Rush at UofA - Page 4

Zillini · #1 04-30-2008, 12:39 PM

My apologies on getting a bit confused. We are indeed talking about 2 seperate types of events.

breathesgelatin · #2 04-30-2008, 03:27 PM

Some of the gifts I've heard of people getting are insane, too. As in, coach day planners in the sorority's colors and things like that.

bamagirl09 · #3 05-01-2008, 03:00 PM

All of this talk is laughable at best. The sixteen year old is probably someone's sister. I would say that maybe 1-2% of girls are recruited as juniors and 85% of those most likely have an in-house (biological) sister. The biggest gifts given this year were koozies and the chapter that gave those out was told not to do that anymore. Yes dirty rushing happens, but a lot of what has been said on this thread is about as true as Phi Mu's checking your calf muscles...

SigKapSweetie · #4 05-01-2008, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bamagirl09

a lot of what has been said on this thread is about as true as Phi Mu's checking your calf muscles...

Checking them for what?

clairedelune · #5 05-08-2008, 05:37 PM

Hi everyone, thanks for the advice, I guess I'll have to work out my calf muscles before rush??

I have another question, the only orientation I can attend is on philanthropy day. What time during the day are the recruitment activities? I'm assuming it's an all-day thing, and if I have to I can skip orientation because I really only need to register for classes. Also, what do you do if you can't come for a day during rush?

gee_ess · #6 05-08-2008, 06:05 PM

Contact the orientation people and let them know about your conflict. If they can't help, then call the Greek office and tell them. The Greek office will probably work to reschedule your orientation since they know you cannot miss a day of rush. If neither office is overjoyed to help, call the orientation people every other day until they tell you there has been a cancellation that you can fill. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Sidenote: If you don't register until August, your choice of classes is going to be severely limited.

Zillini · #7 05-08-2008, 06:05 PM

To my knowledge the recruitment schedule for party times has not been finally approved by Panhellenic yet. Typcally they start around 9am and end no later than 6:30pm. The later rounds usually start a little later, but end around the same time.

If a PNM must miss one or more parties you must inform Panhellenic. They will regularly update each chapter with an absentee list. Make sure you tell them why so they can pass that along too. There is no set Panhellenic policy on how to treat absentee PMNs. It is left up to each chapter to decide how to handle them.

Now for my personal 2 cents. With a recruitment this competitive, a PNM better have a darned good reason for missing a party/round. I'm talking about something that is unavoidable, unable to be rescheduled or scheduled for another date/time, and incredibly important. Even though the party times aren't yet set in stone yet, they are always roughly the same every year. The dates have been announced since early spring. This allows PNMs, and chapter members for that matter, plenty of time to arrange their schedules to attend.

clairedelune · #8 05-08-2008, 09:50 PM

Well I hope my excuse is valid, lol. I'm coming with my parents from Orlando and it really is stupid to fly over for a day for orientation in July, then drive back in August for move-in week/Rush. So, we'll make one trip and arrive the 10th, the day before rush week starts. The 14th is the only orientation day in August, so it cuts right into recruitment, but logistically, it makes wayy more sense.

Basically, I only need to be at orientation to register for classes. I'm going Honors so the classes can't be totally horrid, and I'm coming in knowing exactly what I want to take for each semester and I'm not picky about class times.

I am aware that when you only get to meet with the girls for a few minutes a day, missing one day is a big deal. I'm thinking that if I just go to register and come back for recruitment it shouldn't interfere or that hopefully I won't miss anything? When do activities on philanthropy usually start?

KSUViolet06 · #9 05-08-2008, 11:22 PM

At a school like Bama, I'm going to guess that the parties start early and go all day. Zillini posted above that parties are typically from about 9:00am-6:30pm.

violetpretty · #10 05-09-2008, 12:52 AM

Is there any way you could register online? Maybe you could see your academic advisor and tell him/her what you plan to take (assuming those classes are open and everything fits) and you could just register yourself when you get to Tuscaloosa (or maybe before when you're still at home)?

If you can afford/are free that weekend to go to orientation in July, I would go. Orientation is fun! You meet so many people, become acquainted with the campus and its amenities and facilities, and of course, register for classes. Do you not spend the night? I thought orientation would be boring and stupid and pointless so I put off registering for it, but I had a great time at my orientation!

