University of Texas Rush Questions
 

Hello! I am going to be an incoming freshman next fall the the University of Texas in Austin and I had a few questions about rushing! No one in my family has ever rushed nor been in a sorority so Hopefully yall can help me out a lil!

1. I definitely am going to rush but I have to pay for my sorority, and because its so expensive at Texas, I do not think I will actually get to actually join one :( That being said, how left out will I feel if I am not involved in a sorority

2. Will I still get to go to fun greek parties ever??

3. What is rush like at UT?

Thanks so much!

1. This might be completely terrible advice but I'm not sure it's fair to rush if you know you wouldn't even be able to join. It would be really bad for you to receive a bid that you would end up not accepting when it could have gone to a PNM who would have loved to have joined that particular house. You can go to the UT Greek website and check out the finances and see if you would be able to afford it.

2. Yes. UT is huge school and going Greek isn't the only way to have fun, but it's certainly fun and beneficial to those who are in it. I have a couple of friends who go to UT & they're able to have social lives without being in sororities or fraternities. College is as much as you make of it.

3. Competitive.

Before anyone blasts you, which they will, search, search, search. There are SO MANY threads on UT recruitment on this board. Read them.

You're not in a sorority and not even in college yet.

She's not, but she also didn't say anything that was necessarily wrong.

That doesn't mean I'm not knowledgeable to a degree. Not being in a sorority is one thing, but I doubt that a majority of the people who will answer attended UT. So with that logic no one would be qualified to answer.

I think you're correct. I think you should attempt to find out the costs first and only rush if you think you can afford it. Otherwise, what's the point? It's a waste of your time and also you could maybe be taking the spot in a sorority that another girl could have. I would say talk to the Office of Student Life, specifically the director of Greek Life. I guarantee she/he has been asked this question before.

As someone who is currently not in a sorority and at a large Greek school, I promise you that you will not feel left out if you are unable to join a sorority. The most important advice I can give to you is to GET INVOLVED! I am highly involved on my campus and I have been able to meet so many wonderful people. I thought that not being a part of a sorority would really limit my options, but it definitely didn't! Just do your best to be outgoing and involved and you will never be able to tell the difference.

If you can't rush during the fall and you are still interested, a great option would be getting a job and then considering COB. That would definitely help your family out with certain costs if they are interested in doing that. In any case, definitely GET INVOLVED!!! :)

Being a Texas-Ex, I can tell you without reservation you won't be bored/lost/leftout if you don't join a sorority. Yes, I loved my sorority involvement, but I was just as busy and made just as many great friends with involvement in my other campus activities.

And yes, as another poster replied, UT's recruitment is extremely competitive.

Good luck with your decision and "Hook 'em"

My daughter graduated from UT in 2005, with no sorority involvement. She had a fantastic time in college, met friends with whom she is still very close, etc.

She would be among the first to tell you that you can have a wonderful college career without sorority involvement.

And I know from experience that *some* of the UT sororities are offended if you even ask about COB. I'd recommend making your inquiries through the Greek Life office instead of through the individual groups, if you choose to go that route.

One more thing, Gabriela....you are actually pretty smart thinking about recruitment right now. It takes time to get all of the recs and LOS together. A lot of girls who live in Texas start the process in February. Nature of the beast.

My daughter currently attends UT and is in a sorority. It was and is a VERY competitive process. I believe there are many factors involved in making the decision to "rush" at UT. Here are my thoughts:

1. Cost- The first year is by far the most expensive. If you are lucky enough to live in the sorority house in subsequent years, it is actually less expensive than living in a dorm or apartment. Some of the sororities allow Sophomores to live in and some don't allow you to live in until Junior year.
It is usually a very competitve process to get to live in the house, since space is limited.

2. Competitiveness- UT has one of the most competitive recruitments in the country. It is way up there with most of the SEC schools. You must be prepared with multiple recs for each house and they need to be turned in early, like June 1st..Who you know is HUGE at UT and if you do not go to a "well represented" high school, then you MUST go in with an open mind..actually, you must go in with an open mind anyway, because legacy status and going to the right high school won't necessarily get you in. Please, please, please try to avoid "tent talk". All 14 sororoties are awesome and have so much to offer..The "best" one is the one that you fit in and not the one that Suzy Q says is the best...there is truly a place for everyone.

3. Sisterhood- I am so thankful that my daughter found her home and her sisterhood. She has had the best experience with her sorority and I am so glad she had a group of friends right away..UT is a big place! With that being said, the Greek community at UT is only about 12%, so you would actually be in the majority if you were not in a sorority. Alot also depends on which dorm you live in. If you live in Hardin House or SRD, you will most likely be surrounded by sorority girls. If you live in an on campus dorm, it will not be as concentrated and you are more likely to find girls that are not in sororites.

You will still be able to go to fraternity parties at UT even if you are not "Greek".

Like another poster said, do not go through the process if you dont think you can't afford it. You may be taking the spot that another girl would have loved to have.

