[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by melissamarie816

Hi everyone!
I know there are so many "will I get a bid" posts, but I promise my situation is different. I hope you can help me better understand greek life at Texas universities, I really appreciate any thoughts or insight on my situation, or UT greek life in general.

About Me:
I grew up and graduated high school in Washington, then moved to Seattle for two years to attend a very great and well known culinary school. I recently graduated there with a 3.8, and earned an AAS-T in Specialty Desserts and Pastries. My plan has been to graduate culinary school, then graduate from University of Texas in business management. This upcoming year I have decided to take community college classes to save some money, but mostly be able to focus on getting my small business going. Next year(Fall 2016) I will transfer to UT as a sophomore.

(***About AAS-T Degrees: They are 2 year associate degrees, the "-T" means that they are not meant to transfer to universities I believe. Usually used in vocational studies. I have 2 years of credits, but nothing will transfer so I will be considered a freshman.)

I was raised in a family where almost all of the women graduated college in a sorority. Their experiences were at mostly Washington and Idaho universities that had strong greek life, and they attended anywhere from 7-30 years ago. I have been trying to learn about UT greek life, I understand that it is very competitive, and I am just wanting some more direct answers than "have an open mind". I plan on being very open and just learning and experiencing rush, but I just have no idea what to expect with UT, especially compared to the women who have been preparing for years. Again I know I can't expect to understand as much as a young woman who is a legacy, born and raised in Texas, and has many connections to the sororities, but maybe someone with experience can give me some much wanted insight.



Basic Facts/Information:

Will keep my GPA above a 3.8
Only 19yrs old, I will be 20 by the time of Fall 2016 recruitment
Very social, happy, and caring, I love meeting new people
Attractive, tall, slender, fit
Love arts and crafts! Painting, drawing, sewing, etc
Classically trained in French pastries
Running small baked goods business(great product, great interactions with people, have a strong social media presence)


So with those characteristics and achievements along with being a sophomore transfer from community college, and raised out-of-state with no (current) connections to UT or their sororities, do I have one in a million shot at getting accepted into any of the sororities? I have heard many different opinions, but would like an experienced realistic answer. I plan on rushing anyway just for the experience and any chance of myself getting in, but I want to maintain realistic so I won't be absolutely crushed if I don't get in(and so I can be so extremely excited if I do get in!)


Will the fact that I am successfully running a small baked goods business be a valuable trait or will it be looked down on? I plan on working mostly farmers markets and hopefully have the possibility to make connections through them.
I feel that it would show I am a hardworking, creative, dedicated, and is very unique. It could also show I have other time commitments.


Do you know of any unique cases like this and could share some stories? In your experience what was the most unique characterstic/asset a young woman has had that made her valuable to a house?


Thank you, I truly appreciate any comments/stories/ideas that you have taken the time to share with me

It's great that you are so accomplished.

Here are some things to think about:

1. Members may look at the fact that you own a business and think "How does she have time for a sorority?" A sorority at a school like UT is easily a 30 hour per week commitment depending on the time of year, especially for a new member.

2. We can't downplay the importance of KNOWING sorority members. Going into recruitment as a non-freshman is difficult enough. Going in knowing NO sorority members is even harder. Many PNMs of your class standing will know tons of sorority members from HS, camp, sports, etc. Sorority members meet HUNDREDS of girls every day of recruitment. You want sorority members to be able to say "oh I know her from ______." when discussing PNMs. When you know no one, there ARE chapters who will cut you straight away at the first opportunity because well, no one had a clue of who you were and there were women they knew who they wanted to come back over you.

3. You need recs! I find it surprising that you want to be Greek at a school like UT but have no recs. Nowhere in your post did you mention recs. The UT Panhellenic site says outright that you will have difficulty in recruitment without them. Every other PNM in recruitment will have at least one (or even 2-3 for each chapter.) They're not really as optional as people make them out to be. They're standard. Kind of like how everyone applying to work at a law firm has a law degree. You can't even get a foot in the door without the appropriate letters of reference/recommendations for each chapter on campus.

4. I know you don't want to hear this, but we can't say for sure whether you'll get a bid. However, let me be the first to tell you that you are going to have a rough time as a non-freshman with zero recs and knowing no one in a sorority at a place like UT. Your grades and the fact that you have a pastry degree are not really going to make up for that, as every girl in UT recruitment has great grades and tons of campus involvement.