Texas Daughter's Recruitment Thread!
 

My daughter will be going through Rush in about a week at a large Texas school. We've both been reading GreekChat entries for the past few months and been thankful for all the previous posts describing the entire process. We are neophytes in this, and are sort of flying by the seat of our pants. She's obtained several letters of reference from some of my friends who are alumnae of the sororities on her campus, but she hasn't been able to obtain recs for every single sorority on campus. She registered with our local Panhellenic alumnae association (which is awesome, by the way!) and also attended a pre-Recruitment Event on campus last spring.

I guess you could say we're both trying to be cautiously optimistic about her chances. My daughter will be a freshman at a large Texas University this fall. She graduated from high school with a stellar GPA and participated in several extracurricular activities with positions of leadership. She has some community service on her resume also. We both realize that this certainly won't qualify her for automatic entry into any sorority. I'm her mother, and of course I'm biased, but I do think she presents herself very well. She is an attractive, personable and stylish girl. Her down side is that she has no legacy status. I wasn't in a sorority and neither were her older sisters.

She's adamant about going through the Recruitment process, though, and realizes that nothing is guaranteed. In any event, it should be a good experience for her. If she makes a few new friends, it will be worth it.

She asked me to start a thread to chronicle her experience. In honor of one of our favorite TV shows (which we've watched together for the past five seasons), we're naming the sororities for 12 of our favorite (and not-so-favorite) AMERICAN IDOL contestants/judges.

There are 12 sororities at her school. We're going to name them as follows: :

1. Kelly
2. Taylor
3. Katherine
4. Clay
5. Ruben
6. Fantasia
7. Ace (one of favorite eye-candy contestants, by the way)
8. Chris
9. Tamyra
10. Paula
11. Randy
12. Simon

After the recruitment process is complete, my daughter will post her thoughts. I'm going to be deliberately vague in some of the details until it's done (although there are many sharp GreekChatters out there and I'm sure they'll figure some things out).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I'm in the same boat! Good luck to you and yours! My daughter is rushing soon too. Hopefully both girls will be happy in the end!

Fantastic! Best of luck to your daughter and I LOVE the names you have chosen. I think I am going to root for Randy b/c he is always "keepin' it real".

let me add my best wishes for texasdaughter finding her home at her university.

don't let the lack of legacy status concern you-it is not as big a determinant as you might think. at some colleges(in texas and elsewhere) there are so many legacies going thru recruitment that the chapters could extend bids only to their own legacies and still not have enough spots for them all, so the legacy automatic bid does not exist anymore. indeed, at some chapters, it seems to be a strike against you if you ARE a legacy.

YAY.. good luck! I'm going with Simon because he's British.

I second FSUZeta's remarks and couldn't agree more.
I am not a legacy my recruitment turned out fine. Furthermore, only a few girls I knew who were legacies went to their legacy chapter, the others felt much more comfortable elsewhere.

I cannot wait to hear your daughter's rush story, rush at any Texas school seems as cutthroat as the big SEC schools! Best of luck to her!

LOL! Kelly, Kelly, Kelly, Kelly, K-E-L-L-YYYYYYYY!!! <chuckle...snort!>

;)


Best wishes to your daughter. I hope she has a wonderful recruitment experience!

.....Kelly :)

Yay! Someone in Texas! Good luck to your daughter--I hope she has fun and I can't wait to hear your recruitment story!

Good Luck!!
 

That is great you are being so supportive!! My mother **wasn't** "in" to my greek or college experience, so this is nice to see.

Good luck to both you and your daughter!!!

Go Clay and Fantasia!!! :D

I'm not sure what "large Texas school" she is going to....but if its Texas, she had better have some damn good recs for the top houses. Its very competitive.

TexasDaughter has personal letters of recommendation for many, but not all of the houses at her campus. Some of my friends who are sorority alumnae and known her for years, voluntereed to write the recommendations. Also, our local alumnae association has assisted with others. However, many people have cautioned us that having a pile of recs isn't the important thing at this school -- it's much more important to relate well with the sisters.

Also, I don't want her to get too caught up in getting into a so-called "top" sorority. She's trying to keep a truly open mind about all of the groups, and wants to give all the houses a fair chance. I think she really is clear-headed about what she wants, and that is, first to truly be part of a sisterhood and second, to be involved in an organization that contributes to helping others in a meaningful way.

Incidentally, we read a thread awhile back about how loud it is during the parties at the various houses. TexasDaughter knows she's going to have to speak clearly. We both thought that was an interesting tidbit and one that many PMNs and moms might not think of.

