Is this REALLY true at super competitve schools?!
 

I read somewhere a while ago about how girls who had their hearts set on a certain "good" sorority or were legacies of a certain chapter would go to a less competitive greek school just to get into that said chapter, then transfer to an SEC or very competitive greek system school. Is this just a load of crap or does this actually ever happen?

I'm sure it happens, but is probably pretty rare.

I am sure it happens, but I don't think it happens much anymore. Most chapters are not obligated to extend active membership to a transfer student these days. It wouldn't make you any less a member of a certain group, but I don't believe the chapter has to socialize with you unless they want to. I have heard that it also depends on whether or not the chapter is at total, thus having room for the transfer (someone correct me if I am wrong about that part).

It happens--we have a couple of threads on it somewhere. In every case I've heard of, the chapter at the new school would not take the girl who was trying to affiliate either because they didn't like her or they didn't want to start a trend of having to deal with a lot of that. I personally only know of one case but since that thread was published, I've been told of a lot more.

Apparently, accepting an affiliate can only be done if you're under total at some schools and it doesn't matter at others.

Supposedly it happened at my school when I was still there (91/92) and it's not even "super competitive" like the south. A woman wanted to be a Gamma Phi at one of the state schools here (where Gamma Phi is a top chapter and it's harder to get into). So she went to UPS for a year, rushed, joined Gamma Phi and then transferred the next year. She's listed under that chapter so she did affiliate with them.

Whatever happened to going to a specific college for a good education? :confused:

I was curious about this a few years ago and started a thread about it and was told, sure enough, that this DOES happen sometimes, especially at the large, Southern schools with cutthroat rushes.

When I think about it, though, I'm not sure how much good it would ultimately do a woman to go through all that trouble. It seems that down there, sororities know EVERYTHING about a person (j/k, well, only a little :) ) so if, for example, a woman joined ABC at Podunk State with the intention of transferring to, say, LSU where the chapter is very strong, even if she was able to affiliate I bet she'd be known for the rest of her days as that ABC from the Podunk State chapter .

I expect that, for the most part, Southern women are waaaay too greek-savvy to fall for the "rush-n-transfer" ploy.

Our chapter consultant went to school at Auburn and said that girls would go through recruitment there and that they already knew what houses they want, would then proceed to suicide and if they didn't get into said house then they would transfer schools within a month or so to another school with the same glo and try to get in at that school. I thought that was crazy talk, but then I thought about it and yea, it's true!

So is it the school's pahel that can prevent transfers due to total regulations or can an org vote not to have a girl affiliate ? Because I'm *fairly* sure Phi Sig has a policy that states that if a girl transfers to a school that has a chapter she must join, or disaffiliate (you can not be granted alum status if your new school has a chapter) and the sisters must welcome her in the spirit of "once a phi sig, always a phi sig"
It seems rather harsh to me that your sisters from another chapter could vote not to affiliate you. I mean sure it's rather sneaky to pull a "rush-n-transfer"(that was cute KR) but... what happens to those girls who honestly just didn't end up having the best time at school or changed majors and needed a school with a better program? I would be devastated to know I coudln't participate if I transfered even though there was a chapter at my new school... I mean sure this rush-n-transfer thing is tacky and should be dealt with... but having to put a transfer sister to a vote seems kinda harsh to me... since one of the benefits of being in a national org is supposed to be having sisters everywhere and being welcome... I think of some girl is... umm gutsy enough to try and pull this loophole... if she did indeed transfer for the sole purpose of being an ABC.. that reputation is going to follow her around. no one will look at her the same. It's a shame that this even has to be brought up...we should be able to welcome transfer sisters without worrying abou their motives...

We had at least one thread about that too...I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, it seems like you should be able to transfer to whatever chapter. On the other hand, it would certainly be abused at some places in the South--chapters would actually tell people to use this ploy. Also, on that thread, many GCers wrote about people from hell who tried to affiliate with their chapters...seems like AXO Alum had an incredible story.

I get the impression that it's abused enough that no NPC group could be forced to take an affiliate.

When I was a senior, I heard about a girl who had transferred to UT after becoming an INITIATED member at another school's chapter of a sorority with a chapter at UT. The UT chapter wanted her to go through rush again to see if she was "worthy" of becoming a member of the chapter. Remember, she already had been INITIATED. I know she refused to rush again, but I don't know if she affiliated.

I read about this in the "Southern Belle Primer" book
(yes that book had it's own thread on GC!) :D

competitive rush
 

I am in a sorority at Ole Miss and you always hear about "so and so" who went through rush somewhere else then transferred to Ole Miss just because she didn't think she would get in a sorority here. I'm not sure that is necessarily true. I guess there is no way of really knowing why they transferred. But I hear about this kind of thing sometimes. Now, I have seen girls transfer to another school because they didn't get in the sorority they want or because they didn't get in one at all. I think that is more common.

I was thinking the same thing when I read this thread!

I read about that in the Southern Belle Primer!!!

