"You'll end up where you were meant to"... - Page 7

KSigkid · #1 01-27-2003, 08:17 PM

WPI Sweetie:

Check your PM inbox, I just sent you one

UGAnchora · #2 01-27-2003, 10:08 PM

I've noticed a lot of people talking about rushing at SEC Schools. A lot of people on here are from the North and some aren't even sure what the SEC is! So I decided to share my Rush experience from this fall at UGA, which is a big-time SEC school(hello...CHAMPS!

).

I wasn't the homecoming queen or the most popular girl at my high school in a large town/small city in NW Georgia. But I was a cheerleader, captain in fact, in the marching and symphonic bands; had a 3.8 GPA, National Honor Society, school PR groups, Newspaper Editor, yada yada yada. You get the picture.

I applied to UGA and was accepted in December. It took me a while to make my choice between UGA and Auburn, due to the fact I've always wanted to be an Aerospace Engineer. But that lovely HOPE scholarship brought me here....and I couldn't be happier!

Anyways, on to Rush. I wasn't totally sure I wanted to join a sorority, but I decided to give Rush a try at my older cousin's encouragment. I figured, what the heck, at least I can meet people.

I went in with quite a few Recs, thanks to my cousin. I'm also a double legacy in KD and AChiO, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Tri Delta.

Now I should tell you that somewhere between 1200-1300 girls participated in the Fall 2002 Rush.

Round One- Lasted 2 days, since UGA has 18 sororities. We went to 12 on the first day, each for about 20 minutes with 15 minute breaks between each. We would go to each house in large groups. The President and VP Recruitment would introduce themselves and then invite us in. All of the sisters would be there, singing songs and chants. after a few(loud) minutes, a sister would take 1 or 2 of us and ask us very generic questions- where are you from, major, dorm, here's the kicker- "Are you enjoying Rush"(Whatever!!). You get the idea. THen they did the "I want to introduce you to my sisters!" and proceeded to herd us around the room, introducing us to people. At some houses, I felt like I was a piece of cattle, being shoved and herded. It was a big whirl wind.

At the end of the 2nd day of round one, we ranked the sororities. TO be honest, I had a hard time keeping things straight.A lot of girls were super serious about it- they made page-long entries about each house in little notebooks between parties. But a few stuck out in my mind.

I'm just going by memory here...but my first choice was AGD, then KD, ADPi, and DG , Phi Mu, and Theta were way up there too. Then I just listed the others, making sure to put my least favorites at the end.

Round 2- We recieved the cards saying who invited us back, out of 18, only 6 invited me back. I was hurt at first that KD cut me, as well as ADpi, and Phi Mu, out of the 6 that were on there, 4 were some I really loved- AGD, DG, Theta, and A Chi O. The others were a Jewish sorority(I'm a Southern Baptist) and D Phi E.

Round 2 was house tours. At each house a sister took you through, showing you the founders room, chapter room, and the bed rooms. I was in LOVE with the AGD house. I don't know if anyone here has ever seen it, it is a picture-perfect Southern Mansion. AGD was my first choice that day in rankings.

Round 3- Skits. Theta and A Chi O cut me. I didn't really mind, because I wasn't too sure I'd fit in there. My cousin, who was also going through rush, thought it was weird that all the sororities we were legacies in cut me(She had a full list of invitations back every day). So I had basically narrowed my choice down to AGD, although DG was a great place and I loved it.

Prefs- Cut only by SDT, the Jewish sorority, for obvious reasons. I attended Prefs at DPhiE, AGD, and DG. After the AGD pref, I thought I had my mind made up. Then I went to DG and felt so welcome and comfortable, that when filling out my Bid card, I changed my mind at the last minute and Ranked DG #1, and AGD #2, not even ranking D Phi E because I wasn't interested in joining. The girl I talked to was sweet as can be, but it just wasn't for me.

So of course on Bid Day, I recieved and accepted a Bid from DG and I'm so happy I did so.

Rush at an SEC school is highly competitive. Girls were crying, dropping out, everything. In the end though, I think the majority were happy. I know a few who de-pledged after a few weeks though.

Sorry so long....

houstonchica · #3 01-28-2003, 01:11 AM

Good for you UGAnchora!! I'm so glad you found your home at UGA. I work at the university and have met some of your sisters when they came into my office. They were great girls! I also know your housemother quite well...GO DAWGS!

Angels&Arrows · #4 01-28-2003, 09:44 AM

UGAnchora,

Thank you for sharing your experience. I too am shocked that you were dropped during the first invitational round from several legacy chapters. I am sure it has something to do with the number of PNMs participating in recruitment. Where did your cousin pledge? Maybe she would like to come tell her story!

