Northern Woman Getting Bids at an SEC School

[KillarneyRose]

BamaDad, your daughter is probably one of the girls on the list that inspired me to start this thread!

Congratulations to her; she's part of a wonderful sisterhood!

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by KillarneyRose

she's part of a wonderful sisterhood!

And you're not the least bit biased, are you??

[KillarneyRose]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

And you're not the least bit biased, are you??

Who, ME?????

[alum]

Now that we have the internet, it may be easier than before to get the scoop on recs, proper dress, etc. If the girls are willing to do the research, a ton of information (and misinformation) is out there. The websites of the nationals of course focus on the wonderful philanthropies that they support while individual chapter websites provide a quick peek into the way the girls look and what they do.

I came from the northeast which was very anti-greek in my area. Nobody's sibs or parents were greek, or if they were, it wasn't discussed. If I had gone to a deep Southern school, I would have been lost and probably cut on Day 1 from everybody because I would not have been able to prepare properly. Then again I would have been lost anyway at a really big school.

The new Alabama DZ is the perfect example of how careful research can help. As related by her dad (with his formidable atty research skills ) they were able to do all the necessary prep work.

[BamaDad]

Kristen is really into DZ. She is a Northern Virginian looking to quickly make friends with her new (mostly) Alabama sisters at a fine Southern University. From all indications everything is working out perfectly. It may be tougher to win a sorority bid in the South, but the rewards offered by a strong Greek system appear to make the effort worthwhile.

One interesting note. My wife's best friend wrote a rec and asked the Bama chapter "not to hold the fact that Kristen was from the Northern Virginia area against her." Not too diplomatic perhaps, but likely founded on perceptions real or not that recruitment challenges for the Northern-born are more difficult.

[NUBlue&Blue]

I know we don't get the publicity that the SEC gets, but there are a lot of the midwestern schools where rush is very competitive....just not so "openly competitive". You know how we are, we don't like to attract attention to ourselves !!

I said this in a different thread that sometimes being from out of state is a big advantage....it's a big feather in your hat to have an out of state girl in your pledge class in some areas where everybody is from the same place. I remember one girl in our house who was from Chicago......oooh aaaah, very cool!

So while sometimes you could be a fish out of water, a lot of times just being different is a good thing. And I do agree that the internet and cable tv has made the world very, very small, so we're really not so different as we used to be.

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

Originally Posted by NUBlue&Blue

I know we don't get the publicity that the SEC gets, but there are a lot of the midwestern schools where rush is very competitive....just not so "openly competitive". You know how we are, we don't like to attract attention to ourselves !!

I said this in a different thread that sometimes being from out of state is a big advantage....it's a big feather in your hat to have an out of state girl in your pledge class in some areas where everybody is from the same place. I remember one girl in our house who was from Chicago......oooh aaaah, very cool!

So while sometimes you could be a fish out of water, a lot of times just being different is a good thing. And I do agree that the internet and cable tv has made the world very, very small, so we're really not so different as we used to be.

And a lot of times it gives you something unique that helps them remember you......(as one of 2 girls from the state of WA when I went through recruitment)

[33girl]

There are lots of transplants in NoVa - I know that our alumnae chapter there is huge, for that reason. It has members from literally across the country (which isn't always the case w/ our alum chapters).

[FloridaTish]

When I was checking out the Alabama pledge list Carnation was kind enough to post the link to

Where was the Alabama Pledge list link that Carnation posted? I would love to see it!

[alum]

Nothern VA is definitely an eclectic place. It seems as if nearly everybody is orginally from someplace else. This isn't terribly surprising considering that the District is just across the river.

I have been a member of several of my sorority's alumnae associations across the country due to GEN Alum's reassignments. As a brand-new 2LT wife 3 weeks after graduation, I joined the Louisville alumnae association. They were the sweetest, most welcoming women. Most had graduated from UK with a couple of IU and Vandy grads as well. KC was like this as well where most of the members hailed from the state flagship schools. Other associations in Boston, Northern VA, and Westchester County, NY had alumnae from many areas.

Each of these alumnae associations has been wonderful in their own way. Whatever group my daughter joins this spring (if she even goes through recruitment at all) will hopefully have a strong alumnae network as I did.

[PenguinTrax]

Originally Posted by FloridaTish

Where was the Alabama Pledge list link that Carnation posted? I would love to see it!

Actually, I posted it and it is in the top-level Recruitment forum.

[Jill1228]

bama dad, i used to live in alexandria, va....MAN HOW I MISS NORTHERN VA

/end hijack

Originally Posted by BamaDad

Kristen is really into DZ. She is a Northern Virginian looking to quickly make friends with her new (mostly) Alabama sisters at a fine Southern University. From all indications everything is working out perfectly. It may be tougher to win a sorority bid in the South, but the rewards offered by a strong Greek system appear to make the effort worthwhile.

One interesting note. My wife's best friend wrote a rec and asked the Bama chapter "not to hold the fact that Kristen was from the Northern Virginia area against her." Not too diplomatic perhaps, but likely founded on perceptions real or not that recruitment challenges for the Northern-born are more difficult.

[NUBlue&Blue]

"Here's something to throw in the mix. The Georgia Hope scholarship has made it harder on GA girls going through Recruitment at Bama and probably elsewhere as well. Chapters have been "burned" by pledging GA girls who: 1) Only attend long enough to get their grades up enough to transfer back home for the free tuition. 2) After a year of paying out of state tuition Mom and Dad tell her they can't afford it or simply don't want to pay it anymore and she must move back home because it's free".

Auburn and Alabama are also not getting the best girls from Georgia, either, because these are the girls that can't get into UGA and it's their back up school. A lot of the girls going to Bama, Missippippi and Auburn from our HS couldn't qualify for HOPE anyway, and may or may not ever get their grades up. But they definitely aren't getting Georgia's top students.

[Elephant Walk]

Phi Delt pledged a guy from Jersey...and he was like a typical Jersey kid. I think he must of had connections because there is no way we would have pledged a guy from the north, furthermore from that state.

[alum]

Isn't it more difficult to get into a state school as an out-of-state (OOS) student vs an instate (ISS) assuming that the national rankings are relatively close? So even if a Georgia girl doesn't get the Hope Scholarship, wouldn't it still be easier and cheaper for her to go to UGa or GaTech vs OOS to Ole Miss/Alabama etc?

North Carolina has it mandated through the state legislature that no more than 15-18% of students at each public university (to include the flagship, Chapel Hill) can be OOS. I think that's great for NC residents. After all, state taxes are partially used to subsidize the public school system. Most of the people in VA wish our commonwealth would legislate the maximum percentage of OOSers at our public colleges and universities, but the politicians in Charlottesville haven't done so.

Originally Posted by NUBlue&Blue

Auburn and Alabama are also not getting the best girls from Georgia, either, because these are the girls that can't get into UGA and it's their back up school. A lot of the girls going to Bama, Missippippi and Auburn from our HS couldn't qualify for HOPE anyway, and may or may not ever get their grades up. But they definitely aren't getting Georgia's top students.