Bluebonnet Mom's 2008 Texas Daughter Recruitment Thread
 

Well next week my freshman daughter will be going through rush at a competitive Texas school. We were so glad to find this site, as it provides information you can't find anywhere else.

I won't go on about how beautiful, intelligent, involved, blah, blah, blah she is. (Of course as her mom I believe this!:)) Let's face it 95% of the girls going through rush here have all this and then some. I promise not to hover or whine!

My daughter's friends, who will be scattered throughout the state, have no desire to go through rush and have given her some flak for it. She hasn't let this change her mind, though. A big reason for her wanting to do this is that she knows so few people at this school, and she likes the idea of making lots of new friends and having social activities to attend.

This spring she got busy getting her own recs ( I thought that showed she was really committed). What she lacked, family members were able to help her get by contacting friends and coworkers. So now she has at least one rec to every sorority.

One advantage she has is that she doesn't know any Greeks there so there are no preconceived notions. She's doesn't know who the "top houses" are or what the various reputations are. Frankly she doesn't really care. She's not into the "gotta get to the top house" mentality. She also won't pledge a house she doesn't feel comfortable in just to wear Greek letters. Pretty level headed kid.

This same issue is also her biggest disadvantage. As with many things in life, your friends and social connections can really help. Not knowing anyone there, she won't have anyone pulling for her. Maybe this won't be as big an issue for freshman girls - I really don't know. All she wants is to find a group of girls she can feel at home with.

I hope to be able to post during rush week, but daughter has 2 modes lately: 1. Chatty 2. "I don't want to talk about it" . Your guess is as good as mine as to which we be around next week .Probably a combination of both. As this will be stressful for her, I won't push for details. So I may have to post after it's all over and she is more talkative. Keep her in your thoughts next week. God knows, I'm going to be a nervous wreck when we drop her off to school!

Good for her for not listening to the nay-sayers and for doing the footwork before rush. She sounds like she's very well prepared!

Good luck to Bluebonnet Daughter!

Welcome and good luck!

Are you also Greek?

I like your daughter. She is an exemplary PNM. Good luck to her!

Best of luck to your well-balanced Bluebonnet Daughter! I hope that she gets the bid she wants and loves the house she bids!

Good luck to your daughter! She sounds very level-headed and like a wonderful PNM. :)

Good luck! I can't wait to read her story!

good luck texas daughter! :D

I am excited for this story!

Good Luck to your daughter! My daughter is going through rush right now at a school where she knew all of 3 people, so like your daughter, there were no pre conceived notions. You'll be surprised at how quickly they make friends through dorms and rush groups, and it turns into 6 degrees of separation :) I haven't heard from her yet today, but so far she is having a great time and adjusting to college well. I think she just needs sleep. Can't wait for your thread!

Go Miss Blue!

And to Lamplighter: Been there, done that-and got through it! Last year my daughter experienced rush for the first time on the other side. This year, she's on Panhellenic, and in charge of all the Rho Gammas.

I do hope that your daughter ends up in a Greek home that she will thoroughly enjoy. And, as a mom-hugs to you!

Thank you! Still haven't heard from her today, but I keep thinking that's good. There is one other girl from her HS there, so you can imagine that the other mother and I have both been on pins and needles since all we can compare this to is rush at our alma mater, which is brutal. But both girls are having a ball and have had a good rush so far. Actually, she's loving everything about everything :) That's all a parent can hope for!

OH a Texas Rush!!! Good luck to her! I know a bunch of girls who are both rushing and going through rush next week.

I can tell you that the girls rushing (or recruiting) are excited and nervous as well! Tell your daughter to be herself and let her personality shine!

Best of luck and let us know how it goes!!!!

Good luck to your daughter (and you). Your post is very insightful and thoughtful.

I'm so excited for a Texas rush thread!! I'll be helping out with one soon:)

I have been away from the site for a few days and want to thank everyone for their kinds words and good wishes!

Lamplighter - I caught up with your story today. Best of luck to you and your daughter. Sounds like she is having a fantastic rush!

Well, the countdown is getting closer! As I was writing my initial post, my daughter was away at an optional university orientation. I had never heard about these when I was in college, but apparently most of the major universities in this state have an optional camp type orientation that lets students get to know each other. It is actually held at a camp. Obviously no parents allowed (not that I had any desire to attend even if it were open to parents) Best decision she has made so far. She was lukewarm about the idea of going, and by the time she made up her mind to go, this date was the last one still open before rush began. Now my daughter has never been one to have trouble making friends, but the amount of new friends she made at camp is mind boggling. This whole Facebook thing is crazy. She already has a few tentative get togethers planned during move in week. One of the girls that was in her group will also be rushing, but she lives kind of far from where daughter will be, so don't know how much they'll see each other there.

We are moving her in tomorrow. Rush begins Monday. Let the games begin!

good luck to bluebonnet daughter!!

my daughter did a similar activity when she was a freshman and actually met the girl who would become one of her sorority big sisters. this girl was one of the counselors for the freshman activity, although my daughter was not in her group(they seemed to have the same bathroom schedule and chit chatted while brushing their teeth). 2 years later, daughter is still glad she attended.

Yesterday was move in day. Husband, another family member, and all her possessions went in the family vehicle. Daughter and I drove down in her car. It was nice to have some alone time with her before her leaving. Surprisingly, she really does not seem nervous at all about rush. Personally I never would have rushed at a competitive Texas school in the middle of August - that would've been too grueling for me.

