Hopeful 2011 SEC PNM from "The North"
 

Hiiii Everyone!

I've been a lurker for some time now but never got around to creating an account or posting, but have been lucky enough to learn/absorb as much information as possible thanks to greekchat! :) I'm about to begin my senior year of high school and just finished up my tour of college visits, so I thought it would be as good a time as any to start to ask my own questions and create my own plan that would help in having a successful recruitment next fall! After my visits, I narrowed my list down to two schools that are both in the SEC and host amongst the most competitive recruitments in the country, South Carolina and Alabama! But the edge definitely goes to the Crimson Tide.

I'm from Northern Virginia. (but even though my state lies South of the mason-dixon line, FEW would consiter where I live "southern", especially those in the deep south) I know this puts me at a disadvantage already due to lack of connections, Alabama high school social scene, ect. This worries me because I've heard a great way for OOS girls to get involved is through the Panhellenic Preview Weekend Bama holds but I'm confused as to if it on an invite only basis?

My only non-active Greek connection is my cousin who was a very very active member of her organization's chapter at UF and is more than willing to write me rec in addition to recs from some of her sisters I've met through her. I know that getting recs for every chapter is a crucial must in SEC recruitment, but this is only one house out of the 17 (I might be off? lol) at Alabama. In this same house is a girl from my home town I'm acquaintances with through mutual friends but is pretty much the only girl I know involved in greek life at the university. I'm not sure where to get the some 16 other recs I need. While I've seen others receive suggestions to find a local alumnae group, I have heard that there aren't any in my area =/ Does anyone know where I could find these additional recs?

I have a strong resume filled with athletics, coaching, volunteer work, and leadership. My grades however, are just average I suppose. I have around a 3.3 in one of the most competitive/challenging school systems in the nation barring a difficult course load. But the highlight of my academic resume would be my SAT/ACT scores with a 1920 and 28 composite. Could this off-set my lightly lower GPA? Do the chapters even see them?

I'm sorry for such a long post but any feedback at all would be very greatly appreciated! :) And if you'd like to send me a PM that's fine too! Thank you all so much in advance!

I don't know much firsthand about SEC recruitment but it sounds like you're at least aware of how competitive recruitment is there so you're starting out on a better footing than some.

I saw you were from NoVa so I had to send a virtual wave your way - I went to GMU and went to a couple different high schools up there so I'm very familiar with the area.

I'll let some gals in the SEC know post some advice for you - good luck and keep us all updated next year when you go through recruitment!

Some good Bama related threads to read:

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...hlight=Alabama

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...hlight=Alabama

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...hlight=Alabama

good luck.



side note, can we ban the term 'lurker'?

SthrnZeta, I'm glad I'm not the only NoVa girl on here :) I was actually going to see if I could possibly find some Mason alumnae for recs. And updates to come for sure!

Thank you for those threads KSUViolet, definitely cleared up my issue with the Preview Weekend.

And thank you for your luck jennyj!

Why? It's a time-honored term going back to the ancient days of Usenet. :D

To the OP: It's not too early to start seeking out recs, but first you have to be accepted to Bama and/or USC before you can rush there. As I'm sure you know, your current GPA, SAT, and ACT scores will go on your college applications. At recruitment time, chapters will be able to verify your final HS GPA, so keep your senior-year grades up. Good luck!

Blondieee3, the good news is that you're already aware that you need recs! Instead of showing up in July and being like, "OMG I need recs would any GCers write me one kthxbye", you have plenty of time to find alumnae or actives. Ideally, you would have recs from alumnae who already know you. I bet you know people who are Greek---you just don't know it. Ask:

teachers/coaches/school staff/activity sponsors
older friends
siblings' friends/friends' siblings
parents' friends/friends' parents
babysitters/people who you babysit for
women from your place of worship
coworkers/boss
extended family

Remember that when you find one greek woman, she may know of others. Ask guys too, as they may know greek women. Many (but not all) NPC sororities allow collegians from other chapters to write recommendations, so they don't all have to come from alumnae.

