Rushing at UF as a junior?
 

I'm thinking of transferring there for my junior year. (fall 2014) I know how competitive rush is at UF and being an upperclassmen is definitely a disadvantage. Rush at any SEC schools seems frightening!
If I were rushing should I not even get my hopes up that high for a bid to anywhere?
I mean I've been doing well in school so far, I'm in a few clubs, an honor society, and on the cheerleading team at my school. I also volunteer and have a 4.0. Of course my gpa is able to change, but since I plan to go to med school I do my best to keep it as high as I can. My sister was also in a sorority at UF, and I know of other girls that have graduated elsewhere that would write recs for me and help me network to obtain more.
I know when it comes down to it, the most important part is the conversation and connection with the members, but would I stand a chance at all even though I'm not a freshmen?
(also I would probably be there an extra year due to my major)
Advice please?

You'll get the same advice we give everyone. We can't tell you your chances. We can tell you that you should get recs to every UF sorority and keep an open mind to membership in every chapter. Good luck and have fun. Go Gators!

From your description it sounds like you have all the boxes checked off :good gpa, clubs, honor society, cheerleading, etc.

For some UF sororities it is rare that they would take a junior, but others groups are more open to it. You will need recs. to every sorority, and an open mind.

Oh I would definitely be getting recs for each one. I'm aware I would experience heavy cuts just for the fact of being an upperclassmen. By no means would I go through rush only caring about a few, or getting so upset and completely stop rushing just because I only got asked back by a few or even just one sorority.
Like most, I'm terrified that I would be let go by every single one! :(

We wish you lots of luck, no matter what and we'll be here to be supportive. :) Stick around!

Thank you! :)

Do not be discouraged. My best friend pledged when she was a Junior at Florida.

Two of my friends pledged as sophomores at UF. Both had activities, community service, stellar grades, and lots of recs.
If there's anything you can add this summer -- like more volunteer work or multiple recs for each house -- it won't hurt.

Don't be terrified of not getting a bid! if you don't join a sorority, you still have plenty of opportunities to get involved & make friends on campus. You sound like a terrific person. Remind yourself of all of your good qualities. Do not even think about not getting a bid. It might make you nervous or reek a little of fearfullness. BE CONFIDENT!

I actually have a whole year left so I will try to add some stuff!

Thanks. ahah. I mean, not to sound cocky, but I feel as if (in comparison to other upperclassmen) I could be a competitive pnm. I could be completely wrong though! I can't help but be terrified of not getting a bid. I have wanted to join a sorority for a long time. Many friends and family have been greek and have enjoyed their experience. I've always loved the bond and sisterhood that sororities represent, so to me even if I was involved in other things I would still be upset that I missed out on the type of bonds that only those in sororities seem to have.

I don't know a single non-Greek Gator who feels like they missed out. Whatever happens, you're going to have a great time in Gainesville. Seriously. There are ways to form those bonds without a letter shirt!

I believe UF has an upperclassman quota, but there's no guarantees, of course, that you'll get a bid just because of the upperclass quota. However, I hope that reassures you that if a chapter wants to pledge a qualified upperclassman, they do have opportunities. There are also opportunities for Spring recruitment if you're unmatched in the fall.

I know it is all a bit nerve wracking and exciting, but continue to read about recruitment on Greek Chat, keep a low profile online, and keep a very open mind about accepting membership in any of the chapters at your school. Your options may be limited as an upperclassman rushing at an SEC school, so if you really want to join a sorority, be happy with a bid to any of them and make the most of your experience.

ETA: Any chance you'd transfer this fall? Or why not rush at your present school and stay there? :)

I'm also a rising junior planning on rushing at UF this fall. I'm worried that it will be a disadvantage for me, especially because I have been at UF since freshman year, but I'm really interested in joining a sorority because of the support system that it provides, along with leadership/community service opportunities. I'm involved with some student orgs already and have a 3.9, but I don't really know any alumnae who could write recs for me. Is it worth it for me to rush? I don't want to graduate and feel like I missed out on something!

