[EE-BO]

Agree with most of you, and KSUViolet really hit it on the head with the quoted piece in underline from the post above by FSUZeta.

I have not been as watchful of the Recruitment forum over the years as some- so I could be wrong- but it seems like we have a disproportionate number of threads for competitive southern schools relative to the population of schools nationwide with sororities on campus.

So take that into account with what KSUViolet says, and I think you have the answer for why there appear to be an inordinate number of unhappy outcomes posted on GC.

Consider too that at more competitive schools it is common for women to drop out of rush or not accept a bid if they do not get into a "top tier" house.

It would be interesting to take the number of threads where a young woman ends up GDI and split it out between those who were dropped entirely and those who quit of their own accord while they still had some choices. The latter are not a small group. Also consider the ones who rush as sophomores or juniors and don't disclose it up front when starting a thread. Either these women have the basic understanding it will be a harder road and refuse to post their info out of some sense of creating an alternate reality rather than get good advice about how they should rush, or they have absolutely no clue and have done no research about a huge financial and personal decision they are about to undertake. The rush threads that save these key details for much, much later are the ones that trouble me most. And they almost never have happy endings...

But leaving that aside, I think the most important thing to remember is that sorority life is one step on a journey in life. Just as it helps prepare one for the future, so does it require that a PNM come into it prepared- all the more so at competitive schools.

Too often with threads here, and VERY MUCH with the AI threads- we see PNMs and PNAIMs who seem to think that sorority life is somehow going to validate them as individuals or somehow make them the person they want to be without them making the effort on their own to be that person regardless of whether they are Greek or not. Rather than look at their own lives and how sorority life could be a rewarding future path, they are relying on the sorority experience to create that path for them. Both options require very different planning strategies- and the former is far more likely to succeed.

Whether one is at a competitive school or a school where advance preparation for rush is not important- and whether a person is looking at a top tier house, "settling" for anything just to have letters or joining a colony- this latter type of person I mention can be spotted a mile away; and the targeted group is going to feel rightly insulted.

Every story is different- and my comments are not directed at anyone in particular. But in GC threads on rush I very often spot signs of individuals who are looking for sorority life to somehow offer some easy magical transformation into the person a PNM wants to be. It is easily spotted when one is telling a detailed story about rush or asking lots of questions. And that person is more likely to come post a rush story on an internet forum than someone who is well prepared and has their future in hand- at least with regards to southern schools.

I am not saying rush threads should go away- they are great. But it is pretty easy to tell when someone is doing the world a good turn by posting their story versus someone who is seeking a cheerleading section in the hopes it will make something happen.