They're having a blast !
 

Round 1 has ended and this a.m. the girls face their first decision. The original group was 10, but friendships have been formed between girls from Tx, Al, and Ga. They are now 17 in size and meet for lunch or dinner to review the day. The greek system is really strong and this year, a record number of girls signed up. They are divided into apx 40 groups. The sororities(10) had to give 13 parties in order to handle the girls. The following is what little I know of their feelings and experiences. The parties were GREAT, but one had really bad accoustics and it was difficult to talk. At another, the girls felt like there wasn't enough rotation. Yes, EVERYONE asks them the same question, but "Are you nervous?" Made them laugh the most...Of COURSE they are! One party that stuck out in EVERYONES mind was ZTA. ALL the girls felt at ease and welcomed. This is in comparison with one or two houses that seemed to treat some girls differently.
My daughter's Rho Chi is "cool", but others have asked the girls "What was your favorite party?" "Which parties didn't you like?" Hate to say this, but all the girls agree the SAY NOTHING motto is the best. My daughter has shared the tips from this board with them and the results are very positive.
They are looking at the sisters, NOT the letters. They are really trying to get the feel of who they would fit in with. My daughter said. "I wish I'd get cut so I wouldn't have to decide." They ALL are afraid they will make the wrong decision. It is hard for them to remember what house did what and questions like "Who has the X and the horseshoe, who's the Hannah doll and what sorority did________?" One point worth mentioning refers to the "Big Guns" on campus. I can honestly say this group doesn't give a hill of beans about who's who, and these are the top notch girls of their high school. The names I am hearing are not what I expected. Of the "top" four on this campus, my daughter is only interested (very much so) in two,the others that have impressed her run the gambit as far as "reputation" is concerned.This is true for her friends as well. They are looking at the legacy issue, interaction between sisters and how they treat EVERY SINGLE GIRL at the parties. All this in 30 min. They want to go Greek, but have found it so easy to meet people, if they are cut, they know they will be just fine. One more thing, the majority of rushees (in their opinion) seem to be short blonds. It must be hereditary because at the parents meeting the audience was filled with lots of blond Mommies!

I am so glad that the rushees are being so levelheaded about choices! Looking back at my rush group, we were totally clueless about how to pick a group of real sisters and thank heavens that I lucked into a super sisterhood in spite of it!

The girls are attending round two. Their spirits are high. All but 3 have full schedules (but even then, they are going to 5 or 6 of 7 parties.) No single girl was unscathed by the cuts. They were severe. Many, many girls on campus were invited to only 1,2or 3 houses. Perhaps it was due to grades and/or lack of recs. No single sorority did the majority of cutting. In most cases it came down to the "fit" everyone talks about. They feel lucky to have an opportunity to return to ALL the houses on their schedules, and decided to take notes after the parties so they won't get confused. They have realized that their likes are as varied as they are. Their attitude? The greek system is so strong at this campus, all the sororities are great! I think their nerves are going to get a real workout as each round ends. I'll post Thurs. after invitations are distributed.

What school is this? this is very exciting! Thanks for the update.

At this point, I don't want to say what school this is. I am sure what these girls are experiencing is happening on every campus. I will name the school on Saturday.
This morning, the girls picked up their invitations for Round 3. For some it was good news, for others, heartache. My daughter was more fortunate than many. She didn't see too many of her friends, but 3 have decided to withdraw. She tried to tell them that the BEST sorority on campus was the one that wanted THEM.
It didn't help. Of the others, 3 received 1 invitation, 2 received 2 but none of her other friends received 5(that she knows of). There are bound to be several girls who did receive 5, but she doesn't hang out with any of them. The mood at pick up was a mix of excitement, shock and yes, some girls were angry.
The cuts again were deep. Many girls across the campus received 2, or 1. They are scared stiff!
A few Rho Chis and random girls told her how lucky she was to have 4 invitations so she is really pumped. She called it exactly right when I spoke to her last night. She knew who was likely to cut her and who she had the least in common with. This in no way implies she didn't like the sororities, in fact, she liked them a LOT. She just knew the fit wasn't there. One that cut her had a rusher that sat there with nothing to say. In fact her exact words were,"I felt like I was trying to rush HER!" The other two have great reputations, but when she took a hard look , she knew that it was not for her. She knows she will be friends with some of the members and is happy with that. So, in her eyes, the remaining 4 are exactly what she would have wished for and though many would consider them "strong" she is not looking at that as a factor. She is trying to remain totally open and not get her hopes up, but at this point, that is almost impossible. There are TWO that she has a stronger feeling for, but she is fighting it in order to avoid being let down. I'm sure all know exactly what I'm talking about.
So, now that the end is near, no matter what happens, she has had a great time. They pick up invitations to Pref tomorrow afternoon. Next post will be after she sees the list.

