Quote:
Originally Posted by Lola96
Exactly...this is what I read on many of the forums/threads I go on but I also think that the reason they didn't make it through was because of the lack of recs?...I mean, its the only legitimate and fair reason I can think of. Why else would they be released (assuming they do have every requirement)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't GLOs in highly ranked universities with diversity want to have international students in their sororities/frats too? I mean..it just goes on to show multiculturalism as I see it...
Also, What's MS? haha...(not an expert in Greek Life)  |
MS = Membership selection
And, Lola, I think you're a little confused about the process. A lot of PNMs who have their recs and GPAs in order still don't get bids. It's about a lot more than who you are on paper.
At the school Sciencewoman and I are talking about, recs are not very important.
With regards to the international students rushing, I think there are several issues at play. The first and most important is that, historically (AT THIS SCHOOL), the student population is mostly white and the campus culture is VERY distinctive. PNMs and actives meet and get to know each other in a large variety of ways, from the very structured and formal "Meet the Greeks" events, through the less formal class/club setting, all the way through--probably the most important for this campus--PARTIES.
Now, I'm generalizing a bit here, but the international students (students who actually were raised in another country and came to the US specifically for school) are, for a variety of reasons, less likely to join the general social scene, and thus are less well known to active sisters.
Furthermore, as previously mentioned, the retention rate of pledged international students is not particularly high (esp considering that at this campus the retention rate for the average American new member is quite high). Again, I think a lot of this can be attributed to international students not knowing exactly what they're getting into--there's really no equivalent to sorority life, especially in the South!
With that in mind, when sorority members meet international students going through rush, especially those who they don't know well and haven't "clicked" with, they may wonder if offering her a spot will take one away from a girl who will stick out the whole process. At UT Austin, where cuts will be massive, this could be a very real concern.
As an active, these were the sorts of things I thought about when making MS decisions. A girl from China who had been on my floor freshman year went through rush sophomore year and I counseled against giving her a bid for many of the reasons I just enumerated. I felt she was sweet, but not a great fit with the chapter, and seemed clueless enough about Greek Life (even after a year!) that I doubted she would stay.
With that being said, as previously noted, my chapter did extend bids to international students, many of whom were great additions to the chapter. And to your last point, Lola, the chapters at my school were about as diverse as the school itself--international student is not the same as "not white". I think culture is a bigger player here.
So what can you do? For UT--recs! Moreover, read up on the forums here about conversations during rush! Be the best version of yourself for rush. Make sure you are well-informed about rush and Greek Life in general, and try to (naturally) let the sisters know that you do understand what you are getting yourself into.
I hope this was helpful. (Sciencewoman, does this tally with what you know/explain a bit?)
ETA: FSUZeta, I am speaking here about four-year international students (rather than study abroad students), which is I believe the category Lola falls into. Lola--do be sure your rec writers know you will be a full-time, four year student if that is indeed the case.
Threaded Mode
