UT Austin for OOS PNM

[Momx2]

Hoping for some help from all the UT Austin experts. Daughter is coming from OOS and we know nothing about UT rush. I have written many PNM recs for other SEC schools but of course multiple legacy daughter chooses a great school, but one without a legacy chapter.

Understanding that UT is a bit different from SEC schools in terms of recs and timing. Can someone shed some light on letters of support, timing (is everything really due by May 1, (I'm usually not even asked to start writing PNM recs until late May or early June for other schools), do hard copy transcripts need to be included in PNM packets sent to the chapters or just provided on resumes for the rec writers? And a really big question--due to summer scheduling conflicts daughter has to attend late orientation which overlaps with the 2 open house days of rush. Panhellenic says the open house absences are excused and it can be done, but it isn't easy as PNM's have to run back and forth between campus orientation and rush houses during the day. Hoping for some expert advice on how to make that process work as smoothly as possible and preparing for the possibility that she may not be able to attend open house events for every chapter due to the mandatory orientation times. Not ideal but will it kill her chances to have a great rush experience? Will chapters really "excuse" that open house absence and give her a shot at the next round if she has a solid resume showing grades, leadership, service etc? Thanks in advance for all the help and advice!

[adpiucf]

As a sorority woman you are probably aware of this, but I just want to clarify that registering with an Alumnae Panhellenic and registering for sorority recruitment are two totally different things. I apologize in advance if I am off base, but I think there may be some confusion based on your post. The Alumnae Panhellenic groups in Texas offer a registration for the purpose of securing recommendations and letters of support.

I think the May 1 deadline you are referring to is to register with the Alumnae Panhellenic, yes? Your daughter can certainly seek out recommendations on her own, but if she intends to register with an Alumnae Panhellenic to help secure recommendations, the AP may have a deadline. I used to live in Texas, and my AP's deadline for registration was May 1. There are so many girls who register for assistance and it takes time to coordinate their packets to the various alumnae associations and get the references completed in time for the sororities to receive them before recruitment begins. Again, this deadline does not apply if your daughter is securing recommendations on her own without an Alumnae Panhellenic. As someone who has written recommendations for others, you are already aware that the university's sororities may have a deadline to receive them, too.

The packets are for the recommendation writers so your daughter will need to verify with her sponsors if they require hard copies of her transcripts (I recall that my AP accepted copies; it didn't have to be an official sealed transcript); actual UT recruitment registration takes place online and they'll verify grades and transcripts for the sororities. Call UT to confirm, and perhaps a Texan can verify this, but your daughter should not send anything directly to the sorority chapters at UT.

I don't have any information about the open houses and your daughter's scheduling conflict. But I suggest that your daughter call the university and ask the Greek Life director those questions.

HTH and good luck!

[ComradesTrue]

I didn't go to UT but am originally from Texas. My recollection of my friends who did attend UT is that YES- recs are due to the chapters May 1. The Alumnae Panhellenics do UT first and then the rest of the schools after that.

I am far from the person to give advice on your scheduling question, so I will leave that for more knowledgeable posters.

Hopefully LadyLonghorn, srmom, or pinapple will chime in. I would take whatever they say as fact. SWTXBelle also does a lot of UT recs and may have more helpful info as well.

[Momx2]

Yet another difference! Most PNM's I work with in my area only register with their local Panhellenic organization if they don't know or cannot find ladies to write their recs. Most girls know friends moms or other sorority women through organizations who can write PNM recs for them so they don't need to avail themselves of the local Panhellenic alums. Occasionally it happens but it probably is not the norm. Some schools send out a list of moms who are willing to write recs for PNMs as well. I do understand that she needs to register online with the UT Greek office for recruitment. Since she is OOS we will probably have her recs done by local alumni of the various UT GLOs that we have gotten to know over the years and have them send packets directly to the UT chapters. I was more concerned with the process of actually having the recs sent in by the ladies who are kind enough to take the time to write them for her. In my area we don't do letters of support so that was also new to me. I understand a max of 2 letters of support should go in the main packet that her primary sponsor/rec writer sends to the chapter along with pictures and resume. If that is incorrect, Please Please feel free to correct me!

