Texas -- Prepare for Fall Rush 2004 (Dallas-Ft. Worth-Arlington, etc.)
 

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Arlington Area Alumnae Panhellenic is holding an information session about sorority recruitment for college -bound women on Saturday (presumably Saturday, March 6).

For a few more details, plus the name of a contact person, with email and phone info, see the story

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/living/8071275.htm

The article says that alumnae from several national sororities will attend and will answer questions.

Maybe some Texas GCers can clue us in a little more about this kind of event, and whether they would recommend attending.

(It strikes me as the kind of thing that might be very helpful for high school seniors who have an interest in sorority life, but who have not necessarily been "groomed from birth" in all the ins and outs and subtleties of sorority recruitment. It could also be helpful as a way to get started with leads and contacts for the process of obtaining recommendations -- right?)

There will be a similar event in Richardson for young ladies from Richardson/ Plano/ McKinney/ Frisco. I would highly recommend that anyone interested in recruitment next fall/winter attend. As exlurker suggested, it will be immensely helpful for first-generation PNMs but fun for anyone thinking of going through recruitment. I am more familiar with the event in Richardson, but I would assume that the Arlington Panhellenic will be similar. There is a style show to illustrate appropriate attire for each round of recruitment, discussions about conversations and an opportunity to make contacts to obtain those reference forms. Yes, in Texas, you absolutely need recommendations... but if you attend the Panhellenic information sessions, they'll tell you how to get them. They also have a silent auction of gift baskets with the proceeds going to scholarships.

http://www.atlantapanhellenic.org/roundtableinvite.htm
Atlanta Area Panhellenic March 28th

Atlanta Southern Crescent Alumnae Panhellenic Panhellenic Association (Fayette, Coweta, Spalding, Henry, Clayton and South Fulton County cities)
April 3 - Newnan
April 25 - Peachtree City
http://www.southerncrescentalumpanhel.org/index.html

I would def. recommend going to these information sessions...they prepare you in every which way to go through rush of any texas school (and we all know how stressful those are)..i went to one on the Houston area, and they help you with recommendations and what kind of questions to ask, what to wear, etc. If you are rushing this fall at any Texas school, you need to seriously consider going!

if you're going through rush at any texas school, or for that matter, any school in the south, register with your local panhellenic assoc. they often compile a database of who's going to what school. if Sorority X at School Y is interested in you and you don't already have a recommendation, they will get in touch with their Sorority X contact in your area's panhellenic and they WILL FIND ONE FOR YOU (and many times you won't even know this is going on). they're good about that.

insofar as "grooming" goes, even if Sorority X isn't in your blood, never fear. ACTIVITIES, ACTIVITIES, ACTIVITIES will make you or break you. get involved in anything that interests you and stick with it. don't go into rush thinking you're special because you were in band, on the homecoming court or were a cheerleader. EVERYONE was in the band, on the homecoming court or was a cheerleader.

you have to go the extra mile - Girl's State, camp counselor (this is HUGE in texas), Sub-Deb, church/synagogue activities, any sort of community service... if you pursue activities outside the classroom you will be miles ahead of someone who was The Prom Queen and nothing else. in some cases, your extracurriculars can balance out your GPA if it's a little lower than Sorority X's minimum.

As one who was active for several years with rush forums in the Richardson/Plano Alumnae Panhellenic, I can tell you that the forums are an extremely positive experience for the seniors and their mothers who might wish to attend.
And pass this on to any senior you know:
If you plan to attend an out of state school and are told during Orientation that Rush is "low-key" and informal at your school, and that recs are not needed, PLEASE ignore that. Get the recs!

When a chapter at such and such U. is looking at you, the rushee from far away, and so-and-so, a rushee from in state, and it's late in the process, guess what? They will often take the local girl. They know her, or someone in the chapter does.
A good rec will go a long way in erasing those miles and helping you to have a GREAT rush.

i agree 100% with anchor alum. we had cases where rushees didn't even know they had recs for a particular group. we often found current (and former) teachers and neighbors willing to vouch for someone we were interested in. granted, they knew the girl and were not blindly touting someone.

i've also heard of girls who don't bother getting recs from cousins, aunts or other distant relatives because they weren't considered legacies. a rec's a rec no matter how you put it. it's no guarantee, but a rec can sometimes make the difference in getting your foot in the door and not being invited back to the next round. don't be shy either - ask your neighbors. ask your teachers. the mother of a close friend. ask women you work for. you'd be surprised at who's willing to help you.

