University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign Recruitment - Page 3

Clara Mom · #1 09-09-2011, 03:22 AM

Thank you all for the good wishes! I just woke up with a pressing question (see, I REALLY am wound up about this!). The first round of parties is this weekend - Open House and First Invitational. After the First Invitational round, when the girls rank their top 7 choices, will they get their invites back at the end of the weekend, or will they have to be on pins and needless until next Saturday? Okay, the question really is, will I have to be on pins and needles?

I swear, I really am NOT a helicopter mom ...

DubaiSis · #2 09-09-2011, 03:24 AM

Sadly, they have to wait.

I think you and scrapkat can commiserate. She just went through this with her daughter at Iowa and had a lot of questions and a LOT of concerns that she was the heli-Mom with the rainbow pooping snowflake. I look forward to hearing your stories! Just make sure you don't talk bad about any chapters and keep your daughter completely anonymous.

Clara Mom · #3 09-09-2011, 03:27 AM

Thanks, DubaiSis. I hope I will be able to get through the week!

DeltaBetaBaby · #4 09-09-2011, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

Sadly, they have to wait.

I think you and scrapkat can commiserate. She just went through this with her daughter at Iowa and had a lot of questions and a LOT of concerns that she was the heli-Mom with the rainbow pooping snowflake. I look forward to hearing your stories! Just make sure you don't talk bad about any chapters and keep your daughter completely anonymous.

Yes, you have to wait for the party lists, but I'm pretty sure that, if a woman is released entirely, she is notified sooner than that.

FSUZeta · #5 09-09-2011, 12:43 PM

i got a book when i pledged that my bid day buddy had made(all the pledges got one) that had the address, phone #, what sisters were in what room, lunch and dinner times-just general information.

there were also tips for pledges: " A Zeta lady does not smoke, chew gum,eat or drink while walking across campus(or anywhere else)." "Zetas are not allowed to be barefoot downstairs." "When on phone duty, answer the phone as follows,"Good morning(afternoon, evening). You've reached Zeta Tau Alpha. How may I direct your call?" "The actives appreciate it when a pledge asks if she may take their lunch plate into the kitchen."

There was also the no drinking in letters. Pledges should come up the front sidewalk to the house-the side sidewalk is for initiated sisters.

The glitter has all fallen off and the construction paper cover has faded so badly, but I still have(and cherish) my little book after all these years.

Clara Mom · #6 09-09-2011, 11:13 PM

The Formal Recruitment Orientation at Illinois was last night, and today the Panhellenic Council posted the 2011 Recruitment Booklet. I didn't get a chance to talk to my daughter about the orientation - it turns out one of her good friends from high school who is at UIUC had an emergency tonsillectomy this week, and that's all she wanted to talk about before she said, "Oh, I'm really busy with school work. I gotta go!" I talked to her earlier today, briefly between classes, and she was looking forward to recruitment tonight. She is supposed to call me when they are done, so I will be up until at least midnight, I'm sure!

Anyway, here is the link for the Booklet if you are interested:

http://www.illinoisphc.com/#_p.Recru...ment%20Booklet

AZ-AlphaXi · #7 09-09-2011, 11:54 PM

thank you for posting the link to the recruitment booklet. The page of advice for preference was very clear and good information well stated.

DG Illinois · #8 09-10-2011, 12:04 AM

Yeah...an Illinois thread! I have a close friend's daughter going through right now and I am so excited as well! The Greek system there is amazing and I truly mean it when I say all of the houses are great! Both of my parent were in the Greek system and they loved it as well. Most important is to keep a very open mind. I felt like I loved different things about each one and they all have something special and unique about them. I am so looking forward to hearing how your daughter enjoys herself and if she keeps a very open mind I truly believe she will enjoy the process more. I always tell myself that I'm not nervous, I'm excited and sometimes those 2 feel very similar.

scrapcat · #9 09-10-2011, 12:32 AM

Ah yes so the stress begins! I tried to remain neutral throughout my daughters recruitment but it is sooo hard especially when they tell every detail! I just felt like a pressure cooker for the entire two weeks! Iowa divides recruitment over two weekends, I believe it is to torture everyone involved! I just kept teilling my daughter "don't fall in love with one house" but they always do....

