Hello from UT [ Texas, not Utah ;) ]

[thenatpyle]

Hello everyone! My name is Natalie and I am a freshman. I really want to join a sorority but at UT it is extremely competitive, especially for those of us who are not legacies. Looking for advice and contacts

[DubaiSis]

UT isn't THAT competitive. It has very good acceptance rates for the girls who don't drop out of rush. It is only super competitive for a small handful of chapters. If you stick with the process and accept the invitations (to each round and to join) and you have the grades and recs, you should be fine.

My advice is do your homework, work on your conversation skills and get your recs lined up. Go in being nice and open to all 13 (14 if you include the Jewish sorority) chapters, don't get freaked out by cuts along the way and try your best not to listen to the crap about the one and only sorority that is worth joining. If you listen hard enough you will hear virtually all of them mentioned as the one and only best sorority. There is no best, except to the extent that the one you love who loves you back is the best. Don't be an entitled ninny.

And by the way, legacy status counts for very little at UT. Most of the sororities there have legacy lists every year that far exceed the numbers they could actually pledge. It counts for barely more than a return invitation after the first round. And in some cases it can be a hindrance. Here's an example. Peggy PNM is a legacy to ABC and has been told her whole life she's going to be an ABC. She goes through rush. Gets to the third round and gets cut by ABC because either they didn't like her that much or they did like her but they just didn't have room for her on their list. So she is not going to be an ABC. Many many times that girl drops out of rush entirely because there is no fate worse than accepting a bid to DEF, the chapter she has left. Well, guess what? That just opened up that spot to you, since you weren't so foolish as to buy into that crap. Now that is not the way all legacies behave (I was one; didn't pledge my legacy chapter), but there are enough of them that do at UT that they really are not sweeping up all the bids.