totally LOST on the process...PLEASE HELP
 

Hi,

I am a transfer student from an itty bitty community college to a large university in texas. I am VERY confused with the recruitment process. I read my university's website and understand we have three days to meet and get to know the different sororities... but, I get confused when it comes to cuts..how does that work?? Do all universities do a cut on each of these days? How does the cut work? Do you get a pie in the face or something?? LOL. And how do you know if you are invited back to the next event?? Also, I feel like my age may play against me... I'm a 23 year old junior with at least two years left towards my degree. I have a 3.0 so I'm hoping that may help me out... (not real sure of their gpa requirements) and i don't have any recs b/c i'm new the the area :-( any suggestions? I've always wanted to join a sorority....never had a sister, or any girl to call a 'best' friend since high school. i miss that!!

1. Once signed up for recruitment, you will be placed with a Rho Chi (or Gamma Chi, or whatever....they all mean Recruitment Counselor) who will be your guide through this process. Don't be afraid to ask her anything -- except which houses are best/worst. She's a member of a sorority too, so try not to offend her. She's there for you so ask her about any questions/concerns you may have.
2. There will be a series of parties to which all rushing women are invited. After this series of parties, there will be invitation only parties. Sororities will issue invitations to individual women based on how well the members feel that each individual rushee will fit in their sisterhood. These invitations will be given to you in the form of a list or set of cards by your Rho Chi. It is a mutual selection process -- you will be able to go to a percentage of the parties you are invited to (sometimes you have to go to all of them...if you can go to a total of 11 parties but you are only invited to 8, you must go to all eight to stay in recruitment). If you are very uncomfortable with a certain sorority, you will eventually get the chance to decline their invitation to their party. However, in the early stages at least, sororities hold more power in the selection process. If you do not receive an invitation back to a particular sorority's party, then you are considered "cut" from that sorority. There are no mistakes. If Zeta Xi Gamma does not invite you back to a party, then ZXiG was not for you. Trust me. If you are cut, try to keep an open mind -- there are many sororites into which you may fit beautifully...think about all your options! Generally you will receive fewer and fewer invitations (all the while expecting to cut some sororites) until you ideally end up with a couple sororities who are willing to offer you a bid, or invitation to membership. There is a chance that you may end up with no bids, or many bids. Your Rho Chi can guide you through these scenarios.
3. As a junior, you are probably at an immediate disadvantage in a large Southern rush. I don't know the specifics of your school but most sororites like to give bids to women who will be financially active for four+ years (read: freshmen). Also, a 3.0 is not that high especially when compared to rushees who are coming of a 4.0 high school career. Sometimes this is the only criteria upon which a sorority can base it's decision. Also, you are 23 -- as old as most seniors. How well are you really going to fit in with a pledge class made up of mostly 18 year olds? I'm sorry to be a downer, but all of these things will be serious issues with some sororites. I do hope you are placed, but expect heavy cuts along the way. Best of luck to you.

Keep in mind too that AI does not apply to every sorority and each one has their own requirements/qualifications for AI membership.

But If you dont get a bid I would also look into joining perhaps a non-collegiate sorority in your area such as Beta Sigma Phi or Epsilon SIgma Alpha.


FYI: I rushed and pledged my sorority at 22 with two years left before completing my first degree. Cuts were heavy for me after open house parties(I was cut by 4 of the 8) despite a high GPA and full load of community service and leadership positions/organizations under my belt, but I did end up with a full schedule for "skit night" and Preference Night. So I would encourage you to stay in recruitment as long as you can to maximize your options. YOu may end up getting a bid to join despite your age. You never know! :)

There's also the ever-popular, "if greek life doesn't work out for you, you could always join some clubs."

Oh give me a break!

NO, AI is NOT a fall back option if you don't get a bid as an undergrad. PERIOD.

....

Some schools have separate quotas for juniors so they are not counted in the same "pool" of freshmen and sophomores.

I just wanted to add my 2 cents...

I recently pledged in the Spring of '06...as a 23 year old. I beat up on myself because I was sure that I was "too old" to join a sorority. It ate me up on the inside, I actually made myself sick over this a few nights during recruitment. My head was telling me that I should just drop out and give up. But my heart was telling me something different. It kept pushing me forward. And let me tell you, I am so glad I listened to my heart because I found my home, my sisters, and my happiness!!

So the moral of the story...don't let your age discourage you! You are selling yourself too short.

Best of luck to you!!

I also when through recruitment as a 23 year old and had some of the same experiences as ImaDeeGee.

My invite list was always smaller than all of the others. I never had a full invite list but in the end it only takes one.

When's your recruitment? If there's time to contact a local panhellenic and register for recs, by all means, do so! If not, I guess that's something to consider if you ever try rush again.

Coming from a community college--she could be speaking of just about any public university in Texas because they are all going to seem large. They may not all cut heavy--they may not all follow the exact same process. You need to check that out. And at some schools, 23 may not be a big deal at all.

Gogreekorgohome: The advice on registering for recruitment is good and you should get additional info at that time--and your Greek Life staff can help answer your questions. If you have questions, send my a PM and I may be able to get you additional info....

UPDATE on my situation
 

I had my orientation tonight for rush week... It went very well...i'd say about 200 girls were there. I spoke to my rho gamma and asked her the odds of a junior getting a bid and she shocked me!!!--she said my chances were very good b/c juniors aren't counted into the quota. that they have two to three spots (per sorority) set aside for juniors...kind of like a 'free' bid. they can choose to use... of course you obviously have to impress them... has anyone heard of this?? I'm VERY excited about my first day of rush tomorrow... off to bed now!