I have given some thought to the chapter names I'm going to use. A few months back I read an older Texas thread on GC and liked that the mom used Texas related names, so since I am not in any way a creative person that's what I'm going use. I can see the eye rolls from the Northern folks, but that's just how we do things in Texas. Right, fellow Texas GCers? Here they are in random order:

Rodeo
Cowgirl
Lady Bird
Chaps
Magnolia
Chili
Brazos
Stagecoach
Pecan
Mustang
Canyon
Spurs

Today is open house for all 12 sororities. Althought the evening does not end late, I expect she will be eating and socializing afterwards, so I don't know if she will call before tomorrow's parties. Will post as I get more information.

Hooray for Texas!
 

I gotta pull for Magnolia or Pecan.

Best of luck to your daughter!

Who/what/where is Brazos?

I am rooting for Lady Bird as she is the most adorable thing on King of the Hill. LOL

I am so loving this thread! Good luck to you daughter.

Best wishes to your daughter!!!

Hopefully, the weather will remain sunny (although humid as heck:().

The Brazos is the Brazos River, it stretches from New Mexico and ends at the Gulf of Mexico. I am rooting for the Brazos!

I'm a fan of Chili myself. :)

Oh I am soooo excited for a Texas thread. I have to root for the Rodeo, since i do live in Houston and Rodeo time is ALWAYS a good time.

So fun to have a Texas thread.

I will pull for Lady Bird, in honor of all the beautiful wildflowers along Texas' highways.

Of course, I love the Texas theme. I'll go with Mustangs - the elementary school where I worked for 16 years was Mustangs.

I'm looking forward to this thread. Since I'm from SA, Go Spurs Go! Of course until I figure out which is my chapter. I wish your daughter a great recruitment and good luck. I know it's hard sitting on the sidelines.

I think I'm going for Magnolia at this point. MAN where is the update?

since i was born in the "Rodeo Capital of Texas" i have to go for rodeo

Anticipation
 

I'm dying to hear some sort of update. It's day two of Recruitment. Please, please post any news. I know I'm not the only one waiting to hear her comments.

Good Luck to your daughter!!!!! Would you mind giving us an update?

Good luck to your daughter!

Well, I am finally back. Daughter did call Monday night but it was too late to post. Due to work committments yesterday I did not get home till late. Then all I wanted to do was watch the Olympics and crash.

Daughter is thriving at rush. She did not think it was going to be as much fun as it's been. She loves the energy and chants and all of it. She has formed some bonds with the other pnm's in her group as well. Monday was open house at all the 12 sororities and here is her review:

Rodeo - Although the visit was pleasant enough, the conversation was a bit stilted. Daughter thinks rusher may have been a bit shy. Not too keen on this house.

Cowgirl - She was with a girl that she felt like she'd known all her life. Everything was effortless. She cannot wait to go back and really likes this group,

Lady Bird - Wow! What an amazing group of girls. She said they went out of their way to make her feel welcome and really liked them. They are a top contender.

Chaps - She was a bit intimidated by this group at first - everyone was so blonde and beautiful. But they were also so sweet and not in the least snobby. One good thing is that they have a high chapter GPA and this impressed daughter.Once she relaxed, she had a good time. She wants to go back here.

Magnolia - She and the girl she got paired with laughed the entire time. She had so much fun here and can't wait to see them again.

Chili - They did their homework and paired her with someone with the same interests, and it worked. She got along great here.

Brazos - She really didn't have anything in common with the girl here, but for some reason they clicked well and the 20 minutes went by fast.

Stagecoach - This one didn't get off to a great start - the conversation didn't seem to go well here. This is definitely lower down on her list.

Pecan - She enjoyed the girls here, but the homes were starting to run together by then. Middle of the pack on her list.

Mustang - The member she was paired with had more energy than the whole room combined. Daughter doesn't know if she could keep up with this group. She's getting a party vibe from them - which is not necessarily good considering she has a fairly rigorous major.

Canyon - this was the biggest disappointment of the day. They were standoffish (my words, hers were more colorful) Ok, they were plain rude. Rusher ignored daughter. Fellow sister came over and both started talking to each other. Daughter tried to ask questions but all she got was yes and no answers. Later at lunchtime, she heard from several pnm's that this is one of the TOP houses and is extremely sought after.


Spurs - The rusher here seemed to be going through the motions, not much enthusiasm or excitement. In all fairness to the Spur girl, this was the last party of the day.

The pnm's were required to list 8 houses they wanted to return to, in no particular order. Her choices were :

Cowgirl
Lady Bird
Chaps
Magnolia
Chili
Brazos
Pecan
Mustang

Her bottom four were ranked from best to least liked:
1. Spurs
2. Rodeo
3. Stagecoach
4. Canyon - she thought she'd return the favor. Per daughter, the other pnm's are welcome to it.

Daughter wasn't allowed to have her phone at rush, so she called me later last night but only for a few minutes as she was exhausted. She will call later to give more details. So you will have to wait until then!

Sounds like she is having a great time! Yea 'Lil' Bluebonnet":p

Best of luck to your daughter! And thanks for keeping us updated :)

I haven't said this in a while, but I am really liking this rush thread. :) Although I would love to hear the "uncensored" comments on Canyon, LOL.

Smaller chapters don't necessarily have fewer social opportunities or participate less. If the chapter has a good social chair (and is financially stable) they should be just as social as the rest. I can think of some chapters at Maryland that are smaller and have more participation than some larger chapters that are totally unenthused. If your daughter does return to Stagecoach, she should ask about socials and general participation if this is a concern.

Sounds like she is having a fabulous time! Thanks for sharing her story with us!

LOL - I was going to post that I'm pulling for Lady Bird and Magnolia! Special luck to BlueBonnetDaughter!