Already Out??
 

I rushed last year as a freshmen and made some pretty bad mistakes with being negative and such at a pretty competitive southern school. This year I am going back into fall recruitment and I feel like a completely different person...happier and looking and feeling better about myself. I know that this will help my second go round better, but the thing I am worried about is my grades weren't very good my first semester of college. I just got caught up in trying to get a foot-hold at my university and my grades slipped. This last semester I brought them up by a lot but I fear that because my GPA isn't above a 3.0 sororities will cut me because of my low GPA. Is this something to worry about??

Yes.

Unless you have a 40-page resume of activities, awards, honors, and philanthropic endeavors, a below-3.0 GPA combined with the fact that you are a sophomore will put a target on your back.

I can tell you that some groups will HAVE to drop you immediately because they have a minimum GPA. It is different - higher - for upperclassmen than freshmen. And some groups will consider only a very small number - less than 5 - upperclassmen. If you realize that, and you're willing to consider ALL the groups, not just the big ones, then you have a chance. Well, more like a chance of a chance. It would be best if you had a couple of good friends already in a sorority. But hey...better to try, than to not try. Good luck!

I have recs to several of the sororities this year and that combines with having a few friends in the sororities I am hoping will help get me past that initial cut. Thanks for yalls help!

By "below a 3.0" it depends if you are talking about a 2.9 or a 2.5. Like others have said, the GPA requirement could be different for upperclassmen. You'll probably get your biggest cuts after the first round. (Someone correct me if this is not the case).

I don't know about this, as it is certainly not true at my campus. I would think that the requirement would be higher for freshmen than upperclassmen since college is harder than high school. Granted, my campus has deferred recruitment, so that probably changes the dynamics.

However, it is true that a chapter might be more interested in a sophomore who has a good GPA than a freshman with a borderline one. Might they set the minimum higher for sophomores to "compensate" for the sophomore standing?

Most sororities have national GPA requirements, which are usually lower than the chapter GPA requirements. With that said, a chapter will not necessarily make an exception for you just because they can. If you are below the national GPA, you will be cut, no questions asked.

Even with recommendations, you will experience heavy cuts after the first rounds due to your class rank and GPA. However, if you have friends in the campus chapters to advocate for you, you may make it through in some of these cases to the next round. Keep an open mind to joining a sorority, though-- don't tie yourself to XYZ or bust.