A&As

aopinthesky · #5 01-28-2003, 03:59 PM

Carnation,
I have given this some thought since you bumped this post, and it worries me when a PNM is posting a rush story and people say (in addition to "you'll end up where you belong") "I know any chapter would be happy to have you in their sisterhood" or "you would make an awesome sister of XXX", or anything along those lines. Unless you know the PNM personally, you don't really know if they would make an awesome sister or not. Some of the PNM's don't look at it that way, though, and they think you know something they don't. I think we just need to be careful all the way around in giving false hope to PNM's, who don't have the experience to take it with a grain of salt. Just my .02 cents.

carnation · #6 01-28-2003, 04:04 PM

Oh, absolutely! That's why Pnguintrax posted that permanent thread about touting our organizations during recruitment. I know as a PNM, I might have believed that the actives and alums on GC had an inside track. You're right on the money there!

XOMichelle · #7 01-28-2003, 07:50 PM

And even though I feel bad for girls who don't get bids from places they want to be, sometimes they haven't the foggiest idea what that organization is about when they do rush. I know I had no idea what chapters had specific problems until my friend became Panhel prez.

You know, it would be wonderful if we all had perfect chapters, there are problems everywhere!!! And we count on new people to come in, love their pledge semester and take positions to keep the chapter running.

-M

ZTAMich · #8 01-28-2003, 09:39 PM

I keep re-reading this thread this week as Formal R. starts at my school this week. It def. has me watching what I say to PNM's who are nervous or torn between two orgs.

As far as my own personal "story" I wasn't invited back to any pref. ceremonies by the 3 orgs I visited on day 2 when I went through Formal R and was REALLY hurt bc I thought I had mad a good showing

BUT I swallowed my pride the following fall and was CROWNed by Zeta *finally* after I almost didn't go back a second time when I didn't get a bid from the first COB event. After all that, a year later I was elected Pres....I suppose tho that I'm a rarity of it "working out"

James · #9 02-01-2003, 10:24 PM

"You'll end up where you were meant to be . . ."

When I read that it sounds either amazingly fatalistic or terifically condscending.

If the relationship was meant to work out it would have or will . . despite what we do . . .

Well gee, if you got cut from every house except the one that no one wants to join, you must be meant to be with them!

Destiny or a perfect match!

I hope no one actually tells people this to reassure them. It would be pretty evil.

carnation · #10 02-01-2003, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by James
"You'll end up where you were meant to be . . ."

Well gee, if you got cut from every house except the one that no one wants to join, you must be meant to be with them!

I hope no one actually tells people this to reassure them. It would be pretty evil.

AND THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO POINT OUT!!!! It's awful when we say that and then some kid ends up with "that" house and her self-esteem is shot to hell because she thinks that if we wise folks on GC (or her counselor) said it, it must be true.

Peaches-n-Cream · #11 02-02-2003, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by carnation
AND THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO POINT OUT!!!! It's awful when we say that and then some kid ends up with "that" house and her self-esteem is shot to hell because she thinks that if we wise folks on GC (or her counselor) said it, it must be true.

What exactly is "that" house?

carnation · #12 02-02-2003, 10:02 PM

The one that James described--"the house no one wants to be in". Okay, y'all, again I am not talking about one of the smaller groups or one that's less visible or isn't full of queens. I'm talking about the house you get on some (not all) campuses that is full of skanks or known for vicious hazing or has so little spirit that they--all at once--have by far the lowest GPA, refuse to enter Greek Week or intramurals, and won't contribute to anyone else's philanthropies with bucks or bodies.

You guys know what I mean--it's the group that the PNMs know after first parties (even if they went into rush with a totally open mind) that they don't want.

And right now I don't know of a group like that on any particular campus but I have seen several in the past.

Peaches-n-Cream · #13 02-02-2003, 10:16 PM

Oh, the skanks. They were pretty popular when I was in school.

Just kidding! lol!

I was afraid "that" meant the smaller, less visible group. Thanks for clarifying.

SmartBlondeGPhB · #14 02-03-2003, 12:06 AM

Well, I do think that in the minds of a rushee "that" house usually does mean the smaller, less visible, and less popular one. I was in one...............

justamom · #15 02-03-2003, 08:21 AM

I think if everyone had read what Carnation has said about problems on her OWN campus not to mention all the things she and others have read on GC over the past few years, you would have a better idea of what she is referring to.

Small does not equal "bad" or anything else in this particular discussion. It's talking about a house that is sorority in name only.
Not EVERY campus has one, but they do exist.

Consider the basis of rush. Most girls going through recruitment have similar experiences, goals, activities and are in a GPA range that varies by a few points. They can turn to any one in their group and have SOMETHING to talk about be it soccer in HS, choir, journalism... but SOMETIMES, no matter WHAT, you have ZERO in common with people and THAT is what I believe Carnation is referring to.

You can have a few houses that describe OTHER houses with negatives or terms that hit a lot of PNMs where it matters. This is a dirty rush tactic. However, when no words need to be spoken as the chapter speaks for itself, PNMs can walk out of a party and know full well, they would be miserable.

When baby girl rushed, there were a couple of houses that SOME
would have spoken less highly of than others. There are NO houses that fall into the category of down right BAD! Would she have fit anywhere? Maybe, on THIS campus, but some would "fit" better than others. I take that back. She would NOT have fit in a high maintenance situation...she's too laid back and doesn't like Prada!