University of Southern California Fall Recruitment HELP!
 

Hi!
I am going to be participating in fall recruitment at the University of Southern California in a few weeks :), and was hoping to have a few questions answered. Being from out of state, I know little about the process and would appreciate any tips/advice you have to offer!

1)At USC, is it possible to participate in other time consuming activities such as being a spirit leader/song girl as well as being in a sorority?

2)What should I wear?! Do the sororities really focus on designer brands as much as other websites say they do?

3)Is study abroad allowed for sorority girls?

4)How seriously do the sororities focus on academics throughout the year? Do most new pledges suffer with their grades?

5) Do the sororities haze? I know...touchy subject.

6) Please provide any tips or advice you feel is noteworthy.

Thanks so much,
USC girl

*Paging ellebud! and other GCers from USC, please.

in the meantime, OP, get yourself over to the Recruitment forum and Read The Stickies!

Good morning, and welcome to the Trojan Family!

It is possible to be as involved as you are able to manage with other campus activities, as long as you managed to keep your priorities in check, especially your academics.

I know sorority women in various spirit groups including the Song Girls, and Trojan Dance Force. As well as the TMB, the Repetory Dance company, Trojan Vision, and some even manage to handle the added responsibilities of being a Trojan varsity athlete!

Have a look at the Recruitment Guide that you should have received with your welcome materials. If not check it out on the greek life website when it finally gets posted. The website really should be better than it is, for a greek system such as we have at SC.

http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/g...cruitment.html

Once you get an idea, I would say be a little classier/dressier than the guide recommends. You don't have to be covered in labels, just make sure you look put together, and that you made an effort it putting your best foot forward. And dress to flatter your body type, and to impress girls. Remember you are NOT dressing for boys.

YES! Studying abroad is a big part of the USC experience, there many opportunities to study all over the world. Many sorority woman were abroad in Europe, Asia and Australia this past spring.

Academics are taken very seriously at USC. The All-Panhellenic average has been consistently above the All-women's GPA. Keeping up with your grades is important to be allowed to attend many Greek activities, especially social events. Gamma Sigma Alpha, an academic honor society for outstanding academic achievement for Greeks only was founded at USC. You have to attain a 3.5 GPA to be eligible, and many leaders in the Greek community are members.

Hazing is illegal, and frankly counterproductive. Of course there are some activities, which could be strictly considered hazing, like new member meetings, and new member mixers. But the point of these are to allow you to bond with your new member class, so its actually fun. Don't worry about it.

Under any circumstance STAY AWAY from the row (and the 9-0) until after recruitment and bid day. It can be very tempting to go to a pre-rush party, but it is grounds for removal from recruitment. You have the rest of your time at SC to enjoy the row. Plus you should be concentrating on managing school with recruitment as it all starts in the same week. It will be good practice for the next 4 years at SC.

Make sure you get your Recs in. While it is not unheard of for a PNM to get preffed at what are considered the 'top tier' chapters without any Recs before recruitment starts, do you want to really take the chance? Almost all the PNMs going through SC's recruitment will be outstanding students for grades, activities, and experiences.
Like any competitive environment such as applying for College, a Job opening, or an Athletic team, hoping to succeed on the bare minimum requirements is practically wishful thinking. Exceptions have happened, but you should not expect them to be you.

And most of all have fun! If it does not work out this year. It is not the end of the world. There is such a diverse student body at SC nowadays, that you can find a group that will be great for you and your next 4 years. And if you really are intent on going Greek, being a sophomore will not hinder you as much as some other schools with large, ultra competitive recruitments.

And non-Recruitment related tip, apply for your Student Football season ticket ASAP. Remember Bowls are for Salads.

Fight On!
Beat the Gophers!

28StGreek

More on USC
 

On the Panhellenic site the officers, which have representatives from all the chapters, posted their academic majors. Keep in mind these women are sorority active members and hold positions of responsibility with Panhellenic.

Majors Posted of Panhellenic Officers at USC:

Business/International Relations Combined Major
Minor in Neuroscience

Double Major in Annenberg Public Relations and Dornsife Gender Studies

Double Major in Business Administration and Film Production

Double Major in Business Administration and Accounting
Minor in Musical Theatre

Double Major in Neuroscience and Art History

International Relations Major
Double minor in theatre and business

Double Major in Business Administration and Psychology

Business Admistration/Cinematic Arts Combined Major
Minor in Music Industry

Major in Political Science
ROTC Cadet

Major in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in School of Medicine
Double minor in Health and Psychology

As you can see there is much variety in the interests of these sorority women.:)

Wow, that's an impressive list of majors. I am surprised to see so many girls with double majors and minors. Snaps to them for being able to pull that off (hopefully with good grades!) and being active in the Greek community.

