Transfer Issues
 

One of my friends really wanted to go to UT but instead got assigned to the CAP program. If you are unfamiliar, this program is where a student spends his freshman year at a branch campus of UT and then can go to UT his sophomore year.

He will probably go to UT Arlington. They have a Greek system there but I don't think it's as strong as UT's.

If he pledges a fraternity at UTA, can he transfer to the same fraternity when he comes to UT Austin, or would he have to go through rush and pledging all over again? I know that UTA has a lot of chapters that aren't as strong as those at UT, would the UT chapters accept him if he was from the same national at UTA?

It depends on the organization. For sororities you can join the chapter at a different school, but some have to approve you first. Though if you're initiated you DON'T re-do pledging.

I say don't worry about it. If he KNOWS he's going to transfer in a year he might just want to wait and choose a chapter at his permanent school. Every chapter is different.

I have several friends in some of the frats at UTA and I love hanging out with them. Good luck to your friend!

Like AGD said, it depends on the organization that he joins.

It may even be better for him to wait until his sophomore to rush because there is always that what-if the guy finds a chapter of guys he likes, then transfers to UT and the chapter there is completely different? He'd be a pretty unhappy guy greek-wise for the rest of his college days.

there is DEFINITELY a thread on this... and i cant search it for my life. but im feeling weird deja vu on this topic.

LOVEinZTA joined Zeta at Baylor and then told her story about transferring to to UT chapter. She does note that not all transfers get accepted because of the CAP program. Take it as you will, since it is for a sorority, and not a fraternity.

Unless it is different for the NIC than the NPC or NPHC, you can not join another group once you've been initiated into one. So if your friend were to join a fraternity at UTA and initiate, his options upon transferring to UT are try to join the chapter at UT or nothing. Can any Texans weigh in as to whether it would be better to join at UTA and try to transfer to the UTA chapter or rush as a sophomore?

http://greekchat.com/gcforums/showth...dinated&page=7

Yeah i just saw loveinzta's recruitment thread when I searched for it.

That's what he wants to know, because he is certain that he wants to do Greek life at UT. I think he's even doing the unofficial rush events at UT, and I bet he will choose his UTA chapter on which UT chapter he wants to join--is that a bad thing to do?

Personally, and this is just my opinion, I would say that it is.

What if there is a fraternity that is great at UT and isn't that great at UTA?

I'm pretty sure UTA's greek life is much smaller than UT's... he might miss out on a great chapter at UT if he rushes & initates at UTA and that group either:

1) isn't represented at UT
2) is completely different

UTA and UT have:(7)
Alpha Tau Omega
Beta Theta Pi
Phi Delta Theta
Phi Gamma Delta
Pi Kappa Alpha
Sigma Phi Epsilon
Sigma Pi

Only at UT:(14)
Acacia
Alpha Epsilon Pi
Chi Phi
Delta Chi
Delta Sigma Phi
Delta Tau Delta
Kappa Sigma
Lambda Chi Alpha
Phi Kappa Theta
Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Sigma Alpha Mu
Tau Kappa Epsilon
Theta Chi
Zeta Beta Tau

Only at UTA:(4)
Delta Upsilon
Pi Kappa Phi
Sigma Chi
Sigma Lambda Beta

By joining at UTA, your friend is closing himself off to 14 chapters, and he might be a great fit in one of them. Then again, by waiting to join as a sophomore transfer, he might have a lesser chance of getting a bid. I think this is a case by case basis. In a perfect world, there would be one fraternity where he meshes well with at their UT and UTA chapters, but your friend's situation may not be that way.

What I meant is that as far as I can tell, his strategy is going to be to hang around UT and find which group he thinks he'll like the best and he fits well with and then rush that group at UTA. I don't know if they will have the chapter he likes or not. If they don't, I assume he'd just wait until sophomore year.

i would wait if i were him, rushing as a sophmore isn't that bad, it happens quite frequently. And plus he won't be as close with the fraternity at UT because he will be coming in as an outsider even though he is a "brother". Your pledge class is your best buddies in the fraternity for the most part, and he won't have one if he transfers into it. If hes confident he is getting into UT the next year and is dedicated to it, then he should wait.

A potential pitfall of this plan is, will the UTA group want this guy as a brother?

Does he know a bunch of guys down here in any houses? If so........I would honestly tell him just to wait and rush as a sophomore. If he has some friends in houses down here, it really shouldn't be a problem. Rushing as a sophomore isn't that bad anyways.

