Am I too old to get accepted into a sorority?
 

I just transferred to the University of North Dakota as a junior. I participated in formal sorority recruitment this fall but got cut from all of the houses on the first day. I seemed to get along well with everyone so I have no clue what went wrong.

I'm double-majoring in two completely different areas and I'll probably be in undergrad school for 6 years because of it, so even though I'm a junior, it's not like I'm graduating next year. I made sure to emphasize this during fall rush. I have a 3.0 GPA and I write for my school's newspaper. I know some girls who are in sororities but I'm not close friends with any.

I'm planning to do spring rush this coming January, if there is one, which at my school is informal and works just like fraternity rush. I really want this and am wondering what my chances are, or is my age an automatic deal-breaker?

Thank you much! :)

I don't know anything about UND, but it looks like their Greek system is doing pretty well right now. You may have just fallen through the cracks, they may not want juniors (which is common at a lot of schools) or you have an issue you don't want to acknowledge.

I'm a little worried about which chapters will be doing informal rush. Hopefully our data is wrong but it says quota was 31 and total is 72. That tells me very few chapters are going to be rushing and your chances this winter may not be greatly improved.

I would work up the courage to talk with one of these sorority girls you know but not well. No, you can't ask them why they didn't like you in the fall, but you can ask if they ever pledge juniors or ask about the process in general. And she's probably not going to answer this one directly but if she starts doing a verbal dance around the subject, you probably have your answer. Unfortunately there are choices to be made every day of our lives and consequences as a result. You bounced around between schools and may have killed your chances at sorority as a result.

Give it another shot in the spring. Keep in mind that with total that low versus quota, the chapter that may be willing to take you could be substantially smaller than the others or not the IT girls on campus. Be as enthusiastic as you can be, and if it doesn't work out, you're going to have to find something else to fill that void.

Sorry to rain on your parade! The good news is I have no direct knowledge of you or the school, so I could be completely off on your chances.

*** MAJOR LANE SWERVE ***

Could it be that the reason she got dropped the first day was because of grades?


I too do not know the OP, or anything about the Greek system at UND.

That was my first thought too--grades and junior status. My thought would be if you are rushing as a junior at many schools, your grades had better be stellar. A 3.0 is just kind of meh.

An especial concern I would think with the two majors and newspaper writing.

This depends on the major. In a STEM field, a 3.0 may be fairly decent.

Trust me, I am aware of that. My point was more the workload aspect. They might not wanted to add something as time consuming as sorority membership on top of all of that.

What you "think" has nothing to do with the reality of this situation. If you want to poop rainbows and burp sunshine, there's a different forum for that.

My two majors are communications and community nutrition. Also, the newspaper doesn't take up very much time.

just give it a try-you will have no chance at all if you don't.

Take a look at tbfrance19's signature. I'm thinking it's more of the special spam we've been getting lately.

Thank you much for helping me out! :)

I talked to someone in the Greek Life office and she gave me the dates for spring recruitment and said our total is 80 and that my age and having previously rushed isn't a problem. I also got a 3.6 GPA this past semester (my best since starting college) and that raised my cumulative to a 3.2.

Be aware that although it's not a PROBLEM per se, some may still consider it a detriment. But I do wish you all the luck in the world and congratulations on improving your GPA. Let us know how it goes.

That's true but there's unfortunately nothing I can do about it anymore. My plan is to just go in with confidence but mentally prepare for worst-case scenario.

Thank you and I will!

As I said in the other thread, you're focusing on technicalities. Maybe technically these things aren't a problem, and technically they won't prevent you from getting a bid, but you need to connect with the women. That's the most important thing. Her saying that just means that if the worst does happen and you don't get a bid, you can't come back and say it's because of your age or previously rushing.

That is very true. I'm a very open-minded person and I try to be polite and friendly to everyone, but that doesn't mean I'm going to have instant chemistry with everyone I meet either and that's okay. I will accept a bid to any sorority who wants me, no matter how "popular" they are.

Also, I feel like a huge idiot for this haha but I recently found out that my credits from my one semester at an out-of-state school didn't transfer to my current school. That makes me a sophomore instead of a junior which would mean that I unintentionally lied about my class standing when I went through formal recruitment last fall. Although I can understand them wanting to cut a girl who lies about something huge like that and I feel really stupid for it, is that something that the current sorority girls are likely to remember about me when they see me again during spring recruitment?

It's not a lie if it's an error. If they ask you about it, answer honestly. But what you say on a form is secondary to what your transcript says and part of what you're signing when you register for rush is allowing access to your transcript. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but they don't really go by what you say on your reg form, right? I mean, everyone would be a 4.0 first semester freshman if they did it that way.

In other words, regardless of what you said on your form, they probably had accurate information anyway.

Well, that's relieving to hear. Thanks! :) I didn't lie on my registration form last fall and I don't plan on lying on it in the spring.

Sorry I keep coming back but I have one more question. My school's spring recruitment takes place on a Monday and Tuesday evening in January and I was told during Fall formal rush that all the chapters have their weekly mandatory meetings on Monday evenings at the same time.

I'll have an evening class every Monday this coming semester (it's required for my major and this is the only time it's offered this semester), so should I skip it to go to Monday's recruitment events (I very rarely skip class unless it's an emergency) and ask my professor about making up what I'll miss or do you think skipping Monday's events to go to class will make me look uninterested in sorority life? Also, if I have to miss the mandatory Monday meetings because of class, is that likely to be a huge problem that will ruin my chances of getting accepted into a sorority?

I'm thinking of dropping that class and replacing it with a different earlier class, then taking the Monday evening one next year instead but I'd like to know more about how it'll affect my recruitment first. Thanks again to everyone who's helped me so far! :)

School comes first. If rush activities are happening on Monday and Tuesday, can't you just go on Tuesday? And class is an hour. Are the rush activities longer than that? You need to pull on your big girl pants and work this one out for yourself. Time management is a big part of sorority life.

As far as sorority commitments, people always have conflicts but being a pledge and missing every meeting would be problematic. I'd ask about it if you're offered a bid and prior to accepting. There's no need to bring up a negative issue until it's necessary.

Well it's a 3-hour class that meets only once a week on Mondays, so I'd probably miss all of the Monday rush activities. I decided though that I am going to drop it and take it next year instead. It's not a prerequisite for anything so as long as I take it before I graduate, it's not a big deal.

Chapter meetings and pledge meetings are not necessarily on the same night, though.

Yes.

Pledgeship usually lasts only 6-8 weeks. You're going to have sister obligations for those other 9-7 weeks of the semester. Also, sometimes pledge meetings are held on the same night except earlier to make things easier for everyone.

Since you're dropping it it is a moot point.

Alright, well it sounds like I made the right decision by dropping it. Thanks again to everyone who's helped me out.