Out-of-state makes it harder to get a bid?

[UGAalum94]

If you can work your socially elite out-of-state connections, being from out-of-state isn't a problem at all, and might even be a bonus. Your summer home is two doors down from the president of Chi Omega's, awesome. You went to Harpeth Hall? Not a problem. Your dad is the governor of your state or a US senator or representative? Alright.

You don't summer or go to an elite private school, but you're a completely well-qualified recruitment guest who visited during panhellenic weekend, got recs for every house and a couple of letters of support, was well turned out in appearance, and made a great impression at the parties, you're probably on an equal footing as the in-state girls.

But if you just decided to wing it at the last minute, it's going to be much harder from out of state, unless you are from a neighboring state because the process is going to be weird compared to what you are used to, and no one will know you. An in-state girl probably knows what to expect and has people in her hometown sending in recs, even if she didn't ask for them.

It's not that, in my opinion, most chapters hold being out of state against a PNM, but that most chapters would prefer the known to the unknown when it comes to offering membership.

[violetpretty]

Imagine a chapter with 200-300 women, like at Auburn and Alabama. If everyone knows and is pulling for one or two PNMs (with some overlap naturally), plus legacies, there are a lot of PNMs that the chapter DOES want. If this is a chapter that has to make steep cuts after the first round, who are they going to keep? Out of state girls can be successful, as evidenced by the number of out of state women receiving bids, but you've got to get those recs in and get them in early.

[srmom]

Sometimes I find that us guys take hometowns more seriously than the sororities do. But it's an important factor.

I wrote about this years ago when my son was rushing. I agree.

With guys rush, where there is no "formal rush", just a bunch of summer parties and get togethers, it's totally WHO you know.

It's kind of a catch 22 - How do you get to know people in the houses, because you have to be invited to events; How do you get invited to events if you don't know people in the house?

I've found, after hearing about recruitment from my son who was a rush captain, that they are contacting kids from certain highschools, summer camps, etc. where members have either attended or know someone. Every now and then, they may get an email from an alum, giving them a heads up to contact somebody, but this is pretty rare.

So, if you are some random kid from out of state, who doesn't know any of the current members, or have some "in" in the house, you might not have a chance, even if you are an awesome guy.

At schools where the bids are handed out before school even starts, kids from out of state won't even get rushed at many of the houses. That seems a bummer!

At least with sorority rush, you have your 15 minutes to shine!!

[AlphaXi4983]

If there was truly a "disadvantage" for out-of-state girls I would think it would really only be for those who come from areas where recruitment isn't as hardcore as it is in certain southern schools (like those where you essentially "need" recommendations, etc.), who just don't know the nuances of going through recruitment at those schools. Of course, if the girl is truly interested in joining an org at that school, that would be something that she would have to take upon herself to find out ahead of time.