My Rush
 

Ok i feel that this is kinda random and its a little early to be worried but im still nervous. Im going into my second year at uf in the fall and im seriously thinking about rushing. There are 16 sororities at UF and from what Ive heard it can be really competitive so if anyone has any advice i would seriously apperate it. Ive got about a month and week or so before rush starts but im busy with summer stuff and kinda nervous so im trying to start early so im prepared.
Thanks in advance for any help!!!

There are many, many threads regarding recruitment at UF, including several about upperclassmen participation. The search feature is your friend.

Thanks, Ive seen a lot of the UF threads on here and theyve been a big help but im still super nervous. Like I dont have a legacy at any of the UF sororities or anything like that and i dont know i guess i just have a lot of nervous energy and stuff and im just trying to get it out of my system before rush starts. However, i did get a couple dresses today for the parties and that made me really excited about rushing. Ive also been talking to some people looking for recs but so far im not doing so hot on that aspect so thats kinda a downer but it will all come together!

This is completely not related, but -- out of curiosity, is the "87" in your screenname b/c you were born in 1987?

Dear Lord I feel old. :(

Considering that you are going to a very competitive Greek scool, I wouldn't say that starting now is starting early. You are going to need to get on your horse in order to get recs lined up before recruitment starts.

Good luck!

Good Luck with recruitment!!!

I would definately take irishpipes advice and get those letters of rec's lined up.

You do realize that this year's incoming freshmen were born in 1988, don't you? :) That even makes me feel old.

Well, I realize it because I've got an incoming freshman, and he was born in 1988. What made me feel old was the 1st time I realized I had been a Kappa longer than the chapter members had been alive!

Wait until you realize you've been a Kappa longer than you haven't!! Eek, indeed!!

Gee, thanks, honeychile--now I'm depressed! I've already passed that milestone (and then some) and hadn't thought about it! :p Can't think of a better way to pass the years though!!!

In 2008, I mark 20 years as a Gamma Phi Beta......:eek:

You're aging yourself :D

yeah the 87 in my screen name is because i was born in 87, very early 87 but still 87

ok, ive gotten a little sidetracked with one of my summer classes but theres not much to say with my rush prep, im kinda at a standstill, im having a really hard time finding recs and thats what it seems like im focusing all my rush energy at right now. i guess the worst case sernerio would be i dont find any, which isnt good i know, but can someone tell me if this would completly kill me? i mean im not going to stop trying but will i not stand a chance without them? im so worried!

Recs are very important at a competitive rush school like UF. Be persistant. Ask around to people you know.

gatorgirlie,

you will need recommendations at u of f. if you are from a large town/city there may be an alumnae panhellenic association there. you can go on the national npc website-there should be a listing for alumnae panhellenic chapters/associations. if your city does have one, get a name and phone number and contact that woman. tell her you are a local girl who will be participating in formal recruitment at u of f in august, and you were wondering if they(the alumnae panhellenic) had a recommendation board-that you are trying to find recommendations. if they do not have a board, this lady might(and i said, Might) offer to assist you. then again she may not. if you get nowhere with this avenue, contact your former teachers(h.s., m.s. and elementary). some of them might be sorority alumnae, or may know someone who is. ask even your male teachers-their wives may be a sorority alumnae. have you parents ask co-workers. ask your neighbors. ask your friends moms. ask ladies in your church. if you know girls in sororities, ask them to help you get recs. find those recs. it will be very hard on you, especially as a sophomore at u of f, if you do not have recs.

alphafrog, i really think that your post was uncalled for. pnms come on this site for recruitment advice, not critiques of their writing style. if her style(or mine, for that matter) disturbs you, put her and/or me on ignore. let's all try to play nice.

From someone who graduated from UF:

No. It won't completely kill you.

At some houses, it is a ticket to be asked back to second round - "for another look" at you. But getting a rec for a house does not guarantee you'll be invited back to second round at any of the houses... though as I mentioned some will honor this old school courtesy.