I'm so excited! Thanks so much for the update. I can't wait to find out where your daughter goes! :D

I remember you told us that a lot of legacies would be rushing. Are most of them going back to the sororities to which they're legacies?

I think I know which school you're talking about. ;)

Great job keeping us informed justamom. After Bid Day, can you tell us if you are a sorority member? If you mentioned it earlier, I missed it.

Oooh! I love threads like this!

I am in complete awe of super-competitive recruitments like this!

Thanks for the updates, justamom! :)

Same here! This is better than any soap. I can't wait to find out where your daughter ends up!

The legacies are getting cut right and left. This is brutal. From what I understand, some cut a few of their legacies after the first round. Our city is not fairing too well with the exception of a very few.
Grades are very important this year, but if the resume' is weak, grades aren't that much of a help. It appears the substance of the individual is very important. In a lot of cases, all the stereo-
types are being broken. Of course these impressions are limited to hearsay. The girls are tired and therefore very emotional. Believe me, the best piece of advice anyone could have is don't let your heart get set on one-two or even three specific sororities
in a competitive environment. The members of this board have repeatedly stated this piece of advice, and it is SOLID advice. That is why I believe my daughter is enjoying rush. Of course, she may be in tears tomorrow!( Invitations to Pref) Ya never know...

My daughter is not a legacy to any of the sororities she is visiting.

thanks for keeping us inside the loop. this is very interesting and i can't wait to find out how your daughter did!

I keep coming back to read the updates here, and this is one of my favorites... and I have to say that it's really great that you're supporting your daughter... my mom's not opposed to sororities, but she doesn't know too much about them and is pretty much just leaving it up to me... lol, i know she'll get more excited when i start rushing... good luck to your daughter and her friends, and let us know what happens :)

Today, the girls picked up their invitations to Pref. The campus was full of mothers who had come to support their heartbroken daughters. There is so much unhappiness and hurt. Girls who thought things were going so great, were in tears, shocked and dismayed. Though many are having a fantastic rush, there is by far more disappointment than joy. This is terrible and so sad. My daughter told me 4 more local girls dropped out. She is certain the number is greater since her dorm is not in the thick of things. I know these girls! I can see no reason,(the majority have intelligence, attractiveness, charitable works, charm)for them to be so easily dismissed. You can throw everything I said yesterday out the window because there is little sense that I can see in these girls being cut so freely. When something becomes more destructive to an individual than beneficial, perhaps it's time to re-evaluate. Maybe it's a fluke of a year, but my oh my...

Last night as a smaller version of the group gathered, they discussed all the options and possibilities. It was agreed that on this campus, it would be better to be Greek than GDI.
The skits were all great. My daughter told me she knew she would be cut by one sorority. She said she could tell by the way her rusher interacted with her. She was right. She is fine with it because she kept an open mind and only went to the houses she felt comfortable with. It's funny, but her initial impression is right where she's at. So, the loss of one doesn't overshadow the joy of the others. She is so very fortunate, and she knows it. She will attend 3 parties tonight. Each has it's own special strengths and attraction for her. The Rho Chis gave some wonderful advice. They told the girls tonight is the time to look around you, not at the sisters, but at the other rushees. That's who you will be spending the next 4 years with.

They sign their cards tonight and find out where they will be...IF they will be, late tomorrow afternoon.

AAahhhhhhhh!! The suspense in all the rush stories is killing me! How the heck am I supposed to make it through my own rush must without going nuts??

*24 days to go...*

Justamom, it was harder for me to watch my daughter rush than for me to go through. My feeling when a group would cut her was, "How dare you? She's beautiful, has a 4.0, all these top-grade activities--what's WRONG with you?" (Actually, my child was pretty cool about it herself.) And my own mother was afraid for me to rush because she'd grown up on the U. of Arkansas campus and seen girls leaving school for good in tears during rush. Then I even got upset when fabulous girls from our hometown were cut left and right during rush at UGa and Tech. The girls said the sororities made it so obvious that they already knew who they wanted during rush and all but ignored them during parties.

I don't know what the answer is. It isn't letting everybody into any group they want because the locals at the college where I teach do that and it has always been disastrous (can't wait until they nationalize). You get lots of really wild girls in your group and your rep is destroyed. Furthermore, it kills the smaller groups. So does having really huge quotas, which may be why the huge-quota schools are unable to get any more sororities to succeed on campus. Everyone wants the biggies who are already established.

I just don't know what the answer is.

