University of Arizona rush
 

I'll be rushing this fall at U of A.

How competitive is it? What are the reputations of various houses?

If anybody has rushed at U of A and has any info I'd really appreciate it!

Here are the links to 2 UofAz rush threads from fall 2003... one NPC group has left campus since then.

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ad.php?t=37563

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ad.php?t=38197

Recruitment seems to be, to someone who doesn't have a chapter on campus, to be fairly competative ... althought not nearly as competative as recruitments are in SEC schools.

Here's the link to the greek life web site ... it has lots of relevant information

http://www.union.arizona.edu/csil/greek/index.php

drop me a PM if you have any specific questions and I'll try to answer

Thank you so much AZ-AlphaXi, that really helped a lot!

Is anybody else rushing at U of a this fall cause I'd totally love to do what UASoph02 and AZpinkkittie did.

Good luck on rush.

Just a word of advice, asking about the reputations of sororities is generally considered a major faux pas. Keep an open mind, and don't let what others say about a group influence your decision.:)

I didn't mean it so much in a stereotypical way. I just know that some sororities are religiously based so I was wondering about that and also study hours. I didn't mean it in a which one is popular or sleazy way at all.

I hope I didn't offend you and I'm sorry if I did.

Another question:
How should I dress for check-in and the informational meeting?

check-in and the info meeting are casual dress. Shorts should be fine.

It's ok. Study hour info may be provided at the informational meeting, you could also ask, but it varies from chapter to chapter and even year to year. (We vote and change things a lot!)

As for religiously based, the best thing is to check out the websites of each sorority. Their national sites may be even easier to find information on. A quick google search will net you the most results.

I would say whichever sorority is the friendliest with Beta, but I would be biased.

Are sundresses too formal for Sets I and II?

I'd say yes ... ok for Set III but not for I and II ..

the chapters will be wearing t-shirts and shorts for set I

the Greek Life guide (that's on line) ...

http://www.union.arizona.edu/csil/gr...ifeGuide06.pdf

has pictures of what to wear and in this case is fairly acurate of what to wear ...

be sure to wear comfortable shoes as you will be walking from house to house and you won't want to have hurting feet

I think I'm good to go as far as recommendations. How many would you suggest per house?

Sorry about the questions concerning what to wear. I'd seen the website but I'm nervous (only 50 days to go and all - lol).

one rec per house should be just fine for the UofA ..

On the page that suggests what to wear they say a cocktail dress or what you would wear to a dance but what they show in the picture really doesn't fit either of those descriptions. So should I wear what they show or what they say?

Thanks guys! You're so helpful.

for preference the PNMs usually wear a nice dress and heels ... one you'd wear to a wedding. What they are showing in the picture is representative of what I've seen PNMs wear on preference night.

if you have a question about what to wear .. you can ask your recruitment counselor to look at what you're thinking of wearing.

Also, you can call the Office of Greek Life at your university. They'll have knowledgeable volunteers staffing the office who can tell you about what to expect from recruitment and what to wear.

Good luck at U of A!

Would it be inappropriate to ask how many of the girls have boyfriends and how many of those are in fraternities?

It would be. One of the things that we are told not to talk about is boyfriends or boys in general.

I'm just worried because last year my friend pleged a sorority and she said she felt very pressured by her sisters up to the point that she broke up with her boyfiend because of it. I don't want to accidently choose a sorority that will do that to me. Since I'm basing my choice on the general feeling I get from a sorority (cause there are issues we can't/shouldn't discuss) I'm worried about choosing the wrong one.

I really only recommend a person join a sorority if she has a strong sense of self and can work well with a group.

It is not a policy of sororities to cause rifts between its members and their relationships with those outside of the sorority. If this does happen, it is because of the immaturity of a handful of members who aren't operating under the sorority or acting as an agent on behalf of the sorority.

If some of your classmates advised or your best friend advised you to jump off a cliff, would you? I would hope you would first investigate to see if it was a 20 foot drop or a 2 inch drop.

