Rush question regarding GPA
 

I am going to be a freshman in the fall at an SEC school and I plan on going through rush but I have a question first. I have read a lot about how important it is to have a strong GPA in order to be successful through rush. My GPA is below 2.5 (pathetic, I know) and I also have ADD. On the website listed below, it says that if you have a learning disability I can send a letter from my physician stating my condition (if you want to call it that). I was curious if having this letter will basically void out the fact that I have a low GPA or just help my cause? I just don't want to go into this thing thinking that because I have a letter from my doctor I will be on a level playing field, you know? Also, I understand that many people will call this an excuse and I was wondering if I will be looked down upon or anything for it?

This is the website:
http://www.olemiss.edu/greeks/join/gpa_wtd.htm

The link seems to say that the medical documentation might help your case in registering for recruitment, but it also clearly states it will still be up to each sorority as to how receptive they are to your grades. I don't know that the chapters will each know that a medical exception has been given in your case, they may just see your GPA and treat it like they would any other rushee.

If you haven't already, read as many of the SEC-themed threads here as you can. I'm sure you're aware how incredibly competitive it is and my outsiders opinion would be that it will be very difficult for you to compete with a low GPA.

But I'm sure you'll get a lot more first-hand opinions from people from SEC schools when there are more people active on the boards in the morning.

I wish you luck! And I hope you know not to take anything personally regardless of the outcome. If you do get cut because of your grades, know that it was because of a number and the chapters have to work within their numbers and it's not about YOU as a person. But it's tough to compete in that system even with the best of grades, it sounds like.

Thank you! I have read a lot of the SEC-themed threads on here and they are very helpful... This website in general has been extremely helpful!

There may be sisters who think that it's lame to blame a low GPA on ADD. There are likely sisters of chapters who are themselves diagnosed with ADD and have been successful academically. Using a disability or medical condition as a crutch is looked down upon by a lot of people.

If you're entering school as a freshman with a 2.5 from high school, where, if your ADD is serious enough you likely had learning support, then you're really going to be overshadowed by the rest of the freshman with more stellar grades. How can a chapter expect you to exceed academically in college without that additional support?

If your ADD wasn't serious to have learning support in high school, then how can you use it as an excuse for poor grades now?

Another thing to think about is do you want to reveal a personal piece of information like that to that many people? There may be chapters (right or wrong) who would cut you for having ADD because they wouldn't want to have to deal with it.

A certain sorority here cuts girls that don't have a 3.8 or higher (have been told by a former member), so it may prove things to be difficult.

You can still bring your g.p.a. SOME - this semester is not over. But I would suggest you look into taking some college courses at a local community college over the summer to 1.) show you can succeed at college-level courses and 2.) give yourself a college g.p.a.
I'm afraid a 2.5 is going to be below many chapters' minimum requirements.

In my experience with Ole Miss rush, the letter has been helpful. It can explain your situation in better detail. For examply, maybe your ADD went undiagnosed until later in hs, and that would be the explanation for the low GPA, etc. Also, on most college campuses, they have special help/resource center, etc for diagnosed learning disabilities, and that knowledge tells the sorority that you will be getting help with the college load.

That said, GPA is a big deal in competitive rush, and most houses are only allowed to take very few below their own house GPA requirement( which for some houses is far higher than the GPA required to go through rush.) Those exceptions are based on other info - were you extremely involved in hs?

Last, Ole Miss has a slightly deferred rush and be sure to treat those weeks prior to rush with care - (no crazy drunken escapades) Treat it like one big job interview.

I applaud your goals and determination, but am concerned about more than just your success during Rush. I would enthusiastically co-sign SWTXBelle's idea to try some community college classes this summer. Unless something has changed in your ability to learn, (new medication, maturity improving the condition etc.), college level classes at an SEC university are going to be really tough. I know many kids with 3.5-4.0 GPAs that felt like they were hit by a buzz saw their first semester at Big XII schools. The first thing you have to think through is, "is this the best environment for me to succeed personally" before even caring about the greek side of the equation. Your university professors aren't going to care about a note from your doctor.

You have to realize that chapters will be concerned about two things: 1) pulling down their GPA, 2) even making good enough grades to be initiated. In a competitive environment, the thought may well be, "why take the chance?"

Again, I don't want to seem harsh and I admire the fact that you have goals and are thinking ahead. Not knowing the full situation always makes it dangerous to give advice, but I would suggest a long talk with your high school counselor to be sure this is the best route for you to take.

Some will look at where you went to high school...
 

I know our sorority(my home chapter and I've been an advisor to another)advisors would tend to look at where you went to high school. Is it known as a hard school?

Definitely get the letter.

If it makes you feel any better, I had a 2.5 GPA coming in ( I went to several different high schools- one which was well-known for being hard). I also have a very hard time with math. In fact, I flunked Algebra I, and I was in gifted class! I had a lot of bad Math teachers. I made all A's my senior year, and I still had that crummy GPA. Growing up, I never had to study at all and did well on scholastic aptitude tests. I think when I got to high school, I just didn't really know how to study until I got to senior year.

I was cut from one of the top sororities (I hope just because of that! :) - spots were competitive there so I'm sure they have to ultimately decide things with GPA's), but had a great rush otherwise. Yes, I know Ole Miss is more competitive than my school, Southern Miss.

