Southern Miss recruitment
 

Can anyone tell me about sorority intake at Southern Miss? I don't know much and the booklet sent out by the Office of Greek Life did not answer my questions. Is it a day or night rush? The clothes suggested seem extremely casual compared to what my friends are wearing at Ole Miss and MS State. How many rec letters do I need? Any info on any subject for USM would greatly help me.

Are you interested in joining an NPC or NPHC sorority?

NPC, there are 8 at Southern

Most of your post sounded like NPC, but you used the word "intake", so I wanted to clarify.

well, that is what I think is correct, on the USM website it says CPC sororities --they are Phi Mu, Delta Gamma, Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi, Delta Delta Delta, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Pi Beta Phi

The booklet from USM says "Sorority Intake Recruiment"

Ok, but most Greeks (here on GC, anyway) often associate the word intake with the NPHC.

I'm not doubting you, I just don't think I've ever heard of NPC Sorority Intake Recruitment. It just sounds weird. It's like saying, "I'm going to the supermarket grocery store."

Just out of curiousity, did any of the NPHC members show up? I guess I just can't see what they would get out of RBC.

For Southern Miss recruitment you should be okay. I have friends who went through as sophomores and they received bids from their top choice. However, I would still get at least one rec for each sorority. USM has a pretty strong system and at the same time it's a complete different system than say Ole Miss or even MSU. I am going to guess that recruitment parties are during the day since the dates are August 7-12, 2008. Classes start Wednesday, August 20, 2008. I would wear whatever Greek Life is suggesting you to wear after all they don't just make that stuff up! (Remember Ole Miss and MSU are totally different!) On their Greek Life website you can contact Greek Life and ask them any questions. I personally don’t think USM is as competitive as Ole Miss or even MSU, but just remember that recruitment is a mutual selection process, and you have to play the game!

While it is true that Southern Miss Recruitment is not as competitive as recruitment at Ole Miss and Miss State, this does not always mean women get bids to the sororities they want. As OleMissGlitter said, always remember it is a mutual selection process. I believe that in the past few years no women have been released, but for many women that meant they got a bid to a group they may not have been as excited about. But, as we all know, if the women give it a chance, they may find it was for the best!

As far as clothing goes, Greek Life at Southern Miss has recently taken big steps to towards enacting the "no frills" recruitment policies. From my experience, the information from Greek Life can be watered down in order to encourage more women to participate by putting less pressure on the potential new members. For example, they stress that you don't need to get recommendations, but in reality a woman with a recommendation will have a distinct advantage over a woman without one. And, in order to get a bid to most sororities, you must have a recommendation. Same with clothing...if I were you, I would bring what the book says, but if you can, maybe bring an extra couple of things that are a bit dressier so that you'll have some options.

Also, recruitment is during the day.

USM
 

I'm also going through recruitment at USM this fall! I called Greek Life just to double check everything and found out that Theta's national pulled their chapter our so now USM has 7 sororities. I guess we will go to 7 parties the first day and eventually only have one cut at some point.

I'm bringing "party attire" for all 5 days, and we have to have tennis shoes for Monday.

Anyway, hope this helps and I wish us both all the luck!:)

Kappa Delta also has a chapter at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Yes they do! I completly overlooked "tothetop" 's post!

KD has a great chapter at USM. I went to DG's anchorsplash and met some of their girls.

Thanks for the correction!

I have no first hand experience with USM but it sounds like they are attempting to move into the "no frills " arena. I wouldn't be afraid to step it up and make a best faith effort to get recs for all of the sororities. As far as the wardrobe goes, wear what they suggest or step it up a half-notch if it will make you feel more comfortable. What your campus recommends was established to level the playing field for all PNMs and chapters but I don't personally see anything wrong with dressing to impress so long as it does not make you stand out in a negative way.

My daughter is at rush right now and she loves chi o and kd but I did not get a chi o rec in on time and I would hate for her to get cut because I dropped the ball. I have 3 chi o friends ... is it possible for them to call in the rec today?? I really dont know if that would make it look desperate now or help. Should I just let it go and hope she makes it on her own or call in a couple of favors? This would probably have to be done this morning since its the 2nd day of rush and she could be cut soon if I do nothing.

Also, does anyone know the size for each pledge class at USM? I went to Ole Miss and it was 60 back then, but I dont really know anything about USM and their quotas... or how many girls are actually going through rush. I am just so angry at myself for not getting this done earlier this summer and I feel like I have really let my daughter down. :(

I'm sure they could call it in - esp if they haven't already released her. Also, the chapter may have found someone to sponsor her already. I think quota there runs around 25-35 most years.

