Sorority Recruitment Question! :)
 

Hello everyone! First post, woohoo!

I'm a sophomore at University of Miami (IN FLORIDA). I plan to study abroad during the spring semester (which starts late January). I will definitely be at the recruitment week, which is in early January, but I won't be on campus for most of the Spring semester. I would still love to be considered by the different sororities--mainly because I would not have to wait till the following Spring (and therefore, cutting off my Fall 2013 semester to be a member) to go through recruitment. Does anyone know if this is totally a killer for my chances at any of the sororities?

THANKS Y'ALL :)

How would you be able to attend events, bond with a new member class, meet the actives, and fulfill your new member obligations while overseas? Do none of the groups do informal recruitment in the fall (either this fall or next fall)?

is this Miami of Ohio, as I suspect? I think this is not a great plan. Miami of Ohio has a very competitive recruitment. If you are not going to be there in the spring, why would you even want to rush? You won't be there for initiation, to meet people, to bond with your sisters, etc. Either go to study abroad your jr year, or understand that Greek life may not be for you. Why didn't you rush fresh year or go through informal this fall?

This would absolutely be impossible. Your only options would be to either look for informal recruitment opportunities in the Fall, or wait until Spring 2014 to try formal recruitment. Good luck with whatever you decide.

And be present for initiation???? I doubt you'll be able to work this out. But, you could call the Greek Adviser and run it past him/her.

University of Miami. and well recruitment is in January...and my study abroad is in early March

Like I said, i really do want to go greek. The reason I am asking is because I don't want to be cut off from being a member through out the Fall semester and have to wait an entire semester to rush again.

UM does not have informal recruitment.

UM likely does have an informal recruitment. You need to decide if you want to go greek more than you want to go abroad this year. I can't see how you could do both in the same semester.

You should probably check with your greek life office to see if you're even eligible for recruitment that semester. Even if you are, new member programs typically last eight weeks, so I doubt you'd still be around for initiation. You have to make a choice between studying abroad or going through sorority recruitment.

The question about why you didn't go through recruitment freshman year still stands.

I don't understand how this works at all. Are you going to start classes in January and then not finish them?

Hi DeltaBetaBaby... UM's classes and recruitment starts in January. I will be doing an exchange program (studying abroad), which starts in early March. That being said, I will still be in Miami January and February.

I didn't rush as a freshman simply because I was a commuter and well, I wasn't on campus enough to know that registration was in Fall. Since recruitment was in January, I assumed that registration was sometime in January. However, I was wrong...My fault of course.

Thanks for all the help. No disrespect to the sorority girls here who love their new members to be involved :)

Hello! Only one of UM's chapters has informal recruitment. However, I would like to know more than just one sorority and not jump into anything :) thanks.

Curious - wasn't there an Alpha Xi Delta colony there this fall? Something along those lines?

Yes: http://www.muohio.alphaxidelta.org/

thank you very much, jg_wi (my abbreviation for your username because typing "just" looks awkward to me).

(and justgo looks rude!)

I am NOT talking about the Ohio Miami... I got tO the UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI, FL! :))

WHAT? oh MAN! :rolleyes:

my bad. I am really hazy on anything east of the Rockies. Provincial attitude, I know. :o sorry for assuming it was Ohio. Ohio, Florida...yeah, one place has gators. The other has ... has ...

nevermind. I'm going back into my corner. They know me there.

So you won't be enrolled FT at UM? You can't go through recruitment if that is the case. You'll be enrolled as a visiting student at another school and not attending classes at Miami, based on what you said you'll just be hanging out in Miami during Jan-Feb. You need to be enrolled as a FT degree seeking undergrad during the semester you plan to go through recruitment.

Enjoy your study abroad program and go through recruitment the following year. You'll probably have fewer sorority options as an upperclassman in recruitment, so be prepared for a lot of early cuts based on your class status.

My study abroad is an exchange program. That means that it is not a transfer or a visiting student or anything like that. It's a UM program, with UM teachers teaching the course...I pay University of Miami tuition, and my transcript will show that I attended the UM at that time... So that is def not an issue.

Look, you can't pledge and not be there.

There are groups that COB that may not advertise it...

I would look into these groups or wait until formal as a junior.

I graduated from UM FYI.

Then how would you suggest I ask if there are any COB's this semester? Thanks in advance.

Call/email/visit the greek life office and ask.

Ladies: She said in her original post that she attends UM in Florida so calm down about that. And study abroad is a standard part of the college program. It's not unusual for people to do second semester sophomore or junior year abroad as part of their undergrad work. You get regular college credits for the entire semester. Usually, part of the semester is done in class at the college and the remainder on site in a foreign country. For us oldtimers, semester abroad is unusual but it is a standard on many campuses today. Many NPC groups have had to implement policies regarding housing requirements, dues, etc to accomodate these students.

