Arizona State - chances for a Junior PNM?
 

Hi all - I need some advice regarding my daughter who will be a junior at ASU this fall. I've encouraged her to rush, as I see it as a way for her to make new friends and get more involved on campus. But if there's no real chance of her getting a bid, I don't want to get her excited about the idea then set her up for certain disappointment if she can't get a bid as a junior. Is there an upperclassman quota at ASU, or does that even make a difference in her chances? Should I encourage her to rush? She needs to decide ASAP to get her letters in on time and get registered. All input is appreciated!

I don't know much about ASU or its Greek system, but I do have a friend who is in Omega Phi Alpha (like Alpha Phi Omega, but with more emphasis on the sorority part, and as much emphasis on the service part), and she really enjoys it. It sounds like a good group of women, and possibly a Greek-adjacent alternative? It's not a traditional sorority experience, but my friend really likes it—I believe she's even on the exec board!

ASU does not have an upperclassman quota. There are Juniors who are placed during recruitment. What she may have seen at club rush was caution because the girls are tired. They have all been in work week mode all day everyday. She may be surprised by the process. If nothing else, she may make friends in her Rho Chi group. She has until next Wednesday to sign up. Make sure she attends orientation.

Just out of curiosity, do the chapters have individual booths at club rush? That seems surprising to me, as I've only ever seen CPH booths (as an aside, I was approached last year on the UIC campus and asked if I wanted to sign up for sorority rush. Sigh.)

Your daughter has nothing to lose but a few days of making new friends and participating in a unique interview process that will serve her well later in life. Years later, I still tell everyone that sorority recruitment was the best job interview training I've had in my entire life! At best, she finds Greek Life is right for her, makes some new friends, and expands her personal network. At worst, she gave it a shot and found it wasn't what she wanted.

???

OP: take AXOrushadvisor's advice. She KNOWS what she's talking about!

I encourage your daughter to sign up and go through rush. ASU has fantastic chapters. Best of luck to her.

Wow, reading comp fail on my part. Fixing my post and thanks for pointing that out.

Thanks for the shout-out, Kaeb. That chapter is a very strong group that forms lifelong bonds among its sisters. They are strong in leadership development, too, having produced a few alumnae in recent years who rose to serve on the national level. They hold an associate membership on the campus panhellenic council and enjoy participating in Greek life activities with their panhellenic sisters.

However.... OPA is not really a viable substitute for someone who has their heart set on an NPC sorority experience. We are a different flavor of ice cream -- a fabulous flavor, but a different one. If you have your heart set on cookie dough ice cream and get a mouthful of mint chocolate chip, you're going to make a sour face.

Thanks for the input, guys. So, she DID sign up for recruitment, and started yesterday with parties to all 12 houses. Then they basically rank their top 9 & bottom 3. Today was the 9-party day. She had a full slate of 9 parties, though some of the other juniors did not. She still had all of the so-called top-tier houses except one, and she talked to a number of other juniors and all of them had been cut by that house, so she didn't take it personally. She is seeing the positive in all the houses, and certainly has some strong favorites now, after two days, but I think she'll do just fine.

Good luck to her! Sounds like she is having fun. Do yourself and your daughter a favor and both of you ditch the whole "Top Tier" vocabulary and mindset. Qualifying it with the phrase "so called" doesn't negate it. Not talking in those terms does.

Omigosh, this is perfect! I'm going to file this away in my mind for the next time someone asks me the difference.

You ROCK.

Good luck to the OP's daughter! Hope she finds a home.

adpi - my comment wasn't directed at you ;) I was specifically directing the OP to look at what an ASU recruitment advisor was saying about how things work on ASU's campus. It's different than here at UofA for lots of reasons!

Good point, Katmandu. Thank you! Actually, I'm the one that needed that - she doesn't have that mindset at all. She is having a great time so far. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

I had friends there years okay and they loved the sorority experience. I know one of them was a sophomore and was very happy with her final home.