[adpiucf]

Originally Posted by Momx2

In my area we don't do letters of support so that was also new to me. I understand a max of 2 letters of support should go in the main packet that her primary sponsor/rec writer sends to the chapter along with pictures and resume. If that is incorrect, Please Please feel free to correct me!

Check your inbox. I PM'd you. Each sponsor (or her sorority) may have a preference, but speaking for my old alumnae association, yes. We would request no more than two letters of support in each PNM's packet. And yes, the sponsor would submit those letters of support along with the actual recommendation, photos, and resume.

[pmdal]

My daughter went through recruitment last year at UT and is on the recruitment team this year...... May 1 is not a hard deadline, but a guideline. Spring semester ends and most will be home by May 15. They would like to get the packet as soon as possible to start reviewing.....

As far as missing some or all of the first few days of recruitment..... follow the advice given and contact the University Greek office..... If, however, you can do any rescheduling I would! It will not help your daughter's recruitment to miss those parties.

[pinapple]

I won't comment any further on the LOCs because I feel that has been covered but will discuss the scheduling conflict with orientation. IMO, I feel this is a recruitment death sentence. Your daughter is already OOS, making the process a bit more difficult. Orientations earlier in the summer are great opportunities to meet active sorority women and provide an opportunity for your daughter to make connections prior to the sororities beginning their own "work weeks". Of course that is not the most important issue of this conflicting orientation. The biggest issue is her not being able to attend the parties. Yes, an absence for them is "excused". Let me clarify what the means on the streets. It's means she can continue though the process and be given the opportunity for a bid if she maximizes her options. BUT, she will have few if any options because the specific houses who do not get an opportunity to meet her have NO reason to use a crucial spot on their round 2 invite list for a person that was a no-show, excused or not.

You were not clear why she had to attend that last session. If it's because the other sessions are "full" it's time to stop taking "no" for an answer. Have her call and push for an earlier session. She could send an email too, but squeaky wheels will get the oil so polite but firm requests should yield the results she wants. If it's a cost prohibitive issue (less expensive to just fly out one time for the summer, etc and I am not saying this is the case, I just know some people feel this way) then a hard long look needs to be taken at the financials, posted and "hidden" of the cost of sorority life at UT. Hope this has helped.

[33girl]

Recruitment notwithstanding, I kind of question why they would schedule an orientation (even a "late" session) so late anyway?? Ours were at least a month in advance and this is at a school that's an ant to UT's elephant size.

Not to mention, I'm sure that there are sorority women who would like to be orientation leaders and can't because of this.

[pinapple]

The late orientation session has always been in place specifically targeting international students. Many come here without any parental involvement and it provides an opportunity to move into their dorm room and register for classes the week before. Without the late session some would not come to a session at all or be forced into paying for two international flights or wasting time on a student visa for which they would rather actually be studying.

[LadyLonghorn]

Originally Posted by pinapple

I won't comment any further on the LOCs because I feel that has been covered but will discuss the scheduling conflict with orientation. IMO, I feel this is a recruitment death sentence. Your daughter is already OOS, making the process a bit more difficult. Orientations earlier in the summer are great opportunities to meet active sorority women and provide an opportunity for your daughter to make connections prior to the sororities beginning their own "work weeks". Of course that is not the most important issue of this conflicting orientation. The biggest issue is her not being able to attend the parties. Yes, an absence for them is "excused". Let me clarify what the means on the streets. It's means she can continue though the process and be given the opportunity for a bid if she maximizes her options. BUT, she will have few if any options because the specific houses who do not get an opportunity to meet her have NO reason to use a crucial spot on their round 2 invite list for a person that was a no-show, excused or not.