If a sorority is interested in you long enough to bring you back to Prefs (4th round) - and if their sorority requires it - they'll get the rec - without you knowing anything about it.

But DO try all the options the previous posters have given you. All it takes is sending out some more emails, in a timely manner.

BTW, when you chat with other PNMs, you'll see that MANY of them have no idea what recs are.

As a recent alum from UF I would say you need to try to get a rec for most sororities there. I can think of 7 where without having one will probably get you cut after 1st round and the only reason being is that there are anywhere from 1200-1600 girls rushing and the trend is more and more PNMs are starting to have recs which goes to what kdonline was saying about honoring the automatic invite tradition for having a rec.

Honestly, if a PNM is doing enough research on her college and sorority life, she should know whether recs are necessary. If you're not sure-- get them anyway. I think it is better to be prepared and feeling confident coming in.

but in defense of the pnms,

if they have visited their schools panhellenic website, and also visited each chapters local and national website, they attended the greek informational meeting during orientation and read any recruitment info. mailed to them, and none of that information tells them that at their school they need to have recs., but in reality they do, whose fault is that?

NPC's for not having the balls to admit that at big schools (and even at small schools sometimes) rush can be cutthroat and stressful and elitist and not all fuzzy puppies and cupcakes.

YEAH I SAID IT, IT'S FRIDAY! :)

AAAAAAAAMMMMMEEEN:)

Recs are a way of showing a sorority that you have taken the time to contact sisters which shows that you are interested in learning more about their sorority and the others. Get all the recs you can. I would work till I had two for each house, personally.

Good luck with recruitment! I'm very exited for you!

Good luck with recruitment!

Next month will be 35 years since I pledged! I have a daughter who is a university junior, talk about feeling old!

DaffyKD

BUT... what if you come from an area of the country where fraternities and sororities aren't popular, and then move to a school where they are? As I stated in another thread, I live in the northeast, and literally didn't know a single soul who was in a GLO. I didn't know the first thing about sororities and quite frankly, had no interest in them because I had never been exposed to them....

... until I transferred to UF.

Fortunately, when I rushed, recs were not a requirement. I think recs put young women who grow up "sorority geographically challenged" at an unfair disadvantage.

And, secondly.. many people write recs for women they have never met. So, what good is a rec anyway?

It's paperwork that bumps your visibility up over those who don't have it. And if the majority of PNM's coming through recruitment have recs, you should, too.

And if the majority of sororities require that their new member class have alumnae recs before they can be initiated, it only makes sense that the chapter is going to kill 2 birds with one stone and invite back girls with recs during recruitment so they don't have to do the work later.

Chapters want PNMs with stellar grades and activities. An overwhelming majority of PNMs possess such attributes. If they also have recs, that is one less chore the chapter has to complete.

ETA: I can understand coming from an area where recs are not very important and not knowing. However, with the amount of information available on the internet today, student orientations and campus visits, any PNM who is committed to becoming a sorority member should quickly get a sense of what needs to happen.

I'll ask again, because no one answered... What about those like me... I went to school not thinking about joining a sorority and went through on my mom's wishes and realized I was wrong about the stereotypes.

Is there no place for women like that at some of these schools?

Some PNMs aren't PNMS until the last day of signup for rush.

They're going to suffer where recs are the norm. They may want to consider sitting it out until the following year or doing CR after formal recruitment. At other schools, they'll have a competitive recruitment without the recs. It just depends on the campus.

You're missing my point. How does one get recs when one knows NOBODY in a GLO? It seems that people who are "geographically challenged" in this manner now have the disadvantage of having to pester people on the internet who they've never even met! And doesn't having strangers write you a rec defeat the whole purpose for a rec?

It may be hard to believe for those of you who live in areas where it's a big deal.. but I literally knew no one in a GLO. Now that I'm back up in the northeast --I still literally know NOBODY who has ever been a part of a GLO outside of my alumnae chapter. It just isn't big here.

That is another excellent point! I guess those women have to then go through informal rush. Personally, I think the playing field needs to be leveled.
It's looking to me like it's not who you are, but who you know and if your mom happens to have a lot of friends in sororities.

