Ole Miss Rush/Recruitment~2007
 

Would be delighted to hear from any of you on Rush~Recruitment at Ole Miss!
It sounds like things have sure changed since my college days in the late 70's. I
will have fraternal twins attending Ole Miss in the fall. They have their resumes, pictures and transcripts on their way to the sororities, as well as recs from friends
and relatives. How important are recs from Ole Miss Alum's? What should have been listed on the resumes? Is "Rush" at Ole Miss as competitive as everyone
is telling me? It looks to be one of the hardest in the country...nothing like a little
competition to get you going in the Fall!;)

Yes. Or moreso.

Good luck to your girls!

First off, this is coming from a guy down at Miss. State who has no firsthand knowledge of rushing at Ole Miss. However, from what my friends at Ole Miss (and "brothers" up there) have said...yeah, it's really tough rushing there...extremely competitive. From what they've said, a rec from Ole Miss alumni is definitely recommended, if not required (depending upon the chapter you're rushing).

As a matter of fact, I'm planning to transfer up there Fall 08...and coming from a Sigma Nu colony (not having been initiated yet) it'll still be rough for me if I don't have my badge (i.e. our chater) yet.

How are the KD's at ole miss? i hear they are one of the best!

Rush is competitive here, but so long as your girls don't go in with their hearts set on one sorority and one sorority only, they should do fine. As for recs, try to get at least one for every sorority. They don't have to be from an alum, just someone who knows your girls well and can speak a lot about their characters. Good luck to your girls!

Thanks for your honest insight regarding Ole Miss's recruitement! It's such a beautiful campus; everyone is so darn nice and helpful. We are moving in this weekend as I am typing this...oh my goodness those dorm rooms are small! My girls and their roommates from back home are so excited. My girls have recs/rifs in for all the houses and their resumes,pictures and transcripts have long been sent to the sorority chapters. My only concern is they only have average grades from high school...but
they all are great girls...are grades so important they would not take girls who have
alot to offer a chapter?

All of the girls from our hometown will be going thru rush...they are so excited about the whole thing...but I'm not sure they truly understand the procedure, but I know that will be explained at convocation.
Looking forward to seeing how this all plays out...thanks again!

TennisSusan,

I pm'd you!

Grade requirements vary from chapter to chapter. I believe they are going to start to have Gamma Chi meetings this week, so they can ask them. I'm sure that they are excited cause water parties are a week from this Sunday!

Does anyone know what the water parties are?

Sort of 'Open House' at the sorority houses. All they serve is water. Lets the girls get a glimpse of things...

Ole Miss Rush article
 

An article from today's Daily Mississippian regarding rush at Ole Miss that some of you might be interested in:

http://media.www.thedmonline.com/med...-2948141.shtml

My daughter will also be going through rush at Ole Miss at the end of this month. Being from South Carolina, she doesn't have any "ins" with any of the houses; except that she is a KD legacy. Both my sister and I were KD's at UCF in Orlando.

Sounds like from my conversations with my daughter, the Gamma Chi's meet with their small group every Wednesday to prepare them for the experience. Sounds like a great idea. She has all her recs but 2 (still working on those).

I must say it is a little intimidating to hear how competitive rush is at Ole Miss -- I just told my daughter to find the group of girls that she feels the most comfortable with and that she feels that she will be the most productive with. I know my best friend to this day (a KD a year behind me) would agree.

Good luck to your daughter, Tennissusan. Hey, by the way, my daughter was born in Tennessee!

It's competitive. Like others have said get your recs and just go through with an open mind. All 9 houses are very good and have lots to offer to PNMs!

Do we know yet how many girls are signed up for rush at Ole Miss? Has the deadline past? Just curious.

The deadline was on Friday, but I haven't heard about the final number yet.

There are 870 as of today, September 10, 2007. However, there still might be some processing if they signed up late on Friday afternoon. Since Ole Miss uses ICS Recruiter they have to be approved and make sure their information is correct before it appears on the ICS program.

Is this less than last year? I remember thinking that there were 900 or so...

Lord, I hope so! Last year we had 92 in our new member class there! 300 in the chapter. Way too many women!

I was in Oxford this past weekend for the football game and the word in "The Grove" was around 1000+ have registered for recruitment! This year Greek Life started a GPA requirement to register online for recruitment therefore a lot of girls could not register. With only 9 sorority houses I cannot imagine how hard those chapters have been working going through all the resumes and recs! How to you get to know
1000 rushees...that's a major job! Good luck to all the PNM's...all the chapters at Ole Miss are strong.

how are all the members accomodated for chapter meetings?

Have they ever talked about putting a membership cap on the groups?

I am advisor for AOII and I can tell you that only 870 have registered, no where near 1000.

Here are the stats from the past few years:

2006
888 registered

2005
843 registered

2004
813 registered

2003
901 registered

2002
769 registered

2001
735 registered

2000
671 registered

You can see that in 2003 that was the most we have had so far....I figure quota will be in the high 80s but it could go higher if there are some "stragglers" who are still being processed at Greek Life. As enrollment increases at Ole Miss so does the number of PNMs! It's a good thing but the houses are already busting at the seams and all of the houses are adding on to accommodate their large numbers!


ETA: I believe total is 234 or 235.....there are also at least 2 houses with over 300 members....so the chapters are all very large compared to other universities...

Well that was a problem for a few houses and they have all added on or they are in the process. AOII just did a 1.5 million addition with a new chapter room and addition to our dining room. Theta is doing their addition this summer 2008. Phi Mu is not in their house right now because they are redoing the entire house and adding on as well. Pi Phi did their addition last summer. Tri Delta, KD, Kappa, Chi Omega, and DG did their additions a few years back.