First, congratulations on starting SC! 28thStreetGreek answered a lot of your questions very well. But I'll add my two cents:

Clothing: No, the houses do not check your labels. But, they like to see pnms dressed nicely, not cookie cutter AND in ways that show who you are. This has been said before but do not dress like you are going to a club. Boobage is not a good thing, nor is a bandaid dress.

Jewelry should be simple and thought out.

Grades are important. Activities from Varsity athletics to music performance to jobs are done routinely. And yes, sitting around special tv shows together and vegging, all done with sisters.

Excellent advice on the 9=0.

Go to the USC Panhellenic site and look at all the chapters' posted pictures. You will get an idea of what each and every house does, be it Prefs, Football games, Nights Out, and Presents.

LOVE the bowls are for salads...FIGHT ON!

What's the 9-0??

The 9-0 is a very popular bar for SC kids...not for parental units.

Have to swerve here. Why would a person double major in neuroscience and Art History?

It shows nice diversity of interest/academic background, especially if this is someone who plans to apply to graduate school. My husband, a biochemistry major, sparked much interest in his med school applications with his music composition minor.

You can get into bars there when you're 18? Or do you have to have a fake? Or do they just not card?

USC Renaissance Scholars
 

Well one thing I can think of is to study the effect of the way the human mind has evolved over time in conjunction with the evolution of art in society. And how our brain processes have shaped the way we create, look, and study art itself?

It sounds like she is a possible candidate for a program at USC called the Renaissance Scholars Program:

"The University of Southern California has created an academic honor that is awarded to select undergraduate students who graduate with a major and a minor (or two majors) in widely separated fields of study. Recipients of this honor are known as the Steven and Kathryn Sample USC Renaissance Scholar Endowment."

Here is a link:
http://www.usc.edu/programs/ugprogra...ce/index.shtml

They card, but are also notoriously lax in letting kids slip in with either fake IDs or IDs of students older than them. They are realistically the only bar near campus and so it's a huge draw (especially with IFC/PHC chapters), so many freshmen will go to large lengths to get IDs just so they can wait in the 45 minute line to get in.

There is a new campus bar that opened called Traditions (Traddies to students) that is very popular now too. When I was there it was a roped off section of a food court, but now it's this massive underground thing with pool tables, a huge bar, a giant projector screen for games, etc. The only issue is that it closes early and is infinitely stricter with IDs, so to many freshmen the 9-0 is still the way to go.

Yeah, as soon as I saw that combination I immediately thought of the Renaissance Scholars.

It could also be that she, you know, likes them both? I'm guessing one is for professional reasons and one is for personal interest, I majored in business administration but if I could have winged it I would have definitely double majored in history because that's a major interest of mine.

Before the Lot existed all the commercial vendors used to be in the old student commons building. Traddies used to be in the basement there (the new student center is built in the same location as the old one!)

I never got to go in, but my older siblings and cousins definitely have! While the new one is much more improved, they still prefer the, kinda sketchy old one. In that strange way that SC kids love the 9-0 haha.

OT-USC Scholars
 

At USC there is much emphasis on multidisciplinary study. The university has encouraged and rewarded students who demonstrate intellectual curiosity and interest in various areas of study.

There are three programs which SC has designed for those students:

Renaissance Scholars----Honored are outstanding students who graduate with a major and minor, or two majors in widely different fields.

Global Scholars----Honored are students who study abroad or pursue an academic program or volunteer opportunity----and complete an extensive research paper or creative project at a very high level.

Discovery Scholars----The Discovery Scholars conduct significant or original research in their academic field, create outstanding works of art or achieve an exceptional level of mastery in artistic performance.

A 3.5 GPA is required. The top ten seniors in each program receive a grant of $10,000.

Thank you all for the great advice, keep it coming! (:

I also have another question...

How does greekchat and recruitment work with the rules of rush? For example, I see a bunch of girls that have been posting recruitment stories as it is actually happening. Are there any restrictions to using this website? I'm sure it is answered in another thread, but I would appreciate if you could link me to it or provide your own advice (:

There are a lot of people on GreekChat as a registered user, but many many times more people who just read and don't post. That includes actives and alumnae members of USC sororities. Make sure you don't post anything you might regret, or make you easy to identify.
Just keep in mind: don't say anything on this forum about someone (or a chapter/sorority/fraternity) that you wouldn't say to their face.

Good luck on your recruitment!

Great! Thanks so much (:

Would appreciate and love any advice!

Thanks so much for all this, it really helps. And I got my football tickets the day they came out (: Maybe one day I will meet you in person!

Who knows, Recruitment starts in 2 weeks! ;-) So you should probably have a good idea of what you're going to wear on each day by now. But don't worry about it too much. You're going for a wonderful education too, so be excited for that. And more importantly, one month till Gameday!

You seem to have a sensible head on your shoulders so hopefully you'll manage to get through the world that is Formal Recruitment with minimal drama and heartache!

Good luck for move-in, first week of class and rush! Fight On!

You seem very sweet (: Can't wait for football season and recruitment! Fight on! (: