How to Stand Out

dfriedm1 · #1 02-14-2007, 06:34 PM

Hello, I will be attending UGA in the Fall and I am very interested in rushing. However, in HS I was in a residential joint enrollment program, so my social skills are not...up to par per-say. I'd really like to become a part of a sorority for the friends I will make and for the outstanding community involvement of greek organizations. How can I stand out at rush so that the potential sororities will know how sincere I am about wanting to rush and become an active member of their organization? Also, how do I do that without coming off as such a dork, haha. I appreciate any advice you guys have to give! Thanks so much!

FSUZeta · #2 02-14-2007, 06:52 PM

i do not understand what sort of program you participated in. could you please explain?

sororities are looking for girls with good gpa's-3.0 or higher, who have community service hours and participated in clubs and activities during h.s. the pnm should be cute, well groomed, pleasant, friendly, interesting and be interested in meeting new people. by cute, i don't just mean looks, although that helps, but have a good personality.

at uga you will need to have a letter of recommendation for each sorority. alumnae of sororities write those for the potential new member, to the chapter of their sorority at that school.

jwright25 · #3 02-14-2007, 08:10 PM

Also research to find out if there is an Alumnae Panhellenic in your area. I don't know if you are from Georgia or not, but there are a few throughout the South. APs are organizations of women from most - if not all - NPC groups. The ones in Georgia will be very familiar with the recruitment process at UGA, and they will be able to point you in the right direction as far as recommendations are concerned (see above post - VERY important at UGA).

At least you are starting early and not waiting till the week before to find things out!

NUBlue&Blue · #4 02-14-2007, 08:22 PM

The Atlanta Panhellenic Assn. has an information session every spring--I used to volunteer in the office at our HS and I made copies of the flier we received to give out in senior advisement.

And I'll reiterate...YOU NEED RECOMMENDATIONS at UGA.

dfriedm1 · #5 02-14-2007, 08:49 PM

To answer the question about the program I am in, I skipped my last two years of HS to live at a college and take college courses.

blueangel · #6 02-14-2007, 09:02 PM

Go to the library and read "How to Make Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. It should be the bible for all those who go through rush!

It will teach you things like: how to make small talk and how to make a first good impression. It doesn't teach you how to be "fake" but rather, how to let your true personality shine through in a positive manner in a face to face meeting. It also gives you the confidence to speak in public, whether it is to a small group of three or a room of 300.

You always hear, "Be yourself." This book teaches you how. For instance, it asks, "Why should people be interested in you, unless you are first interested in them?" It teaches you how to be a good conversationist.. how to remember names, and other skills.

This book has been around for many, many years and withstands the test of time.

Here are a few tips from the book... but please read the entire book:

-become genuinely interested in other people

- smile

- remember that a person's name it to him or her, the most important sound in the human language. Use it often in conversation.

- be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.

- talk in terms of the other person's interests

- make the other person feel important, and do it sincerely.

Good luck to you!

UGAalum94 · #7 02-14-2007, 09:22 PM

You may want to figure something out before you rush: if you really earned two years of college credit, you are going to appear to be a junior during rush, and that's going to hurt.

Most of the pledge classes at UGA are made up of first year students. Many may have some sophomores, but only a few will have juniors.

You may want to check with Greek Life to get a realistic understanding of how many girls with your number of credits have gotten bids over the last few years.

I'm not trying to be negative, but UGA rush is pretty competitive. I think you'd be fine coming out of the duel enrollment program as a college sophomore. The program itself is not a problem and may even be an asset, but being a junior will make things a lot tougher than they'd be if you were a 1st year.

I think you ought to follow the advice you got here about recs and panhellenic meetings and give it a try, but be aware that it might be a tough rush compared to the 1st year PNMs that you'd rush with.

dfriedm1 · #8 02-14-2007, 09:27 PM

First, I just want to say thank you to everyone for all of your advice.

In response to the last post, my parents and I decided that though I will be coming in as a junior, I am going to stretch out my college career and spend either 3 or 4 years in college. Honestly, I am ready to be a regular student.

What would be a good way to get intouch with the head of the Panhellenic meetings?

AGDLynn · #9 02-14-2007, 10:19 PM

http://www.atlantapanhellenic.org/who.htm

Link to the Atlanta Panhellenic recommendation contacts.

jwright25 · #10 02-14-2007, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dfriedm1

In response to the last post, my parents and I decided that though I will be coming in as a junior, I am going to stretch out my college career and spend either 3 or 4 years in college. Honestly, I am ready to be a regular student.

That may be the case, but your application will list your number of credit hours earned. And don't lie about it. Panhellenic will be checking your grades, and they will report to the sororities how many hours you have and the GPA you've earned for those grades.

I'm not saying it will be impossible, but it will be tough. When you get your recommendations in line, be sure to stress to the alumnae writing them that you will be spending four years as an undergraduate even though you are transferring in with several credit hours. They should stress your age and that you will be the same age as traditional freshment.

NUBlue&Blue · #11 02-15-2007, 09:39 AM

When you do your resume, you may want to put your expected date of graduation on there somewhere. I recently assisted a friend's daughter for informal recruitment at UGA--she is a second semester sophomore, but has a double major with an expected graduation date of 2011 instead of 2010, which put her in line with the freshmen who were also going through informal recruitment.

If there's anyplace to highlight that on your application, I would do so. Although I know that my daughter went to college with nearly a full year of credits from her IB classes in HS and it only makes a difference at her school on who you vote for as your class rep during SGA elections. She is still considered a second year student even though she has enough credits to be a second semester junior.

Edited to add: The Atlanta Panhellenic Recruitment Roundtable is in March with the date TBA.

ksw33t · #12 02-15-2007, 10:09 AM

dfriedm1~ I understand where you're coming from. I did the same program at a local university here in Florida for almost 2yrs(graduating this May). It's definetely hard staying involved in your class, planning for graduation, working, and applying for colleges and scholarships, all while balancing your credit hours. Geez..I can't wait to be normal in one place either!
I'm really glad you brought up rushing and credit hours. I didn't think to much about it affecting me. Luckily I'll be right under my AA and plan to dual-major. Does anybody know about FSU?

Goodluck dfriedm1

PenguinTrax · #13 02-15-2007, 11:12 AM

What about FSU? Several thread already regarding recruitment at FSU including transfer students, etc. Search the Recruitment and Sorority Recruitment forums and you'll get pretty much everything answered.

dgdramadawg · #14 02-15-2007, 08:23 PM

Make sure that you sell the fact that you will stay in college for 3-4 years. Some houses who "only pledge freshmen" might not be worried about your junior status if you let them know that you will be staying longer to pursue a double/triple major, etc. and it may make you seem more desirable to know that you have the hang of college academics already.

Even though it may hurt you with some houses to already have junior standing, there are several great houses at UGA (more than some threads on GC might lead you to believe!) who are totally fine with pledging transfers and upperclassmen who have excellent grades, so it definitely won't hurt you with them. There will always be choices, even if some of the houses are concerned that you may graduate early.

GeorgiaGirl · #15 02-19-2007, 11:43 PM

hey dfried! First of all, congratulations on being accepted to UGA! I know that it just keeps getting more and more competative every year. As for recruitment, there is a place on your recruitment application to explain anything that you need to about your grades or your hours. This is where I would explain your situation. Most houses are not worried about how many hours you have, but rather about how many years they are going to get to have you as an active member. I am going to be a recruitment counselor in the fall (someone who helps potential new members through the recruitment process), so if you have any specific questions about UGA's recruitment, feel free to shoot me a message.