FSU Winterfest 2013 (informal recruitment)
 

Hello everyone!

I am starting my freshman spring semester in a few days. I went through Fall recruitment (which at FSU is formal recruitment) and it didn't work out for me. Basically, I attended FSU during the summer term and took a science class that was way too difficult for me (i am not a science person whatsoever), and despite working my butt off, ended up with a C+, which brought down my GPA considerably. Despite my stellar high school resume, straight As, leadership positions, being an attractive south florida girl with many friends in almost all FSU sororities, I didn't end up where I hoped and thus "suicide-bidded", didn't receive a bid, and was released from recruitment. Despite my disappointment, I decided I would try again and come out for Winterfest at FSU. I have already signed up, but I was wondering if anyone out there has any tips for me? My GPA, which at the start of Fall was a 3.0, has risen to a 3.3, and I hope that will make at least a slight difference for me. And again, I do have friends in most of the sororities at FSU.

Is there anything I should be doing now? Contacting the Greek life office, messaging my friends reaffirming my interest, etc? Also any other tips such as what its like, what to expect, etc would be much appreciated!

Do you have recommendations? You need them, no matter if you have friends in the chapters at FSU or not, even for informal recruitment. Do send a little note to your friends in the sororities letting them know that you will be rushing in the spring. Something like "Hey Anne. I just registered for Winterfest and am so excited. I hope that I will see you at an event, if your sorority is participating", or something to that effect.

I am glad that you are giving recruitment another try. You have the experience of fall recruitment, so you know what to expect and what to wear. Your GPA should be fine.

I know that it is hard, but try to look at the chapters participating in spring recruitment with fresh eyes. They all offer a wonderful chance at sisterhood. Good luck.

Thank you so much. I think my biggest problem in fall was that I was a little too closed minded. I'm definitely going to give some more chapters a second look!

How many recs per sorority do you need? I will be a freshman in the fall and come from out of state. Just trying to get a jump on things. Thanks :)

I hope you give more chapters a chance, soflogirl, BUT....FSU Zeta knows her stuff. If she says you need recs, you NEED recs. Do what you can to secure some now for the informal recruitment. If things don't work out and you decide to re-rush in the fall, get those recs!

Massgirl77, check out this thread: http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=112718

With all due respect, none of my friends that I know (this # is around 10-20 girls) that got into sororities last fall had recs. One is even currently a ZTA, which is considered a "top sorority" now at FSU. I'm sure that people do get recs, but I'm not sure if its as common or as important as it maybe once was because I haven't heard of anyone getting recommendation letters. More emphasis has been placed on actually knowing the girls, I think.

That being said, if spring doesn't work, I probably will try and get recs just to be extra safe, especially since ill be a sophomore!

They may have had recommendations that they didn't know about at the time, so you really can't say that the girls you know didn't have recommendations. GET RECS NOW! Seriously, why wouldn't you try to get something simple that will probably help you considerably? And, if some other girls don't have recommendations, having them might give you a little boost.

Think of it this way, recs can't hurt, they CAN help and they MIGHT be mandatory. Why limit your opportunities? At least try to wrangle together some recommendations.

YES, IT IS IMPORTANT. Your friends probably had people getting them recs behind the scenes that they didn't know about, as some of the sororities there REQUIRE a rec to receive a bid (that is, it is a national requirement).

Get off your high horse and get recs. It may end up not mattering, but if you have them and get cut, you'll know that at least it wasn't because of that.

Whoa I don't see why you have to get so hostile. After all, I've seen plenty of posts on here chastising people for strictly heeding advice from this website rather than talking to real life people in sororities about these questions. Thanks for your advice but I'm not exactly on a "high horse" I merely said the many people I know in sororities have not once advised me to get recommendation letters.

Well since you know all these sorority members and know all about recruitment, I am not sure why you are on the Internet asking for advice???

You are getting very snippy with people who are only trying to help you.

