College Search for future Sorority Girl
 

Hello everyone! I am hoping to get a thread started in regards to my daughter, who is a Senior looking at schools. I am already part of the CC community, but since joining a sorority is a top priority, I thought sharing my story here would be best!:)
My DD is a Senior with a high GPA and ACT, 4-year cheerleader, and other activities including being an officer.
1) A strong greek system, would prefer that the sororities have houses
2) A large school that has many sports/activiitesj
3) A program in Biology (which is nearly everyone)

Financial assisstance is important. We would most likely be full-pay at state schools (we are from Michigan), with some financial aid assistance at private schools.

Her list includes: The University of SAM (my new name for it):Stanford, Alabama, and Michigan. She is also interested in Vanderbilt, WUSTL, and Duke for our privates, and a few in-state affordable options.

If she is going to Alabama (which is in her top 3) we know she needs recommendations for all groups on campus, which will be a major undertaking, so we are waiting a bit to see if she will be going to Alabama. The other schools do not require the recs like Alabama, but we will need some for some of the schools.

I would love to hear from all the sorority women out there with an opinion or advice for me! This year is turning out to be such an adventure! Thank you in advance!!!!:D

Sounds like your daughter has some exciting choices to make. I see only one West Coast school :mad: so I realize the chances of getting a PAC-12 addition are slim to none. Such is life!

I'm of mixed opinion about the benefits of having a facility, but my perspective is different than others', and may well be in the minority.

You'll be hearing from people at the schools you've listed, so their advice is most relevant. I suggest you do lots of reading and you'll pick up useful information.

I wouldn't assume that recs are optional on ANY of those campuses.

Recs are totally optional at Michigan!

Can't wait to see where your D ends up, for school and sorority!

The daughter of a friend of mine joined Alpha Gamma Delta at Bama this fall. She is an out of state student, was a double legacy to another chapter, but AGD won her heart.

She just loves her chapter and Bama. Her mom made sure she had a couple of recommendations for each chapter there. Good luck to your daughter as she makes her decision.

We have visited 3 college campuses in the last 4 months. The tours and campuses have all been vastly different. Two tours my daughter loved and one of the tours totally turned her off. Her criteria is similar to your daughters, but with a different major. We have one more tour to go in state but she really wants to go out of state. For us it will depend on the money that she is offered. BTW, check at each school to see if there is a Biology scholarship available to Freshman from the Biology department separate from the admin scholarships.

If you are looking at Biology - I think that you also need to think about what does she want to do with that? Is biology the end goal or a jumping off point?

Does she want to teach Biology?
Is she interested in a Pre-health program like medicine, nursing, physical therapy?
Does she want to go to grad school in biology?
Or does she want to work for an environmental sciences program, a forestry company, or a fish hatchery?

Some schools have Biology and some have Biomedical Sciences, Zoology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Cellular Biology, Laboratory Technology, Marine Biology and Natural Resource Management?

These don't necessarily go together like a horse and carriage. :) If you mean to say you prefer that the sororities have housing that is another matter. But there are MANY strong Greek systems out there where the sororities don't have huge houses.

Agreed - take Duke for example.....

Wash U sororities do not have housing. They have chapter suites, I believe, but no actual house. The greek system at Wash U has really grown in the last few years, and I believe they are colonizing another sorority within the near future. I would have to go back to Irish Pipes list to see who it is.
The biological sciences programs at Wash U are excellent. They have huge research facilities and are operating with an endowment of several billion dollars.

Kappa Delta is colonizing this spring at WashU.

Agreed that you don't need recs at Michigan. You just don't.

And if you're from the state of Michigan, why go anywhere else but UofM? :)

Of course, I'm a little biased, but if she's pre-med, the program is top-notch, the Greek system is strong and the housing is amazing.

Does she want to get away from people from her high school?

I know that it's expensive at UM, but there are tons of outside scholarships available.

I say GO BLUE! (Good luck to her no matter where she ends up!)

I'd get recs no matter where she goes. Why not take advantage of an extra advantage? A current sorority member of one of the most competitive groups at Michigan told my daughter to definitely get recs. My guess is that they play a bigger role at some chapters than they do at others. Her chapter is one that is likely making heavy cuts early on, and a rec. might help.

Have you read AGDee's thread about her daughter's college search?

