S.o.s.

AMelie03 · #1 07-05-2003, 08:08 PM

SO i found out that at UNL the first round we dont even get to meet the whole house. Its just a five minute slide show presentation presented by the house's president and recruitment chair. And that before we (the rushees) even get there houses have already made their first cut. Which freaks me out (its like the whole john calvinist thing...your fate is already decided before you even start...)B/ how are we suppose to make a 'right' cut not meeting the house, because as i see it, you cant really get a perfect impression of the house so you really dont know anything about the houses and i would hate to cut a house and then find out later it was the perfect house for me! (*aghhh* too much to think about) but anyways, if anyone out there knows anything about UNL's sororities it would help a whole lot...like what their like....

tinydancer · #2 07-05-2003, 08:33 PM

Just making a guess, but could the first cut be cutting for grades? I don't know, but this could be the reason. Anybody else have advice??

FAB*SpiceySpice · #3 07-05-2003, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by tinydancer
Just making a guess, but could the first cut be cutting for grades? I don't know, but this could be the reason. Anybody else have advice??

From what I have heard, girls are cut before even the first day for grades. It just helps out the houses since they have so many rushees to look at. I understand though thinking that's unfair. My school is similar to UNL but we still have a HUGE first day with SIXTEEN parties, ahhhh! It's long and hectic, but hey at least all the girls get an equal chance. We still know everyone's grades though so I guess in a sense it might give someone false hope, if they come the first day and love all these houses but will end up being cut for grades anyway. I don't know, it's confusing, I'm not really sure which way is worse.

AOIIalum · #4 07-05-2003, 09:10 PM

I'm going to ditto the theory that the first cuts are for grades in many instances. I hope your grades are high enough that you won't even have to worry about GPA cuts!

Most schools have some kind of PNM manual or cd-rom about recruitment and each chapter where the sororities list a "minimum" GPA for their chapter. That may be as low as a 2.0 (if their International states that as an absolute minimum) and could be as high as a 2.75, 3.0 (or even higher, I guess, but I think the highest I've ever seen printed was a 3.0.)

Reality is that even if the chapter says their minimum is a 2.0, 2.25, 2.5 or whatever; their actual target GPA is considerably higher. Take a look at the grade ranking for the sororities on your campus, if available. That will give you a much more accurate picture of each sorority's academic goals.

Here's an example--XYZ lists their minimum GPA is a 2.5, and rank 6 of 12 sororities last year in grades, with a chapter GPA of 3.24. Most likely, XYZ is looking for PNMs with 3.25 and higher GPAs. They may bid a couple new members in the 2.9-3.0 range if their overall grades and membership are solid enough to take a few "grade risks." On many competitive campuses, if your grades are under the all-sorority average, a PNM may have an extremely difficult time getting a bid. Not impossible, but grades are an important part of sorority life these days (as they should be!)

When there are hundreds or even thousands of girls going through recruitment, the sororities have to cut somewhere. Often, grades are the first cut because it's the easiest--no emotions involved, just cold hard facts.

AMelie, have you searched the UNL website? Look for links to each sorority and see what you can learn about them (grades of course, new member and recruitment info, chapter activities, campus and community involvement. Check out the International websites for each sorority too. Do you like what you see? Seriously, the more you know about each sorority at UNL, the more informed of a decision you can make for yourself.

Stay calm (I know, easy for me to say as an alumna!) and breathe deep

You'll be ready to make a lot of friends and have fun during recruitment. We'll do our best to support you every step of the way!

Christin

Betarulz! · #5 07-06-2003, 01:32 AM

Here's how I think it goes...and unfortunately it's not a great system the way I see it...however I could be wrong, I haven't really paid attention since my ex gf went through two years ago, and even then I was way more worried about my own move and stuff to really pay attention to waht was going on...

There are 14 chapters at UNL. ADPi is the only one without a house and I think only does COB...So really only 13. The first real day of parties is a 10 party day and so in order to cut the number of rushees going through houses have to make decisions on who to invite. Most girls will get invites to all 13 houses, but they can only pick 10. Everyone goes to 10 parties no exceptions. As for what they cut, I really think it varies. I seem to remember that my ex got cut from a certain house, despite the fact that she was in the honors program, had a 27 ACT and was fairly involved. It's all kinda hazy, as I've repressed most of that relationship b/c it ended so horribly...

Anyways, I'm willign to bet that this is a time when having gone to HS with these girls is a big negative...

Also the rushees get to make cuts as well since they are limited to 10 parties

Keep in mind this is how I think it goes...I'm not anywhere close to 100% on this. I'll try contacting some of my friends to find out for sure...

I think it's pretty crappy system, but I have a lot of issues with formal rush anyways...

Betarulz! · #6 07-06-2003, 05:46 PM

So I got an e-mail back this afternoon from one of my friends explaining this minor crisis

Here's how it works. Teh first day of rush is simply the aforementioned presentations (my friend said they were about ten minutes). Houses will have made cuts based on GPA and ACT score, although I think some houses will make cuts on other things since like I said my ex from early freshman year got cut despite being in the Honors program.

After that presentation the girl will get her invites and she will then choose the 8 houses she wants to visit the next day, I think it is a very rare occurance indeed if a girl gets fewer than 8 invites, and that would have to be due to grades.

After choosing those 8 for the first day, rush proceeds as normal down to 5 and then 3.

Betarulz! · #7 07-08-2003, 01:28 AM

Another little update.

Houses must cut girls before they get there. Each house is limited in the number of invites (It was something like 600 last year, with a little over 700 girls going through rush at the beginning *estimates from my friends*). So that is why there are the cuts that are made, and why you may get cut for something other than grades.

Also one of my friends in Kappa says just to make sure you enjoy rush and not to be nervous. Easier said than done, I suppose. But good advice nonetheless.

AOIIalum · #8 07-08-2003, 10:31 AM

Betarulz, thank you so much for the information. I admire you for going to such lengths to get the facts about UNL sorority recruitment for AMelie (and the rest of us, of course!)

You are truly a credit to yourself and your Fraternity!

Christin

Betarulz! · #9 07-08-2003, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AOIIalum
Betarulz, thank you so much for the information. I admire you for going to such lengths to get the facts about UNL sorority recruitment for AMelie (and the rest of us, of course!)

You are truly a credit to yourself and your Fraternity!

Christin

Youre Welcome! and Thank you!

I figured since I am a member of Greek Ambassadors up here, and one of our main purposes is to talk to prospective PNM's, I should have a thorough understanding of the process...