sophomore rushing, need help!
 

Hey! I'm going to be a sophomore in the fall. I didn't rush last year but would love to be a part of greek life. Do certain sororities not take Sophomores? I was extremely involved in high school and had a 3.6 GPA. What should I know about recruitment as a sophomore? Thank you! :)

Good luck on your upcoming recruitment!

We cannot tell you specifics about the University of Oregon chapters, as we do not discuss specifics of membership selection. Have you done a search? There are multiple threads about recruitment in general, and recruitment for sophomores.

I can say this with some assurance/certainty, however: now that you have a year of college completed, those are the grades that will be considered, and not your high school grades.


And I think you meant "a part of".

Hey, Maria...haven't seen you much lately!:D

Good advice.

Professional development called. Actually went to a place hotter than where you and I live. Ugh.

And, thank you kindly.

How else to say "you want to know the outcome of the race before you place your bet, and nobody knows that information, or we'd all be living on some lovely island in the South Pacific, watching the clouds drift by overhead, while sipping on refreshing beverages, and taking the occasional dip in the ocean..."???

I'll bite. As a sophomore going through recruitment we will be more interested in your college GPA and college activities.

Can't we just do that anyway?

I know nothing about Oregon recruitment, but the sororities will want to see what you have done in college as AXOrushadvisor said. You need to give them a reason to offer you a bid over a freshman...what can you bring to the table that a freshman can't? Have you proven that you can maintain a high GPA in college? Have you proven that you are involved around campus? What can you offer them?


good luck with recruitment!

Lovely1919-

First of all as a UofO alum, congrats on completing your first year at UofO and GO DUCKS!

I did not choose to get involved in Greek life while I was at U of O, but my daughter is, and for her it has been a great experience thus far. She also went through recruitment as a sophomore transfer and got a bid to a chapter that was in her top two from the start, so I hope that gives you some reassurance.

Since I am now middle aged and was never in a sorority what I know is limited to what she knows and has experienced. What she knows is limited by the fact that this fall will be her first year going through recruitment on the other side. Please keep that in mind, and I will tell you what little I can offer.

As you have already been told, no one can tell you for sure that ABC and XYZ never take sophomores. The only people who have that information are U of O ABC and XYZ members, and that isn't something they are going to discuss anywhere outside of their own chapter. Here's what I can tell you.

1) U of O is not an especially competitive Greek system. There are a pretty good number of sophomores and even a few juniors who go through every year. Lots of houses do have sophomores in their pledge classes from year to year. A few have had juniors. This does not mean they all do and some may have three sophomores in a pledge class one year and none the next. Also, be aware that if a particular sorority didn't take any sophomores a particular year, it may have nothing to do with their sophomore status. They may have been willing to take a sophomore, but for some reason they didn't feel the sophomores coming through that year were a good fit. This year may be a different story.

2) Having said this, as greeklove21 said, the Greek system is growing quickly and steadily at U of O. This means chapters can get pickier and yes, word is they are going to be making steeper cuts this year. That usually means more cuts for non-freshman. For reasons that have nothing to do with you as a person, most sororities in any system in the country, competitive or not, would see a sophomore as being a little more of a liability, and assuming all other things are equal, they will generally choose freshman if they have that option, so your job is to do everything possible to make them feel you are worth the risk.

What will help you - Great grades (college), good involvement in HS and college, good reputation, friends in houses, a willingness to seriously consider each and every house (more on that in a minute), recs if you have them (they are really not necessary at U of O, but hey, every little bit helps, and you want to go the extra mile), an outgoing personality, and showing up at recruitment looking put together.

ALSO - go under the sorority recruitment thread on this forum and take the time to read ALL of the stickies. My daughter got SO much helpful information from those.

I know everyone says on here to keep an open mind at every school (and it is great advice), but I feel like that is especially true at U of O. No school is completely free of sorority gossip, but U of O does an outstanding job of keeping it to a minimum. They really do have 9 good chapters. I think (can't swear to it) they are all full or pretty close to full, so they all have good numbers. They all have great houses. They are all pretty active and involved.

You probably know this, but U of O's Greek life does have an online newsletter, a website, and a facebook page. That's a great place to find out about recruitment, grade requirements, chapter grades, actitivities, costs, and general information. It has all been quite recently updated.

There are some regular posters on here who a current members in U of O sororities. Hopefully, a couple of them will see this and chime in with much better information than I can give you, but I hope this helps some.

Good luck and please come back (after recruitment) to let us know how it went! :)

thank you so much! I will definitely check out all the information that you all posted, especially the stickies. It is so sweet of you guys to help out, I'll be back with my recruitment story to let you know how it goes! :)

go ducks!

I am a UO alum, but I graduated long enough ago that I doubt my experience will provide much insight for a 2010 recruitment. However, I believe there were at least two recruitment stories posted on Greek Chat in the last few years that involved a sophomore going through recruitment at UO- try a search in the recruitment stories forum. In both cases, my recollection is that the women received bids and were happy with the chapters from which they received bids.

I have no doubt that recruitment is more competitive for a sophomore; however, unless things have changed dramatically from my day, UO recruitment is not so competitive that a sophomore does not have a shot at getting a bid, particularly if you keep an open mind. And, you should keep an open mind- as someone mentioned, the UO has great chapters. I knew women in every chapter and each had a quality experience.

Good luck. Go Ducks.

Hi lovely,
I am currently a senior at U of O and a Rho Gamma for this recruitment. I also went through as a sophomore. My story is in the recruitment thread. U of O recruitment is not very competitive and when I went through I had a full schedule every day. There are many opportunities for sophomores and your recruitment will mostly not be effected by the status. However, as it is part of membership selection, I cannot say if any the chapters drop sophomores due to age. If you have a chance go check out IntroDUCKion this summer. We have a tables and information all about it and you can talk to more Rho Gams about recruitment. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

Har.

Is it okay to casually talk to girls I know already in greek life and ask them about their chapters? Would it be a good or bad idea to let them know that I'm rushing and interested in their sorority?

Please note though, I am keeping a very open mind about all the sororities and trying not to go off of any pre-conceived notions about the houses. After reading a lot of the recruitment stories on here, I would hate to be close-minded and miss out on a potentially amazing house!

Also, I've been hearing that 2 houses don't/ or won't (?) accept sophomores... What should I do when I visit their houses at recruitment?

You should act like you do at all the other chapters. You might be the sophomore that breaks their pattern, you might not. But what you "heard" doesn't really mean anything.

Maybe say something like "I can't wait to see you when I go through rush!" That keeps the focus on her as a person. But saying "I would love to pledge you!" might be a bit much, especially at a competitive school. Girls chatter and if that comment gets around, it might come back to bite you in the butt.

As for the "don't accept sophomores" sororities...act just as friendly, interested and excited as you would at the other chapters. Basically take this rumor as on par with "they don't accept girls with brown eyes."