Think of it this way; most of your sorority friends are probably freshmen and therefore just went through rush themselves. The women here who are giving you advice have seen rush many MANY times, including as rush advisors for chapters at FSU. The sorority girl you know has never seen rush on the other side and they don't know the policies and procedures yet, even if they think they do. And the way all the paperwork goes in sororities, the advisor and the rush secretary may be the only ones who actually see the recs, and they might be the only ones weighting their importance. Or in other words, in member selection, someone isn't standing up saying "Mary has a rec but Suzie doesn't, so we're cutting Suzie." But that could be just what is happening in the dungeon in the basement where the rush secretary lives.

Every sorority has a different way of handling it and it's all secret, but think of it like this theoretical scenario. Your grades count for a point, your recs count for a point, your conversation counts for a point, your appearance counts for a point, your friend connections count for a point. Do you really want to give up 1 of 5 points? Maybe you've got all 4 of the others and maybe 4 is enough. But what if it's not?

I don't think I ever got snippy. And I am asking you all for simply that reason, you know the process better. I was just giving you all my side of the story and I have expressed over and over my appreciation for all of your advice. So thank you once more, I am currently trying to get in touch with as many former sorority women as I can, hopefully it's not too late, and if it is at least I have a jump on Fall.

You can have recs and not know it. Chapters have connections in home towns and will often put the extra effort into finding them, etc.

But you shouldn't count on it. Try to line them up on your own. FSUZeta knows a lot about what to expect and when she say to line 'em up, you really should line up some recs.

I agree that being more open minded is also likely to make a big difference, too! Good luck!

For a girl to receive a ZTA bid, she must have a recommendation. Your friends (especially if they joined this past fall) may not realize this. I am an alumna, and have been an advisor to several chapters(General Advisor, VPI advisor, Ritual advisor and numerous years as a Recruitment advisor) in various parts of the country and every girl who received a bid to ZTA had a recommendation-as others have said, it is a national requirement of ours. Additionally, as others have said, often PNMs do not realize that an alumna took the time to write a recommendation for them, and it may be an advisor in a back room doing it for a girl that has no rec. that the chapter is just in love with, but at FSU the majority of successful PNMs have recs.

Since you appear to feel comfortable with having no recs. for spring informal, I guess you did not have recs. for fall. Perhaps this is why fall recruitment did not work out the way you had hoped. I would think that someone who did not receive a bid would evaluate the plan she had for fall 2012 recruitment, and change those things that she has the power to change.

Like I said, I have never heard of any girl who is in a sorority having a rec. only until now did I know that maybe the girls that had them and didn't know. So it was my understanding that it was my grades that were the deciding factor. I am the first one in my family to go to college in America so I really had a limited understanding of how this all worked beyond the advice of my friends.

The thing about textual communication is that there is no tone to help the person receiving your message know exactly how you meant to convey your message. Without that additional information, you can unintentionally seem snippy unless you are very careful with your wording. It's the message received that counts.

It's ok. Just do the very best you can to maximize your options. We are here to help, just don't pooh-pooh the advice. :)

If they are "former" members, they can't write you a rec. Only members can do that. Please know that no matter how old you may be, unless your membership is terminated or you resign, you are a member until you die. So please, please do not call them "former" members. You are either a member or you are not. There is no other way. Just a little FYI since you aren't up to speed on GLOs. Those going thru recruitment are "potential new members." Those who have gone thru recruitment and accepted a bid are "new members." Once you are initiated, you are a "member." While in school you are a collegian. Once you leave school, you are an alumna.

End of tutorial.

I may not be an expert but yes I do know all that, after all I did go through recruitment and received a huge packet with all this info. Excuse my miswording.

Your understanding from whom? A lot of times that's what members will tell girls when they are embarrassed that their friend didn't get a bid to their chapter for another more personal reason. Trying to find out why you didn't get a bid from a house, especially when you know many members, is VERY uncomfortable for those members. You will never know why houses dropped you and you need to increase your odds now by doing everything in your power because there probably won't be that many spaces available and it will be even more competitive than formal was.

Since you say you suicided, then you obviously made it to preference round with at least two chapters left. That doesn't sound like what happens to a grade risk. I think you will need to have the openest of minds and not think that a little bump in your GPA is going to make you a hot PNM.

