Georgia Recruitment

[hollywin]

Thank you so much for your honest answers.
My daughter went through UGA rush in the fall and ended up dropping out, so she did not qualify for a snap bid.

I was in a sorority at UGA, I am so amazed at how things have changed. Legacies were so important in my day. After all if it were not for them the chapter would not be where they are today.

Recomendations were also important. We looked at each one. My daughter had at one house 3 recs and a sister rec and was still not invited to a Spring rush party !!
Courtesy was a huge part of my sorority in my day. How sad that times have changed.

The decision to participate in next years rush is up to her. I will not either encourage or discourage. She can make her own decision. She has a wonderful GPA and so many UGA activities. I am so proud of her.

[SWTXBelle]

If she dropped out, I have to assume it was because she did not get invited back to the houses she wanted. Numerous recruitment threads point to the fact that if you can keep an open mind and look again at houses you perhaps wouldn't have considered at first, you may in fact find your home. If she dropped out, that means she rejected some chapters - they didn't reject her. Of course that is her right, but I think it important to point out that her not getting a bid is because she chose to opt out of the system. That may have hurt her in terms of spring recruitment.
I was dropped by my legacy chapter during rush (after bursting into tears at a party after finding out my aunt had died of breast cancer) which I had gone into rush assuming I would pledge, but I figured out that I would rather be with a group that really wanted and loved me rather than one that took me because I was a legacy. I'm not being critical - I just want to give a different perspective.
I'm glad she has been active on campus, and hope she is happy no matter what course of action she decides to pursue.

[hollywin]

She dropped out because she was only invited back to one house that she knew would probably not give her a bid. Religious reasons we assume.

She had recs at almost every house.

We are from out of state. She had a 4x legacy at one house and was dropped from many because they assumed she would pledge there.

The irony was that she was not interested at this house and they dropped her after 2nd round. The legacies were all from UGA !!

She was caught up in the system !!

I saw that highschools in GA. are already receiving information from UGA on rush. This gives the out of state girls such an unfair advantage. My daughter went to a great school (Charlotte Catholic Highschool), but there are almost no one from this school at UGA.

She is proud to be there from her parents legacy. She is now a Bulldog in her own right with or without a sorority.

[SWTXBelle]

I know that in Texas some high schools are practically feeders to certain chapters. It's tough for small private schools, like the one at which I taught in Houston.
I am so sorry your daughter got caught up in the cut-throat nature of rush at UGA - I'd love to hear that she found a home in a sorority there, but it sounds like she has a great attitude even if she doesn't.
And I'm with you as far as treatment of legacies - I'm always astounded when chapters seemingly fail to consider it. I have known of legacies being dropped for just the reason you state - it was assumed they would pledge their legacy house, when in fact they were not interested in it.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by hollywin

She dropped out because she was only invited back to one house that she knew would probably not give her a bid. Religious reasons we assume.

If they invited her back, it is very doubtful that they wouldn't bid her for religious reasons.

[UGAalum94]

Hollywin,

I'm sorry that your daughter's experience has been so bad.

I just wanted to note that I'm not sure your information about high schools in Georgia receiving recruitment information is actually correct.

It's possible that some do through their local alumnae panhellenics which could sponsor recruitment information sessions in any state, but I don't think the high school where I teach gets anything from UGA about recruitment, and if they do, they don't promote it. *

Anything that might come from the school probably goes directly from UGA to the admitted students through email or letter, I would guess, and goes to out of state girls as well.

Certainly, informally in-state hometown girls get information from from other UGA students from their hometowns, but this is probably the case at 90% of the colleges with Greek life. And I think it's the case that having hometown people pulling for you in the groups is an advantage, but it's an advantage that not even the in state girls have at all the chapters. Of 17 groups, the girls from the high school where I teach can be found in only five of them, I'm pretty sure. It's a difficult recruitment no matter where you are from.

I agree with you that it's a shame legacies get cut/ have to get cut. As you probably know though, UGA's Chi Omega chapter has more than a pledge classes worth of legacies going through in any given year. (Certainly, they aren't all 4 time legacies from the UGA chapter though.)And again, I'm sorry that your daughter hasn't found a home yet in the Greek system.

ETA: * I really don't think they get anything, but if they did, I really doubt the official word from Greek Life would really give a girl much of an advantage.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

I agree with you that it's a shame legacies get cut/ have to get cut. As you probably know though, UGA's Chi Omega chapter has more than a pledge classes worth of legacies going through in any given year. (Certainly, they aren't all 4 time legacies from the UGA chapter though).

Wow. I'm sure they're all great and all their moms would love for them to be Chi Omegas, but it's just not possible. There was a sorority at my school that could fill over half of quota (which was only like 15) with legacies. So they naturally had to release some of them. PNM's and their families would be really upset over it, and it caused the chapter alot of stress.

The reality of it is that the chapters realistically cannot pledge them all, and I think parents should be cognizant of that fact. The chapters need to make room for others that may not have that legacy tie but would still make great sisters.

[dgdramadawg]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Certainly, informally in-state hometown girls get information from from other UGA students from their hometowns, but this is probably the case at 90% of the colleges with Greek life. And I think it's the case that having hometown people pulling for you in the groups is an advantage, but it's an advantage that not even the in state girls have at all the chapters. Of 17 groups, the girls from the high school where I teach can be found in only five of them, I'm pretty sure. It's a difficult recruitment no matter where you are from.

They also get information from adults. The standard question for many UGA alumnae in my area when a girl says she is going to UGA is "Are you rushing?" As they start to get acceptances, they start to compile rush advice and information. Think about it this way: I can think of women from 6 separate chapters in my department alone. Girls from the school at which I teach most certainly gain an advantage if they have us to give advice/recs. A girl from out of state might not have so many alumnae at her fingertips... and alumnae from out of state might not ask "Are you rushing?" the moment a girl states her college choice.

