UW EFS During Rush Week
 

Hey I'm going to be a freshman this fall at University of Washington but I am also participating in Early Fall Start. I want to rush, but rush week overlaps with my final week of EFS and I'm worried that this will conflict. Anyone have any advice from personal experience?

Is EFS kind of like a thing to give a boost to your academics?

If so, the scheduling may be trying to tell you something.

First question - Did you attend Greek Preview? The would have been a great place to get this question answered. The first thing you need to do is talk to your academic advisor as well as the Greek life office to see if there is anything you can work out or what they've done in the past. Just looking at the EFS schedule and knowing a little bit about UW recruitment, it is hard to see how you would work both, but you need to speak to the Greek life office and the advisor to see if there is a way around it.

I taught in HS in Washington for quite a while, so I have a passing familiarity with EFS. As I understood it, the purpose was primarily to help students acclimate to acadmics in a university setting and to give them a slightly lighter load fall quarter. It was only worth about 5 credits total. This isn't a huge academic advantage.

I'm not at all suggesting you should forego it in favor of sorority recruitment - I don't know your history as a student, why you are participating in EFS or how interested you are in sorority life. If it turns out you can't do both, is there a reason why you feel you need to do EFS?

After all of that, I will now shut up and defer to someone from UW.

This is what I was trying to say but it wouldn't come out of my fingertips. :) It's not so much a credits thing as a transitioning thing. Can you be required to attend it as a condition of enrollment?

While I did not participate in EFS when I went through recruitment (it wasn't offered when I was at UW), I have seen a number of PNMs come through in the recent years who are enrolled in EFS classes, and have had successful recruitments. In fact, the recruitment schedule was changed a couple of years ago to accomodate EFS students - none of the parties start before 1pm during the work/school week (though the first day, Sunday, is a long one and starts earlier).

Now that said, I would definitely still call the Panhellenic office and ask them for more details on whether your class specifically will conflict with your recruitment schedule. From what I've seen in the past and from looking at the EFS website, it doesn't look like you'll have to miss a recuitment party (unless the time of your final isn't in the morning), but doing both at the same time doesn't leave a lot of time for studying either. You will need to be very good at managing your time that week. It can be done though!

33girl - Alpha Xi Husky would be better qualified to answer this, but out of the roughly 50 friends my kids had that went to UW (all within the last 5 years), I think one went to EFS- maybe. I believe it is strictly a student/parent preference thing that they offer. I would be surprised if they require it of anyone since your academics need to be pretty strong to get into UW in the first place, but I could be wrong. UW is huge (40,000 plus students), so I think they feel that for some kids having a way to ease into it (class sizes are much smaller for EFS) helps.

From my understanding, EFS is purely an optional thing. Now it may be that some people could be required to take it as a condition of enrollment and that's just not spread around, but I think if those cases exist they are few and far between.

Gotcha. So it's less of an academics thing and more of a way to prevent kids from freaking out when HOLY FRIGGIN CRAP THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE IN THIS HEALTH CLASS THAN THERE WERE IN MY ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL.

^^^That came out of your fingertips perfectly!:) Yes, that sums it up well as far as I know. Speaking strictly as a teacher, I would say its a darn good idea for them.

A Xi Husky - Thank you for correcting the info on the scheduling. I had assumed that given the sheer number of sororities at UW, recruitment would be an all day/every day thing.

Okay, so in one brief morning I've given UW credit for a good idea, and thanked a Husky. I need to stop now otherwise I may have to drive myself over to Nike headquarters, turn in all of my Duck gear, and beg Uncle Phil for forgiveness. :D

Or you could give me any and all football tickets for this season. It's what Uncle Phil would tell you to do for penance. ;)

It is a great idea though. There are so many people who freak out at class sizes, a little introduction wouldn't be a bad thing.

Wait, you're a Duck? Boooooooooo.
(kidding!)

Recruitment is still an every day thing, just shifted more towards the latter part of the day than right in the middle. But with that shift, and given that there are 17(!) sororities now, it can go pretty late into the evening - during one of the days it won't end until after 9pm. Makes for some late nights.

See, WC, this is why I love young Ducklings - never lose their focus - look for any opportunity to get those tickets! ;).

I would happily help you out, but they are no longer in my price range (heard a rumor that Cal tickets were going to $81 :eek:), and I refuse to watch because I superstiously believe they will lose if I do. Hence the reason many of my beaver and husky friends offer to buy me tickets!

Interestingly, none of the Cougar friends offer. Apparently, even my presence is not enough to help them.

Yes, Alpha Xi - I am a proud Duck, but given the results of the past -what is it now - 8 years (?), I figure I can afford to be gracious to the Huskys (lol).

Those would be incredibly long days. I can't imagine what its like for the girls in the chapters! Daughter told me at one time they had a two day break between the end of recruitment and the start of school. Is that still true? I can imagine they need it.

I'll add one more UW compliment before football/basketball season starts, and I'm just physically incapable of it (great, now I'll owe WC basketball tickets too); UW has the prettiest Greek Row (or Greek Rows, technically) in the Pac-12 (still sounds odd).