I'd call Panhellenic and your academic advisor about this and see if something can be resolved. I would not recommend missing any part of recruitment if you can avoid it. Your philanthropy round chapters can't guarantee you an invite (it would be unfair to the other PNMs), but there's no guarantee you'll be cut (unless Panhellenic considers it unexcused).

bamagirl09 · #11 05-09-2008, 01:02 AM

Unless things have changed since...oh, last week...orientation is 2 days. The orientation people are NOT lenient (sp?) about missing any parts of the day for recruitment. They have actually been annoyingly strict about it in the past...You may just have to bite the bullet and come during June or July or be ready to have fairly heavy cuts during BOTH philanthropy days because you will most likely be missing parties on both days...

Zillini · #12 05-09-2008, 08:47 AM

As stated above, not registering until Aug will severely limit the choice of classes available even being in the Honors program. Classes fill up quickly and there are simply no other ones to choose from. This could have long term consequences for your major if you are not able to get into some of the pre-req classes you need.

For Recruitment, missing parties/rounds is a decision a PNM must make for herself, but should do so with a realistic understanding of the consequences. It is a huge risk. Since there are many other Orientation dates available, questions will be asked why a PNM decided to knowingly wait until the last one that falls in the middle of recruitment. Questions like how committed is a PNM to joining a sorority and to her education because she waited until the last Orientation to register?

Also keep in mind that chapters are only allowed to invite a certain number back. The competition amongst PNMs and the actives pulling for their favorites becomes more intense with each round. Not attending could be viewed as an easy/automatic cut if no one knows the PNM well enough to fight for her. Chapters will ask themselves why should we take a chance giving one of our limited invitations to Skit Day/3rd round to a relatively unknown PNM when there are sooooo many others we know better and have just as strong resumes? It might not result in being completely dropped out of recruitment, but the options will be limited.

FSUZeta · #13 05-09-2008, 09:32 AM

i personally know girls at other schools(fsu, uf, georgia,samford, auburn and even fl. gulf coast u.) who had to miss a day of recruitment and that had devastating results on their recruitment outcome. they all had legitimate reasons for missing(orientation for a special program they were participating in at school that was only held on that day, illness, etc.) . each pnm was cute, sweet, well thought of in her town and at her former h.s., a good student with a lot to offer and each had recs. each girl notified panhellenic which in turn notified each chapter, so that everyone was aware of the reason for the absence. it didn't matter, and you really can't blame the sororities. each day they have to eliminate a few more pnms from their invitation lists, so an absence(no matter the reason) is an easy eliminator.

it really comes down to the fact that you need to be present in order to get to know the members and for them to get to know you. don't handicap yourself by scheduling your orientation during recruitment.

you can fly direct from orlando to birmingham on southwest, which usually has pretty good prices. it takes about an hour to get from birmingham to tuscaloosa. if you are have a summer job and are worried about asking for time off, most employers understand that a new student has to attend their orientation and as long as you give them ample notice(at least 2 weeks, but more is better), won't have a problem with you being gone a few days.

trust us-we know of what we speak!

violetpretty · #14 05-09-2008, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zillini

Also keep in mind that chapters are only allowed to invite a certain number back. The competition amongst PNMs and the actives pulling for their favorites becomes more intense with each round. Not attending could be viewed as an easy/automatic cut if no one knows the PNM well enough to fight for her. Chapters will ask themselves why should we take a chance giving one of our limited invitations to Skit Day/3rd round to a relatively unknown PNM when there are sooooo many others we know better and have just as strong resumes? It might not result in being completely dropped out of recruitment, but the options will be limited.

Last year, I actually had a girl in my Rho Gam group who missed round 3. She got 9 of her top 10 for round 2 and 5 of her top 6 for round 3, which figures because she would be a good fit almost anywhere. All 6 for round 3 were very desirable, strong chapters. She only got one preference invite, to a strong chapter, but she did have someone who really wanted her to join in that chapter. Fortunately for her, it was her favorite, she went to their pref, ranked them, and got a bid.

HOWEVER, do not bank on being that lucky. If you don't have people fighting for you (which I will assume not since you said you don't know anyone there), even with a girl that would otherwise be desirable to almost any chapter, and especially at a school as competitive as Bama, it could be a death sentence to miss a round.

SigKapSweetie · #15 05-09-2008, 12:08 PM

Even putting aside the issue of recruitment (which is hard to do at Bama!), registering so late for classes will screw you, regardless of being in the Honors program. If there are even any sections left of the classes you need/want, they will be the sections no one else wanted to take. Do you really want to be stuck in a Friday night calculus class all semester? Register as early as you possibly can. It's not like you live in Alaska and truly can't make the trip.