I'll go that extra mile and say that ANYONE with even a thought of going greek should consider these seminars mandatory!! I just wish more cities held them - I'm so tired of trying to explain to a Yankee girl that she's fine, but without the recs, right clothes, and grades/activities, she's not going to get a bid at a Southern school!

Please, please - those of y'all who know about these activities in your area, try to get the information into EVERY local high school!!








ETA: And for those of y'all who think this is phony or tacky - would you go on an interview for a Fortune 500 company in your khakis and polo shirt? I think not. You MUST know what will make you look good in the eyes of the various sororities!

Whew! Southern school rushes amaze me! It's like y'all are preparing for the Super Bowl or Miss America.

I'm glad to be a Yankee! (Ohio).

Wow, this is interesting! I have never heard of these types of events before! I've learned a lot about NPC organizations here.

What a great way to help prepare PNM's for recruitment!

Me too! I don't think I could have made it through Southern rush...bravo to all of our Southern GC greeks!

Nahhh... more like combat rush! :) Ya gotta prepare for battle! ;)

it was funny. we often had girls & their mothers send in PHOTO ALBUMNS of themselves/their daughters filled with pictures, pageant titles, newspaper clippings of their accomplishments, sub-deb acitivites - all of that. it was so ridiculous. they were decorated with lace, glitter, sequins, etc. they all seemed to come from one town in particular.

some of the girls were as dumb as a box of rocks so i suppose they figured the glitter would blind us from noticing their academic status. at the time my university had 12 sororities at the time so there were TWELVE of these monsters floating around. for the most part they went into the trash, we only cared about any rec's they had and their official application. it's amazing what people will do.

The Plano/Richardson Rush/Recruitment forum was held February 7th. It was very well attended and a speaker was brought in to explain things for the girls and their moms.

The girls sign in and this is used to contact them later to make sure they have everything they need for Rush. They also pass out scholarship forms to interested young ladies.

i think its helpful
 

for girls who don't have any family ties to anyone in the greek system. my older sister went through the process before me and she went to rush camp where she learned how to be rushed. My mom didn't want to pay for me to go through so we went to the richardson/plano info and it was interesting, but i can also get some info from my sister

Are you from MS? I did Sub-Deb but most places don't call it that, so I was wondering....Just curious ;)

Oh and yes, if you are planning on rushing at a Southern school, please attend one of these sessions!

It's kind of funny though, coming from Miss., I had like a gabillion letters of rec. to every sorority at my non-big-sorority school and I think they must have thought Mississippians were a little sorority-crazy!

i'm a TX-MS hybrid of sorts!

I'm soo glad i rushed in Las Vegas, where it was really low key and only two houses were uber competitive. If I had gone to a traditional southern school I would have been cut hard. I knew absolutley nothing about FR when I went through. And I defiantely wasn't a Pagent Girl or a Debuatante. I actually feel kind of sad that alot of girls in the south miss out on being a part of soroity life because rush is so competitive.

I keep hearing this... Just to let you know.. That 92% of the young ladies interested in greek life, that participated in recruitment were placed in a sorority at Ole Miss. That is almost 800 women... (one of the Ole Miss ladies will have to help me here) I would guess that is a pretty large chunk of the freshman class.

Most schools place 76-85% PNMs during recruitment... that precentage is the same if Greek Life is a small precentage of the campus or a large, North/South/East/West.

The process may be a little different at some southern schools, but the outcome is about the same everywhere. There are PLENTY of women who receive sorority bids in the south who are not pageant girls or debutantes and who knew almost nothing about sororities before going through rush. Ole Miss is an excellent example of a system that works out for almost everyone who participates, yet it is characterized as "competitive". Large school's recruitments are harder to navigate, but that is not necessarily particular to the south.

I swear I'm not being a pickypants, but is this 92% of the women who originally signed up for rush or 92% of the women who got through to pref? Because if you factor in the women who dropped because they didn't get ABC or XYZ but that obviously had an interest in Greek life, that changes things a bit.