*Note: I know of a few high schools that have lists of alumnae who are willing to find/write recs for graduated seniors. I'd imagine that would be a very valuable resource, too.

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

UGA GCers, how likely is it that the sororities will remember that someone is a 4x legacy to a chapter? Do UGA sorority members tend to remember PNMs that re-rush in general?

It depends on the PNM. If we really liked her and she cut us, we'd have remembered her. If she was poorly behaved in a memorable way, we'd have remembered her. But otherwise... it's very hard to remember specific PNMs year to year. Then again, I graduated four years ago in May, so it's probably a different planet now.

[carnation]

A former student's mother told me that her daughter gained early admission to Georgia for next fall. She said, "I think she should wait until sophomore yeare to rush," and I sent the mom this thread with a note that if she wanted her child to have choices, maybe she shouldn't wait! (Mom isn't Greek and had no idea.)

[IHeartUGA]

Originally Posted by hollywin

She dropped out because she was only invited back to one house that she knew would probably not give her a bid. Religious reasons we assume.

She had recs at almost every house.

We are from out of state. She had a 4x legacy at one house and was dropped from many because they assumed she would pledge there.

The irony was that she was not interested at this house and they dropped her after 2nd round. The legacies were all from UGA !!

She was caught up in the system !!

I saw that highschools in GA. are already receiving information from UGA on rush. This gives the out of state girls such an unfair advantage. My daughter went to a great school (Charlotte Catholic Highschool), but there are almost no one from this school at UGA.

She is proud to be there from her parents legacy. She is now a Bulldog in her own right with or without a sorority.

I can probably name 10 girls in my chapter that went to that school or another private school in Charlotte. We get numerous Charlotte girls each year. I'm sorry rush didn't work out for her!

[hollywin]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

If she dropped out, I have to assume it was because she did not get invited back to the houses she wanted. Numerous recruitment threads point to the fact that if you can keep an open mind and look again at houses you perhaps wouldn't have considered at first, you may in fact find your home. If she dropped out, that means she rejected some chapters - they didn't reject her. Of course that is her right, but I think it important to point out that her not getting a bid is because she chose to opt out of the system. That may have hurt her in terms of spring recruitment.
I was dropped by my legacy chapter during rush (after bursting into tears at a party after finding out my aunt had died of breast cancer) which I had gone into rush assuming I would pledge, but I figured out that I would rather be with a group that really wanted and loved me rather than one that took me because I was a legacy. I'm not being critical - I just want to give a different perspective.
I'm glad she has been active on campus, and hope she is happy no matter what course of action she decides to pursue.

My daughter only had one invite back when she dropped out. She did not want to pledge a sorority that she did not feel comfortable in just to be in one. After round 1 she only had 3 invites back and after round 2 only 1. I really think she made a wise decision to drop out.
Yes she was cut by my sorority and I understand that they can in no way extend invites to all legacies as that would be impossible. Unfortunately being a 4X UGA legacy to this UGA chapter closed many doors for her at other sororities. When they have to make huge cuts after round one it is understandable that seeing her rec with such a legacy she would be an easy cut.

If she does go through again in the Fall should she not list her legacies ? Any thoughts..

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by hollywin

If she does go through again in the Fall should she not list her legacies ? Any thoughts..

If she is remembered from last year, I doubt not listing them will change much. UGA GCers, how likely is it that the sororities will remember that someone is a 4x legacy to a chapter? Do UGA sorority members tend to remember PNMs that re-rush in general?

[SWTXBelle]

We've discussed just this topic before - I can't find the thread - about whether or not you should list legacies. I think there was a feeling that the thing to do is NOT list your legacies on the general panhellenic forms, but of course DO let the legacy chapters know (via legacy introductions/recs). We always LOVED to poach legacies - but our system is not that competitive (nothing like UGA!)
I'd be really impressed if, given the number of pnms going through the system, any of the houses really remembered her and her legacies. It's tough enough to remember the girls as they are going through rush!

[carnation]

What I can't figure out...I've known several moms who send their daughters into competitive recruitments, planning that their daughters will pledge their legacy chapter and ignoring warnings of those in the know who tell them that if it's so important that their daughters be an ABC, they'd better try to rush at a smaller college. We've seen moms go ballistic when their daughters were cut by their highly competitive legacy chapters (those with maybe 4 times the number of legacies that they can pledge) when the daughter could have easily pledged the so-important legacy chapter at a smaller university.

And yes, I know that the important thing is the daughter's education but let's suppose she's going to be an education major, which most universities seem to offer. If it's so important that the girl be an ABC, what's the difference between her going to Huge U with 30,000 students and Smaller U with 15000?

There's a mom a town over who sent her younger daughter to a huge university, planning that she would join ABC since mom and older sister had done so at other schools. Younger daughter was cut right off by her legacy group. We have not heard the end of this from Mom for 4 years.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by carnation

And yes, I know that the important thing is the daughter's education but let's suppose she's going to be an education major, which most universities seem to offer. If it's so important that the girl be an ABC, what's the difference between her going to Huge U with 30,000 students and Smaller U with 15000?

I see what you're saying here. I think alot of the issue with moms "ignoring the warnings" is that some moms don't just want their little girl to be an ABC, they want her to be an ABC at THEIR school. It is more important for her to be a Big Southern State U ABC than it is for her to be an ABC at all. They want their daughter to have the same experiences as they had as a member of that chapter.

For example, my friend is a Chi Omega legacy. She could've gone to school here in OH and pledged Chi O at any one of them. But her mom is an SEC school Chi O alumna and insisted that her daughter go to THAT school and be a Chi Omega.