Ole Miss drops GPA exceptions for rush
 

Ole MIss now requires a min GPA 2.5 to participate in rush and dropped the exceptions for learning differences. Maybe the gpa was always 2.5 but now there are no exceptions. I hate to hear that and I think there are going to be a lot of cute girls ineligible for rush.

:rolleyes:

You read my mind.

I'm with the two of you...I consider a 2.5 very, very low, and learning disabilities are no exception. If someone really has a hard time learning so that she can't maintain a 2.5, you better believe she does NOT have time to be in a sorority.

Are there really that many people that get into Ole Miss with lower than a 2.5 from HS? And I third the :rolleyes:.

Isn't it amazing that we all think alike?;)

I hope they'll use their freshman year to get a really solid GPA and then they can rush their sophomore year.

$

Cute but dumb... my favorite.

the $ was an unintentional post. I'm on the laptop and that touch pad gets away from me. But to the topic at hand, it is probably better if those girls are going to be released if they don't go through at all. Anyone going to Ole Miss is not going to lack for a social life, Greek or non-Greek.

BRITY?

LOL, I was actually going to quote it!

It's one thing to go through and meet people with a high chance of being released if the fee is small...$100 is not small.

I thought you did it on purpose too, estherjb! I was thinking, "Well, somebody is being honest around here..."

As someone with learning disabilities, I don't know how I feel about this decision. On campus, I have actually been able to achieve a lot through my sorority even though I continue to struggle academically.

I would like to add a comment as well. I remember back in the day, there were many individuals that I knew personally that did not have a 2.5 GPA in high school. Then, they went to UF, FSU, USF, and UCF and basically smoked their college courses. They had higher GPA's than numerous individuals that left high school with amazing GPA's.

I understand that there must be cutoffs and rules, but I do have mixed feelings on it.

that was pretty close to my experience as well

It's been my experience (at three different universities) that students with learning disabilities are allowed exceptions within the classes, but not with degree/university requirements. Profs are notified by the proper university officials regarding the student's problem and the exception(s) to be made as a result. So, for instance, a student with LD could be given extra time for exams. That way, the students' needs are met, but the integrity of the university's degree isn't affected.

It seems that, since students with LD are given these types of exceptions, it makes sense to abandon GPA exceptions.

I don't know Ole Miss' policies, however, so maybe they don't allow extra time for exams, etc...

Regardless, I think it's good that all students are held to the same standard. And, as others have stated, if a student can't maintain a 2.5, then sorority life shouldn't be a priority anyway.

Ok, now perhaps I'm being just a little naive here, but is it common at some of these well-established, large schools to have incoming freshman with UNDER a 2.5? At my school, incoming freshman averaged above a 4.0 and I don't recall ever seeing listed GPAs under 3.8 during recruitment. Admittedly, our school had high admission standards, but I don't recall my high school colleauges going to 4-year universities with UNDER a 2.5. In those cases, Community College was often a better option (plus you could save money).

Doesn't it seem weird to come into a college practically on academic probation already?

That should read freshmen, as in plural. I obviously need more coffee.

I agree, to even get into colleges you must have a certain GPA average. a 2.5 from high school is easily attainable even for people with learning disabilities( I know this from experience) . If a person had a learning disability to the extent where it was extremely hard for them to have a 2.5 than in my opinion they need to spend so much time investing in studying in college that it would not be wise for them to join a greek organization.

Really? $100 is all that theirs costs? I was talking to a few girls a couple days ago and said our sorority rush is something like $270. Maybe that's for something else though. Fraternity rush costs 100$ if you sign up early, 120$ for later if I remember correctly. Keeps the deadbeats out that couldn't afford dues anyways.

Well, of course there's all the outfits you buy and such, so even if the fee is only $100...plus the $270 might include staying in the dorm or something. There's a thread on here about what rush costs at the different schools.

But I was talking about $100 is not small as opposed to $20 or less at a school w/ a teeny Greek system.

I had the exact same thought so I looked it up:

http://www.olemiss.edu/admissions/fap.html#regad

At Ole Miss, if you get a certain score on the ACT/SAT, it doesn't matter what you got as your high school GPA. If you score high enough, you can get in with a 2.0. Although it does look like you have to least have a 2.0. But... that's not very good.

