Quote:
Originally Posted by Faith4Keep
Hi!
I did formal rush as a junior at a semi-competitive school. Prior to recruitment, I knew that I didn't want certain chapters, and I knew that they wouldn't want me since I was a junior. But once I was there, talking to the girls, they had me convinced that I could be a part of their chapter. And then when I got cut- it hurt. It stung. It was very frustrating. But in the end I got a bid to an amazing group of girls-- it may not be considered "the best" on our campus, but I think they are the best!
I one time asked here on GC why chapters won't take juniors. One good response was that if you pledge fall of your junior year, you only get one go-round as an officer (spring of junior, fall of senior) and then you graduate. Your long-term contributions to the chapter are minimal. Also, I'm not sure the chapters on your campus have houses, but if you are a junior (or senior) you would not have the time to live in the house, which is a HUGE deal breaker for many chapters that need to fill rooms.
This is probably not a reason for being cut but... part of being in a sorority is that the chapter assists in "developing" you into a refined young woman. Once you hit your junior/senior year, you are pretty much set in your ways. For example, I was definitely not used to following my chapter's rules on drinking, partying, facebook, etc. I thought (and still do think sometimes) that it was really annoying to always have someone "watching over me" and making sure I do things the right way, the classy way, the XYZ way. However, when freshman and sophomores come in, that's just the way life is for them. It's more difficult to 'develop' someone who has already had 2-3 years on their own.
Consider these points before you enroll in rush. Will you take a leadership position? Will you live in the house (will you have time)? What can you contribute? Membership in a sorority is a give and take relationship. This commitment will be a lot, especially during your senior year. Have you tried joining other on campus organizations?
If you do decide to go through recruitment, have a prepared answer to the question "So, what did you do in high school?", because EVERYONE asks that. Like everyone has said, you will more than likely have huge cuts on the first day, just like I did. You must be ready for disappointment. I saw several juniors walk away without a bid on the third or fourth day of recruitment. You need to be open to ALL chapters, especially since you have this disadvantage of your class rank.
Feel free to PM me, I would love to hear what you decide.
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If you do decide to go through recruitment, please keep in mind that unless your campus has an upperclassman quota, you most likely will be cut heavily after the first round of parties. Even if your chapter does have an upperclassman quota, you're not guaranteed to be asked back to all of the chapters due to each chapter's membership selection process, which is a private matter. Most chapters are looking to take women who have the potential to contribute four (or more) years of their time to the chapter, and if your school is fairly competitive, chances are most chapters will take a freshman over a junior or senior any day because the freshman will (hopefully) be a contributing member to the chapter for the rest of her college years.
My recruitment experience was similar to Faith4Keep's. I knew that my junior status would be one of the main reasons why I'd be cut from most of the sororities. However, most of the chapters that cut me wouldn't have been a good fit for me anyway...I was only slightly disappointed about being cut from about three or so after the first round, but I was aware of the consequences of going through recruitment with my class standing. Fortunately for me, most of my top choices (and best fits) were always on my party list, and I ended up joining my #1 choice - woo hoo!
Faith4Keep also makes a good point about "developing" into a sorority woman. Are you willing to make some changes to your lifestyle so you can have a more smooth transition into sorority life? Adjusting to "the sorority way" was definitely an experience for me. I thought some of the rules on drinking, partying, etc. were excessive because they seemed like common sense to me. After all, I had been on campus for quite some time and was used to the social scene and knew how to "behave".
But I realized that having a social protocol set by the chapter was a good thing...new members (myself included) needed to learn the chapter's expectations for leaving a positive impression on campus, and the existing members were expected to adhere to the same expectations.
I wish you the best of luck!