academic conflicts during rush
 

Hey girls!

Do you have any advice in regards to academic conflicts during recruitment? I might not be able to attend a couple of parties because of a class conflict. What should I do? Can I make them up the next day? Please help!

your academics are always first, but you also have to judge your campus culture. also, take note of the houses that are flexible and those who arent.

while its still early in the school year (when rush happens, im boldly assuming NPC here), you will have to judge whether its worth it to miss the first couple classes for rush. sure you can get notes from someone, but i like to be there 100% in the beginning.

tld221- Thank you, I feel the same way in regards to going to class. However, I'm just concerned that I might not have the chance to meet ALL of the sororities...thus those houses are out of the question. = /

I just hope I can find a way to make up those parties the next day! Thank you for your help/

We have the same problem, recruitment occurs DURING school. You need to let your Panhellenic Adviser as well as recruitment counselor (Rho Chi, Rho Gamma, etc.) know that you have school. Some houses will likely invite you to the next round as long as they know in advance that you have a conflict, others may not. It really depends on your school culture. At our school a PNM who has a class conflict will have a shortened schedule (instead of 8 30 minute parties, she will attend 8 parties but for only 15 minutes each so she can still attend all chapters AND her class) -- this is only an example,but this situation does occur.

I'd be inclined to ask the professors if you can miss that particular class and make up the work later. It's not that school is not important, it is the MOST important reason you are there, but think of being a sorority woman and making a decision on a PNM who was not there vs. one who was there.

Good luck!

basket96- Thank you! I will let the Panhellenic office know as soon as possible about my class conflict. Thanks again!

I have heard people say that for some schools, missing class for recruitment gets you dropped from recruitment. I don't know if that is true, but you will want to check and double check with the Greek life office before you decide to skip class for a recruitment party. Good luck with everything!

I missed a whole night of recruitment at my school (not because of class, but I got immensely sick, couldn't speak, and was told not to go near people for 24 hours. I'm crazy, and still went through recruitment). I called my Recruitment Counselor, who told me to write a letter about myself to the houses I would be missing that night (it was opening round). I made 6 copies for the night, and she swung by my dorm to pick up the letters. She also brought me a care package with apple sauce, chicken soup, and cough drops (sweetest thing ever). I was invited back to three of the houses from that night, and the other three I had on my drop list. One of the houses was Pi Phi, which I'm in now. Oh, and the RC? She was a Pi Phi too, and ended up being my big sister.
If your school isn't super competitive, don't fret it.

I disagree with this. I dont know if telling your professor that you are skipping their class for rush is going to be a great look. It can reflect a lot more than you want it to on your character and worse, your grade in that class.

Best case scenario, your professor is pro-greek (or greek themselves) or just understands your campus culture.

okay thanks guys for all of the advice!

It also depends on when recruitment is. If its the first, even second week of school, I would be more inclined to say miss class vs missing a day of recruitment.

But either way tell your Rho Chi (or whatever you call 'em) about class, they'll know what the proper procedure is.

.

Is recruitment scheduled during the academic day or in the evening?

It starts sometime in the afternoon and continues until the evening. And some classes are still in session during that time.

If a PNM has to miss parties due to class, odds are some actives will too. One would hope chapters would be understanding, but there are no guarantees. It depends on the campus and on the particular chapter. As others have said, talk to the Greek Life office and to the Recruitment Counselor before making a decision.

Asking a professor and/or TA for permission to miss class for Recruitment is a crap shoot. Those who are pro-Greek will be understanding, even if they end up saying "No". Those who are anti-Greek will not only say "No" but might also hold it against you for daring to ask. "Obviously you are only interested in partying and not getting an education. You are wasting my valuable teaching time even taking my class." (I've heard some nasty stories over the years.)

There is no need to go into why - simply tell your professor you may have to miss one class, and you wanted to know if he/she offered the same class at a different time and if you could attend it. If pressed, just say you have some personal business that you may need to attend to. You are not lying, and you are making it obvious that you are trying to keep the personal business from interfering with your studies.

