun? I think I'd be kind of pissed if a senior was paying less than me and still had access to all the same events.

My school is one where it is often less expensive to go Greek than live on campus. The comparison of a shared room in a residence hall will run 4,019-4650, before meal plan, which runs about $1500 a semester. That's about $6,000 a year, which is the average cost of joining a sorority, and the fraternity average is $5,200. The fraternity and sorority costs go beyond food and a room, but dues and other events, so it really is a great deal. I can imagine this fall we'll have more people going Greek as living on campus for freshman is required, and Greek houses count.

Actually, the OP is correct. My daughter is in a sorority at UF and lives out of the house. Between the meal plan, dues, and parlor fees, it averages 1700-1800 a semester. That doesn't include gifts, favors, pictures. UF sororities are incredibly expensive.

Don't the UF sororities have live-in requirements too? So it will actually get more expensive because you will have no other choice but to live in the house for a year or two?

Although I respect that people have different budgets, I don't think the $1700 - 1800 per semester is out of line when you have a large house to support. The live-out fees at my school are more than twice that amount.

I'm not questioning the amount at all, I'm questioning the "it decreases every semester" part.

Even if it does actually decrease eventually, you do understand that if you were to join in the fall, the dues would likely be in the range that you found unacceptable this spring, right? Dues wouldn't decrease for you between spring and fall because you didn't join. As others have pointed out, dues may actually be more expensive next fall because of normal "cost of living" increases and depending on fall activities.

As a Panhellenic woman currently at UF, I can tell you that (my chapter at least) does not have a live in requirement and that it IS true that many chapters' dues go down each semester and eventually plateau. Also, I have found that it is MUCH more affordable to go Greek and then live in-house than it is to remain unaffiliated and live off-campus. I have saved around $5000 by doing this. I'm new to GC so I hope this helps :)

But how? WHY??? It just doesn't make sense. It's also really unfair to anyone who doesn't join as a 1st semester freshman.