Let me say I pledged at Southern a long time ago, when total was closer to 100 and there were nine chapters, not eight (or seven, though no one seems to be in the know about Theta, except the PNM)! Though, I have been involved over the years, at times it has been from a thousand miles away…

phimu88: It is not too late for recs at Southern, if she has not been dropped by the chapter. The chapters work on recs until pref night for the girls they like, but have not rec'd a recommendation.

There is not a chapter at Southern that can pledge you without a recommendation. However, they have the time and resources (mainly due to the smaller number of PNMs to obtain the recommendations needed), then their sisters at Ole Miss and State. Also, for some reason PNMs seem to fall into two categories at USM; they either have tons of recs and info letters, or none. Chapter total is 80; almost all of the chapters have 50-60 members going into rush. Traditionally, 6/8 (or now 6/7) chapters make quota of 25-30 depending on the year.

Southern is different than Ole Miss or State recruitment; I am not sure less competitive is the description I would use. I think when people say less competitive they are comparing chapter-to-chapter within the State… USM is more of a commuter campus, even more than Ole Miss and State. Though, the school population as a whole is larger, the percentage within that population of commuters and “non-traditional” students is also larger. This combined with the lower percentage of students interested in greek life and the campus population is from a narrower range of towns/states makes it a very different atmosphere.

Just as at any school, if you are not opened minded, you will be disappointed. I have seen many PNMs that were polished, academically and athletically enticing to a chapter, recs that overflow the files, that have been dropped/or dropped out (as at any other school). I would hazard to say that Ole Miss pledges a higher percentage of PNMs, than Southern Miss. In “general,” girls that pledge Tri Delta at State would probably not make it as far through the process with Phi Epsilon at USM. A girl that pledges Delta Gamma at USM would in general not make it through to pledge Alpha Psi at Ole Miss. I guess my point would be competitive would depend on how open minded you are going into recruitment.

This year should be interesting with the chapters officially in their new homes for a full year! I am curious to see if the houses make a difference.

Thanks for the replies. I made some calls and it turns out someone did write a rec without me knowing. I am so relieved. I would just hate for her to be cut early because I didnt take care of things on my end. But I can breathe easier now. I just want her to go in with a chance to make it and not throw it away on a technicality such as a forgotten rec. The other sororities are covered, Chi O was the only one I didnt have in.

Awesome! Glad it worked out for you and your daughter with the rec situation. Hopefully she ends up in a chapter she loves.

Me too! Thanks, she was invited back to her top 5 picks today! She sounded exhausted tonight! Skit parties are tomorrow and she is struggling on cutting out one of the sororities. I just wish I could help her choose! I dont know how to guide her through this without bringing my own biased views into this. I was a phi mu 20 years ago at Ole Miss ... different times, different schools, different girls, but the stereotypes of the individual sororities back then still pop into my head now... weird isnt it? So I dont want to say anything that will make her think I am preferring one sorority over the other. She is feeling the stress a bit. I can hear it in her voice. One of her good friends got cut from Phi Mu and Tri Delt today ... my daughter didnt get cut from any that she listed as her top 5 so she is feeling bad for her friend ... its going to get worse each day, as far as cuts and hurt feelings go, I dont know how to prepare her. I just hope she isnt the one getting hurt. ohhhh the ups and downs of rush... and I have 2 more daughters to go after this one lol.

phimu88. i feel you angst. two years ago i was in your shoes (but my daughter attends a different school.) in some ways i think it is harder on the moms, because we don't know what is actually going on. the advice i gave my daughter was to try to get to know as many members in each group as she could, and look at the pnms at the parties she attends. could she see herself eating lunch with these girls, piling into one of their rooms to watch a movie, or call one when she has a fight with her boyfriend. like you i tried to stay away from discussing the actual sororities-i was afraid that my bias would show.

please let us know where your daughter ends up. good luck to her!

PhiMu88,

I love the way you care about your D while keeping your cool and not helimomming. It sounds like you did prepare her for the ups and downs.

