Women who start out at community college

[BabyPiNK_FL]

Originally Posted by AXOmom

She had a really good experience - a lot of great things came out of it for her, but it hasn't been quite the same experience it would have been if she had started out as a freshman.

Do I wish I'd had more time with my chapter? Hell to the mutha****in' yes! BUT people will have regrets about various things all their lives. That doesn't mean it's not worth living.

I was still new member of the year because I was more mature, sensible, and involved than any other new member. Why? Because I knew what I was getting myself into and the expectations that were on me as a new member. I also expected to have a bigger involvement as an alumna because my collegiate years were short (2.5 years).

I value the time I spent as an active collegiate and I wish there was more active encouragement and emphasis on alumna life because many collegiate women simply don't realize that you don't die when you graduate and that is the point of college. I give more back to my chapter than 99% of the alumnae we've graduated simply because I care about my chapter and my organization. There are very few of us in the trenches giving back at my chapter and I'm working desperately to correct this and have been able to improve things through alumnae programming this year.

I'm GLAD the my school sees value in older members. I didn't go to community college, but many of my pledge sisters and women before them and after them did and still do in mine and many chapters on my campus. They have proven to be some of the greatest assets. I can't change SEC campuses. But I can say that when sororities began they were catered to non-traditional students (women in college) and I'm glad campuses like SEC are far and few between. While they are valuable chapters, they are no more valuable than any other and some of the traditions that many practice (like racism & agism [yeah i said it] among many others) need to die. I'm over them and they are not the end all be all dictators of sorority life. PLEASE.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by BabyPiNK_FL

I'm over them and they are not the end all be all dictators of sorority life. PLEASE.

I don't think anybody was implying that they were.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

I don't think anybody was implying that they were.

Not here necessarily, but really there are some serious SEC/Southern elitists that show that side now and again. With their ways and their traditions being the 'true' or 'traditional' ways and all that.

And sometimes that seriously skews the answers that people get here as the board as a group seems to revert to that 'hardcore' standard.

That's my perspective on it anyway.

[AXOmom]

[QUOTE=BabyPiNK_FL;2060770]Do I wish I'd had more time with my chapter? Hell to the mutha****in' yes! BUT people will have regrets about various things all their lives. That doesn't mean it's not worth living.

I agree, and I didn't mean to imply that she felt like it wasn't worth living. Like you, she thinks that along with the cons, there have been some advantages to pledging as an upperclassmen (or sophomore precisely).

I just feel that AGDee had a point in saying that there are some disadvantages as well, depending on the girl, the chapter, and the school that an upperclass PNM might need to take into account. There are some things about the collegiate sorority experience that she thinks she missed out on and will miss out on, but she still feels like its been a great experience and totally worth it in the long run.

She's at a school in the northwest, so she knows zero about the SEC experience or what that tradition is like. All she has as a comparison are the freshman in her own pledge class at her pretty non-competitive school where upperclassmen PNM's aren't the norm - but they aren't an endangered species either.

[AGDee]

Even if the emphasis isn't on those four(ish) years as a collegian, the collegiate experience is significantly different than the alumnae experience.

[GeekyPenguin]

I have a former student at a CC considering rushing at Wisconsin and it's going to be interesting to see her experience. She has fabulous grades and is great, but if a chapter has to choose between her and an equally great freshman....

[carnation]

Originally Posted by GeekyPenguin

I have a former student at a CC considering rushing at Wisconsin and it's going to be interesting to see her experience. She has fabulous grades and is great, but if a chapter has to choose between her and an equally great freshman....

I have a couple of rec girls who did dual enrollment their senior year and got enough hours through that to be sophomores, although they just graduated from high school 2 weeks ago. I'd love for them to be my sisters but fear that their sophomore status will hurt them. All I could do is write a strong rec highlighting their grades and dual enrollment and pray hard.

And that's why I love upperclassmen quotas.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by GeekyPenguin

I have a former student at a CC considering rushing at Wisconsin and it's going to be interesting to see her experience. She has fabulous grades and is great, but if a chapter has to choose between her and an equally great freshman....

Doth my eyes deceive me? Where the heck have you been? Lawyering somewhere I suppose!

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Yes. Everyone keeps saying SEC, but it's beyond that...most of the Big 10, if I'm not mistaken? At U of I, you can get a bid to a top house as a sophomore, but as a junior...not so much..

That's generally been my observations at both Minnesota and Wisconsin. I would think the other Big 10 schools are the same.

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Doth my eyes deceive me? Where the heck have you been? Lawyering somewhere I suppose!

Lawyering and teaching at a CC.

[Barbie's_Rush]

Chapters that have huge expensive landlocked houses to maintain and fill have to have different selection criteria. You can be much more open minded when you are an unhoused chapter or one with a small house/lodge.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by Barbie's_Rush

Chapters that have huge expensive landlocked houses to maintain and fill have to have different selection criteria. You can be much more open minded when you are an unhoused chapter or one with a small house/lodge.

This is why my initial thinking was something along the lines of pledging women the semester before they transfer, and having them move in when they arrived in the fall.

[AOEforme]

Originally Posted by GeekyPenguin

That's generally been my observations at both Minnesota and Wisconsin. I would think the other Big 10 schools are the same.

I concur. Being a sophomore will not place you at a huge disadvantage, but a junior is a totally different story. I'm not saying there is no chance, but it is much smaller and your choice of groups is likely more limited.

[AXOmom]

Okay, not to sound like a computer idiot, but I am - how the freakin' a do you do the quote boxes? Thought I had it figured out, but yeah, clearly not.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by AXOmom

Okay, not to sound like a computer idiot, but I am - how the freakin' a do you do the quote boxes? Thought I had it figured out, but yeah, clearly not.

If you're editing the quote box you need to put </quote> at the end except instead of < and > you need square brackets [,]

[AXOmom]

Ahh - yep, definately didn't do that. Thank you!