Frankly, this makes a lot of sense to me given that I know that a lot of students who can't get into Texas end up at Ole Miss. (The top 10% rule at Texas state universities now accounts for around 80% of admissions to UT. So lots of kids from prestigious high schools now find it difficult to gain entrance to UT.) The score guarantees you'd get in.

It also looks like you get in automatically with a 3.2 regardless of what your high school GPA is... that's sort of surprising to me too.

That definitely has to take care of housing. I know that Registration Fees help pay for rush t-shirts, booklets, and other rush-related supplies, but I can't imagine it being $270 (housing not included), even at a big competitive school.

Housing's not an issue because it's during school and all the girls live in the dorms.

I'm not sure... gee ess might know more on how much it costs, but I do know that it's gotta be at least higher than our fraternity rush (120 if you sign up late)

That's probably with housing and/or maybe all meals for the week at dining services.

If you do the late registration at UGA these days, it's $145 and that's including some meals and transportation, but there's no housing portion. You either just move in early for Fall in the dorms or you move into your apartment.

Interestingly, some girls pretend they are going through recruitment and pay the recruitment fee so that they can move into the dorms early. That's really funny to me. It kind of says, I want a week of straight up partying before classes even start.

It seems like long in the past that UGA did rush week and then there was a week before classes started, so that you did separate housing for rush week in the dorms that wasn't your actual room for fall. I might be misremembering that though. My point is that maybe some campuses are still doing something like that.


ETA and somewhat actually on topic: is Ole Miss someplace where sophs or juniors are free or is it someplace where if you don't rush as a freshman it really hurts your odds? Because as much as having a grade exception for learning disabilities seems very compassionate, if a PNM can rush with success as a soph, it's probably a lot better for anyone without a 2.5 out of high school to wait a year and see how it goes.

IMHO, no girl with a 2.5 GPA has any business getting involved with date parties, exchanges, philanthropy commitments, sisterhood retreats, etc. School comes first, ladies!

It must be for something else. Arkansas Panhellenic fee is $190. BTW, IFC cost is $90 for early and $100 for late sign-up.

It was ~$270 at my school last fall, but that covered 5 days in the dorms (which we moved right back out of to move into a sorority house or into a different dorm at the end) as well as meals and everything else with recruitment.

There ARE exceptions. But, it definitely hurts your chances of getting a bid. I think OleMissGlitter can be more specific on current policies. But, if I recall, there were upperclassmen additions allowed. And, I could be wrong, but I think that was only up to total. Considering the groups at or above total, that doesn't leave much room for upperclassmen. If you are a group, do you really want to take the person who can pay dues for 2 years or someone who'll pay all 4 years?

But, like others have said, if a girl can't keep her shit together in high school well enough to get a gpa of 2.5, she's gonna have a hell of a time in college if she adds extra-currics. And, you'd want to have some major legacies going on if you have that kind of gpa. Groups still have their academic gpa averages to worry about. If you take someone who is borderline, and they cannot maintain the gpa of that specific group, you end up with someone who gets kicked out/suspended/whatever for grades.

Grades are only part of the package. A 3.5 student at some high schools would not be a 3.5 student at others. I was looking through the packet of my daughter's pledge class where a girl had a 96% out of 100% as her high school gpa but only a 22 ACT. Another had a 3.2 and a 29 ACT. My daughter had a 2.7 from her high school and a 23 ACT, yet is now on the Dean's list. You can have a 4.0 student that goes off the deep end in college.

There has to be standards, but I hate to see such a firm line drawn without a look at the overall package. Sometimes being part of a GLO can help a girl academically. It is very foreign to many of us whose schools have minimum admisson requirement of 3.5 and the reality is that even with a 4.0 you may not be admitted. But it is not for us to judge a school about their admission policies.

I am sure that Ole Miss has it reasons. It might be a way to cut down on the number of girls going through recruitment. I do believe that the last several years the pledge classes at Ole Miss have been larger than the chapter total on many campuses.

I wish all those going through recruitment in the fall the best of luck!

