Formal Recruitment as a Soph?
 

I'm actually a freshman this year. At my university we have deferred recruitment, so no one can rush until January. Well my first quarter at school, I messed up majorly! My grades were a mess, but it was just beacuse I was used to getting straight A's in high school without even trying, and I realized too late in the quarter and ended up doing super bad in 2 of my classes. I now have a really low GPA, way lower than the GPA requirements the sororites have. I'm thinking that I shouldn't participate in formal recruitment because it might be a waste of time since my GPA is so low. However, I'm in the honors program at my school and got a 4.8 in high school, so it's not like I'm not smart, and I will bring my GPA up this quarter.

Do you think I should try rushing and just explain the situation about my grades? Or would that just be a waste of time? Also, the strucutre of formal recruitment just seems like a lot of fun to me, and so even though I could do informal recruitment sooner, I'm considering waiting to rush until January my sophomore year. Do you think this is a good or bad idea? Is it weird for sophomores to participate in formal recruitment?

Thanks in advance for your answers/suggestions! :)

I doubt you'll find any sorority that'll make an exception to your low GPA. If your GPA falls below the minimum, they won't even consider you.

If you're rushing at a school where hundreds of girls meet or exceed the minimum GPA, I'm afraid you won't have much of a chance.

Thanks, that's what I thought. Do you think going for informal recruitment sooner rather than waiting for formal recruitment next year is a good idea?

What OTW said but short answer - if your school has competitive recruitment, you probably don't have much of a chance.

With December grades, will you surpass minimum GPA set by Panhel? If so, go for it. The groups may have a higher gpa req but at last some might consider you.

Good luck.

I'm sure she is at OSU, which is not very competitive. Even thought formal is in January (winter quarter), all houses held spring recruitment last year in April. Less than half made quota.

Sophomores and Juniors DO get bids at Ohio State (speaking from direct experience). But, make sure you have the grades. Many houses cut for grades first round.

One question...don't they still have the Freshman Forgiveness rule where you can expunge one grade?
Second question....will you do well enough Winter Quarter to bring your grades up enough to rush spring?


ETA: Freshman Forgiveness Rule

Yeah, I'm at OSU.

Yes there is still the Freshman Forgiveness Rule (thank goodness!). You can use it for up to three classes. I've looked at my credit hours and if I get even just a B+ in every class winter quarter, my new cumulative GPA will be a 2.8. I plan on doing better than this, but we will see. (I had advanced Chemistry first quarter and I did horribly, and winter quarter I have much easier classes)

I'm glad to hear that Sophomores and Juniors still get bids. It's just frustrating that I messed up last quarter and now I have to miss formal recruitment :( But that's what I get for not studying till it was too late!

Spend Winter quarter first working on your grades and second, getting to know other Greeks. I know a couple of the chapters recently raised their minimum. 2.8 should get you into most chapters, but I think 1 or 2 are at 3.0 minimum. There are still some that are much lower (around the 2.4 minimum).

I know there are a ton of COB parties Fall quarter for upperclassmen, as well. If it doesn't work out for you during the spring, consider summer school to take some of your easier classes and boost your GPA.

buckeyegirl, there is some very helpful information in this thread and others, but I just wanted to give you a friendly warning to not post too much information about yourself! It can be quite easy to figure out who people are in real life!

ThetaGirl,
OSU has 56,000 students. Slim to none that people will figure it out. I know of only 3 actives on this board, and none post on a regular basis.

The only thing I would advise is eliminating where she is from in her profile.

Good point, I guess the cases of guessed identity have come from smaller schools.

I know two OSU Thetas who joined as sophomores during formal recruitment, as well as one Alpha Phi who joined through COB as a junior.

Hey thanks for the heads up, I deleted that info :)

I'm definitely going to be focusing on my grades this quarter, I really feel that with hard work I will pull my GPA to a 2.8-3.0 so hopefully this will do me well :) I really wish I was able to rush this quarter, but once again its my fault for slacking off so much first quarter!

So I should try to attend some informal sorority events this year, and do informal recruitment next year? Is that what you suggest?

Don't beat yourself up that much for your first quarter grades. A lot of students find the transition from HS to college difficult. I was one of them who never studied in HS and would read the book the night before the exam and still pull an A. My school also has deferred rush and the only reason I was able to make minimum rush grades my first semester was that I studied my but off in the two weeks before finals and aced them. Let me think some more about your situation.

Yes, do attend the Open Houses and at least get to know some of the girls. But, if your grades are not up yet, don't accept personal invites to COBs. If they ask, politely let them know that you would like to wait until XXX quarter to actually pledge. You don't need to go into details about your grades yet.

Keep in mind, after formal Bid Day, everyone will be wearing letters and carrying their bags to classes. Talk to the girls about their houses and ask to study with them. Many will invite you to the houses to study (what a better way to be a fly on the wall?).

Once your grades are up, you can be serious about doing COB or even Formal next year. If I remember correctly, EVERY house took at least one Sophomore during formal in 2008.

Thanks so much benzgirl! I will be sure to try to get to know some of the girls, especially after bid day. I'll update everyone when I decide to start recruitment!