Good luck in your decision! I know my daughter does not regret it for a minute.

1. i don't really understand the point of rushing if you know you won't be able to join. from what I've heard sorority rush at Texas isn't the most enjoyable experience. anyways, sorry to say it but the people saying you won't feel left our are wrong. yea theres plenty of non greek kids who have a great time at UT but they never wanted to join a sorority/fraternity. if you want to join one but can't its gonna be impossible to ignoring them. honestly, i dunno what your situation is but I'm sure theres a way you could afford it if you want it bad enough. take out an extra student loan, sell a kidney. don't let a few thousand dollars get in the way of your college experience.

2. yea all girls are always welcome at fraternity parties. however i doubt you'll have much fun at them as an independent. you're gonna have a hard time meeting guys in fraternities, and you'll be surrounded by sorority girls, so you probably won't know many people at them. also fraternities announce their parties at sorority houses, so you're gonna have a hard time finding parties unless you're friends with an active.

3. sorority rush sucks, its not something you do for fun. you spend the entire day walking around in the heat to the various sorority houses to meet the chapters. girls take it seriously and its not uncommon for them to hire rush advisors who teach them how to go through the process. where you went to hs is extremely important as it dictates the highest tier sorority you have a shot at getting. sorority rush is essentially a test to see if you mess up, a bad rush will move you down the tiers, or lose you a bid, but a good rush won't move you any higher up than where you started. i get rushing a fraternity even if you can't join for the free booze and parties but rushing a sorority knowing you can't join honestly doesn't make much sense

I'm sorry if those weren't the answers you wanted but I'm trying to be honest with you. As i said if you want to join a sorority don't let a few grand get in the way. a large portion of dues are for meals so if your parents are planning on paying for your food they might be willing to help out with dues. also living in the house is significantly cheaper than dorms and apartments.

You're an idiot.

Thanks, AnotherKD for letting me know I'm not crazy. That was my thought exactly.

please elaborate. i think i was being pretty honest

Actually, TY, you came across as misinformed, and reminiscent of the same troll(s) who doesn't use punctuation but spouts off lots of gobbledygook and then tries to stir things up. From the sound of your post, I doubt you went through recruitment at UT, and I suspect you might not even be eligible for sorority recruitment due to a missing leg on a chromosome.

*yawn*

Mostly this. You are giving a lot of absolute answers when you apparently haven't experienced it yourself.

To think that nobody, or in particular the girls who want to be in sororities but for whatever reason can't will be miserable throughout college is simply retarded. I loved my collegiate sorority life but to think that a girl would not been able to find her niche otherwise is assuming she is extremely one dimensional.

A lot of girls LOVE rush, wouldn't trade that experience for anything in their lives. It is extremely hard work, it's exhausting both mentally and physically, and it's so very stressful, but that doesn't mean women don't love it.

Here at GC we don't believe in "selling" the concept of tiers or where you are doomed to fall within that structure. And for all the stories out there about how you had to go to this or that school or camp, there are plenty of other stories about girls who came in clueless and far away from home and happily found their sisterhood in one of "those" chapters.

Also, your sentence structure is appalling and you have no apparent understanding of capitalization.

"...due to a missing leg on a chromosome" LOVING THAT.

Firstly, everything AzTheta said.

Going off what I bolded:

You are posting hearsay vs some people on here who have first hand experience at UT.

There are many more ways to get help than taking out a loan. Many orgs have scholarship programs. However this makes you sound like an airhead who has had mommy and daddy pay for everything. Loans are serious. Some people can't take out loans because they will be screwed over with payments and cannot pay them back in addition to all their other school loans.

I realize that I don't have first hand experience at UT, but with everything I have read on this site and my experience at multiple universities, being Greek does not stop you from being friends with people who are not Greek. People make friends in classes and other clubs/organizations. It is possible to go to parties as a non-Greek and have a great time.

Talking of tiers is idiotic. Tiers are superficial and don't really exist. If you want to make enemies on this site, continue to talk of them. Even if tiers did exist, who the f* cares? Oh damn XYZ was better than us so I will always be below them. No. Stop. That is low self confidence. The "smaller, less desirable" (if you will) chapters often have the best sisterhood. Not saying the large ones don't, this is just an observation of mine.


Pretty much the only thing I did agree with in your post was that living in is often cheaper housing.

According to Wikipedia, only 14 percent of nearly 40,000 UT undergrads are Greek. This isn't DePauw.

Not to mention -- UT is in AUSTIN. If you can't find ANY friends or have a social life in a city of 700k, I doubt you'll be a social butterfly when you join a sorority.

OMG if you aren't from Highland Park you are dooooooooooooooooooomed!

1. i said that from what ive been told by my friends who went through rush here is that its not the most enjoyable experience. thats hardly an absolute answer, rather an opinion of girls who rushed. i think i made it clear that i didn't experience it myself.