Best of luck to her and keep us posted.

hahaha well its not always easy to keep my cool, but I am trying for her sake. I am sort of antsy tonight because my daughter left me a facebook message saying she decided which sorority she is going to pledge but wont tell me until after bid day!! That is assuming that she doesnt get cut from the sorority or change her mind during pref tomorrow night. ohhh give me the strength and patience to make it through til Tuesday! haha

good advise FSUZeta ... I sort of told my daughter the same things. I also let her know its ok not to be in the same sorority as her high school friends... that is something I am afraid will happen too. She will choose based on who they all have left after cuts and hope they all end up in the same one. I want her to branch out and have the chance to meet new friends too.

fingers crossed for good results for phimu88 daughter and her friends!

ok update...

my daughter got cut from Tri Delta yesterday so she went to 3 skit parties instead of 4. She told me she knows where she wants to pledge now but wont tell me until after bids come out! :eek: She really knows how to torture her mom! lol I tried to bribe her into telling me by telling her I needed to know so I could go online shopping to by her some presents... she didnt fall for it. lol So I asked her if she was going to 2 pref parties and she said she marked 2 down but hasnt gotten her card yet so she doesnt know if she was invited back yet. Pref parties start in a couple of hours. I am so ready for this to be done! lol

3/4 skit parties is still pretty good ! Here's hoping for two great invites for pref. :)

you are right plus she was cutting tri delta next anyway, so it's all good. I am just curious what happened at skit yesterday to help her make up her mind which one she decided was her #1 because there is so little interaction during skit. She was so stressed before skit. She said she knew she didnt want tri delta, but the other 3 were all so close and couldnt decide which was the one she really wanted. It was funny she said, "Mom, they keep saying you will know which one is right for you. You will feel it. But I dont know!! I really like all of them! I am not feeing it like they said I should!" haha well I told her they were all 3 great sororities and where ever she ended up she would love it and not to worry herself over it. But, then it must have clicked yesterday and now I am online looking at jewelry and gifts to get her and I still have no clue which one she will pledge!! lol I cant wait to burn a hole this credit card shopping!!! :D

You may also want to think about sending flowers that are the sorority's flower. You can find out on the sororities national websites. I did that and my daughter was thrilled.

I called up there today to ask about that, and the Greek Life Mgr. told me that no one does that at USM anymore. I remember getting pink carnations and Phi Mu balloons on bid day and I loved it, so I checked into it and she said that wasnt something they really do anymore. :( I mean I could do it on my own, but I dont know what sorority she is going into yet, so I have to wait til tomorrow morning to order anything at all.

I think it would still be a nice gesture, even if it's not the norm as the Greek Life Mgr. is saying. And you may not be able to get them to your daugter on Bid Day, but I think sending them anytime that week would be a lovely thought.

She comes home right after the bid day party. They dont really start school until 8/20 but I will figure something out!

When I went through recruitment at Southern Miss about five years ago, a lot of my friends got flowers from their parents or sorority alums they were close to after Bid Day. The florists in Hattiesburg even had cute ribbon with the sorority's letters on it to go around the flowers. When I was a recruitment counselor a couple of years later quite a few girls on my hall got flowers then as well. I know I loved it when I had a bouquet of beautiful cream colored roses waiting on me, and the girls on my hall were thrilled when they got flowers as well. After such a fun, emotional, and stressful week, it's great to have the people you love celebrate with you!

can I ask what florist you used?

I think it would be a lovely gesture. At some schools, some parents send the flowers to their D via the sorority house address instead of to her dorm room. I'm not sure if USM has sorority houses or suites so the suggestion may or may not be applicable.

Another option is sorority themed gifts. Is there a shop in Hattiesburg that sells sorority items? I know in other places florists and specialty shops have bid day packages that can be customized the the girls sorority. These packages often include cups, key chains, car decals, pillow cases, and just about anything else you can put letters on. I know these are popular at my campus, and they last a bit longer than flowers. If you want something really special, a really popular gift at my campus is a gift certificate to the store that makes the sewn letter shirts. This is great because your daughter can customize her very own letter shirt!

I'm not sure where mine came from, but I know a lot of the girls' flowers came from University Florist. It used to be across the street from campus, but now is located on 49 South. I looked it up online, and I think this is the correct number: (601) 544-0596.

Hope that helps! Good luck to your daughter! I hope tonight was a special night for her. All seven of the chapters are strong chapters with a lot to offer and wonderful women. One of the best things about Greek Life at Southern Miss is the interaction among women in different chapters, so no matter where she ends up she'll have the benefit of friendships throughout the Greek community...old friends and new!

Flowers are perfect! They get so much sorority stuff on bid day, big sis, etc. that it would be difficult to find something that she wont soon get from someone in her sorority. Most florists are prepared for bid day and expect to get many calls on bid day requesting sorority colors. By Christmas you should know what her Greek inventory is and can buy something with her letters on it then.

I would send it a couple of days after Bid Day to her new sorority house. You can have it sent right away but sometimes on the first day they get so much in their Bid Day goodybags that she might be overwhelmed. I think her new sororities flowers and anything else are perfect! I can't wait to hear where she pledges!

thank you so much for the number! I will call them first thing in the morning! I hope I hear from her right away!!