recruitment at small liberal arts colleges
 

I have searched for this topic, and can't seem to find any threads on it.

One of my daughters will be a freshman next year at a small, private, liberal arts college in the south; and she is thinking about going through recruitment. I am curious about what rush is like at one of these schools (student population about 2000), compared to a SEC school.

Depends on the school. Some are laid back, some are not. Hard to say without knowing which one. Most likely more laid back but since it's the south, you'll need recs and to "be prepared."

If she's the one going through, it's competitive. Just remind her they all have nice girls (and a couple hags), they all do philanthropies and study hours and date parties. She can't make a wrong choice as long as she understands this is about FRIENDSHIP not status and not how much they can continue to adore her once rush is over.

Compared to SEC style, I'd say it's shorter and smaller, but not necessarily less elaborate nor competitive. Just depends on the school. The more expensive the tuition, the more elaborate!

I was an advisor to a small, private liberal arts university in the south (Oglethorpe) for many years when I lived in Atlanta. I believe the enrollment is somewhere around 1500, so similar to where Sunny3's daughter is going. There are 3 NPC sororities. Recruitment is laid-back and a PNM can meet nearly everyone in the chapter. Recommendations were optional, but if a PNM has one, it shows you cared enough to make the effort. I always advise a PNM to get recs.

I went to a small, private liberal arts college in FL. Recs were not required and recruitment was not competitive; we had 4 NPC sororities. YMMV though, as with most things recruitment related.

My daughter graduated from Samford University in Birmingham. Recruitment there is competitive, recs. are needed. There are 5 NPC sororities-all which have lovely, accomplished young women. Rush is held a couple of weeks after school begins.

D is at a small private liberal arts college in the South (~75% Greek; 6 NPC sororities and 2 NPHC sororities). Her January recruitment was much less stressful than what her friends at SEC schools reported. Because there aren't tons of girls from the same high schools or camps, there is less "everyone from X always pledges Y". She had informal rush dates in the fall & got to know a number of sorority women from extracurricular activities and classes. Because it is a small school with delayed recruitment, keep in mind it's important to not be "that girl" ;) She did have recs for each house; now that she's on the other side, she says that they probably didn't make much difference, but she didn't want to leave any stone unturned! Assuming a girl has a good GPA, makes an effort to get to know people, and isn't set on any one particular house, she is very likely to get a bid.

Thanks for the replies. The campus is about 60-70% Greek, and there are 4 NPC sororities. Tuition is pretty expensive. Rush is a couple of weeks after school starts. She already has one rec lined up, and will be sure to get the rest.

She is concerned because she does not know a single person on this campus. She is the first person from her high school to go to this school in many years. I suspect this is true of many of the freshmen except the ones from large cities. Her class has kids from literally every single state. How important are prior friendships/networking at a school like this?

Is this a 2nd daughter, or has Daughter #1 transferred to a new school?

2nd daughter.

If the chapters are on the smaller side, she may find that there are starker differences between the chapters in terms of personality. Unlike huge super-sized chaters where a PNM should be able to find a niche somewhere, smaller chapters tend to have more distinct personalities, and that may be obvious during recruitment.

My daughter was 12 hours from home. She didn't know any people on campus. She did run for and was elected VP of the freshmen class ( elections were held before rush began) and she joined freshmen forum, which was run by student government, so she met a lot of campus leaders prior to rush. Best wishes for your daughter.

Small school. (Back of the envelope calculations... I figure NPC houses no larger than 60 or there would be pressure to expand so 240 women in NPC, unless NPHC or locals that means 400 women in the school.)