All that being said, it is in the OP's best interest to talk to the Greek Life Office regarding her particular situation.

And as an aside, we've all gotten a little testy this fall, myself included. Let's try to be a bit more PH in our responses. I'm beginning to tire of this and the number of closed threads this fall is sad.

Thanks!

I'm PMing you.

Thank you so much. I will definitely try to talk to my Greek Life Office... and hopefully I find some luck there!

Not to bring the sob story in, but here it is...I am a commuter at the University of Miami. As a freshman last semester, it was REALLY hard to make friends. Not living on campus like everyone else and living at home with my parents while everyone was establishing friendships outside of class was quite difficult. I should have rushed as a freshman, yes... but I was not aware of registration or recruitment week (my fault of course). So hopefully greek life will make me feel a little more welcomed in college, and I can make great friends along the way too. Seeing how the sisters love and care for each other makes me want to be a part of that too. Hopefully y'all understand ! :)

So if recruitment is in early January and she leaves in March, she very well could be initiated by March, which should solve any problems. Seems like the only worry might be if she missed most of her new member program, which she shouldn't unless she went Chi O, which has its NM program the whole first semester.

I think the confusion is in the half a semester exchange program, which I for one have never heard of.

I know it kind of sucks to informal rush and miss out on getting the full picture, but if you want to be in a sorority, it would be a shame to miss out on all of it because of inconvenient timing for a study abroad program, of which I'm a true believer. I would also never suggest a person pass up any opportunity to study abroad.

I would look into informaling this fall and hopefully you will find a home that way. Although the available chapter/s might not be the most competitive of the group, it will still offer you a great sisterhood as well as the lifetime membership that is so treasured by most of us here.

And although the colony talk up thread was accidentally about Miami of Ohio, according to the NPC Recruitment thread, there is going to be a colony coming on at UM, still to be determined which. This would probably happen next fall and could be an excellent opportunity for you to get the best of both worlds. When you're inquiring about informal opportunities, you might also ask when they anticipate this colony to happen.

Thanks you all for the help and support.

DubaiSis., just to clear things up...UM semester is January-early May. The study abroad program is early March-Late July

I think that may be part of the confusion. I am assuming (sorry if I am wrong) that many of us are familiar with a study abroad program that would run the same time as normal semester schedule, January to May. It confuses us to see a student leave part way through a semester. From what I am reading, you attend a class(es) and then go to study abroad where the professors are accredited/staffed by UM. Are all your classes planned for study abroad? For instance, do all study abroad participants take a set of classes specialized for study abroad?

I'm assuming that she does nothing at the Miami campus that semester, but probably pays tuition to UM, and then leaves in March. The GL office can give you guidance on whether you'd be eligible for rush, because, with a six-week pledge period, it's possible that you'd be able to initiate before you leave.

Yes, exactly as DeltaBetaBaby stated. I don't do anything at the Miami campus, but I am a commuter and can go to any sorority meetings and be involved.

You give me hope! =) Thank you so much.

You should, however, also see if there is COB happening right now. I'll be honest: the strongest recruiting chapters are not likely to want to take someone in your position, so you will probably have limited options during formal recruitment anyway.

We have a half-semester study abroad program like this in my dept. During their teacher assisting semester, students in this program spend the first half in classes with the professors on campus, then they all go abroad together to teacher assist in classrooms and continue working with the same professors. This partnership in a certain country/with a sister university has been going on for at least 10 years. Not everyone does it...many students do a traditional placement locally. I agree with Titchou...study abroad has become quite common, and there are a wide variety of programs out there. We excuse this in the chapter I advise, and we have held later initiations at times for new members who had some unusual complication/conflict. I'd follow the advice of contacting the Greek Life office, but I think she should try to make it work.

yes, thank you :) gonna go see the dean of students tom.

Not doubting anything she has said, but...U of Miami has formal rush in January? Is that weird to anyone else other than me?

I think it is the only Florida school on a deferred recruitment schedule.

yes, UM has deferred recruitment as adpiucf stated. :)

They used to recruit in the fall but moved it to January.

I know it's different, but for what it's worth, we had a sister in my pledge class that started the Disney internship program days after pledging. I was in a colonizing class, and to be honest, I'm not sure how she did all of her new member work, but it was worked out and she was an OUTSTANDING sister -- though we were all really confused about WHERE she came from when we moved in to our house the 2nd year (she was at Disney almost a full year away from the chapter before returning)!

Good luck in any case. Studying abroad is a great opportunity and I would not let recruitment change your plans. You never know, you might even have some future sisters traveling with you and not even know it yet!