Let me be more clear: any person I have spoken to about my recruitment experience have been close friends. In no way have I ever made a fool of myself by begging members to reveal what went wrong. The grades thing was actually brought up to me by my Rho Gamma, with whom I have kept in touch with since recruitment. And yes by all means I am maximizing my options, but I only suicides because I truly felt I was not the right fit for that chapter, and throughout fall semester and meeting girls from there, have continued to feel this way. However, they are the only chapter I feel that way about, and FSU has 15 other chapters, so yes I understand its going to be competitive but I don't see why I shouldn't give it a shot.

Absolutely you should give it a shot! But heed our suggestions....we have no agenda toward and no vested interest in the PNMs who come here seeking advice. Hopefully you can find out quickly which sororities are going to be able to participate in spring recruitment and can round up a recommendation for each one, and hopefully you have friends in those sororities who can pull for you. As someone else stated, there will be only a few spots in a limited number of chapters during spring recruitment, so do all you can to set yourself apart (in a good way, of course!).

If things don't work out for you (for whatever reason) this spring and you decide to rush in the fall, you will need to secure new recommendations for all the sororities at FSU. You can ask the alumnae who had written previous ones. They will understand that you need new ones.

I just found out that the chapters won't know who is taking bids until the day of winterfest... So that puts me in an awkward position :\

They may be telling you that, and they may not be allowed to say right now per Panhellenic, but they have a pretty good idea if they have spots or not. There may be a couple of surprises of girls not returning once school resumes, but those that will be rushing in the spring know they are eligible to do so. I know it does not help your situation, but I wanted you to know how it really is.

I will qualify my statement by saying that that is based on total not being raised. if Panhellenic is going to raise total (the membership cap), and I have no idea that that is happening, it may allow a few more chapters to participate.

Something else that may factor into that, is that AOII is coming next fall, and I've heard that more chapters might be taking members to raise the overall chapter total (??) or something along those lines. On a side note, I think going through AOIIs colonization might be a good thing to consider for me as Ill be a sophomore this fall, what do you think FSUZeta?

Thank you for confirming that AOII will be colonizing in the fall. Many times the semester prior to a colonization, total is raised and it does allow more sororities to participate in informal recruitment. There will still be some sororities with more members than the new total, and they will still not be able to participate until formal recruitment in the fall, but it does open up more slots for PNMs.

Being a member of a colony is a rare honor and a wonderful opportunity for any PNM, but especially for sophomores, juniors and seniors, who often are overlooked during regular recruitment because they will not be an active collegiate member for 4 years. Joining a colony is not an easier route, but I would encourage anyone to consider giving it a shot.

Ok thank you so much! I've actually already emailed the women in charge and they told me they're going to start officially getting the word out in Spring, so that's definitely another exciting option for me :D

Recs sound pretty important. Would a pnm ask friends of hers who are currently in college or women who are already graduated? If she receives a bid for spring - is that obligation through the end of this school year or for one calendar year? If she receives a bid from a sorority she likes but might not be her first choice - should she go ahead and accept for the experience and then re-rush in the fall or just wait until fall. Is colonizing the opening of a new chapter on campus? Do experienced women from another school or alumna come in to get things going?

It depends on the group, FSUMom. Some groups are fine with active members providing recs. Other groups are ok with active members providing recs, but they must be from a different school. Still other groups, you must be an alumnae in good standing. It would be best to start with those you know and are closest with.

Current collegiate members of some sororities are able to write recommendations. For some, the collegiate member may write a rec. as long as it is not to her own chapter. Other sororities only allow alumnae members to write recs., or the collegiate member rec. must be endorsed/cosigned by an alumna.

The colonization process generally follows this trend(please understand this is how my sorority does it, others may have a different method):

Semester prior to colonization, traveling leadership consultants(TLCs-what ZTA calls them), who are newly graduated members employed by the sorority's (inter)national office to work hands on with collegiate chapters and colonies, arrive on campus to lay the ground work for the colonization process.

