Talk Me Down!
 

This has a little bit of a story behind it, but here we go. I'm a sophomore. I started rush last fall, but dropped out before going to the floors. I had a family get together that my mother and aunt insisted that I attend and I had joined a couple of clubs already including a club sport, and they were both factors in the fact that I dropped out. I also wasn't sure that I wanted to be in a sorority. A couple of people I worked with had been telling horror stories, including one girl who had to completely re-do her schedule for some reason. Some other people I had talked to said that it completely took over your life and you didn't do anything that wasn't for the sorority (no other clubs, no friends that weren't Greek, etc.). I don't know if any of these people had any experience with this or not, but they were pretty much telling me I shouldn't do it. So, I dropped out. Fast forward a semester and I dropped out of the club team - they wanted more commitment than I was willing and able to give, and I kept getting sick from our practice space.

It’s a year later and I really think I made a mistake dropping out when I did. I know girls from highs school who rushed at their schools and love it. I want to try again. But I'm a little scared. Will the fact that I dropped out last fall make a difference? And then there's the other club I'm in. It’s a performance based club (Musical Theater!) with weekly meetings and extra rehearsals during tech/show week and sometimes trips to see shows downtown and stuff (big city and all :) ). Will that hurt my chances?

I'm probably overreacting to everything (I have a tendency to do that), but a little help maybe?

Why not go through recruitment and SEE FOR YOURSELF if it will be too much of a commitment? What works or doesn't work for another person doesn't mean the same will work for you.

You are getting a lot of misinformation. For the record, some sororities encourage or even require participation in other activities/clubs. And whoever said that you cannot have "non Greek" friends is missing some brain cells. You don't "only" have friends who share the same major, are in your dorm, or whose last names begin with the letter Q, do you? It all sounds like a lot of nonsense, and I am sorry that you actually followed these peoples' suggestions.

Yes, the first semester as a new member will take up some of your time, and as an active member, there are some "mandatory" things like meetings and various events, but many people people have successful, busy lives outside their Greek membership. If you are interested, go through recruitment. Good luck with whatever you decide.


ETA: Membership shouldn't be a chore. It should be fun and something you look forward to!! If it's not for you, you can decide that.

I don't think it will hurt me that much at my school. I remember talking to a lot of sophomores last fall. My cousin got into a sorority at her school her sophormore year. And she was able to balance a sorority, varsity cheerleading and 18+ credits a semester (she had a not-so-great freshman year due mainly to illness and spent the rest of her college years overloading to graduate on time...which she did btw). And one of my floormates is both Greek and a member of the club sport I quit last semester, on top of being a nursing student. I would have talked to her about it before now but... people from that team tend to harbor...extreme dislike for me after I quit. Not all of them, but most.

The good thing about MTC (musical theater club) is that, other than the weekly meeting, everything else is flexible, especially rehearsals. Right now we are leading up to auditions (which might be dead in the middle of rush...:eek:) for a review-type show. It's not really competitive - everyone who auditioned last year made it and they already said they're trying to get as many people involved as possible. It's a pretty laid-back club...until show week lol!

I'm already calmer about the whole thing. I'm still a bit nervous about it, especially since I just found out today. This is sort of a split-second decision, but I have been thinking about it all summer. I think my family is happy that I'm finally doing it. I don't know about my friends though. Some of my friends harbor an intense dislike for Sororities as a whole (the same dislike goes for the cheerleaders and dance team - which are completely unfounded).

All I know is I perform best academically when I'm insanely busy -- I always have to make time to do my work. Otherwise I am the worst procrastinator on the planet (the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem...lol).

Seriously though, thanks for all the advice and support, guys!

That doesn't really matter because all schools are different. But if you are where I think you are, Greek life isn't ultra competitive. Still no guarantees of course.

Your campus culture will dictate whether being a sophomore will hurt your chances or not (and the fact that you dropped out). On mine (small school, non competitive recruitment) it wouldn't, but that just depends. If they ask why you dropped out, be honest and say as a freshman you were worried about time commitments and keeping up in school, but now that you've learned time commitment from list-a-couple-of-activities-here you feel that you're ready.

Understand that there will be certain things that you will probably not be able to miss to attend your club meetings, like chapter and certain required sisterhood or philanthropy events. But many, many people are in a sorority, make good grades in school, and are also involved in other activities or have a job. It will be about time management.

I say go through recruitment and ask questions during the week about activities to get an idea of the time involved, but keep an open mind and if you're good at time management and get a bid, go for it. You should be fine.

So, tonight went pretty well. It was just an informational meeting where we met our groups. I filled out a registration form with all my contact info - something I didn't do last year. They were able to work around my audition on Sunday -- I'll have a later start than the rest, but it will work out fine, I believe. There were a ton of sophomores and juniors, very few of them transfers, so I wasn't alone in my situation.

Thanks again for all the help!