Please tell your girls that we wish them the best of luck!!! I hope they end up where they are happy!!

Good luck to your daughter and everyone else! I can't imagine a rush this cut-throat - it simply wasn't like this at my school (in the Northeast) - sororities cut hard for prefs, but until then virtually everyone was invited back. (But we only had 5 sororities and 2 rounds of invites...)

I have never been so angry in my life. My daughter just fell victim to dirty rush. I warned her, but she was so moved...I could just spit nails. Last night at one of her Pref parties, this young lady WHO WAS A FRIEND, said to her, "I better see you on our front lawn tomorrow." She told her,"Don't worry, we want you." She of course bought into it. She went to bed thinking she had made all the right choices, followed all the rules and was going to wake up tomorrw a part of______sorority. Yes she got her second choice, and yes, she does like them, but right now she is ready to drop. She called me ON THE BUS -said she felt like she was kicked in the gut. She is going to give it 24 hours to make her decision. THIS is why Greeks have problems!

Oh, I promised I would name the school. Haven't you guessed?
LSU

justamom,

sounds to me like your daughter ended up in the best sorority for her, even if it was her second choice. why be a part of a group who would make a veiled promise to her on pref night only to make sure they were requested as the #1 choice on more pref cards??

i would suggest/advise that your daughter give it some time. she likes the group she was bid by enough to have preffed them--and you mentioned in an earlier post that there were TWO houses of the four she preffed that she was really interested in--- please don't let her momentary disillusionment get in the way of what could be a wonderful sisterhood for her.

i had a feeling all along you were talking about LSU, and I would love to know which houses they are--but understand it may not be in the best interests of this board to name the one that dirty rushed her. Which one did she pledge?


Amy

Actually, she has called me twice. The first time was when they announced their house. In the background I could hear all the excited voices, "Who did so and so get? Oh she got her first choice...so and so got blah blah blah" and then, there was her usual confident voice sounding so tiny, so broken. I have kept all her e-mails and some of the things that happened were just plain wrong! I NEVER tried to influence her because I didn't want to color her opinions. Even when I was told things about this group, I never said anything because she liked them. Now I feel like I failed her in my capacity as someone she trusts. I know she is the type that will give it a good, hard look, but right now she is so upset with the whole system, it may not do any good. I do believe she will stick it out for the lock in. She is very astute, I don't know how she missed this one.

Justamom,

You and/or your daughter MUST inform Panhellenic about this recruitment infraction. This is a violation of the NPC unanimous agreements and the only way to put a stop to this kind of behavior is to report the offending chapter to the proper authorities.

I hope your daughter does give her new sorority a chance and she doesn't let this experience make her bitter and anti-Greek.

Please e-mail me if you'd like more information. We'd also like to know where your daughter is pledging!

Justamom, please tell your daughter to wait at least a week and give her new sorority a chance! If she decides to stay in, can you let us know which sorority she is pledging? Also, as Barbara mentioned, let your daughter know that she really should let Panhel know so this doesn't happen to more girls!

justamom,

I just knew that you were talking about LSU. All the signs were there plain as day. I bet that I can even tell you which group it was too. I am very sorry that your daughter is so hurt, but like Amy said, maybe it will turn out that her second choice should have been her first choice. I can also appreciate your hurt and disappointment. You do all you can to try to protect your children but sometimes things are out of our reach. However, there is something that you can do about this. Please encourage your daughter to report this. That is the only way it will stop. If you would like to rant privately, please contact me anytime.

I think she will know which way she is leaning after a lock in. If you can't get to know girls at a slumber party, when can you?
I gotta go, I really need to change the name of this thread.
How about THEY WERE HAVING A BLAST!

Justamom, I can imagine how your daughter feels. I too am a student at LSU (one of the most cut-throat rushes in the south). I must say however, from what you have told us, no matter which sorority that she chooses on campus she will be a wonderful asset to not only them, but the greek community as a whole. Just tell her that we are praying for her and that they "dirty rushers" will get what they deserve in the end.

I would however report this incident to the Greek Affairs office. As you well know LSU has tried to continue to fix the problems within the greek organizations on campus. They can't fix what they don't know about. Talk it over with your daughter and see what she has to say to it.

B.

Up down, up down...now she is UP! I tell you, this daughter of mine blows me away sometimes. (Proud moment) She came to the same conclusion...How great can you be if you have to lie...Oh a "rose" by any other name...

She had the opportunity to get a look at her pledge class AND as you know, she already liked them. SHE IS HAPPY! REALLY HAPPY!

