Campus Involvement?
 

Hi everyone! I'm a freshman and plan on going through formal recruitment in the spring! I'm equal parts excited and nervous. No one in my family is greek, so I've been doing lots and lots of reading here on GC to get me up to speed on what to expect! My question involves clubs/activities on campus...specifically, my lack of them. I haven't really joined any organizations on campus yet, as I wanted to spend my first semester adjusting to college life and focusing on classes and my grades. I didn't want to overwhelm myself! Is that going to hurt my chances at recruitment? If it's any help, I was very involved in high school (somewhere between 300-400 hours of volunteer work, plus several honors societies and clubs) and got great grades! I just don't want the sororities to think that I'm not going to be an active member of campus, because I fully intend to be, but I just wanted to give myself a little time to acclimate to my new home. Do you think this will be a big detriment to my chances? Thank you guys in advance! :)

Short version -yes. This is one reason I dislike deferred recruitment. Think about what your conversations first round will be like -
Suzy Sorority "don't you love State U? What do you like to do?"
You "well I used to, I once did - but I haven't for almost a year..."
"I've just been studying"

So you haven't met as many women who can introduce you to their friends, and it is less likely that someone will talk about how wonderful you are during recruitment.

Do something. Anything. Join a book club, take a tennis class, hang out with a club about your major. Do Something.

This is one reason I like deferred recruitment. You can see who has had the initiative to go out and meet people and get involved rather than depending on a sorority to do it all for them.

You should be acclimated now...so join something.

Also, it would depend on which school and how competitive it is. If you're at IU and you haven't gotten involved this semester, I'm not sure that I would even bother going through rush. Or go in expecting VERY limited options after round 1. If it's a small school (let's say 5 chapters or fewer, pledges classes less than 30) then they will likely be more open-minded to your situation.

This. It really depends.

However, it's never too late to get involved. Outside of Greek life, campus clubs and organizations generally "recruit" and welcome members any time during the school year. Do some research, find something you like, and sign up!

Thank you guys so much for the advice! I'm definitely going to look around and try to find a couple clubs or organizations that interest me that I can join! My school has a significant amount of chapters but I'm not entirely sure how competitive it is. I appreciate you guys taking the time to answer my question :)

My question is this: Have you literally not done anything at all other than go to class and sit around at home? You can have hobbies, study groups, class projects, etc. that you can talk about as far as things you do in your spare time. Being a member of an organization just to throw it on your resume isn't always going to earn you points, depending on the campus. Think about the things you have done with your time. If you truly, truly have not done a single thing all semester but go to class and go home, then you'll want to fix that asap.

I hadn't thought about it like that! I can promise you I do more than just go to class and go home...that sounds very very boring! I have a group of people in my major that I frequently study with and did a big project with, so I guess that counts for something! I've also done lots of activities on and off campus with the people in my dorm (my RA is very active and loves to arrange for things for all of us to do together!). I'm in a religious group on campus, but I didn't really think about whether or not that counted as an extracurricular. I guess I'm not as lacking in things as I thought I was, and I appreciate your advice! :)

Religious group as activity- check

Dorm activities-check

Study group-check

They all sound good to me.

Do you attend the campus football games or other athletics events? Homecoming?

Great! Thank you so much! It's reassuring to know that those things count too! I didn't think those things would be relevant but I'm glad to know they matter!

Yes and yes! I love football I've gone to all but one or two of the games this season. Homecoming was a huge deal here and I went to some of the events they held on campus! :)