Vanderbilt has housing but not many girls live in. They are more like lodges. They do have a very strong Greek system. Not for sure about references. I know we send a lot from Dallas but we are use to them being required.

Are you asking only for advice specific to these schools or are you looking to add other schools to her list of applications?

There's a thread listing the schools where you will most likely need recs/references. There is also a "general advice" thread linked in my signature which may be helpful for the general process of recruitment. Addtionally, if you use the "Search" function, you can find past threads detailing PNMs experiences with recruitment at specific schools.

If you would like to consider any Florida schools, note that a student can qualify for in-state tuition after their first year; unlike the residency requirements of many other states. UF, FSU, and UCF will meet the criteria on your daughter's lists (and recs will be required for these schools).

Wow, thank you so much for all of the advice so far. Some info that I didn't include is my daughter will be pre-med, prefers cell/molecular bio, but if the school does not have it, biology will do!

We have visited several schools (some of which did not make her application list after visiting), and she really would like a strong greek system WITH sorority housing. However, if there are suites/wings for sororities that may work. We did visit one school with that set-up and were dissatisfied.

I think we will start on the talking to recommendation-writers for schools, since I know it is not needed at some schools but is an extra bonus. At my school, we did not have sorority housing, and recs were "bonuses", so I do have some knowledge in this matter.

Since finances are a consideration, we do want to see if she will get any $$ from Michigan (although we are not counting on it). Some of the out-of-state options will actually be less expensive than in-state U of Michigan when factoring scholarships she will/may receive. I've compared the college search to sorority recruitment to my daughter on numerous occasions. She has been told to MAXIMIZE HER OPTIONS, which is why we are applying to reaches -Stanford, Duke, Vandy, WUSTL, Matches- U of Michigan and Alabama, and Safeties - a few Michigan schools which she may receive full-ride/full-tuition scholarships. When she needs to make a decision she will have choices.

I did not know about the Florida residency rule, I will check into those!!! THanks!

Yes, I have read AGDee's posts with her daughter's search, LOVE THEM!!

Can't wait for this search to be over, but it is exciting!! I am fairly sure we may not decide until March/April!!!

The University of Arizona has an excellent biology department, including molecular and cellular biology. We also have a medical school and one of the strongest Greek systems in the US with beautiful sorority houses. I highly recommend it!

My daughter is a Biology major at Univ. of South Carolina. She is Greek. She is also in the # 1 Honors College. She has a great scholarship. They have beautiful houses in Greek village and AGD just colonized and has a house already. South Carolina draws students from all over the country as they have the #1 International Business school as well.

She is NOT going to Ohio State. Just sayin'. LOL

^Oops! My bad, two schools. The general point remains true. We have many sports programs.

Lisa Simpson - "I will not be a Gamecock" ;)

If she's got a chance at Stanford, IU should throw some serious cash at her. We've got 21 sororities (19 housed!) and a strong strong strong basketball program!! Plus she'd be within driving distance of home :) She can also get involved in the second largest student philanthropy in the country--IUDM. The Cox Scholars Research Program also matches freshman students with research mentors for all 4 years, which is great for med or grad school (if her plans change)

If you're even interested in applying to IU though, the scholarship deadline is November 1st for the good $$!

IU Distinction - $44,000 ($11,000 per year)
Minimum SAT score of 1350 or minimum ACT of 31
Minimum GPA of 3.80 on a 4.0 scale

I'd be a little cautious about IU if your daughter really has her heart set on being in a sorority. I know many will agree that they have one of the most (if not the) brutal recruitments in the country. My own sorority colonized there last year, and a large pnm pool competed for a very limited number of spots. It was probably no different for the sorority that just colonized this semester.

All of the schools the OP listed have great reputations and some have very competitive recruitments, but none as competitive as Indiana. Good luck :)

I would agree about IU. Recruitment there is ridiculous. I just had my high school reunion and I ran into 2 girls who didn't get bids and they are still bitter about it--many years later. They both ended up transferring to smaller schools because of it.

Another thing to consider is if she wants to be pre-med, she'll want to get some research/volunteer experience under her belt while she's in college. I would strong recommend she consider schools with these kinds of programs and that she get involved in them right away. She will need to get recommendations from professors she knows well, and doing something like a research internship is a great way to do this.

