Northern Girl Thinking of Doing Spring Rush at a Huge Southern University
 

Hello! :) I am a freshman girl at Florida State University and I am thinking of going Greek. I would like to do spring rush but I'm not entirely sure about it yet because I've heard that it is very competitive because so few houses are offering bids so it is best to rush during the fall. Also, none of my family members have ever been involved in Greek life and I am from up north so I'm very new to Greek life and how it works. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! :)

FSU alum. here. Give spring rush a try. Worst case scenario, you don't find a fit and you decide to wait until the fall. Best case scenario, you find the perfect fit and start having fun right away. Good luck!

Also, correction. FSU is not a southern school. It is a Florida school. Florida is not the south.

Ah beg youah pardon?

Florida State University is a southern school. In a southern state.

It is a tragic fact that the farther south you go into Florida, however, the more north you get. This is why we've surrendered it to Longguyland.

It is located in the only capital never to fall to the north during the Civil War, and in fact, students from the then all male college defended the capital in the Battle of Natural Bridge, a skirmish fought south of town near the coast.

It was, actually, one of the first large state schools in the South to integrate, with little fanfare or incident. And it also awards more degrees to African Americans than any other of the state's large universities.

Only people who are not from Florida, which means outsiders who have moved to yankee outposts like Boca, a well known northern city full of overblown and overpriced condos located in South Florida, another country on another planet, who have accents that are the object of derision behind their backs, would make such a statement.

You know, the ones who just don't count in the old guard social sense among old Florida natives in places like Tampa, Jacksonville, and the Panhandle. Sniff. :rolleyes:

(Yes, you brought out the less kind part of me that I've fought so hard to keep squashed for years and years.)

By all means, OP, go through spring rush. It's less formal, it gives you the benefit of having time to see the different groups in a setting outside of rush, and while not all the groups might participate, you'll likely know that in advance and if the groups that interest you most are not among those rushing, you can then decide to move forward or not.

And thank you for realizing you're in the South. ;)

Also, FSU is one of the schools you need "recs" for. These are recommendations sent in by sorority alumnae endorsing you for membership in their organizations. There is tons of info on Greek Chat about recs -- what they are, how to get them, etc. Just do a search for "recommendation letters."

Also, here is some info from the FSU Panhellenic site about recommendations.

http://greeklife.fsu.edu/Panhellenic...endations.html

Are recs needed for spring rush?

Of course. In that respect, rush is rush, no matter what time of year it is.

Whether they are required or not, I would get them. An introduction is an introduction. Hopefully the OP will have met some/several/scads of sorority women this fall already, but a formal introduction, especially in THE SOUTH can only be good.

Like I said before, I know no one that is/was involved in Greek life. How do I go about getting letters of recommendation? Is it okay for me to just e-mail my resume to a woman in an alumnae association and hope for the best?

I do a lot of recs every year and so do quite a few of my friends. We always advise getting recs, no matter where a PNM is going. Even if a Panhellenic site says they aren't required... if they address the topic and actually have a page/section devoted to info about recs including where to mail them...then assume they are important.

OP, Greek Chat has FSU listed as one of the schools where recs are mandatory, so I would not risk going through recruitment without them, even in the spring. Ask your Greek Life office when they will know which sororities are participating. I have a Panhellenic Facebook group of sorority alumnae and all we do are recommendations, so if you are having trouble finding recs for all the chapters you need, contact me through GC as the time gets closer. :)

greekdee, thanks for the information! I will talk with FSU's Office of Greek Life this week and get in touch with you soon!

Great, and except for one, I have alumnae in my group from every sorority that has a chapter at FSU.

Recs are always better from women who actually know you personally, or know your family.

Exactly...ask your former teachers, people you babysat for, people you worked for, neighbors...the list goes on. Even if they aren't Greek themselves, they may be friends/in touch with someone who is (this is especially true since Facebook).

Absolutely check first with people you know. The way my group works is, typically, most members are comfortable doing a rec for someone they don't know personally IF:

1.) Someone in the group does know them and can vouch for them or
2.) They have the opportunity to communicate with the PNM first

Most of the girls we work with are ones who have exhausted every effort and just can't find recs for certain chapters. We've had a few who needed help with all chapters. It happens sometimes. Small towns, rural areas, local alumnae groups not responding or the Greeks they do find are in organizations that don't have chapters at the PNM's school.