To quote Kevin Bacon in Animal House "remain calm, all is well"

DubaiSis · #10 09-10-2011, 01:32 AM

You can blame Illinois for Iowa's change. Illinois has a very successful, very well-done recruitment with limited drop-outs, so when Iowa needed a big change, they started following their method.

Those statistics speak volumes. The part I'm surprised about is there isn't an instant blip of girls getting cut for grades. Maybe they aren't allowed to register if they don't meet at least some chapters' minimum GPA.

DG Illinois · #11 09-10-2011, 03:09 AM

Illinois is an extremely competitive school that is very hard to get into. Any freshman that is rushing will already have higher GPA than the sorority minimum.
I can only speak for my sorority there, but we never really talked grades because it seemed like everyone had a 3.5 or higher. The young lady I wrote a rec for has a 4.2 on a 4.0. The grade cuts happened with sophomore or juniors, but in 4 years I was there we never had to let go of a freshman because of grades.

Clara Mom · #12 09-10-2011, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DG Illinois

Illinois is an extremely competitive school that is very hard to get into. Any freshman that is rushing will already have higher GPA than the sorority minimum.

Ain't that the truth! Having a perfect 4.0 is more the norm than the exception. All the NPMs at Illinois are smart and accomplished, otherwise they wouldn't be there. That's why I am so nervous ... err, excited. If my daughter isn't invited back to whatever house for whatever reason, I'm afraid, to her, it will feel like a very personal rejection. And we all hate for our daughters to feel that!

Hopefully, my daughter can keep the great attitude she has right now through the whole process, once the cuts start. I, on the other hand, will continue to be totally wound up ...

DubaiSis · #13 09-10-2011, 04:00 AM

That was not usually the excuse given by the VAST number of Chicago people at Iowa, but I figured that was why a lot of them were there (a few would be honest though). That, and it cost less to go out of state to Iowa than to stay in state at U of I for not much of a travel time savings.

DeltaBetaBaby · #14 09-10-2011, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

That was not usually the excuse given by the VAST number of Chicago people at Iowa, but I figured that was why a lot of them were there (a few would be honest though). That, and it cost less to go out of state to Iowa than to stay in state at U of I for not much of a travel time savings.

I'm going to get into trouble for this, but the same is true for Indiana and Wisconsin, as well. For a large number of popular programs, their standards aren't as high as Illinois. It's gotten worse over the years as Illinois has really stopped giving preference to in-state students when it comes to admissions.

Anyway, besides having a bunch of freshmen with excellent grades, it's almost silly to try to judge anyone on a high school GPA. The Chicago area contains some of the top high schools in the country, and you can't compare a GPA at New Trier to a GPA at Strawn High. Not to mention that some schools do GPA's out of 5 points or 6 points or whatever, so the number you are looking at is, pretty much, nonsense.

If you really want to judge someone on academics, probably the best bet would be to ferret out the girls who came in through the back door (i.e. a major with lower standards) and who plan to switch in a year or two.

All that said, though, typically, EVERY NPC GROUP has a higher GPA than the all-women's GPA. When even the lowest sorority GPA beats the all-women's, you can see that it's just not something to worry about.

DG Illinois · #15 09-10-2011, 11:33 AM

Another reason I'm happy my daughter is only 12 right now

! It's normal to feel this way and one important thing to remember is that in 2 days the members are meeting over 1,200 girls. I can only speak for my house, but we were not allowed to say anything negative at any time during discussions. I remember how personal it felt getting my invite card back, but when I was on the other side it never seemed personal and I worry that some girls forget how many girls we are meeting the first 2 days. From reading here it seems like some schools have a much harder recruitment, but ours always seemed very friendly and not as cut throat. From my experience, the girls who kept their hearts open and did not drop out received a bid.
I cannot promise that or have actual knowledge, but what I recall is the girls that were upset were the ones who dropped out believing the sororites remaining on their bid card were not good enough for them.
My mom's bid card had her #2 sorority on it and she told me she felt really sad that day but in the end it was exactly where she belonged. My mom and I were in 2 different houses and both my sisters were in different houses as well, so when people say there are a lot of houses to love they are not kidding. Please feel free to pm me anytime!