I think that the fact that a girl would do this is sad, but I think its even more sad that someone who joined a chapter at one school would not be accepted at another. If that were to happen to any girl, I can only imagine what a negative reflectionof the greek community it would be! I believe that ABC ought to be well-organized enough so that if any chapter chooses a girl, then that girl should be a girl of quality who reflects ABC, and who will be a member of ABC for LIFE, not just while she is at one particular school. I understand that girls obviously DO abuse this, but it is not at all fair to take a girl in and then practically throw her out.

Chapters at school vary from place to place. Some are weaker at other schools and so that chapter will take any girl they can get for numbers. It wouldn't be fair to force the same organization at another school to take this girl if she didn't fit in with the rest of them - and if the girl honestly was in it for the sisterhood and not the letters, she wouldn't want to be in a chapter where her and everyone else didn't get along anyway.

I think this could go along with my legacy thread. Kind of like should you take a legacy just because her mother was an ABC - as opposed to should you let a girl affiliate just because she was an ABC at another school?

It would be wonderful if every chapter of an organization all had the same personalities, but unfortunatly, just like accents in voices differ from place to place, so do chapters (and it may make you stick out like a soar thumb if you don't fit in).

I know people who are the opposite way around. They join a strong chapter of their organization somewhere, but when they transfer schools and find out the chapter there stinks, they drop out. Is it sad for them to do that? Maybe - but I don't think so. If you don't fit in with people you just don't fit in. You can't really force it because it will usually make matters worse.

Also, I can give you another example - you might hate BBB at your school and be so glad you didn't join that sorority, but if you are a ABC and want to affiliate with another ABC chapter - their chapter personality could be just like BBB at your old school. You wouldn't want to join that - so like them shouldn't the chapter have a say so in who they want to affiliate?

Yes, I have no life. I post too much. I am too opinionated. Sorry.

Edit: I also forgot to mention we just had a wonderful girl from the DG chapter at MSU affiliate with us in the Spring. She is a great girl and everything (affiliation wise) went very smoothly for her. She just clicked so well with all of us and now we just don't know how we lived without her!! What makes it even better is she is so happy with all of us too. Just thought I'd add a little positive note that not all affiliation proposals go bad.

Actually there was a rumor going on PITT's campus that a girl did exactly that. I heard it was either DZ, KD, Tri-S, or Tri-D. . .

Do you know if she rushed at Pitt and then transferred or if she rushed elsewhere then transferred to Pitt?

Thanks! :)

GMTA-Great Minds Think Alike! :D

in phi mu, a transfer has to wait one semester before she can affiliate with the chapter on her new campus. the chapter does have to "vote" but it is really more of a formality to make sure that she has paid her dues the other chapter and that she makes grades according to chapter standards on that campus.

But what would happen if a girl transferred to a new school, knew no one, and assumes that atleast her SISTERS would be there for her? And if they didn't get along the best, I would assume that the girl would not want to be a part of the house. But I just know if I transferred (which is hard enough!) and my sisters "let me down" (atleast that's how I would feel), I would be really, really hurt.

Sorry if I am being completely ridiculous and repeating the same thing for like 10 years!!

Meriondale: Yay for your "new member"!! It's awesome when things work out for the best :)

ALSO....a question again....so how exactly does a new girl join the chapter at the school she transfers to? I mean is it like COB or something, very informal??

I think the process in every Org is different... with Phi Sig... I believe it's just a phone call to national to make sure the sister left her old chapter in good standing and some paper work... there is no formal voting process or anything.. it's once a phi sig always a phi sig. Informally we do give them a nickname at initiation and get them a lion..(our chapter mascot) to make them feel welcome... We have 2 transfer sisters in my chapte(with another, who is on GC possibly on her way for spring '04) both are wonderful sisters that fit very well :D

I know of this arising in two situations.... One in the early 90's, the other in the mid 90s.

In the early 90s, a young lady from the coast pledged Tri-Delta at MS State and transferred her sophomore year to USM. She affiliated after a semester and the love was mutual. It is always possible that she just wanted to be closer to home... but, rumor was a bit different (maybe, her not transferring in after fall semester fueled the rumors; back in the days we were not initiated until one full semester of pledging).

In the mid 90s, a young lady's mother sent her to pledge a certain chapter at USM, because mom was concerned that she would not be offered a bid at Auburn or UAL. This was very important as her father was a big wig at UAL and mom was a social butterfly. Please keep in mind that they are good people and a very old southern family. I am not telling this story for criticism, which is hard if you do not have an understanding of old southern families.

She was given a list of four/five acceptable chapters all of which are top chapters in AL. She pledged a chapter that is considered top tier in AL, but not so at USM... then decided she loved USM and was going to stay, but not within the chapter she pledged. So she depledged prior to initiation and went through formal rush a second time.

As far fetched as this may be.... it is a very true story... however, I always wondered why she left her first chapter... so I asked her one night and that is the story I got! And for all you PNMs who are going through rush a second time do not fear... Her second time, she was only cut from three chapters. (However, she still had her list)! Of course this was also an example of very involved/connected alums calling everyday... at first I thought it was just our chapter, but I quickly found out mom's friends were in many GLOs.