Does your mom by chance have a FB page? I have several friends who went out on FB and said "Hey, any sorority alums out here? My daughter is rushing and needs recs!" They were quite surprised at how many of their friends were Greek and willing to help. You can ask on your FB too -- ask your friends if any of their family members are Greek.

But, my group is available and happy to help out -- we've gotten a lot of good feedback from people and have received compliments and support from alumnae groups who learned what we were doing. A friend and I started this group because so many girls in our community were having trouble finding recs for all the chapters at their schools. Initially we were just in the northern Atlanta, Georgia area, but we've expanded!

Absolutely check first with people you know. The way my group works is, typically, most members are comfortable doing a rec for someone they don't know personally IF:

1.) Someone in the group does know them and can vouch for them or
2.) They have the opportunity to communicate with the PNM first

Most of the girls we work with are ones who have exhausted every effort and just can't find recs for certain chapters. We've had a few who needed help with all chapters. It happens sometimes. Small towns, rural areas, local alumnae groups not responding or the Greeks they do find are in organizations that don't have chapters at the PNM's school.

Does your mom by chance have a FB page? I have several friends who went out on FB and said "Hey, any sorority alums out here? My daughter is rushing and needs recs!" They were quite surprised at how many of their friends were Greek and willing to help. You can ask on your FB too -- ask your friends if any of their family members are Greek.

But, my group is available and happy to help out -- we've gotten a lot of good feedback from people and have received compliments and support from alumnae groups who learned what we were doing. A friend and I started this group because so many girls in our community were having trouble finding recs for all the chapters at their schools. Initially we were just in the northern Atlanta, Georgia area, but we've expanded!

Brava AnchorAlum!!! i grew up in the Panhandle, and we definitely are part of the south-even today!

OP, you definitely need recs. at FSU-no matter when you rush. You must know one or two freshmen who joined sororities-if not at FSU at another school. Tell those girls that you are going to rush in the spring, and ask them if they could help you find a rec. Do the things that everyone else has suggested in previous posts. If you do not pledge in the spring, and decide to rush in the fall, you will need new recs. Good luck!

I'm concerned about you saying you don't know any Greek women. You undoubtedly have sorority women in your classes. If you aren't meeting them, it's time to work your way out of your shell and get to know them. This will serve 2 purposes, 1-you will become more comfortable introducing yourself to strangers and putting yourself out there to make friends and 2-the sorority women will remember you (hopefully positively) when it comes time for rush. You can even use their sorority status as a reason to introduce yourself. "I see you are wearing your badge (letters, Lilly day planner, whatever). I am interested in going through rush in the spring or next fall and would like to know more about your experience." Just as an example of course. Don't stalk, be creepy,or appear that you want to become friends solely for the connection to the sorority. But it's ok to ask a question about their sorority membership. Once you do get to know some gals reasonably well, you can ask them for suggestions about informal rush. They might say they aren't doing informal rush but they know the XYZ's are. Or they might express interest in letting you know about upcoming parties. Or they might be really vague and thus you should probably let it drop.

DubaiSis, I know none at all. A good friend of mine was in a sorority but dropped it last month because she didn't like her house (she is re-rushing next fall), and I am barely acquainted with a few other sorority sisters. I am trying to open up to girls who are in the houses that I'm interested in but it's difficult for me.

Friendly word: you need to be interested in each and every chapter at FSU, not just a few...!!!

There are threads here on how to have conversations, be friendly, meet people, etc. And a google search (today's doodle is really fun, btw) will yield all sorts of information on how to network and interact with people.

side comment: I wonder sometimes if face-to-face conversation is a dying art? So many digital natives are showing high degrees of "digital autism". Can only communicate with downcast eyes and a keyboard in hand.

AzTheta, I am interested in all of the chapters but I know that not all of them will be participating in spring rush so it's hard for me to be excited about the houses that I know will not want me.

That's the right answer. The best thing you can be doing right now is working up the courage to talk to strangers. And have your Mom start asking around to her friends, co-workers, women at church, etc. to see if anyone can help with recommendations. They may very well be sorority women and you just never knew. If you have any contact with your high school teachers, I'd ask them as well.

Church, school teachers, former neighbors, cousins, FB post "Hey, is anyone's mom a sorority woman?", parental co-workers--both male and female. The males may have a mom, wife, sister or auntie is greek. There was a great post from a mom about the search for recs this fall. Find and read. Get out and meet greek women on campus.

And if it is not too late, this semester join some sort of campus organization that you have an interest in. Not only will it look good on your resume', but it will help you practice introducing yourself and carrying on conversations with strangers, and there may be a few sorority members who are members.