Same is true of this issue of being with a BF or feeling pressured to end the relationship. You know what is right for you, and you should be able to stand up to anyone who questions your right to do anything that's legal and none of their darned business.

Hope this allays your fears. Stand up for yourself. And stop worrying about this! Recruitment is exciting and fun, and so is being a sorority new member. You get spoiled with oodles of gifts and there are lots of fun things to do... Like date parties where you get to bring your boyfriend!

yay thank you adpiucf you make me happy

Maybe it was because her boyfriend was a great big doody head who treated her like crap and the sisters were only trying to help her do what was best for her. Needless to say, she might not have seen it that way.

I'm sure my ex would say that I broke up with him because of my sorority. That is and isn't true. I broke up with him because I realized that being single was fine when I had lots of sisters (and other friends) who supported me. It was a nice change from the mindset I'd grown up with that taught me I wasn't worth anything without a man.

You probably will change when you join a sorority, but if you join the right one, it will be a change for the better, not for the worse.

I went to U of A.

I joined my chapter at U of A.

My chapter is the one that is no longer there.




My best peice of advice, especially for U of A rush is, DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER!!!!!



A lot of PNM's just look at the outside of the houses and make a decision based on what the house looks like. The house is where you might live, it isn't your sisters.

Every single chapter down there has a completely different looking house. Yes, some of the chapters have newer houses, but newer doesn't necessarily mean better. I personally think every sorority house down there is absolutely beautiful.

I get that first appearances are important (to the point that when my chapter recolonizes we have talked about the outside of the house), but they SHOULDN'T be the "be all, end all" of whether you join a chapter or not.



And as for "rumors" about chapters. Rumors ran rampant when I was there in 1998. Join a chapter because you like the sisters, don't listen to the rumors because that's just what they are rumors. Don't get bogged down with them.



All the chapters down there are amazing. I had friends go A-Phi, Chi-O, A-Chi-O. My roommate was a DG. My suitemate was a SK. The girls who lived next door were KKG. I met wonderful Gamma Phi's and Pi Phi's. The Theta's were sweet too.


We always tell PNM's to go in with an open mind, it is so important to do that!



And as for what to wear, I'm pretty sure once you are officially registered for rush, you will get a packet detailing the days and what to wear.


As for letters of rec./profiles, those are always nice to have. If you have family members who are greek or friends, see if they would be willing to do a profile for you. Profiles give the chapter an idea of who you are. What you are into. What you did in HS/college (if a transfer). Plus, most profiles ask for a picture, so they would have an idea of what you look like.


Have a wonderful time.


If you have any questions please don't hesitate to PM me :D

Random question:
When big sisters and little sisters are matched up is it completely random or do the big sisters get to choose?

For us, we get to choose our littles. I'm pretty sure it's probably the same for the other sororities as well.

We had a mutual selection process to choose pledge-moms. The pledge listed her top 4 choices in order, and the active listed her top 4 pledges - the pledge educator matched them up.

I think the Big/Little thing varies from chapter to chapter...at my chapter, just like the above poster, we do a mutual selection...new members and potential Bigs rank their top 3 or 4 choices and the new member educator matches as many as possible.

Just keep an open mind and takes things one at a time...no need to worry about Bigs and Littles...that will come with time...worry about being yourself and finding a group where you can picture yourself with the girls...in good times and in bad (haha, kinda like a wedding).

It varies from group to group and from chapter to chapter.

Like WD said, no need to worry about that at this point.

What should I wear on bid day (if i make it)?

I'm just glad I got a top-tier Big. (Kidding):p

Also, does anybody know if purses are watched or do we take them into the houses with us?
Are there breaks in between each house so I could wear flip flops but then change into heels before we go in?
Thanks!

lovebug32- these are all questions to your particular school and will be best answered by your Recruitment Counselor during the orientation meeting.

Lovebug,

If you plan to post your story, start thinking about names for the groups i.e. makeup companies, ice cream flavors, names of schools etc.

