University of Iowa
 

Anyone have any info on rush at Iowa? Are recs needed? Is it very competitive? Thanks! (I couldn't find anything specific in my search)

Not an Iowa student, but many high school classmates went there. My understanding is that Greek life is not as big as it is at other Big Ten schools (Illinois, Penn State, Indiana) and is not very competitive. I would assume that recs are not necessary, but that is just an assumption. Hopefully someone from Iowa can jump in, but I'm not sure there is anyone on the boards who went there.

The size of the Greek system has definitely declined over the last decade at Iowa, but they made some big changes and I think it's on it's way back up. Recs won't be required, but they're always appreciated - there are still 600+ girls going through so you want to be remembered. They use RFM and there are big cuts after round one.

There has been a big problem over the last couple years with girls dropping because they didn't get their first choice house. This is RIDICULOUS. Every single house there has good things about it, and most have been on campus for nearly100 years (note all the single letter chapters represented there!). This isn't a campus where the reputations are cast in stone. The top houses there now are NOT the same as when I went there 25 years ago, so you can feel free to take a chance on that smaller house or the one that seems less cool. The Greek system there seems to be in a big state of flux, so take a chance!

The fraternities went through a HUGE mess about 10 years ago and they're just starting to come back on campus, so there aren't 100 year old relationships between sororities and fraternities anymore either.

PM me with specific questions if you'd like. Go Hawks!

Iowa went to a semi-deferred recruitment a few years ago. Instead of being right before school starts, it's held over the first two weekends of school. It has seemed to help some with an increase in numbers and retention.

Recommendations are definitely helpful, but not absolutely necessary as they are at other schools. It's also not super competitive, but you do need to keep an open mind. With 14 chapters on campus, you can definitely find a good fit for you, whether it be a large "top" chapter or a smaller chapter.

At Iowa, the only thing a rec will do is help the chapter know more about you and maybe entice chapter officers to talk to you more than a normal PNM. They are absolutely not needed.

You might want to add a caveot that this applies only to your own sorority. It would be hard to claim this applies for all the organizations as you aren't privy to that information.

This is true, I can only 100% vouch for my own chapter. I will rephrase instead and say I have never heard of any girl being told she was not invited back to a chapter based on the lack of a rec. That being said, it is never a bad thing to have them

:)