I think at Chi Omega is where they have meals in shifts....

It's not easy having chapter with such larger numbers but I think all of the houses are just learning to deal with the growing pains. There is rumor about adding one more sorority by like 2010 but officially nothing has been done. I think it's doable but there is no land for a house, and of course at Ole Miss without a house a sorority might not survive.

Try being an adviser....it can be very hard to learn everyone's name and face...usually by the end of the semester I know who they are....but it's not easy...I thought my pledge class in 1996 was big with 52 and that was quota back then! Gosh how things have changed in 11 years!

not to mention, anyone speaking would need to use a mike!

We have done power point slides for big important chapter meetings. It helps to keep their attention and so they don't miss any points!

Yes we use Omega Financial to keep up with billing!

I wonder if anyone uses a microphone during chapter...we have a few, might be a good idea!

With so much interest in Greek Life at Ole Miss why haven't new houses been added? Do you know why ADPi left the campus? It seems like they could easily fill two more
houses. I cannot begin to imagine how you handle being an advisor to that many girls! The AOPi's had the best looking desserts in The Grove...the red velvet cupcakes with AOPi icing looked amazing...On another note explain to me how they
figure out their quota numbers? We use to take the total register and divide by the number of houses...something like that! Does Ole Miss do COB's? Informal Spring Rush?

I thought 1000 seemed rather high, but we are talking Ole Miss! The 870 number is lower than last year because of the new GPA requirement to register?? Did 200 girls
really get cut last year...I saw that on this website? Thanks!

The easiest question first, quota is the number of girls at pref divided by the number of sororities.

They haven't added new chapters because at Ole Miss, new = bad and most of the women rushing would rather not join a sorority at all if they can't join the "right" one. (Not necessarily the right one for them, the right one socially speaking) Any chapter that left campus carries a stigma of having failed, so even w/ lots of alums they're unlikely to come back.

The housing issue for a new NPC chapter is also a very serious consideration. The university would have to try and find some land or maybe give up one of the former sorority houses in its possession. Either way, the new group would have to have an awesome pr campaign and deep pockets.

Some houses do COB/COR in the spring, but it just depends. I don't know why ADPi left, they were gone in 1996 when I came on. I think it might have been a numbers thing for them. I missed the tent in the Grove this weekend because I had to go home for wedding planning!

But you are right we need at least one more if not two more houses! Also, I think you are right there are less girls registered because of the new grade rules.


ETA: I could see a totally new group coming to campus, but they would have to have lots of money to build a house to compete. Most of the houses here are HUGE with interiors that rival the homes in Southern Living Magazine!

Didn't everybody make quota last year?

How long has Ole Miss been using release figures?

OLE MISS GLITTER: When is the wedding? Is it yours? SEC sorority rush is an amazing animal to behold, not unlike Southern Weddings! :)

No room to build a house where the others are. I think a fraternity moved into the old ADPi house....

Ole Miss Sororities:

Chi Omega 1899
Delta Delta Delta 1904
Phi Mu 1926
Delta Gamma 1927/1938
Kappa Delta 1927
Delta Zeta 1928-1953 (Inactive)
Zeta Tau Alpha 1939-1998? (Inactive)
Kappa Kappa Gamma 1947
Alpha Omicron Pi 1958
Alpha Delta Pi 1961-1996? (Inactive)
Pi Beta Phi 1962
Alpha Xi Delta 1971-1976 (Inactive)
Kappa Alpha Theta 1979

Isn't it the honors college now? I think the ZTA house would be a more realistic re-aquisition. It's a little more traditional-looking, too.
________
Sunset Boulevard Residence

ZTA and ADPi houses were purchased by the University. ZTA has been turned into the Family and Consumer Science Building. The ADPi house is the Honors College. I don't know where they would put a new house. They are using land near Sorority Row to build new Resident's Halls soon, where AKA and Delta Sigma Theta use to have those little white houses.

I am getting married in May of 2008! It's been great so far to plan because my mother is great at helping!

I think one sorority missed quota by like a handful but they were able to make quota, so it wasn't a big deal. A few houses still do COR/COB because they might have girls who transfer mid-semester, they won't have lots of spots, but like 5 at the most.

ZTA left in 1999 and Tippiechic might know better, but I think they are allowed to come back in ten years. That could be just a rumor but I know they have lots of alumnae in Oxford.

Also, ADPi left before I was in school, I rushed in fall of 1996. So I think they must have left in Spring of 1996 or Fall of 1995. I can ask my friend on campus who is an alumna.

http://www.olemiss.edu/cmap/building.php?building=zeta

That is the Family and Consumer Science building, aka Lenior Hall or the old ZTA house. It still has ZTA listed on the website, but they are not on campus anymore. I guess they just use it to describe the house or something. Perhaps ZTA still owns it but I had always thought the University purchased it from ZTA.


http://www.olemiss.edu/cmap/building...ilding=mbhonor

That is the old ADPi house. It's actually a really neat building. It was a little too modern for Ole Miss but the inside is gorgeous and it has lots of different levels and a huge deck in the back.

There is a rumor going around that they are trying to have a new chapter at Ole Miss by 2010. I spoke with someone in the Chancellor's Office I know and she confirmed there is movement in that direction. Obviously it would have to be a chapter with the financial ability to build a house on campus...and then where would they put it? They
surely could fill a new chapter if the rushees would be willing to join such a chapter?
With 2 daughters going thru recruitment plus all their new friends going through with them I will keep you all posted on the excitement at Ole Miss! Rumor has it there
are several sets of twins going through recruitment...