The semester of colonization, national officers, former national officers and local alumnae as well as the TLCs work together to form the colony. If a colony is founded during the semester that formal recruitment takes place, the colonizing sorority usually participates in the first round of recruitment, holding an information session in place of a party, so that the PNMs will learn a little about the sorority and the process the sorority will use for colonization. At anytime during formal recruitment, PNMs interested in participating in the colony recruitment, may withdraw from formal recruitment. If the PNM continues on to the end of formal recruitment and attends Pref. parties, as long as she does not sign a membership agreement, she would remain eligible to participate in the colony recruitment.

Other girls who were not interested in formal recruitment, but were interested in the colony may choose to sign up specifically for the colony recruitment. Everyone who signs up for colony recruitment will not be extended an invitation to join-it is not an easier route to take to gain sorority membership, but it is well worth it. Only a handful of women can say that they helped found/re-establish their chapter, and have their names appear on their charter.

FSUMOM2012, as long as your daughter does not sign a membership agreement, and does not accept a bid, she will be eligible to rush in the fall. Perhaps someone with access to the current NPC recommendations can answer how long she would be obligated to a sorority if she accepted a bid, but dropped her membership before she was initiated.

I would encourage your daughter to attend Winterfest and attend any sorority rush events that she may be invited to. While these events are much more casual and laid back than formal recruitment, it will give her some insight into what questions she might face during formal recruitment and/or the colonization recruitment. If she finds her home this spring, she starts creating friendships a semester earlier than she thought. If she doesn't, she has a bit of an idea what sororities are about and how to conduct herself during formal recruitment.

Before I address FSUMOM2012, a few words for soflogirl: 1) KEEP AN OPEN MIND. 2) Your tone in print comes across at times as somewhat defensive or yes, snippy, like Old Row said. Like it or not, I'm telling you to edit more carefully - and your statement about being the first in your family to go to school in America gives me a context clue that your pragmatic style may be different, as may be your interpretation of what people are saying. Context is everything. So don't go blowing up at me, or anyone else. We are trying to HELP you. We really are. 3) Good luck - I hope you have a successful recruitment!

The recs question has been answered. As for bids, we've had this discussion on GC and I've asked this very question re: when does the bid "expire". I know my NPC Green Book Recruitment experts will answer this.

See my response, above. I would NOT "accept for the experience" for multiple reasons. There are lots of threads on GC about this. It's really a personal choice. However, going through recruitment a second time to attempt to "get a better offer" isn't likely to yield a positive result. And taking a spot from someone who truly wanted it is not a good idea. Further, the PNM may accept the bid and then fall in love with the "second choice" sorority. Like I said, it's really a personal choice. But no one ever gets to know the outcome of the horse race before placing a bet.

Yes, colonizing is opening a new chapter. Every sorority will have its own way of opening a colony. Alumnae (plural of alumna, which is singular female form) may well be active in some fashion.

Hope this helps. Looks like you have lots of questions and this is a good place to get them answered. The Greek Life Office will also have information that you should find helpful.

ETA: amended my first answer to FSUMOM.

SIgning a bid card at any time and accepting a bid during informal without signing one both restrict the PNM for one calendar year. So if she accepts a bid and then decides it is not for her and terminates her pledgeship, she is ineligible to accept another bid for one calendar year - give or take a day or two. So, no, she would not be able to go thru this fall's formal recruitment IF she accepts a bid.

Thanks for all the wonderful information. I will keep watching this thread and explore others to be as well versed in the process as possible. :)

FSUMOM, maybe your daughter should be doing all of this research? Joining a sorority should be as important to HER as it is to you... I promise that I am not being critical! I just know that she has to be invested in the process. You should not do it all for her. Encourage her to find her own answers.

I need to correct myself. The committment period for a COB issued bid is until the particular school's next formal recruitment period. So in the case of FSU, it would be until the subsequent fall formal recruitment.

Sorry - see page 115 of the MOI.

You are absolutely right and she is - on campus and through friends. We are comparing notes to make sure the I's are dotted and T's are crossed. :)