UGA Out of State Sorority Recruitment

[trymeplease]

Hello. My daughter hopes to be a freshman at UGA next year, and we live in California. I have seen where U of Alabama has many out of state girls that have had successful sorority recruitment, but would love to hear about experiences at UGA.

We will get the recommendations for as many sororities as we can, but we recognize that most will come from California contacts, as we do not have many contacts from the South.

I read through the UGA recruitment thread from the most recent Rush, and it was very helpful. However, I didn't get a sense if most girls are from Georgia (and specifically the Atlanta area with all the connections to local high schools, etc.).

Thank you!

[DubaiSis]

She'll be fine. There will probably be a few most competitive chapters who won't be as open to out of staters, but your daughter should still be fine. Get your recs (in general, the location of the rec isn't all that important, especially if they are personal recs and not panhellenic ones) and make sure she is open minded about every chapter. Her sorority experience will be good regardless, but it is hard to not get disappointed when your favorites drop you. Even that last choice chapter will still be good so try to instill that in her now in case rush doesn't go exactly as hoped. Once rush is over it really won't matter what she thought of each chapter during the process.

[greekdee]

I probably send more recs to UGA than to any other school because I'm in the Atlanta area and a lot of young women from my community attend there. I also have quite a few friends who send recs that way, plus several of my friends have daughters who are current actives in the UGA chapters.

It's a very, very competitive recruitment with 1500-1600 PNMs, most boasting great GPAs, glowing recs and impressive extra-curricular resumes. Those things don't really make one stand out at UGA. In most cases, neither does being a legacy because there are tons of legacies in UGA recruitment and many get dropped by their legacy chapters. The great news is that the majority of PNMs (roughly between 75 and 80%) do end up finding a sorority home. Of those who don't, it's most often because they drop voluntarily due to not liking their return invites after a particular round.

There are far fewer out-of-state students (OOS) at UGA than there are at Alabama. I'm not sure what the exact percentages are, but if you do a Google search, you'll see that Alabama is around 40 percent OOS while UGA is only 10 to 15 percent. If your daughter does end up at UGA, she WILL be rushing with a lot of in-state women, many who do have some inside connections in the form of friends who are members. This can give those women an advantage; then again, it's no sure thing. I've seen plenty of UGA PNMs get released by chapters they had friends in. From what I've witnessed the past few years, those from my community go in various directions when it comes to where they pledge. There are a few more girls from my area in certain ones, but it is not a heavy percentage. There isn't a big gravitational pull to just a few sororities, and there aren't certain ones that draw deeply from the big well of private and public high schools in my community. Other alumnae may see a different picture from their areas in Georgia, but that's the view from mine, which is a very large and heavily populated area in the northern burbs of Atlanta.

I've also done recs for PNMs who are OOS. To date, all of my OOS "rec girls" have had successful recruitments. (OOS or Georgia born, some recruitments were very smooth and some were wicked-mean, but most ran somewhere in the middle in regards to losing favorites. I don't know anyone who has not lost at least a couple of favorites. Most will lose more than a couple, and yes, there are lots of tears during the week of recruitment.) By successful, I mean the PNM pledged somewhere within the UGA Panhellenic system.

If a PNM truly wants to be Greek at UGA, it can't be stressed enough that she keep an open mind and be willing to see the process through. If she's getting return invites, keep going to parties, even if the chapters are ones she "can't see herself in." She will meet more sisters and learn more about the sororities as the week goes on. The one that didn't impress much in the beginning can be her brightest star later in the week and completely win her heart. For a UGA PNM, the best opportunity for receiving a bid is during formal recruitment in the fall of her freshman year. The plan to drop and re-rush as a sophomore is rarely a good one.

Your daughter will probably be in a much easier position for keeping an open mind, unlike some of the in-state PNMs who have spent years hearing this and that about different sororities and have friends in some of them. UGA's Greek system is so big and strong -- there is no such thing as a "bad sorority" at that school, so encourage your daughter to ignore the gossip and tier-ranking that always arises. Get recs to every house and make sure all social media is clean and classy because it most likely will be checked out. Because of social media, some PNM's recruitments are in jeopardy before they step foot on campus. The recs can come from any alum in good national standing with her sorority. but remember that they don't guarantee anything. In mega-competitive recruitments like UGA's, not having recs is an easy way for sororities to make early cuts, so one of their purposes is to hopefully keep a PNM in past first round -- another reason why it's important to get them to every sorority.

I've seen the recruitments of some really stellar PMN's take very surprising turns at UGA, resulting in them dropping or (more rarely) being completely released. I'll usually later find out she only set her sights on the most sought-after chapters, which are the ones that have to make the heaviest cuts...or that she went into pref with a full schedule, but decided to only try for one sorority and ended up not being high enough on their bid list to be extended one. Another thing I see every single year are quiet/shy/reserved PNMs having difficult weeks. Sorority members tell me they meet so many PNMs in such a short window of time that names and faces start blurring together. Lively, bubbly, outgoing PNMs can run over the quieter ones like a freight train. The quieter ones need to step it up -- by that, I don't mean plan to put on act, but just polish communication skills, get comfortable talking to new people, learn to connect with others and determine how to make herself memorable in a positive way. Quiet or not, what makes your daughter unique? What sets her apart from all those other amazing PNMs? In her case, being from California will be one memory trigger! "Oh yes, she's the California girl who ___________ (fill in an activity, interest, achievement, cool experience).

So -- as long as your daughter is prepared (GPA, recs, etc) and goes into this with an open mind, keeps her best foot forward and doesn't drop, she should find a sisterhood. All the best to her!

[33girl]

^^^What an excellent post!!

[DubaiSis]

If you get any variation in facts or opinion from any other women, defer to greekdee's. She knows of what she speaks and is giving you only the very best advice. And any woman who says anything along the lines of "you don't want..." disregard completely.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

I have written some recs for Chicago-area women going to UGA, and all have found homes.

[trymeplease]

Greekdee, you are a Goddess! Thank you so much for your insights! I will relay all this to my daughter, and I think she will have a good outcome (if she is accepted to UGA and attends).

I admit to some trepidation on sorority life in general. Back in the 1980's, I attended SMU, and I had no idea what I was doing when I went through Rush (and it seemed like all the other PNM's knew exactly what they were doing!). I wasn't prepared for the highs and lows, and I still get some anxiety thinking about it. I ended up pledging a sorority, but it was not my first choice. The sorority was fine, but I ended up transferring out of SMU, as I was just way in over my head regarding the tremendous display of wealth, among other things.

I just hope to prepare my daughter better than I was prepared. She is outgoing and loves meeting new people (unlike me at that age!) so I think she will be fine. I agree that she will have an advantage as she won't have preconceived notions of what sorority is "good", etc. - as an out of stater, she will benefit from an instant connection to a great group of girls.

Thank you for making this nervous mom a little less nervous!