You need recs.as a freshman. It is not an option as a junior at UF. There is tons of info. on GC pertaining to recs in the recruitment forum. Read it all.

Concise advice on how to obtain recommendations:
http://www.uapanhellenic.com/index.p...d=15&Itemid=32
(The advice comes from the University of Alabama but applies to any school.)

From reading GC I can tell that the biggest thing is to keep an open mind. Which makes perfect sense, especially for someone in my position. If I do end up going to UF I would not have too high of expectations. One of my friends that just graduated from Alabama was talking to me a little bit about rush. She said she's going to "train me Bama style." Haha.

No there isn't. :/
Also, my current school doesn't even offer Greek life. UF though isn't the only school I'm looking to transfer to, but it is one of the main ones.

If you get trained Bama style, you should be ok.

Haha lets hope so!
I tried searching about this but couldn't find anything; when putting gpa, activities, volunteer work, etc, would I ONLY be including what I've done during college?

If you have something especially notable from high school, I'd note it (Miss Teen USA, for instance) but regular high school things should have been replaced by now with college stuff.

Okay, that's what I assumed anyways since my involvement since starting college is a more relevant indicator of the type of student and person I would be at UF. So I just guessed they would know that too, and not care about my high school stuff. Just wanted to make sure. :)

Both my chapter and a few others have even taken the outstanding senior women who come through recruitment, so don't be discouraged as a junior!

No, not all juniors/seniors get bids. There is a quota for upper-class-women, but not all chapters participate in this (unless this has changed recently).

I would say that:

1) No, you don't have to be AWESOME, but you should know yourself as a woman and be strong in what you believe, etc. For example, being an active club member or something of the sort shows that you can balance school and extracurricular activities, and chapters love to bring on women who will be active.
2) From what I am aware of, most that we find to be women we want to bid do not necessarily have letters of rec. However a strong college-level GPA does wonders at UF, GPA ranking is done by the school and everyone wants to be on top.
3) I would say to not worry about the women around you also trying to join sororities, but be confident and sure of yourself at a valuable person in that crowd.
4) The women that my chapter has taken as upperclassmen have been (not to repeat myself) strong women who were well put together (in life plans, goals and attire - which I hate to say the last part, but it is true of all chapters to some extent) and understood what it meant to be a member of a sisterhood.

I hope this is more specific and helpful (and not confusing!)!!

I just want to reiterate what UFSigmaKappa said concerning junior and senior PNMs at UF:

Not all juniors and seniors at UF will get bids. There are some chapters-dare I say most?- that will be concentrating on freshman, with a sprinkling of sophomores and who will cut juniors and seniors because of their class standing. That is not to say that juniors should not give it a go, more that they should expect cuts and perhaps less parties per round than most freshman. I would say that it is rare that seniors would participate in rush at UF and even more rare that they would receive a bid. No doubt that the majority of the chapters might miss out on a fabulous, more mature sister, but I don't want to give the upperclassmen false hope. As always, all PNMs, regardless of class standing, need to secure recommendations to help give themselves the best chance.

Not to bring up a taboo subject for this kind of thread, but UF seems to have continued very large pledge classes (although not insanely large). Is there any expectation or even inkling about expansion? It looks like the last expansion was in 2003, but what I can't tell is if the chapters are at or close to parity.

They are pretty close. Last fall, the smallest chapter had 173 after FR and the largest had 215. The smallest took 51 new members and the average new member class was about 63. The historically "weaker recruiting chapters" have pretty strong numbers right now. I'm not necessarily advocating for expansion, but the numbers are pretty even.

Thanks. That wasn't indicated in your AMAZING list, since several chapters' numbers were missing. But my perception is what you just said above. Here's my guess: there WILL be expansion within the next couple years. The justification for my guess is merely based on contemporary growth in other SEC schools. UF will want to keep up with all the excitement surrounding their compatriot schools. And keeping all things as equal, adding a chapter would only reduce quota by 3 or 4. And none of that has ANY basis in reality on the ground. Just prognostication.