From the looks of the list of chapters at both UT and UTA, your friend's options would be limited if he is set on trying to be in a good house here in Austin. If he really wanted to do the pledge/re-affiliate thing I would suggest he check out Sig Ep and FIJI, possibly Beta. If I'm not mistaken FIJI at UTA is a pretty strong house for their campus......and it certainly is here.

Regardless of tier, the friend would be cutting out 2/3 of the fraternities.

Macallan25 can speak best for fraternities at UT. If he says that rushing a fraternity as a sophomore isn't a big deal at UT, then it's probably not.

Plus, if you join a chapter, he has at least one friend in a fraternity at UT.

Yeah that's what it looked like. I think that FIJI and Sig Ep are the strongest at UTA, but if you transplanted the same houses to UT they probably would be second or third tier. I hear UT FIJI is one of the top houses at any university in the country.

I don't know if they would just take a transfer automatically as a brother.

It's up to him, but I'll let him know what people on here say. I'm just glad I got in regular admission and don't have to deal with it.

It all just depends. If he's a good guy and fits in with who they are looking for it shouldn't be a problem. They are an extremely good house though, for sure.

Rushing as a sophomore is not unusual, it's done all the time.

We'd (we meaning most UT chapters) would take a look at him but it doesn't automatically mean acceptance. And re-affiliation also doesn't equate to skipping pledgeship. He'd have to go through pledgeship with that year's guys.

That's not really a bad thing though, it would suck to join a chapter without having any pledge brothers. And there are quite a few sophomore in each pledge class.

So, you're saying that if a member already initiated into UTA, transfered to the UT chapter, which accepted him, would have to "pledge" at UT as well? That just reeks of hazing, to tell a BROTHER, not a pledge, that he has to "pledge" because you don't know what his pledge period was like at his initiating chapter.

I see the argument that you want a transfer to feel like part of a group, but if you want to integrate him into the chapter, I think he'd be able to form friendships by being active in the events, and it would sure help if brothers reached out to him too. I don't see why it is so important to feel connected to a pledge class, as long as a member is making connections in the chapter.

Is that your fraternity's (inter)national policy, by the way?

I have no idea if that's the national policy, just that's what we'd probably do.

And yes, making sure he's part of a group is 99% of it. Yes he would still make friends if he just walked in one day, but they wouldn't be the same kind of bonds that a pledgeship would produce. And no, I made no mention of any kind of hazing.

Oh I know you didn't say anything directly about hazing. The implication is that a pledge class has to suffer together to form bonds. A chapter that doesn't haze simply wouldn't ask a transfer brother to pledge at their chapter.

I actually go to UTA, and you'd be surprised how many people on the CAP program end up staying. I'd suggest telling your friend to wait it out and just get to know the guys at UTA.

If he decides to stay, then he's already made some connections when UTA rush rolls around. If he decides to transfer to UT, he can at least say "Hey, I met some of your brothers when I was at UTA" which could work in his favor.

I advise the Pike Chapter at UTA. I will tell you that the experiences of the two chapters (UT & UTA) is very different.

As knight_shadow eluded to, many CAP students (even those who make their grades) end up staying at UTA. Generally, they are very good students and want to get involved which can lead to them getting scholarships and on the fast-track to prominent campus positions here.

The advice given here is solid, FIJI and SigEp are both good houses at UTA. I've heard that depending on the standing of the guy, chapters at UT will make them repledge. I don't agree with the practice, but I would definitely take that into consideration. Again, it is up to that specific chapter. Perhaps he should ask the UT FIJIs or SigEps or whomever if they would frown upon it. As different as the two Pike chapters are, I would assert that the ATO, Beta, Phi Delt and Sigma Pi chapters are even more different.

Having said all that, most will tell you that the UTA social scene lacks severely outside of Greek Life. There are only 4 NPC sororities, so there is some competition to see who can mix/hang out with these women. Generally speaking, the top fraternities are the ones who consistently hang out with these girls. Greek Life at UTA is by no means perfect, but it isn't horrible either.

Worst case, he finds a group of men at UTA with whom he share similar ideals and values and he joins that organization for life. Even if he isn't an active member of the UT chapter (or there isn't a chapter at UT), he would be a brother of that organization. I know at least a few UTA Sigma Chis are helping re-establish Sigma Chi at UT...so it can be done!

Sigma Chi is supposed to be coming back next year, their nationals was renting the house to Phi Psi since they were kicked off but they're getting it back come August I've heard.

If he really is dead set on going to UT, he probably shouldn't pledge at UTA. The majority of people who use CAP to go to UT do so through UTSA, and its much closer to Austin. As for making someone repledge, that would likely be a decision made on an individual basis.