Only after you've exhausted your personal contacts should you ask women from the NoVa APH for recs. The NoVa APH is pretty active, so they should be helpful. Since they're still pretty far north, I doubt they are inundated with rec requests like the APHs in the Deep South.
Ah yes, but it won't hurt her to find rec writers now, and then once she knows for sure where she is going, let the ones she needs know to write the rec.

I just had to chuckle at this. I used to live in NoVa, and my southern (i.e. North Carolinian) friends swore up and down to me that I did NOT live in "the south!" Being from Pennsylvania, I didn't get it at first - I thought anything below the Mason-Dixon line was the south. But I learned. :D

Anyway, blondieee3, you're off to a good start, and you've gotten some good advice here. Good luck!

Depending on where in North Carolina, they might not be "Southern" either. Charlotte is one of those places, much like Florida, which may physically be in the south, but aren't really "Southern". Cary, NC also falls into this category. ;)

You mean Containment Area for Relocated Yankees?? ;)

My best friend lives outside Charlotte now, but he grew up in the middle-of-nowhere, NC. And went to App State. He complains all the time about the Yankees who move down there and want to change everything to "how it was back in New Jersey/New York." I-95 goes both ways, ya know...

On the flip side, I have friends who are originally from Ohio and just moved to the Raleigh-Durham area from Long Island. They're sort of those Yankees my NC friend complains about. But they said most people they meet down there are originally from up North, so they feel at home. LOL

It would be nice to have a road actually run north-south or east-west and not change names half a dozen times. :p

LOL to all of this NoVA stuff. I remember meeting kids from Georgia on my senior trip and having one of my friends say that I was going to school in "the South." They asked me where and I said, "George Mason!" and they laughed. I didn't get it (being from New York) until I arrived here and realized that this part of Virginia is assuredly not "the South."

blondieee3: The NoVA Alumnae Panhellenic is very active (I have a few friends from Mason involved in it). There are also some very active alumnae organizations for various NPCs in the DC/Capitol area if you should need another option. I'm sure they get a lot of rec requests since so many young women in this area do end up in SEC schools. Take a look at the Alabama and Auburn bid lists posted on GC and you'll see plenty of girls from NoVA (including Fairfax, woo!).

My only other piece of advice is to worry about getting into school first and joining a sorority after that - but yeah, it is good to be prepared as an out of stater.

ETA: Funny coincidence, but I was just looking at a facebook event for a fundraiser Chi Omega is holding and I saw a reponse on the wall that was something like "Sorry I'm away from Fairfax at school, but I'm a XO now too!" from a Chi Omega new member at South Carolina. I know I spend too much time on GC because I knew she was from USC because of her bid day shirt from the picture violet pretty's thread - ack!

Some of us remember when Cary was a true little Southern town. (Maybe I should cross-post this in the "things that make you feel old" thread.) There's still a Southern kernel in Cary (and you can still find a few old-timers who call it "Cay-ry"), but it's getting harder and harder to find.

Haha yes I'm trying to get as much of my college business completed ASAP because I have a very busy senior year planned! And thank you for all those suggestions of ladies to ask! Living "so far north" hahaha I still don't go back to school for another week but I figured I'd start there and by asking my counselor if she know's of any sorority women on campus. I looked up most of the alumnae chapters in my area and while some haven't been updated in maaaany months, others have volunteer events right aroud the corner! :) I'm really interested in a few and would like to participate in them as well. Not affiliated ofcourse, but would that be too much to request information and what not?

Also, you're both right, I have not been accepted to either university yet but have sent applications, transcripts, scores ect. and I know Alabama uses rolling admission so fingers crossed, I'll hear back soon!