2. i never said she would be miserable, in fact i never even said she would feel left out. i simply said that the people saying that she wouldn't are wrong to be so sure of that. it depends on how badly she wants to join a sorority. if she had a strong desire to be in one then its likely she would feel left out, since it is very hard to ignore the greek presence here.

3. I'm sure there are girls who do love rush, but in my experience they are the minority. additionally, those girls who do love it most likely do so because of the result, getting them into their sorority, not the process in itself. i could be wrong but i don't think there are many girls who would enjoy the stress and exhaustion without the reward.

4. thats fine that yall disregard tiers, however UT doesn't. like it or not they exist. im simply trying to give an honest answer, and to say they dont exist just isn't true. also, it is a universally accepted fact that high school plays a large role in rush. not being from one of the "prestigious" high schools doesn't mean you're screwed, but there are houses that you're a lot less likely to get a bid from. of course there are clueless girls who don't come from the typical high schools that get into those houses, but they are the significant minority. again, you may not agree with it or think its stupid, but it's a reality.

5. I'm well aware loans are serious. however i know of several kids who have done just that in order to help cover some of the costs, so i don't see whats wrong with mentioning it. clearly its up to the individual to decide, but its not an unheard of option.

6. of course being greek doesn't stop you from being friends with people who aren't greek. however, the greek community at UT really does keep to itself. with 5000 members, the greek system here is the size an normal school, and with that many students theres not much motive to branch out. meeting people in class is tough since most classes your first 2 years are huge lectures and clubs generally don't have many greek members. of course its possible to have fun at fraternity parties as a non greek, i know of several non greek girls who are friends with plenty of greek guys. i said it would be more difficult which it undeniably is.

You speak so definitively about something you know nothing about.

Yes, Greek life is a big deal at UT -- but that's only to Greeks. If she tries and doesn't make it, she won't be mocked around town. UT (and Austin) is too big for her to hold on to that for 4 years. If you don't make it/can't afford it, you'll find something else to occupy your time.

Capitalization and punctuation are your friends.

sorry chief but im actually a greek student at ut so i dunno where you got the idea i know nothing about it. go ahead and reread what i wrote cause based on that comment it clearly went way over your head.

do yall seriously think im saying that if you're not in a fraternity or sorority here you're not gonna have fun? im gonna say this one more time, if, and only if, joining a sorority is important to her, then its likely she will feel left out if she doesn't join the greek community since its hard to ignore. not really sure how you interpreted that as she'll get "mocked around town".

on a side note, did you really need to clarify that greek life is important only to greeks? are you suggesting that there are schools where greek life is a big deal to the people who aren't greek?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheTexanYankee (Post 2124978) 1. i said that from what ive been told by my friends who went through rush here is that its not the most enjoyable experience. thats hardly an absolute answer, rather an opinion of girls who rushed. i think i made it clear that i didn't experience it myself.

You're Greek at UT, but didn't rush? Oh, ok.

is this a joke?

Evidently not as you wrote:

"1. i said that from what ive been told by my friends who went through rush here is that its not the most enjoyable experience. thats hardly an absolute answer, rather an opinion of girls who rushed. i think i made it clear that i didn't experience it myself."

I think he's in a fraternity.

Lane Swerve Ahead!
 

Pardon the swerve, but do college students call themselves "kids" these days? I seem to hear it a lot on greekchat, from people who are identifying themselves as college students, but I don't think I've ever heard it anywhere else.

Ok TheTexanYankee....

I am not one to make assumptions so the only way I can figure that you are part of the Greek community but that you have never gone through sorority rust at UT is:

1. You are in a Frat (In which case, you need to get back in your lane) or

2. You are in a sorority via transfer (In which case, you should really shut your piehole because you are not being very Panhellenic and ....well there is so much more but I will stop there)

3. You are in a Greek Letter organization such as a business frat or maybe in a sprint group that is governed by the Greek Life office (In which case, you are not only in the wrong lane, you are on the wrong interstate system)

Now with that said, Rush at UT can be a great experience for any young women who does her homework and is prepared. These young women cannot control the weather or who her fellow PNMs might be, but they sure can make sure their ducks are in a row, and that they enter the process with an open mind, etc., to maximize their chances.

As far as coming on here and talking about tier this and tier that, there are some Frats who limit their socialization with specific sororities, but frankly that is their close minded attitudes and certainly not the general attitude of 90% of all Greek members. (And bless your heart TTY...I suspect you are part of the 10%) As a matter of fact, those specific Frats are almost ridiculed for lack of a better term because it is really just ridiculous that in this day and time of UT Greek Life, that some people are so intent on holding onto stereotypes of decades past. But even these die hard groups have certainly opened up their social calendars more than ever before.

I will agree that at UT, when it comes to blending GDIs and Greeks at parties, the Greeks do stand out or maybe it would better to say the GDIs stand out because of basic sorority party attire. Most Friday and Saturday nights aside from the themed party or a formal night, most sororities represent in their letters and neon. This doesn't mean GDIs can't have a great time, it just means for the most part girls love to represent their houses and there is nothing wrong with that.;)