So right now we're counting down. We've hit various shopping malls and bought a lot of shoes -- that's been a challege -- finding cute AND comfortable footwear! The old Visa card has taken a hit.

my daughter rushed last year at a large texas university with 12 national sororities....this ought to be fun!!!!:D

It sounds like...
 

you and your daughter are striving to be very Panhellenic already. That is great!! I bet she is soooo anxious to get there. How far away from you are you going to be from her college? Wow...Rush from a Mom's perspective. I don't have girls, (3 boys), but have nieces and special extended family members I hope to encourage to Rush when it is time. Keep us posted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Oh boy!! You're almost there. I'm excited to see how things go for your daughter. ((((HUGS))))

Sounds like someone has an aggie... :)

Good luck to TexasDaughter! I love a good rush story--especially from my adopted state of Texas! I look forward to reading more.

Question to TexasMom--you said she went to a pre-recruitment event last semester....what was covered? Was it informational? I assume it was sponsored by the school...not the local alumnae panhellenic? My local panhellenic is considering changes to our recruitment forum, and I was just wondering what "worked" in your experience. If you want to PM me instead of responding publicly, that's ok.

ahhhh...I thought maybe Texas Tech!!!!:)

tech has 11 chapters, hehe, i'm such a nerd

I think I know which school your daughter will be at;) . Good luck to her and all the PNMs!

opps-sorry about the preposition thing-I guess we can no loger edit our posts:confused:

It's nice to see everyone guessing about the school (he-he). TexasDaughter has given me permission to name the school once Recruitment starts (and it's very close now, less than a week away!) Her schedule will be as follows:
Round 1 - visit all sororities - PNMs will wear a Recruitment t-shirt and denim bottoms (either shorts or skirt) - visits will be 20 minutes to each house. TexasDaughter is going to wear a cute denim skirt.
Round 2 - visit up to 9 houses - casual dress. TexasDaughter is going to wear a skirt and a silky top.
Round 3 - visit up to 6 houses - this is Philanthophy Day. TexasDaughter is really looking forward to this round -- some of the GLOs have philanthropies very dear to her heart.
Round 4 - visit up to 4 houses - this is Sisterhood Day. TexasDaughter is planning on wearing a really cute print sundress. She understands this is a little more serious round.
Round 5 - Pref Night - visit 2 houses. TexasDaughter wants to wear black (I know, I know -- she should probably wear a color, but this dress is beautiful). She also has a really cute polka dot dress she may wear.
So much has been written on this Board about Pref Night and she really hopes to have the fortune and opportunity to be a part of such a special event.
Then, after all this, it's BID DAY!!!
Preparing for Recruitment, along with preparing for college in general, has made this a really hectic week. In a funny sort of way, we're dreading and looking forward to it at the same time. Does that make sense?

facebook, etc.
 

I just have one reallly quick piece of advice for your PNM! Make sure she goes over any content she has on her facebook or myspace accounts, because sorority members will be checking out their rush crushes through these mediums and it's always a good idea to present yourself in the best light, and not have anything embarassing or something that would tarnish her reputation on these sites! I'm sure you've already thought of that, but this is also a reminder to all PNM's!

If it is Texas A&M... maybe she will meet my brother. My mom called me at 7 her time to tell me they were going to something for new students today. He is glad that he didn't get the 3 person suite that he original was assigned to. He is going to be a Junior with all the credits that he has but if you see a tall, skinny, white boy with an afro of black curls from Houston then tell him hi from his sister in KY.

I wouldn't normally describe someone this way... but these are all true statements about my brother.

You know, as a Dad, I must admit it got a little crazy with the clothes aspect of rush. My daughter gave us fashion shows, poses, etc., to make sure everything was just right. And heaven help me if I gave the wrong opinion about how the fabric color matches her skin, or whether she should wear her hair down or in a ponytail with a certain outfit. Does this look okay, Daddy? Or should I wear the blue and white dress on Wednesday? How about these shoes?

I can only hope I gave the right answers....

BamaDad you are cracking me up. Why can't we all have dads like this?

I think it is adorable that your daughter asks for your opinion on clothes!! That's so sweet:)

haha, I don't think my father even knows what rush was, I just called home on bid day and was like "guess what!" no one else in my family was ever involved in the Greek system at all though.

LOVEinZTa...I did the same thing too! I was just like, surprise! I'm a Greek! I am the first sorority woman in my family too.