Thank you again for all you're imput :)

Haha that's so funny! It's actually pretty crazy that within the same state, you can go from big city "yankee" life, to tiny little farms with confederate flags. Same goes for North and even parts of South Carolina. I think what strips NoVa of it's right to remain Southern would be the diversity and number of transplants. I live near Fairfax but what many consiter the D.C. suburbs and almost everyone I know's parents work for the Government in some way or the Military. Few few people have lived here their whole lives and even fewer have parents native to the area. My parents were both in the Navy with my mom originally being from Northbrook, Illinois and my father from Southern California. And when retired from the service, now work for the Gov. Hahaha typical "DMV" lifestyle I guess. ;)

Hahaha nope! When I visited Tennesse, Alabama, and Georgia recently I realized wherever I go there's gonna be a little bit of culture shock. But I'm ready for the transformation! Lol Did you graduate from Mason? I live about 15 minutes from the campus and it's absolutely blowing up! Sometimes I wish it just wasn't in my backyard. Also from what I've heard from friends at GMU, since it's such a commuter campus, either participating in athletics or going greek are some of the only ways to get that "college experience". But obviously you chose the latter so I'm sure you enjoyed mason :)

I took your advice and checked out some of the bid lists to find a few girls who graduated from my school on them! Not girls I'm very close with but one I even played basketball with! I go to a high school of about 4,000 kids though so it's not exactly an everybody knows everybody kind of thing. But I'm hoping since there aren't thattt many of us down there, seing their hometown on a rec sheet or something could spark their interest? I'm not sure the new rules about contacting actives but atleast we're already facebook friends? Haha.

I knocked out basically all of my applications this summer so those have been sent along with transcripts and scores! Thanks a ton for all of your helpful information!

Good luck! When getting recs, begin with who you know and move out in expanding circles. Your cousin probably had friends or classmates in other sororities at UF. Ask her if she can contact people. Those friends may have friends as well.

As others have said, you probably know more sorority women than you think. Some of your teachers are greek, some of your parents' friends are greek. Some of your friends' older sisters or parents are greek. If you know a fraternity man, (father's business associate, golf partner, etc.) he probably knows a sorority woman--perhaps his wife or daughter.

My best advice for a great recruitment next year? Enjoy THIS year. Try something new and challenging. Study hard and maintain or improve your grades. Practice being a great conversationalist. Make graciousness a habit. Meet new people and take a genuine interest in their activities and thoughts. This will make your senior year so full and rich that you will enter recruitment with a great spirit and attitude.

Heh. You can find those outside Northern cities too. Not so much in New England, but certainly in places like Indiana.
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Great advice as well as being sure Alabama is where you want to be. You won't have a problem getting in with the grades you list, but make sure it is the best fit for all reasons and for all of your goals.

You are on track to be thinking about recruitment now, with your big emphasis beginning after the 1st of the year. My daughter rushed this fall at a big SEC school, had great everything like you and tons of recs. It was still brutal. Here are some suggestions:

1. Ask your mom to write her circle of friends. For my daughter, I emailed my tennis friends, church friends, club friends, etc and said she would be going through rush. I listed the sororities on campus and asked for help. Other moms in sororities love helping girls like you and I was honored at how much they cared. I am sure this will be the case for you. We asked everyone we ran across and kept a list. Once you have your list, prepare a nice package for the rec writer, including your pictures, resume a nice cover letter, a blank rec form for their sorority (you won't be able to do this for all houses, many are restricted to the members only) and self addressed envlopes with LOTS of postage.

2. Once you are SURE you want UA, you really must start trying to get to know girls in some of the houses there. This is what we did not know going into rush this year. There are just so, so, so many girls going through that on paper they all start to blend together. The girls that have the best rushes are the ones that have girls in the houses swinging for them. I would suggest making some road trips to Tuscaloosa and have an AGE APPROPRIATE, best manners weekend. Make getting in front of girls in the houses your priority. Combined with the rec's you will be in much better shape.

Good luck!