And as AGDee said, no matter how much money they give her, there is no way she can go to Ohio State! I am pretty sure they don't have a biology program anyway :D

I don't know if you've seen this list. It's a little old, but it can't be THAT far off.
But possibly thinking ahead, the best med schools (according to US News) are http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsa...-care-rankings

I like the medical school list better because it lists a lot more schools that have good Greek systems. And while the biology programs might not be world class, graduates would generally be eligible for their graduate school. Using Iowa as an example (go Hawks!), it ranks 56th in biology, but 12th in medicine, all while having a vibrant Greek system and beautiful housing. And I think it is a bit more affordable than some other Big 10 schools. At least it used to be.

I actually got a good feel for Ohio State when I "drove by" this summer, but scholarships for OOS are small, and we are more looking at full tuition scholarships to be competitive with what she has already received. My daughter is very conscious of the prestige of the school, but I would like her to realize there are some very good schools out there that will give her good aid. Thank you for your help everyone...this board feels like a family!!

Maybe force feed her a bunch of Suze Orman TV shows when she talks about school. Although she says education is good debt, there is a big ole limit to that. Being able to get through undergrad for free or with less than $10K in debt would be a huge win, and unless she's looking at Liberty, a mid-prestige school will do just fine. A state school that most people have heard of or a private that most people in your region have heard of would, IMO, fall smack in the middle of GOOD ENOUGH. But I'm not a big fan of the need to go to an uber-competitive school to get a quality education. And I believe the stats are on my side. It seems to me I've read somewhere that many people never make up the difference in cost they incurred for ridic expensive school versus the school you can afford that pre-accepts you. Here's another scenario: the University of Northern Iowa is not at all hard to get into, is the least expensive of the 3 Iowa public universities, and at least at one point had the highest rate of passing the CPA in the first try of any school in the US. Never heard of the school? Who cares! If you can get a job right after you graduate because you passed the CPA while you were still in school, you will be all about the Panthers. I don't know if there is any sort of statistic published that would apply to medicine/pre-med. Maybe ask a few doctors you know if, to do it again if they'd go to the same school, one that didn't cost so much, or if they'd have fought harder to get into Harvard or Stanford. And I have a friend who is a very successful cardiologist who went to med school in the Dominican Republic. Seriously.

My sister and brother-in-law both went to flagship state schools, were very active in their GLOs, and met in med. school in the Caribbean. Now she's a pediatrician and he's a cardiologist finishing a one-year interventionist program (they do the catheter stuff, like stents). He's been interviewing to join cardiology practices around the country for $475,000 - $600,000 to start. Yeah.

As a current resident (doctor in my specialty training) I want to cut this train of thought off before it goes too far. In the past, people who went to med schools outside of the US had a shot at US residency slots IF they performed awesomely as students. That is steadily becoming no longer the case. The number of US med school graduates is increasing relative to residency slots. Foreign grads are ranked behind US MD grads and US DO grads in the competition for training spots. I would NEVER advise anyone just starting the process to even consider med school outside the country.

On the thread's actual topic, I can't really comment on the Greek systems of various schools. But if medical school is a consideration for the future, I advise choosing the undergrad that is free, or as close to free as possible. You don't want a lot of debt.

To be fair, Ohio State is not terribly generous with in-state students. Get X GPA, get Y ACT/SAT, get Z $. There are many other strong public and private Ohio schools which are much more generous financially for both in-state and OOS students.

My next door neighbor has 3 daughters. All 3 were told from an early age that they would have to get scholarships to go to college. (The dad has a PhD in Chemistry and is the CEO of a chemical mfg company). They all danced, entered pageants, made excellent grades and accumulated many scholarships. The oldest went to a nearby small state school Montevallo on a full ride. She now also has 2 masters degrees - all paid for. The middle one went to Alabama on a full ride and got her JD/MBA - also on a full ride. The youngest one - the really smart one - got 3 full ride offers and went to South Alabama because they also gave her early med school acceptance. Bright girls, hard workers and very sweet lovely ladies. The middle wasn't Greek but the other 2 are.. and both were officers in their respective groups. Go where they give you the best deal.