It isn't hard to believe. In the northeast, sorority life is very different. My cousin is an AOII at Cornell and my best friend is a Tri-Sigma from Penn State. We've had many discussions about the differences in campus culture.

If you attend a college with a history of "competitve recruitment" in the south and you want to rush a sorority, you need recs. That is what Alumnae Panhellenics are for. There are AP's all over the US. Although you may not know anyone in your area who is an alum of a GLO, this doesn't mean they don't exist.

And no, having strangers write you recs doesn't defeat the purpose. Recs are paperwork. Letters of support are helpful to supplement the recommendation. Here in Texas, the AP's conduct annual workshops with high school seniors and their parents to make sure the PNM's get their recs and letters in. Not all AP's are as zealous.

Just because recs aren't big in the northeast doesn't mean that they aren't big in the south. And I'm sorry, but if one is going to use the excuse "Well, I'm from Philly. I am rushing at Auburn, and I think that because I don't know any sorority alumnae you should cut me a break because I didn't take the time to get recs." So what? Everyone else did her homework.

And plenty of southern PNM's have to "pester" strangers for recs on the internet and in real life, too.

If you are a PNM and you want to go through recruitment, take the time to learn about the process at your school. If you're truly interested, you will take the time to take the steps necessary to ensure you put your best foot forward. Why is that such a difficult concept to comprehend?

The fact remains: Recs are still very important on some campuses and will likely continue to be important on those campuses. There are more than enough resources for PNM's to find recs. They need to start early, maintain good communication and follow-up and take responsibility for themselves. The same is true of getting a job-- how often is it "who you know" that gets your foot in the door? Very frequently. Should we also even the playing field among college students and forbid them from taking SAT prep courses because not everyone has access to the same study aids? We can cry that it's not fair, but guess what-- that's life. If you do the work on the back end, you'll improve your standing.

I'm stepping off my soapbox now. This is supposed to be a PNM's recruitment story, and not a debate over why recs exist.

We'll just have to disagree on this point. I think recommendations from a total stranger is a time and effort on both sides. Let's look at this in the context of the work place. If I'm hiring someone, I want to have a recommendation from someone who has worked with the prospective employee-- not a stranger who has no idea what his or her working habits are like.

I also don't think you're understanding my point. When you come from the north east, and nobody you have ever known has ever been a member of a GLO, chances are, you're not going to be frothing at the bit to join one.

All I knew about GLOs was from what I saw in the movie "Animal House." I didn't have a very high opinion of sororities and fraternities because I didn't know anything about them other than from what I saw in the movies.

You are making a big assumption when you say that women need to do all this research before going to a big sorority school. You're assuming that they want to belong to one before knowing anything about them, and you're assuming that even if they DO know about them, that they would know where to go for this research.

In my case, I transferred to UF and didn't get interested in a sorority until I was exposed to them truly by accident. A friend who I met at UF begged me to go with her to keep her company during rush. Honestly, I didn't even know what rush was! I had never heard the term. I had no intentions of joining, because I had met a gang of friends in the dorm, and just didn't see the point. Ignorance is bliss.

But, after going to a few rush parties with my friend, I was so impressed by what I learned about these groups, that I found myself wanting to be a part of them. Fortunately for me, recs were not required when I was at UF, and I was invited back without them... and got a bid without one.

I think it's truly unfortunate that women who have no exposure to the Greek system prior to going to college find that they're at a big disadvantage should they decide to join one once they're there.

Maybe fraternities have a better system of rushing. It seems to be more fair.

...and now let's get back to the subject of this PNM's rush!:)

I'd like to see recs count for MUCH less at some schools. I'd rather that girls be judged by themselves than by their ability to get someone to write a letter. That makes it a judgement of their family/friends- and Mom's former roommate's cousin's fellow JWA member- and not much else.

Yeah there's still a lot of other things going on, and I don't want to switch to the way guys do it. I like the rules being in place because I KNOW how much cheating there would be if there wasn't.