I know you are very interested in Alabama, however I have first hand knowledge about South Carolina. My daughter just completed recruitment there. We are also OOS, but still from the deep south. Surprisingly enough the majority of out-of staters at SC are from Penn, Maryland and New Jersey. That being said, my daughter told me that certain chapters are comprised of girls mostly from the south. Good luck and Roll Tide/Go Gamecocks.;)

DING! Katmandu is right on. As a fellow NoVAite, (and yes, we are considered Northerners, you aren't Southern until you hit Richmond!) I can tell you that there are a lot of SEC/ACC/Big 12 grads in this area who "get" the importance of recs. (Not to disparage those from other areas of the country, but recs aren't always of such importance elsewhere in the US.) Starting off asking your friends' moms and older sisters, your mom's friends, your favorite teachers if they are sorority members and would be willing to write a rec for you is a good first step. You could even connect with other girls in your class that are thinking about joining a sorority in college and help each other find women who would be willing to write recs for the girls in your future sorority member group. Ask nicely, be gracious, and give them enough time to write them!

Keep those grades up. I know, there are so many other things to distract you during Senior year, and you are feeling burned out, but still... keep 'em up. GPAs count. Is your GPA based on the old 94-100 A scale, or the new one?

Southern schools have become increasingly popular with NoVA kids. So. Carolina and Alabama, along with Clemson, seem to be popular schools at my daughters' high school. I know girls that have had successful recruitments at both universities, and are very happy. Good luck and have a wonderful senior year! I am assuming you are a ram, bruin or bulldog?

LOL. This is funny.

NoVA is the south, as are D.C. and Maryland. That's both regionally and culturally. Of course, it is often not considered south if you're regionally and culturally comparing it to places further south.

City living and a Northern influence (transfers and commuters) does not make a place nonsouthern. Some of the "biggest bamas" and "most country folk" live in NoVA, D.C., and Maryland.

I think you will find most Southerners do not consider Northern Virginia, Maryland and DC to be "true southern". Voting in these areas tends to skew more liberal as compared to areas further south. A substantial number of people living in these areas are not originally from there, they are from all over the US and have moved there because of military, government or business requirements.

Alabama has just passed a new set of rules regarding pre-recruitment, which includes no contact during the fall semester. Therefore, while blondieee3 may visit campus as much as she would like, she can NOT contact/be contacted by sorority women until after final exams this semester. She should use this semester to enjoy her senior year, as should all PNMs considering Alabama. There's absolutely no harm in finding women right now to write recs for the PNM come this spring/summer, but no PNMs should be focusing on getting to know sorority women, yet. (For more info, look at the "Bama Sorority Recruitment 2010 thread- these rules are better discussed there)

They are very much the south.

(I already mentioned how people further south view that area and transfers and commuters--still the south)

True. I should have clarified, second semester visits. This is good policy and it is the part of rush that surprised me most (how the girls knew so many girls in the house prior to rush). It is making rush in the SEC become increasingly difficult for OOS girls and I wish something more could be done. Every house that cut my daughter simply becasue she wasn't well known enough lost out on a great potential sister.

Sorry, ask anyone who's actually from NoVa and they would never say they are southerners. That area is such a modge podge of people, it just can't be called southern. Now, pass over the beltway into Prince William County and beyond, and then maybe I'd believe you.

That's not true. :) There are born and raised Northern Virginianers who say they are from the south. But, if you can believe Prince William County and other areas that are Northern Virginia, then..... :)

And there are people in padded rooms that say they are Jesus Christ. So? :p

So I would never say there aren't.

Not to their face.

I am a senior at Mason. While I agree that becoming involved in Fraternity & Sorority Life is one of the best ways to become involved at Mason, I do have one small issue here.