Yeah, I heard she rushed at Pitt and then transfered. It was some big scandal and of course "The Man" covered it up. :)

Pitt and then transferring to what school? It's not like we're near any of the huge places, except Penn State, and even then, this is the North!

It wasn't KD, no one's transferred out of the chapter. We had someone transfer into the chapter, but certainly not for those reasons.

Getting into the houses you named isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world either... those are pretty much some of the top houses (along with Chi O and KKG)

I know! It's horrible, if true. That's why it was such a big deal they had to cover it up. It's a BIG no-no in the north.

I'm pretty sure it was one of the Tri's. . .look at me gossiping. Shame on me!!! :D ;)

It happens at our campus
Every single girl goes one sorority and then, they transfer

Well, I think it depends on the chapter. If you don't have this happening a lot, you're probably not going to blink an eyelash - you'll just figure she transferred for normal reasons (major change, further/closer to home, $$$) and welcome her. But if you are a school like Auburn, where it's a social must not just to be in a sorority but the RIGHT sorority, and this happens often, you are probably going to give everyone a more serious once-over even if their reasons are legit. One thing I have learned in my life is that popular people really resent being used by someone climbing the social ladder...as well they should. If you transfer to a school like that with legit reasons, just realize this will happen & don't take it personally.

Well, in DG if you want to affiliate her, you don't really rush her. It is just a matter of paperwork.

With the transfer we recently got, she started school at USM last Spring. She wanted to be closer to home, plus her family was having a few money issues. At USM we have a special building for sorority girls. She was put in another upperclass girl dormitory, but once her affiliation papers went through and everything was approved by both her old chapter and our chapter, greek life contacted residence life and they let her move into our dorms to live on the DG floors. We also had an affilition ritual/ceremony for her. I mean she was already initiated into DG, so we just initiated her into our chapter.

I hope all sorority chapters who get transfers are as lucky enough to get girls like the one we got. In 3 weeks it was like she had been there for years. Everything was just such a smooth and natural transition for her. She went from a HUGE sec school with 200+ girls in a chapter, to our school which the sororities sit around half that. So, she is only an hour away from home now, she pays a lot less in tuition and dues, she immediatly got 95 new sisters and 95 new friends, and from what she tells us she couldn't be happier.

I transferred to the University of Puget Sound after being initiated at Washington University in St. Louis. My reasons were purely grades and I just happened to choose a school with a Gamma Phi Chapter.

My process was pretty informal (and kind of like AI). They really just wanted to know if I was going to be involved with the chapter. I helped with a number of activities in the Fall (Homecoming, etc) and then at the end of the semester they voted. I had visited the school during the previous spring so I already knew the President of the house.

This has been happening for years - it was going on when I was in college @ UF in the 80s.

Many of the chapters there (I know for sure KD, DG, DDD, ADPi, ZTA) have voted on each sister who wants to affiliate...and sometimes, the girl is not "approved".. it's not as easy as it sounds.

I remember in my days, there was a lot of debate over a KD sister who wanted to affiliate with our chapter. She had been over to the house & was real sweet, but some of the girls just did not want her to affiliate. Thankfully, she was accepted, but it really divided up our house - worse than rush, because this was a KD SISTER!

Yes, it's sad - it tells you a lot about your sisterhood. But when you have a house of 150 women, you're bound to have a few bitches! (sorry, there's no other term to describe those heartless people...ugh, I was never proud to call them my sister!)

I thought I'd add my 2 cents...

I'm not sure whether the affiliation process for my sorority is meant for members only (like membership selection), so I'll skip over that part...

However, I do agree with those of you who say that chapters of the same sorority are different. I've met sisters who would (& have!) fit into my chapter very easily, & I've also met sisters who do not make a good fit with my chapter. This is not to say that all of my chapter sisters are alike, or that there is something wrong with the differences, but that the compatibility is just not there. However, is this grounds for denying affiliation? Is it enough to say that the difference between cutting an incompatible rushee & affilating an incompatible sister from an other chapter is the spirit of sisterhood?

I've never heard of anyone going to a college with the motivation of transferring & affiliating with GLO of choice until I read this thread. I think it's asinine to do that, I love being a member of my sorority, but maybe that has something to do with being at a Big 10/Midwestern school. It would seem cheapened to go somewhere with a better shot of getting a bid. It seems like a slap in the face to the initiating chapter. "Hey, you aren't good enough. I just came to make sure I can affiliate eslewhere." Also, if you think you wouldn't get a bid at the affiliating chapter, are you sure you would be compatible with the chapter? Yes, great girls are denied bids due to quota, but it just seems like it could be a problem.

What happened to going to university to get an education? :confused: I mean, how much does sorority membership impact your life after college to the point where you'd transfer schools? And, from my experience with friends and attending another school for a semester, it's really difficult to pull up stakes and go to another school--and most women have a legitimate reason for doing it.

This is going to sound bitchy, but I think most of the girls who would do this are mostly concerned with their MRS degree.

It's not bitchy...I was thinking the same thing but didn't want to come out and say it. :)