The good news was I made a 4.0 my first semester and for other semesters after that! Yay! Well, until I met my hubby.....:rolleyes: Anyway, I ended with a 3.3. I know my niece is at Ole Miss right now, and she's been breezing through it after her hard AP load at a Jackson private school. High schools are really hard now, if you are taking honors classes, AP classes, or the hardest - International Baccalaureate classes. Her GPA went up a good bit from high school. Maybe yours will too with hard work.

So, I'm not a fan of the ridiculously high GPA's as a requirement, simply because I've been in that position. Also, sororities have study halls which you don't get if you are an independent. So it would not be a surprise if your grades go up when you get on campus. :D You just need to be working diligently once you get there.

I think the whole picture of the potential new member needs to be looked at. Was there a divorce during high school years? Was a parent ill with cancer? Hopefully, through your recommendation letters (also known as sponsor forms), the person writing them will know you well enough to get the reason for your poor grades- a learning disability- across.

I also saw on the website that they will look at your ACT scores as well. That could be really helpful because many will be high in reading and extremely low in Math (my situation but back then they didn't look at all that) or vice versa. It becomes pretty obvious that there's a learning problem when you have a big discrepancy like a 25 on the Reading section and an 11 in the Math section!

A lot of people think incorrectly that there is all this help now in schools for people with the milder learning disabilities and there just isn't. As a former teacher plus having a child with mild autism, most of us do not know how to deal with LD children. That's why LindaMood Bell does so well, despite charging 20K for their services. For people with ADD, it's basically Ritalin or some other drug and that's it.
Many people have this and will be sympathetic.

I wish you good luck! I know that being in a sorority helped me in so many ways- my grades and just encouragement from sisters. They saw good things in me and developed them- things I couldn't see for myself.

At Bama when medical documention of a learning disability is submitted to Panhellenic, all chapters are informed of this. (FYI - We are not given copies of the documentation because of privacy laws.) It is then left up to each individual chapter to decide how to handle it. Also, we are given the option by Panhellenic to not add in the GPAs of members with documented learning disabilities into a chapter's cummulative GPA calculations/ranking.

Inat'ls have different policies regarding documented learning disabilities as well. For example with ADPi, each chapter is limited to a max % of any pledge class that would be considered a "grade exception", i.e. incoming GPA below our normal cutoff. However any PNM/pledge with a documented learning disability would not be counted in that % provided we receive approval ahead of time. We also take learning disabilities into consideration when devising scholarship plans for that member. For example, typical study hall hours may not be appropriate or beneficial for someone with a learning disability.

Notice I keep saying "documented". I've seen both PNMs and members claim learning disabities only to later discover it was bogus. They just didn't want to be held accountable for their poor grades.

Thank you (to everyone) so much! I do go to a hard private school in Memphis and I also play varsity/club soccer year round. I am involved in clubs at my school and I have a job. So I think it is safe to say that I am involved. Also, during high school I had been taking a certain medicine to treat my ADD and it was just not doing the trick. In late January of this year I was put on a different medicine and my grades shot up. Right now I have all A's and B's, which obviously has not been the case through high school.

On another note, my friends and I were talking and we were just a little confused as to whether sororities look at your senior year GPA or your entire high school.

The info you just shared regarding your meds, activities, etc is very important! It will be important to see that the change in meds made a difference and that your senior year grades have improved. This is the type of information the women writing your recs will need...Job responsibilities, volunteer duties, and extracurricular activities also need to be included in your resume to show how busy you were during high school.

Sidenote- Make sure you are registered and attend any panhellenic meetings that are held in the Memphis area. They will help you with info regarding Ole Miss rush.

Also, one last point - you have been very forthcoming in explaining your situation, but please do not give out any more personal info that could cause a sorority girl at Ole Miss to figure out who you are...this could only hurt you and we want you to have a successful recruitment!

I was going to say, you probably had to have several redeeming qualities to get into Ole Miss, because without sports, clubs, job, and a challenging high school, someone with a GPA that low probably wouldn't get into Ole Miss (anyone more famililar with Ole Miss correct me if I'm wrong).

Sororities will look at your whole GPA, most likely. HOWEVER, this brings up another important point. At any SEC school, and especially Ole Miss, you must have at least one rec for each chapter (I believe Chi Omega at Ole Miss wants at least 2). Have your rec writers play up your recent academic success (at a challenging high school no less), among your other good qualities. Definitely write the letter explaining your learning disability. Understand that it won't be a free pass for an invite for the next round (because there is no such thing at a school as competitive as Ole Miss, not even legacy status), but if your recs and your personality shine (and it'll be extra helpful if you are friends with any current members of Ole Miss chapters), you may just have a chance.

Ditto to what everyone has said. I'm glad to see that your grades are coming up. I would definately get the letter, because it does help us see why your grades aren't the best. Example, one of my rush crushes last year was in the same situation you're in. She had ADD, but it wasn't diagnosed until the end of her junior year. However, none of us knew about this until the first party, so there wasn't anything we could do. I don't remember what her GPA was, but I know that she did get a bid.

So definately get the letter, it won't guarantee a bid it just gives us a heads up. Also stay involved and make sure to get recs. Ole Miss is very lucky to have nine amazing sororities, so go in it with an open mind. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me. Good luck!

I would most certainly get the letter, it can only help. However, you might want to ask about academic standards once (if) you are a member. I know a handful of organizations that do not make exceptions to their Academic Probation requirements for members with learning disabilities. It's something to consider if you don't think you could keep your GPA above what the sorority considers to be "in good standing" (usually somewhere between a 2.5-3.0). You don't want to be on Academic Probation as soon as you are initiated.