One girl that she has known since grade school went to THAT HOUSE and she is dying laughing. There are other aquaintances as well, but there's always one that stands out as "special". Hate to say it, but sometimes revenge can be sweet.

She knows some of the pledges from her gatherings and is so pumped up she can't wait. She also told me that one very high profile house did not make quota...

AS THE WORLD TURNS!

Ok so now we are dying to where she pledged?

Who made quota and who didn't?

I am sorry that the rush experience for her had to be tainted. I certainly hope it wasn't my sorority (which has a chapter at LSU), that dirty rushed her, but it doesn't matter which sorority dirty rushed her...it's just WRONG! This is supposed to be fun and you should want to go with a group you can trust!

Anyway, I am so happy to hear that she now has a sorority home!!!!!!!! Where did she end up? :)

Notes from the bus---I would LOVE to say where she ended up as one of MY best college friends was in that soro. I just think it unwise to indicate any soro would be second to a house that stooped to such a low level. In honesty, if my daughter HAD listened to her cousins and various people in the first place she never would have fallen for that tripe. I wanted her to go where she is now or the other soro which is composed of wonderful girls.

If I had a real source on the quota issue,more than girls on a bus, I would state it. It doesn't surprise me though. An INDIVIDUAL of said sorority said some things early in the summer that hurt the feelings of potential members in our community. I hope this story isn't considered to be bashing. I am known for my propencity to speak the truth more than my tactfulness. In fact, I was thinking of starting a thread called The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. There was much good that came to all who started this journey. they may not realize it yet.

Justamom,

I am so sorry about what happened to your daughter. But maybe everything worked out the way it was suppose to. Now that I know that it was LSU (I'm a former student) I think I have a pretty good idea which sorority it may be. I do urge you to contact the Greek Affairs Office. There are a lot of PNM's that came to this board looking for advice. If they read things like this,then it may put the wrong idea in their heads about LSU and the Greek System in general

Justamom,

I know it's not wise to name the house that hurt your daughter, and many of us found our homes at our 2nd & even 3rd choice houses. Don't feel bad about being honest with your feelings or the fact that your daughter is where she is. She is where she was meant to be and she is happy, that's all that matters.

Anywho - the gist of this message is...TELL US YOUR DAUGHTER'S HOUSE, WE'RE DYING OVER HERE! :D Some of us have gained sisters tonight - one of whom is your daughter and we want to wish her well.

Barbara
Alumna & Rush Forum Moderator

OK- I want you fortunate sisters to know what a beautiful, intelligent, compasionate, virtuous and honest new member you have. She is loved by all those who know her and admired for her beauty both inside and out. She will bring honor to your chapter and a bit of a devilish prankster into your midst. I proudly introduce to you,( a tribute to the 4 Seasons------
"RAG DOLL")
MY DAUGHTER A DELTA GAMMA PLEDGE!!!!!


There you have it. I am a sucker when given an opportunity to brag on my offspring!

Prospectiverushee and Juniorgirl...a special message to you "Thanks".

Congratulations!
http://www.deltagamma.org/pics/brnzpkbl.gif
http://dgl.microsoft.com/thumbnails/...0283705(t).gif

CONGRATS!

DG's are one of the best one's on campus. She definitely made the right choice. Best of luck to her.

B.

:D Yayyyyy! She picked a fabulous group with a great national reputation! :D I really hope she's swept up into sorority life and adores every second!

And how did the others from your hometown fare? Did most of the legacies find a home?

I left you a message!

Justamom,

Congrats to your daughter, we all here at GC wish her a wonderful fall semester with her new sisters, and we welcome a beautiful young woman into our Greek sisterhood, because we are ALL sisters!! Delta Gamma is lucky to have her

Congratulations on your daughter being a DG!

The Delta Gammas on my campus are so cool. Whenever my sorority does a dual-sorority crush party or other similar event, we almost always ask DG to pair up with us since they are just a great group of girls, and so fun and down to earth!!!!!

The school I transferred from before I went greek (SMU) also has a great group of DG's. They were always classy, sincere, and REAL. Way to go!

PS: at LSU do they put a big sign on each girl's dorm room door that indicates which sorority she got? They did that at SMU but not here at U of H and I always thought it was WAY cute! The Delta Gammas got a big glittery anchor on their door :)

dzsaigirl,

Yes LSU put's signs on the doors. I lived in Hegret(one of two dorms closest to the row) and lived next to sorority girls. I can't remember if they were Chi-O or KKG. All I remember is seeing a red chili pepper.

Woo Hoo, congratulations Delta Gammas...sounds like you've got a great new pledge!

Side Note: Justamom, while we love you and your awesome updates, tell your daughter we'd love to see her presence on GC too! ;)