I get the sense you are very revealing and you don't want to make the mistake to let anyone know which houses you are talking about or too much info about yourself so sisters scanning GC (if they had time between seeing 1,000 PNMs) might say, oh, that lovebug on GC is the girl with the XYZ brand dress who was from ABC town who asked about boyfriends and study hours.

As a matter of fact, you might want to start another greekchat name and distance yourself from this name. We all already have a sense about you and you don't want that to hurt you at your school during your recruitment.

Best of luck in finding your perfect home.

Denise

clothing wise i would say take it up like one notch from what it says on the website, and keep in mind that shorts are usually not flattering on ANYONE! if you have amazing legs show them off though! but a sundress is fine for set 2, dont worry to much though, clothes are not what really matters!

u of a rush
 

chelly, i just read your answer to lovebug re: u of a recruitment. you were so kind and patient, answering her ??. thank you for remembering how you felt as a pnm(nervous and lots of ??)-it seems that some of the women on gc totally forget how they felt back in the day. good luck to your chapter during recruitment-if your whole chapter is anything like you, then you should do very well!!

lisa

I do remember how I felt, and I wanted as much help as I could get! But OOPS- i didn't want herto know my chapter and I forgot about my signature on the bottom! :eek:

Very panhellenic! :)
I _think_ you can edit it. She may have already seen it, but for any future PNMs at the University of Arizona, that would be a good idea.

U of A recruitment advice!
 

I am currently in a sorority at U of A and I absolutely love it! Here is some advice in response to everything you have asked about!

1) As someone mentioned before, it is best not to talk to anyone about the reputations of the chapters prior to seeing them all yourself! If will not be beneficial! (I promise)

2) None of the sororities at U of A reject PNMs on the basis of religion

3) All sororities at U of A have at least some study hour requirements, we want to keep our academic standards high!

4) For check-in and the informational meeting it doesn't matter what you wear. When you check in, they give you a recruitment t- shirt and a lot of girls wear that to the meeting, but you there is no particular place you are supposed to wear it, it's just for fun.

5) Sets I and II are pretty casual, but it wouldn't be looked down upon if you were to wear a sundress, as long as you don't wear heels with it! Preference night is when you should wear a cocktail dress and definately heels!

6) As far as recommendations go, I would get as many as possible for all the houses, it definately will give you a leg up because a lot of girls won't think to get any.

7) VERY inappropriate to ask the women in the chapter anything about fraternities or boyfriends. Unless, of course, the fraternity questions have to do with philanthropy or something like that. As an answer to your question, the best I can give you is to say that many sorority women at U of A have boyfriends, but many do not. And yes, a lot of the boyfriends are in fraternities.

8) Big/ little sis: Some chapters call them big sis/ little sis, some call them mom and dot, etc. All of the sororities have them. They are not chosen randomly, but it varies between bigs picking littles and littles picking bigs. Some sororities do both! In fact, that is my position in my chapter, yay!!!

9) On bid day, it doesnt matter what you wear, but for SURE wear a pretty standard pair of shorts/ jeans/ skirt on the bottom because you will be given your bid day shirt after you run to the chapter house! That said, don't wear a dress or something that won't look good with a t-shirt/ tank top!

10) Don't worry about your purse at all, because you WILL NOT take one into the houses at all. You will get a ziploc bag in which to put a pencil, a little notebook (to take notes on each chapter), and like a lipgloss or compact if you want one. Your purse will stay in your meeting room.

11) You can bring flip flops on preference night to walk between houses in, if you feel like carrying them.

GOOD LUCK SWEETIE! I know you are nervous, and I know for a fact you won't believe me (because i didn't believe this either), but the women in each chapter talking to you are SO nervous as well. In fact, I have been through both sides and I was MUCH more nervous talking to PNMs than when I WAS one. Just enjoy the experience, have fun, and you should be able to find your home! PM me if you want!

Much love, Chelly

Hey! I was wondering if U of A sororities are live in or not.
Thanks!

yes, all the NPC sororities have houses at Arizona. My understanding is that usually sophomores and some juniors live in.