George Mason University is not a commuter school, and any current student that tells you that is bitter because Mason wasn't his or her first choice, or blind/stupid. As you noted Mason has been expanding rapidly and has left the majority commuter reputation behind for a few years. In fact, by 2012 we will be the largest residential campus in Virginia. Additionally, the majority of students who choose to live off campus live within a three mile radius of the university and are still very involved in campus life. Unfortunately this is a hard stereotype to break in NoVA, but I'm confident the days of Mason being known as a "commuter school" will soon be a distant memory. :D

The presence of absence of Confederate flags (itself a misnomer) is what defines an area as Southern? :(

I know plenty of people from NoVA who readily say they are Southerners, and with good reason because they are. I'm even related to some of them. I know also know plenty of people who live there but are not from there (to use a good old Southernism), who rightly say they are not Southern.

NoVA is Southern, the presence of an at times overwhelming number of non-Southerners living there notwithstanding. And I'd say that whenever a Southerner says NoVA (or Florida) isn't really Southern, that's what they mean -- that "too many" of the people living there aren't Southern.

Whoo NoVa! I'd personally never call myself a Southerner, I more identify with being "from the DC area" than being from Virginia.

I know of two girls from my school that went through recruitment at the *other* USC. One's a Phi Mu, one's a Kappa.

Best of luck!

also, I know some people who live further than three miles from GMU and do not live on campus. But I think most of my friends do live on campus.

That belief is one reason why some NoVA people are trying to pretend they aren't part of VA and aren't southern. :p Why be from VA if you only see VA as the home of the confederacy; and why be southern if you have a narrow vision of what the south represents.

It's cool because there are farms with confederate flags in NoVA. :) At the end of the day, it is all the south and there are different levels of "southerness" depending on where you are in the south and the people who live there. Yes, a NoVA young lady who goes through recruitment at a school in a deeper part of the south may be seen as northern because she is "not as southern as....".

I agree. It's kin to the syndrome we see here at GC from time to time, where "Southern" seems to mean "my experience of Southern." The South is no more a monolith than any other region of the country, and Southern culture takes a wide variety of forms.

I lived in GA and I was born in SC. I know "the south" and NoVa isn't it. Period. I have way too many friends who were born and raised in NoVa who have traveled to other parts of VA and have rightfully declared themselves not Southern. NoVa is an interesting gray area of VA and I, like the OP, always identified more with being from DC due to the close proximity. And I don't know anyone who would call DC southern. When I told people where I was from (and I think this is true for a lot of people from NoVa) I would say I was from the DC area unless I knew the person was familiar with that region.

In short, I'm sure we can all bring up points why NoVa is or is not southern. BUT, speaking from my experiences growing up there (8th grade through college) and having lived in SC prior to that, I would never have considered that area to part of the South. It had nothing to do with the presence of confederate flags on farms but I will say, once I moved to Prince William county, that felt like a whole new world and I have many friends from there who would agree.

So happy to hear this from a current student. It certainly felt different when I visited campus a few weeks ago.

When I was there, it was still very much a commuter campus but I hear that our 2006 basketball season changed the campus vibe to a more traditional feel and I'm glad for that. Honestly, it was my safety school when I was applying but I know that mentality is definitely changing and that just adds more credit to my degree :D

:) You know what you define as "the south." Period.

NoVA is in Virginia and is south of the Mason-Dixon line; it is an area that is most definitely historically Southern in culture, many if not most of its current residents notwithstanding. It is Southern. Period.

See how we could have fun and go around like this all day long? :D

This brings up notable point number one. You say you would never have considered it the South, and I would not argue with that. Who am I to argue with what you think?

But I do know people who have lived their entire lives there (or in Washington) who do consider it the South.

So, if we're going by geography, it's the South. But if we're going by a much harder-to-pin-down gauge of "Southerness," it's totally subjective, and is not so different at all from the folks from the deep South who have told me that North Carolina isn't really Southern.

And here's point number 2. Most every delineation of NoVA that I've heard includes Prince William County (and other counties further out from DC). Northern Virginia Magazine even seems to include it. (Hmmm, come to think of it, Southern Living magazine has always included Maryland.)

Maybe instead of discussing whether NoVA is really Southern, we should argue about what counties are and aren't really NoVA. :D