Everything sounds good - best of luck gogreekorgohome! Hope you enjoy your first day.

Have fun & good luck on your first day!

Yes. It's not completely uncommon, but not all schools do it.

Good luck.:)

You must be very excited--I wish you lots of luck!

Please keep us updated on how your recruitment is going! Best of luck to you!

rush update
 

okay so here's my update on the day's events. I found out there are 250 of us rushing...more than i thought for only six sororities. I was very surprised that i was extremely interested in 3 of the 6. I was very disappointed with one sorority. Those girls seemed less than interested in conversing w/ any of us. all of the other sororities had their girls rotate in and chat with us. but this one seemed very disorganized and i spoke to one girl for almost an hour and then she kind of dumped me on some other girl who had no idea what was going on... when we all left everyone commented on how much of a letdown that sorority was compared to others. the whole rush process was a success. it was a very long day however. it began at 10am and ended at 6....and we only had a 15 minute snack break. we were all tired, hungry and HOT.... we spent a good time of the day walking in 105 degree heat... and then lining up outside the houses and waiting there for 15 minutes before entering each house..by the end of the day we were all sweaty hot pigs. i'm SO looking forward to tomorrow. we can go to a maximum of four. wish me luck!!

I empathize with the heat situation but at least you were not alone. I wish you so much luck tomorrow, you are going to do great!

Good Luck tomorrow!! Sending happy thoughts your way!!

wow...not even a lunch break???? i would have been a complete nightmare! if i don't eat, then i tend to be a space cadet and can't keep focused or on topic while talking.

i hope you have fun tomorrow!

Wishing you the best of luck, sweetie!! Please keep us all updated on what's going on. Your CG cheerleaders are here for you!!

I'm so glad to hear that recruitment is going well for you! Keep your upbeat attitude and try to stay cool!:cool:

You sound like you're signing her yearbook.:p ;) :)

That will probably result in about 35-40 new member quota for each sorority on bid day. Hope you are having fun. Just be yourself and enjoy. Don't count out that one chapter just yet-- it could have just been that you met a couple of people who weren't great at making conversation.

Keep us posted and wishing you all the best!

Soooo... day two of rush... Philanthrophy day.... I had a great time... I was invited back to four of the sororities...which is the maximum we can attend.. so i was thrilled...and my top 3 were all there!!!! The day started at Noon and each meeting lasted one hour...then we went back and did our preferences and then had to go to some campus wide event... I think rush week is doing it's best to keep us losing weight... b/c we didn't get to eat from Noon to 7:30....and after awhile i couldn't hear the girls over the growling of my stomach. My number one sorority from yesterday is still my number one today... i had a blast with those girls, got along great.... and love their philanthropy...these girls seemed like long lost best friends... the one sorority i disliked yesterday actually impressed me today... and my #2 from yesterday didn't hold up as strongly today. all in all, i think the day went great and i'm making friends with my group of girls. Tomorrow is preference night where we go to a max of two parties. we had to put our top two down tonight and then rank our bottom two. i have to go try on my dress and hope i actually get to wear it!!!!!

Sounds like you're having a great time--good for you! Hearing that schedule sure makes me glad there were only 4 sororities at my school!!!

*crossing fingers for pref invites*

Good luck and remember to have fun! It sounds like you're having a great time.

Oh, and now I'm wondering which university it is...you'll have to post that after bid day! :)

Just curious to know if you'd tell us - without giving anything away about which ones you like/dislike etc - what are the sororities at your school?:)

Good luck!

I am pretty sure I know which school it is...and today is BID DAY! Hopefully there is good news!

Final update!
 

to answer your question, the sororities at my school are:

zeta tau alpha
alpha delta pi
kappa kappa gamma
pi beta phi
chi omega
alpha phi

I am proud to say that I got into my #1 choice; Pi Beta Phi. The girls are amazing and i feel very fortunate to be a part of their group!! They took in thirty new members...from the looks of it, our class was the largest. I'm so excited to see what the upcoming years will bring!!

my school did a great job with recruitment....my rho gamma was excellent and all the sororities did a great job representing their chapters. It just goes to show... I'm a 23 yr old junior and i thought my chances of getting into ANY sorority were slim to none. Surprisingly, each day of rush I was invited back to the maximum number of parties we could attend. There were 250 girls to begin with, and like twelve juniors. I'm so so so glad I went through with it. I wish the best of luck to everyone else out there!!

Congratulations! :)

What school, by the way?:p

Congratulations to the newest PBF angel!

Congratulations Gogreekorgohome and Pi Beta Phi!! :D :D

What school by the way?:p

I'm happy a long with you that you took the advice on here to go through recruitment and you have found a new and happy home.

Enjoy learning more about Pi Beta Phi!!! I'm excited for you :)

Congrats to you & Pi Phi!!!

You're going to have a wonderful time!!

All kinds of yays for you and Pi Beta Phi! Enjoy your New Member period, it will be the time of your life.

I hope you stick around GreekChat to keep us updated on how things are developing for you.

CONGRATS!!! :D

Yea! Another new Pi Phi! (for my cousin):)

A big welcome to our newest angel! :)

I'm so happy for you that things worked out! Congrats to you and Pi Phi!:D