Curious about joining a colonizing chapter
 

First off, I will say that I know next to nothing about Greek life and Greek etiquette, and I am posting because I am in need of advice.

I am a junior in college, and I will be in school for two more years (five total). The other day I found out that the sorority my grandmother was in (ZTA) is colonizing my university in the fall, and I am very interested in joining. I never considered Greek life before, but I recently switched majors, and have a lot more time on my hands. I really would like to be more involved on campus, and also make some new friends... joining a sorority makes sense at this point.

I'm quite a bit more interested in ZTA because I am a legacy, and also because they are colonizing. I am under the impression that because I am older, I could possibly be able to assume an important role as a new member (whereas if I joined a sorority that is already established on campus, I could end up having a big sister that is younger than me :confused:).

Unfortunately, I have not been active on campus, and although I am looking to change this, I feel as though I will be at a disadvantage.

Also, I am worried about the timing of recruitment. If I don't get into ZTA, I think I would like to be in another sorority. However, ZTA isn't taking place in formal recruitment this year, and is instead holding their own recruitment process several weeks after. I am worried that I will go through recruitment, possibly receive a bid from another sorority and have to turn it down, and then not be given a bid at ZTA.

Some other information: My grandmother is no longer living, so I am unsure of how to deal with the legacy issue. If it helps, I go to Kansas State University.

I will not speak to the question of your chances of receiving a bid during regular recruitment as a junior who has not been active on campus - perhaps a KSU alumna can give you some insight? - but I can address the question of being a legacy and joining a colonizing chapter.
Whether or not your grandmother is alive, you are considered a legacy. Colonizing groups will pledge women from freshmen through seniors. Being a junior is less of a liability for a colony than it might be for going through formal recruitment - but your mileage may vary. KSU women, what say you?

Thanks for the replies. I've actually read through that thread. I guess I'm just curious about my specific situation. I'm getting discouraged that I won't be offered a bid during formal recruitment because of my situation, and more importantly I'm worried that the colony won't want me either. It would be really beneficial if anybody that has gone through recruitment at K-State could give me some insight, or if anyone has taken part in joining a colony.

during some colonizations that happen during the fall, the colonizing sorority will be included in the first round events and their colonizing team will make a presentation to all the pnms. they explain the recruitment process for the colony, give the history of the organization-basic information. sometimes panhellenic will allow those pnms who are interested in joining the colony to drop out from formal recruitment after a certain round. Please understand that there is no guarantee that those that do drop out of formal will receive an invitation to be part of the colony.

i believe that these rules are determined by the campus panhellenic organization so it would vary from campus to campus.

I agree that colonizations hope to get a good mix of members from freshmen to seniors.

when you enroll in formal recruitment, usually there is a space on the form that asks if any of your relatives have greek affiliations. you could note that your "grandmother(deceased) was a ZTA", and of course, you should note any other family members who are greek.

if you do not find your home with another sorority during formal recruitment and give ZTA a chance, you could mention your grandmother's ZTA affiliation to your infoviewer(the alumna you would speak to to learn more about ZTA, and to let ZTA learn about you).

You could go through recruitment, and if you do receive invitations to preference, go, and THEN decide whether you want to rank or try for ZTA. No harm in getting more information.
As opposed to not letting PNMs drop out? Recruitment is a voluntary process. PNMs can drop out any time they like. I am unsure of what you mean by this.

I think she may mean that if they do that and don't get picked by the colony, they aren't penalized if snap bids etc come up and can be bid by another group. Even if that isn't what she means it's a good idea. :)

I am a K-State alum. Juniors do have a realistic chance for a bid, however as with many other places, you'll have the best chance if you go in with an open mind and realize that you most likely won't have as many options as a freshman or even a sophmore going through. Most of the time if we did have a new member who was a junior (there was usually one a year out of a 45- to 50-girl new member class), she was most likely a friend or someone who was involved in same activites or major as active members of the house. But I was also friends with a girl from my hometown who was in another house, and she transferred to KSU after graduating from a community college, didn't know anyone, and had a perfect recruitment.

I'm not a ZTA, obviously, but for your legacy information I'd include your grandmother's name including her maiden name. This will help them confirm your status as a legacy. If your family still has her badge, look on the back and include her chapter and date of initiation, as well. If you don't have this information, I wouldn't worry about it, but try to provide as much information as possible. If you know the college/university she attended, give them that information.

certainly pnms may withdraw from recruitment whenever they want. i meant that i have witnessed the greek life advisor specifically tell the pnms that after the 3rd round of parties(or the 4th, or whatever), that they may drop out of the formal recruitment process, if they wish to try to join the colony. i guess she meant this information to allow pnms to participate first in formal recruitment, and if, at the specified round they decided that they felt more of a connection with the colonizing sorority, that they would be eligible to participate in the interview/party process of the colonizing sorority, with no repercussions for withdrawing from formal recruitment. honestly, i never questioned what exactly she meant or why she said it, as i was involved as an alumna advisor with formal recruitment.

thinking about it for a little longer, allowing pnms to withdraw from formal recruitment to try for a bid from the colony would keep the bid lists of the established sororities "cleaner"i.e., if patty pnm really hoped to join the abc colony, she could formally withdraw at the appropriate time and not wind up on the bid list of ef sorority. i we got a note from the greek life advisor telling us the names of the pnms who had withdrawn due to their interest in the upcoming colonization, so we all knew not to include those names on our invitation lists.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to go through formal recruitment, but I am a little confused, and would like to clarify something. If I go through rush, and then do not take part in final ranking (which I understand is when you list sororities that you would accept a bid from), or if I do not receive a bid, I will still be able to receive a bid from the colonizing chapter?

Basically I would like to clarify the extent to which I can participate in recruitment and still be eligible for a bid from the colony.

Thank you!

Thank you so much! That was exactly what I was wondering about.

you best source of information will be the greek life advisor at kansas state.