When my Dad found out that I went DG, he started calling my letters "Triangle R" cause he didn't understand. LOL Oh, and sometimes he asks me "how are things going at Lambda, Lambda, Lambda?" (Think Revenge of the Nerds!) I love my Dad's sense of humor! :p

Surprisingly, my Dad was more supportive of my decision than my Mom was. Maybe because I am his little girl (I have two older sisters, I'm the baby).

But at any rate, yay for Dads and Rush!! LOL

I hope your has a wonderful recruitment!!! Good luck to her.

My dad was the same. He even went so far as to argue with a jewerly company representative over the phone when he was buying me a ring for Christmas with my letters on it. He swore up and down that I was a Sigma Chi and wasn't about to let her tell him any different.

haha, awww see my mom has gotten my letters down, but my dad will be reading something or see anything with the word "zeta" in it at all and be like "LOOK! it's your sorority!" and I'll have to say "no dad, that's a fraternity" or something similar.

The Clothes Thing!
 

BamaDad, I laughed when I read your post about trying on clothes. Reading back over my posts, I know it seems as if I overstate things a bit when describing the clothes. Really, who cares? TexasDaughter did the same thing with the mock fashion show. She'd try on one outfit and ask if I liked this pair of shoes or that pair. I suspect she may have been indulging me a bit, however. She's our baby of three girls and the last one to leave. As my husband says, Empty Nest, Empty Pockets!

Ha ha ha ha...gotta love it! My mom has my letters down...I think my dad does too (to a degree), he just likes to tease me! I just got him a "DG Dad" t-shirt so he can wear a "triangle and R" too! LOL :D

My daddy's aunts were in sororities, so he was somewhat used to the idea (no, we never did find out which GLOs - I'd love to know!). But he did tell anyone who would listen that I was majoring in ADPi, and minoring in the IFC!

My dad surprised me one day--we were driving past the Delta Sigma Phi house and they had a neon sign of their letters in the front window. At the time, I was in a local called Delta Kappa Phi--and he said to me that every time he drove past the Delta Sig house he thought about STEALING the neon sign, if only he could figure out how to change the Sigma into a Kappa!

I didn't know know whether to be disturbed or touched!

I didn't even know that he knew the name of my sorority, because we had never talked about it. In hindsight, what girl doesn't love it when her dad offers to steal something for her?? :) (Kidding, of course).

My brothers say that I am in "EK" or they will just go "eeeeeeeeekk!" Then of course, I explain that I am not in Epsilon Kappa, but SIGMA Kappa, and Sigma starts with S, so you could say SK, SigKap, or Sigma K.

My husband does this. When people find out he married a "sorority" girl, they ask him which one & he always replies, "Eek sorority" & then says Sigma Kappa. It drives me crazy. Dang GDI!;)

So...
 

Is today the day that little TexasDaughter is being dropped off at college for her Rush Week? Do tell...we are wrapping up some other PNM threads (hopefully with ++ results!!) so we addicts need to have another thread to feed our addiction...

GOOD LUCK!!

Yes, TexasDaughter is an Aggie!
 

It's time to let the cat out of the bag...although many of you guessed the school, TexasDaughter gave me permission to confirm tonight...she will be going through Recruitment at the awesome Texas A&M University

Yes, this weekend was the time to take our baby to college. What an experience. When it's the last little chickie leaving the nest, my husband and I felt we had to go along for the big sendoff. We live only an hour and a half away, so that made the parting somewhat easier, but TexasMom confesses she did shed a few tears.

Incidentally, like most of the readers of this forum, I have been absolutely enthralled by both BamaDad and Southernyankee's eloquent posts. It's a bit intimidating to have to follow such popular threads. I hope TexasDaughter handles herself as well during this entire process as both of the young ladies described in their parents' threads. To me, that is part of what this entire experience should be - it teaches our daughters so much - how to handle happiness, sadness, joy, hope and yes, even disappointment -- all within the space of a few days. (Of course, that's me speaking on the eve of the first day of Recruitment -- we'll see how I handle things later this week!)

TexasDaughter is to attend a convocation event tonight where she will meet her Recruitment Counselor and her group. All the PNMs will be given white tee-shirts to wear tomorrow for the first round of parties. They are to attend six parties tomorrow morning, then break for several hours, and attend the final six tomorrow night.

Oh, my, I can't believe it's almost here -- I think I need to go hit the Pepto-Bismol. I'm signing off now..