This. You are under no obligation to say what you are doing, and if the professor seriously presses you, you can simply say that you do not feel comfortable divulging your personal reasons.

Check with your campus panhellenic's rules. It's been brought up on here that at some schools, if you miss class for recruitment, you are automatically dropped.

I think you mean "miss recruitment for class"?

No, she said exactly what she meant. If Panhel finds out that you are skipping classes to attend rush events, you are eliminated from rush and cannot receive a bid. Some schools specify this on their rush registration forms.

Huh, I have never heard of that. Good to know.

i worked at the campus bookstore during the before school started and during the first week of classes. As a requirement to work there we had to miss class the first few days. Only once did I go to a class and that was because I was trying to get in (as in get a spot that might have been dropped by another student) This never hurt me as far as grades went. I usually found someone (or had a friend) whose notes i would copy. I made it a point to ask around about the proff and see what missing the first days of class would mean, as in if they gave specific info to the class that I would need. This was never a problem for me and I usually never told the professor that i missed their class except my senior year when the classes were small (as in 20 or less students). I did not tell them why, but explained that I missed the class and that I copied someones notes. Usually proffs though it was weird that I told them, but I did not want to get a reputation for missing class.

My point is that the first week is not as important as the rest of the weeks, I would try and find another section of the class and see if you can attend that section, if not get notes from someone. Also, talk to panhel, they should have ways to deal with this. Goodluck

Thank you so much girls! All of your input has been so helpful! And very reassuring! =)

Actually, it's my opinion (as someone who works in this world) that even professors who are pro-Greek or just neutral about Greeks would NOT be thrilled if you asked them this. I'm extremely pro-Greek and I think I would roll my eyes at someone doing this (I have worked as a Teaching Assistant for the last two years).

So basically: don't do it.

My opinion (as someone who also works in the world) is that missing the class and then trying to deal with it afterwards would be a problem. Planning ahead because of a conflict is less of a problem. I tell my students the first day that I understand that things happen - I've had everything from a student whose father had a heart attack to car problems galore (or so they said . . . :rolleyes:)- but it is their responsibility to make up the work.
I also advise them that the sooner they let me know they have a conflict, the more likely I am to be able to help. I am teaching 3 sections of the same class in the fall - should one of my students need to miss class, I'd be happy to let them attend one of the other two, and be impressed at his/her diligence, because God knows there are plenty of students who will just skip because they feel like it.
But first I would check with your campus Panhellenic and see how THEY would like you to handle it. If they can work it so you can attend the class and make recruitment events, so much the better. Good luck!

Sorry to tell a different story: When my oldest daughter rushed 1st parties were held in the evening. She had an importent class, in her major offered once every 4 years that met once a week. Panhellenic SAID that if you tell them blah blah...daughter told them and what a surprise...she was dropped from all the houses that she was supposed to go to that evening. Her rho chi warned her that it might happen...and it did. (This was first round.)

YIKES. First round? Hope she found a great sorority home - that really is the pits.

Also, some Greek Life Offices require PNMs to miss parties if they conflict with classes. Any other policy really does counteract the purpose of going to college (even if you occasionally skip classes anyway) and would make it look like Greeks condoned skipping class.

As everyone else said, check with your Greek Life Office.

Why are schools doing this? As much as I am not a fan of taking new members before school even starts I also think having it at a time where it can conflict with classes is not showing support of academics, you know the reason we go to college and have the opportunity to join the Greek system in the first place.

Wow! How did I miss this whole second page that already discussed this!

My school used to do recruitment prior to the start of school, but honestly, if they did that now, they'd have only 50 ladies going through recruitment. The University does not publicize recruitment AT ALL anymore, so many PNM's don't even know about it until the've moved into the dorms and received the mailbox stuffer.