You were not clear why she had to attend that last session. If it's because the other sessions are "full" it's time to stop taking "no" for an answer. Have her call and push for an earlier session. She could send an email too, but squeaky wheels will get the oil so polite but firm requests should yield the results she wants. If it's a cost prohibitive issue (less expensive to just fly out one time for the summer, etc and I am not saying this is the case, I just know some people feel this way) then a hard long look needs to be taken at the financials, posted and "hidden" of the cost of sorority life at UT. Hope this has helped.

This. Although technically excused, missing any parties for an OOS PNM will be disastrous. She needs to find a way to be there if she wants any chance of a bid.

[DubaiSis]

I'm picturing a variety of scenarios that might merit her missing the first days of rush, and to me it boils down to this. If "that thing" that keeps her from attending orientation at a reasonable time is important enough then she has to do what she has to do. But, as pinapple says, she likely will get very few invitations and I would guess that to be much closer to 0 than 2 without a lot of personal connections in the chapters. So whatever this thing is, I'd say either rush as a sophomore or work her arse off to get an informal rush invitation. SDT is still in refreshing themselves mode, and they do all of their rushing informally, so maybe that's a way to go.

But UT rush is the stuff of lore. You have to be in it 100% or not at all.

[LadyLonghorn]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

I'm picturing a variety of scenarios that might merit her missing the first days of rush, and to me it boils down to this. If "that thing" that keeps her from attending orientation at a reasonable time is important enough then she has to do what she has to do. But, as pinapple says, she likely will get very few invitations and I would guess that to be much closer to 0 than 2 without a lot of personal connections in the chapters. So whatever this thing is, I'd say either rush as a sophomore or work her arse off to get an informal rush invitation. SDT is still in refreshing themselves mode, and they do all of their rushing informally, so maybe that's a way to go.

But UT rush is the stuff of lore. You have to be in it 100% or not at all.

SDT is participating in formal recruitment. Please stop throwing them under the bus as some kind of easier alternative.

I also wouldn't advise sophomore recruitment. That has an entirely different set of issues.

There are many orientation sessions during the summer. Surely a recent high school graduate can find three days to participate if the school is able to find space for her with a little firm persuasion.

[DubaiSis]

Simmadona. I wasn't throwing them under any bus. In the past they have only done informal rush and they did a big and successful invigoration last year. It might behoove the OP to be aware of alternatives. And I don't believe I had any handwritten offers from SDT hidden in my post.

And as opposed to pretending to go through rush which is all the current scenario would be, at least as a sophomore she'd have a chance, slim as it might be. But I do agree that unless she is spending the summer on Mars, she needs to find a way to attend an earlier orientation. It's a very important part of the process and shouldn't be discounted.

[gee_ess]

Originally Posted by LadyLonghorn

Although technically excused, missing any parties for an OOS PNM will be disastrous. She needs to find a way to be there if she wants any chance of a bid.

This. Summer orientation sessions are pre-recruitment activities. You CANNOT wait to go to orientation once school has started. Please know, UT recruitment has its own set of rules and behind the scenes protocol. Just interpreting the recruitment clothing suggestions and then shopping for the outfits has sent mother/daughter duos into meltdown.

Also, I noticed you are working to find UT alumnae to write recs. I don't think this is a necessity - but I may be wrong. Please weigh in, UT Greekchatters.

[LadyLonghorn]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

Simmadona. I wasn't throwing them under any bus. In the past they have only done informal rush and they did a big and successful invigoration last year. It might behoove the OP to be aware of alternatives. And I don't believe I had any handwritten offers from SDT hidden in my post.

And as opposed to pretending to go through rush which is all the current scenario would be, at least as a sophomore she'd have a chance, slim as it might be. But I do agree that unless she is spending the summer on Mars, she needs to find a way to attend an earlier orientation. It's a very important part of the process and shouldn't be discounted.

It. Is. Not. An. "Alternative." They are a fully functioning chapter that will participate in formal recruitment this year. You don't have any experience with this school except from what you have read on the internet. Step away from the keyboard.

You have a history here of presenting groups like colonies, revitalized chapters and struggling groups as "alternatives" for PNMs who have some kind of additional hurdle to overcome. That only perpetuates stereotypes and comes off as patronizing.