To the OP:

My recommendation is to pay attention to great schools with good biology programs, but understand that majors, and career plans, change ALL THE TIME. Allegedly half of the kids at my undergrad enter as "pre-med," and approximately 20% are medical school bound at graduation or within a year or so. Not all doctors were science majors, either. I have a friend finishing up med school now who was a fine arts major, who just took her pre-med requirements (and aced them).

Her top choices are great across the board, so this is less of a problem than if she went to a science-heavy school and decided that she didn't want to pursue that as a career.

Also, there's this program: http://www.mhec.org/MSEPFAQ

The Midwest Higher Education Compact allows students from one midwestern state to attend a state or private school in another midwestern state at a discounted rate, instead of paying the full OOS tuition. It's not quite in-state, and in my opinion, Michigan is probably the best of the bunch, so it might not be that great of a deal.

My final recommendation is go to the best school that you can afford comfortably without taking on substantial debt. Going to the regional college (as opposed to a flagship or a well-regarded private) is fine if you know for sure that you're going to remain in that same region for the first few years of your career. I knew that I never wanted to live in Florida ever again after my 18th birthday, so I applied to schools with great national and international reputations. I find now that my undergrad and grad school affiliations open doors for me, both professionally and personally, that I would never had known about if I had attended my regional college.

Good luck!

Because you brought it up, I'll drop in to plug my alma mater. It is the obvious #2 in the MHEC bunch, behind Michigan, and Champaign-Urbana is not a bad place to spend four years.

I am super-biased, but I'd say it's one of the best Greek systems in the country. It's one of the largest outside of cutthroat SEC schools, and the sheer number of chapters means that virtually anyone can find a place where she fits.

Illinois is extremely well-respected, and attracts all of the top employers in the Chicago area. The associated medical school is the biggest in the nation.

Off-topic- Are there actually still "pre-med" programs in the US? In Canada most of them disappeared by the mid 1960s (because anyone who has taken bio-chem and organic chem, and has fulfilled the other requisites can apply). Ditto for pre-law. If I had taken organic, I could still claim that I'm "pre-med" technically, so can most of my undergrad student body.

It is not a major in and of itself. Many different majors can lead to med school. If med school is the goal though, it is wise to take certain courses to do well on the MCAT.

May I recommend to your daughter the spectacular UCLA in Los Angeles! Thriving sorority life and outstanding academics. The housing on campus is great due to the fact that all of the dorms have been renovated and several brand new ones just opened this year. Campus dining is superb. Good school spirit. Perfect climate. Hands down one of the most beautiful college campuses in the country.

The UC's are accepting more and more out of state students (they like that out of state tuition!).

As I'm looking at booking tickets for Hypo to come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'll just add a little reminder to keep those costs in mind too. You would think LGA to DTW flights would be fairly cheap, but NOT at Thanksgiving. Nothing is cheap at Thanksgiving :(

I don't think anyone was saying rah yeah Caribbean Med schools. What I was saying is you can get a perfectly respectable job (and that is 100% the point) at a limited or even non-prestige school.

I'm also on the side of attending a school that is not just good for science, but in the liberal arts as well. Particularly if high school was pretty easy for your daughter, she may go running for the hills when she starts taking college sciences classes. Or not. But it's good to have some choices without having to transfer if she finds out she's made a bad choice in majors.

And putting on my travel agent hat, if you can have your daughter at a no-flight-required school, your life is going to be a lot easier and less expensive. Remember luggage isn't free anymore (in most cases) and the airlines are a quirky bunch. I really wouldn't want to rely on the airlines for whether my daughter was going to be home for Christmas or not.

Don't forget there are 5 airports in New York!

I have to agree with this. The med school is in Chicago, as opposed to Chambana, but U of I is a fantastic school and wants to get out of state kids. Also, what about Wisconsin? The Greek System is strong here--but not crazy competitive-- beautiful houses (one chapter does not have a house), and great academics. Biology is the largest major here.

I concur with what AGDee said about coming home--that's something you don't think about until it comes up. I liked being a 4 hour drive from home so I could go home when I wanted--so many people at U of M lived in the Chicago burbs, so I could always catch a ride--or I could hop on a cheap, short flight on Southwest. I had friends who lived in CA who didn't even go home for Thanksgiving and it was really hard for them. If you think that your daughter is going to want to come home at all, keep that in mind. It definitely adds up.