On top of that, the University has class all day and all evening, so many PNM's end up with evening classes, if the day sessions are filled. It stinks, but our Panhellenic works around it as well as they can.

Frequently we will have a few PNM's on an "abbreviated" schedule, where they are only in each chapter's party for maybe 15 minutes, but at least that way each chapter gets to meet them and they get to meet the actives.

I guess there is no perfect answer. I think the advice given here has been great!

Dear SWTXBelle:

I posted the end of my daughter's rush on the thread as to why you may have been dropped..but here goes: Daughter has two houses the night before Pref. She, who knew nothing about rush and I only knew rush from eons ago, knew that all was well in the house that she wanted to join. President, Rush Chairman all came over numerous times to say Hi! There were numerous clues to the fact she was up in their estimation when....a sister, who was taking my daughter on a tour of the house, suddenly confessed that she hated parties, dating and everything. My daughter, no fool, said that she had lots of guy friends...knew how difficult it can be finding the "right" date (in her head the alarm bells started ringing) and she would be delighted to fix her up. Well...the long story short was the girl was "coming out" (and not in a debutante sort of way) and was devastated that she had said anything. Daughter was dropped from that house and wasn't interested in the other. It was really a shame.

(Before anyone flames me about the comingout/ debutante crack, I used that term to my mother in law at that time and she bristled and said, "Why would ......... care if she was coming out or not?! A debutante has nothing to do with a sorority!)

that was absolutely not your daughter's fault - if someone said that to me, I would have the exact same response (oh my friend Josh is really hot, etc etc). Did the whole house know she was in the process of coming out? If not, she probably gave a QUITE different story to the rest of the sorority about why she didn't want your daughter in.

And if they did know and blamed your daughter for making her feel uncomfy, then they're a bunch of idiots.

But back to the parties, was this a super competitive rush? If not, she should have gotten an invite to the next party. Perhaps Panhel didn't communicate to the chapters properly.

This makes the most sense and enhances the reputation of the GLOs. I think it would be highly risky for a PNM to tell a prof that s/he was going to miss class for a recruitment event. Many of my colleagues would go ballistic. Remember that there are a lot of profs who are very anti-Greek. Plus some profs actually cover important information at the beginning of the semester like descriptions of the course materials and assignments or form teams for team assignments.

33girl:

She went to the University of Southern California which has a very competitive rush. Her rho chi said that sororities felt that if she was willing to flake on rush for one night as a pnm (gosh, I keep wanting to say rush counselor and rushee) she would flake on other thing. (They obviously didn't know my daughter who is super dedicated to everything).

The girl stayed in the closet until graduation. She was the same major as my daughter. For graduation she chopped off her (previously) long hair to a buzz cut.................but said it was "comfortable".

This was the case at my campus. The school had record of your class schedule and would make arrangements if you had class. If you missed a single class you would be kicked out of recruitment. I would talk to the Panhellenic office on your campus and explain the situation.

You girls have given soooo sooo much helpful input. I am definitely going to find a way to work everything out! :)

Thanks!

Here's a suggestion that perhaps some Greek Life/Panhellenics might consider. Bama's Recruitment is prior to school starting but every year there is at least 1 University sponsored activity that conflicts with 1st round. Typically 10-20 +/- PNMs are affected. Panhellenic has a special "Meet & Greet" for those PNMs and each chapter sends 2-3 representatives. This eliminates automatic and uninformed cutting for University sponsored scheduling conflicts.

When UF had rush during school (this is no longer the case, thank heaven!), it was during drop/add week. Although girls were encouraged to go to class, no one did; they knew full well how competitive rush was, and that they'd be SOL if they missed parties to go to class. Because it was drop/add week, the professors didn't care anyway, since they'd never know if you just added the class after that first lecture.

:confused:

Wouldn't they just be able to check their rosters and figure this out? Usually professors have to sign forms to allow people to add anyway (I guess this could vary with university).