Did you even read the thread or even the first post?

First, it's not admission policies we are talking about -- it's rush requirements!

Second, lowering the gpa requirement would INCREASE the total number of girls. It just means more girls to pay the rush fee and more girls to end up bidless when they don't meet the glo's requirements as mentioned below. Exceptions had been made to accomodate those with a learning disability. But, learning disabilities aren't going to be an excuse in the real world. And, they shouldn't be an excuse for someone with a low gpa to get into rush. (And, don't bitch about how heartless I am... It's the truth.) Dropping the learning disability exceptions will decrease the number of girls going through rush.

Third, it really doesn't matter much. GLOs have their own new member gpa requirements. It's ultimately their decision. So, if a girl rushes with a 2.5, at least some groups will drop her 1st round just on grades alone.

You can hem and haw 'til the cows come home about the "overall package," but if a girl underperformed in high school academically, she should be focusing her efforts on her academic life. Sorority life is great. But, the goal of college is to prepare you for your career path. If you are struggling academically (I consider anything below a 3.0 in high school to be just that) you don't need to join. You need to keep your ass focused on what really matters.

Plus, let's not bullshit about the "overall package," ok? When someone says that we need to look at the overall package, it just means that the girl was underperforming in one of the areas of focus. She's ugly, but look at the overall package-- she has great grades and community involvement so overlook her third eye. She has shitty grades, but look at the overall picture - she's cute and would look so nice in the composite so overlook the fact that she doesn't care about her academic performance.

If you want to be in a sorority at Ole Miss, you'd better be pretty outstanding in every way-- period. Or, you should be the third generation legacy of a chapter. But, hell what do I know about it, right? I only went there. BTW, I think that gives me the right to discuss my feelings about their policies.

And, we are talking about Ole Miss. Girls who want to get into a sorority at Ole Miss know that they have to have the grades. They get one shot basically. Those that choose to piss away their high school days having fun or being lazy, etc. do not have a great "Overall Package."

I am wondering if Ole Miss dropped the exceptions policy in order to give more leeway/room for exceptions, and conversely, stricter cutoffs, to the individual chapters.

This new policy seems to take the work out of the gpa dilemma out of Greek Life's hands and put it on each sorority - where it belongs.

Also, on a related note, I don't know what the OP implied with the "cute girls" comment. But, in my experience in the south, anyone who is young is often described (by adults) as "cute." It is not necessarily as shallow as it sounds, I promise :)

In the horse show ring, we even refer to a really nice horse as CUTE.

^^^exactly! :)

rotfl

I also feel like there are a LOT of people who use learning disabilities as an excuse to underachieve. For example...my little sister has mild ADD. When she gets a bad grade, she blames it on this, even though she's on medication. I know for a FACT that she is using this as an excuse...and if she does it, there are college kids who do it too. I think this will keep people focused on their grades as a gateway, instead of something they can excuse with a, "But, but..I have ADD!"

I agree with Tippie....as someone who works with a chapter there, I can tell you that this policy will only help the chapters. Like Tippie said, most of the PNMs going through rush are well prepared and they know how to play the game too. Another point she said that I agree with is that each sorority has their own policies. I have seen PNMs go through with a 1.9 GPA and they just end up getting released from every sorority. If anything Ole Miss is doing them a favor I think. I think this just benefits everyone, full circle.

Learning disabilities can occur in students with any level of intelligence. For instance, many teachers suspect that Albert Einstein may have had a learning disability due to the fact that he was unable to read until he was in the third grade. There are many different types of LD's and they can range from mild to severe. LD's can also occur in combination, or in combination with other disorders such as ADHD.

I've seen students with a mild LD get excellent grades with minimal support (such as additional opportunities to respond to oral questions, or extended response time to oral questions.) Some students with moderate disabilities "grow out of it" in the sense that they learn strategies to cope with their LD as they mature, and they can also do quite well.

My feeling as a teacher is that there is an appropriate time for the "training wheels" to come off, and that time is college. LD students should be able to succeed with only minimal accommodations. College is not for everyone.

I do not believe that there should be a grade exemption for learning disabilities at the collegiate level.