Alabama Recruitment

[LadyLonghorn]

Originally Posted by littleowl33

On the topic of recs and such... I can't say I agree when you say that "ignorance is no excuse". I grew up in the northeast, had never heard of recs and knew no one in an NPC sorority. I assumed Greek Life was like any other extracurricular - if you wanted to join, you just joined. Luckily, I ended up at a school where this is pretty much the case - no recs or legwork required. The groups don't ask for resumes or anything, and really, cuts are based on GPA, personality and any sort of glaring "my reputation precedes me" (positive or negative) situation. I rushed with little to no knowledge of the Greek system and got a group I loved. Lucky me!

But if I had gone to a school with a really intense Greek system, where you're cut immediately if you don't have recs or haven't sent in a resume, body shot, head shot, etc. etc. I would have gotten steamrolled. Honestly, I would have had no clue that things like this even existed. It would never have occurred to me to research it before I got there, just like I wouldn't have researched the application process for joining any other philanthropic or social group - I was focused on what major I would declare, what dorm I was in, stuff like that. I can same the same for 95% of my high school peers. It's just not part of the culture I grew up in, at all. Like the southern girls who were groomed for elite groups at SEC rushes since they were children, I was groomed for "elite" colleges since I was little. Everything is about what college you go to - big names preferred. For the rest of your life, you're introduced as a So-And-So grad, not an XYZ sister. Greek life was never mentioned. If I heard of it, it was just a "fun thing you do in college". Reading this over, I feel like it sounds snobby, and I really don't mean it that way at all. I'm just trying to point out how different it is.

Not to toot my own horn, but going into college I had great extracurriculars, very high GPA and SATs, and since joining Kappa I've been really (perhaps overly) involved and have held a leadership position every year. I would say I've been an asset to my group, and I love my membership. It's kind of saddening and frightening to me that had I rushed at a Greek system that relied so heavily on recs and connections, I would never, ever have had this experience.

I don't mean this as a criticism of the system, just another viewpoint!

And there are some who attend colleges with just as rigorous admissions standards as yours and recruitment about as competitive as the SEC.

[littleowl33]

Originally Posted by LadyLonghorn

And there are some who attend colleges with just as rigorous admissions standards as yours and recruitment about as competitive as the SEC.

I'm not really sure where you're going with this, but I'm not trying to complain or act like I've been put-upon. I'm sure a lot of girls do have it a lot tougher. I'm just offering another perspective based on my experience.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by LadyLonghorn

And there are some who attend colleges with just as rigorous admissions standards as yours and recruitment about as competitive as the SEC.

Which colleges?

I'm interested in hearing because even among "competitive" recruitments at selective schools (I'm thinking Cornell, UPenn, and Stanford), they're still a whole heck of a lot less cutthroat than Bama.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Which colleges?

I'm interested in hearing because even among "competitive" recruitments at selective schools (I'm thinking Cornell, UPenn, and Stanford), they're still a whole heck of a lot less cutthroat than Bama.

Well, Texas for one.

ETA: I think your definition of selective is probably narrower than what we were talking here. I wouldn't argue with your point at any college I'd put in the Ivy-League-or-Similar-Admissions-Freakshow range.

EATA: I don't mean that students at those institutions are freaks. I mean that the admissions criteria and degree of selectivity are freaky.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Well, Texas for one.

ETA: I think your definition of selective is probably narrower than what we were talking here. I wouldn't argue with your point at any college I'd put in the Ivy-League-or-Similar-Admissions-Freakshow range.

EATA: I don't mean that students at those institutions are freaks. I mean that the admissions criteria and degree of selectivity are freaky.

Yeah, Texas is pretty selective for a state school but it's not a Hopkins. It's just about as selective as UF. The post I quoted suggested that there were schools as selective as littleowl's (Hopkins) with cutthroat recruitments like Bama's. The poster kind of threw down the gauntlet.

The closest I can think of is UVa and maybe Michigan.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Yeah, Texas is pretty selective for a state school but it's not a Hopkins. It's just about as selective as UF. The post I quoted suggested that there were schools as selective as littleowl's (Hopkins) with cutthroat recruitments like Bama's. The poster kind of threw down the gauntlet.

The closest I can think of is UVa and maybe Michigan.

Oh, pardon me. I was confused about who the poster whose school we were referring to was. I thought LL was schooling someone from Alabama when I posted.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Oh, pardon me. I was confused about who the poster whose school we were referring to was. I thought LL was schooling someone from Alabama when I posted.

Yeah. Like I said, she kind of threw down the gauntlet, and it ended up being a tall order. Plus, the more selective schools (even in the South) tend to have very diverse Greek systems, which indicates to me at least that the rush isn't as cutthroat.

I am probably the only person here on GC who finds neither the "Southern" rush nor selective college admissions "freaky," and is actually quite accustomed to both.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Yeah. Like I said, she kind of threw down the gauntlet, and it ended up being a tall order. Plus, the more selective schools (even in the South) tend to have very diverse Greek systems, which indicates to me at least that the rush isn't as cutthroat.

I am probably the only person here on GC who finds neither the "Southern" rush nor selective college admissions "freaky," and is actually quite accustomed to both.

You may be.

[littleowl33]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Well, Texas for one.

ETA: I think your definition of selective is probably narrower than what we were talking here. I wouldn't argue with your point at any college I'd put in the Ivy-League-or-Similar-Admissions-Freakshow range.

EATA: I don't mean that students at those institutions are freaks. I mean that the admissions criteria and degree of selectivity are freaky.

And this is how I would feel about an SEC rush! I don't find the selectivity of Ivies and similar schools freaky at all. We're just in different mindsets, which is what I was trying to convey in the first place.

I never said that southern girls don't care about academics or that southern universities aren't academically rigorous. I don't think that's the case. I don't want this thread to turn into a north vs. south or academics vs. greek life type thing because I don't think that's how things are. Unfortunately, I see things going downhill from here.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by littleowl33

And this is how I would feel about an SEC rush! I don't find the selectivity of Ivies and similar schools freaky at all. We're just in different mindsets, which is what I was trying to convey in the first place.

I never said that southern girls don't care about academics or that southern universities aren't academically rigorous. I don't think that's the case. I don't want this thread to turn into a north vs. south or academics vs. greek life type thing because I don't think that's how things are. Unfortunately, I see things going downhill from here.

I'm not interested in a big discussion of regional differences either, but come on, if you look at the percentiles on admissions tests, the data points are way, way out there for the super competitive schools. Think about plotting the average score on a bell curve. There's no way to objectively argue that Ivy admissions are normal.

If more than 90% of the girls who don't drop out of rush get bids at Bama, it's just not comparable.

[littleowl33]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

I'm not interested in a big discussion of regional differences either, but come on, if you look at the percentiles on admissions tests, the data points are way, way out there for the super competitive schools. Think about where the plotting the average score on bell curve. There's no way to objectively argue that Ivy Admissions are normal.

If more than 90% of the girls who don't drop out of rush get bids at Bama, it's just not comparable.

But the reason the Ivies are the Ivies is because they don't take normal students... they take the top students from all across the country. I don't find anything wrong with that - that's the way they work, and that's why they have big name recognition. A high percentage of the girls at Bama won't get into the chapters that get big name recognition, and that's why those groups DO get big name recognition and why membership becomes a status symbol. I would say that scenario is pretty comparable.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by littleowl33

But the reason the Ivies are the Ivies is because they don't take normal students... they take the top students from all across the country. I don't find anything wrong with that - that's the way they work, and that's why they have big name recognition. A high percentage of the girls at Bama won't get into the groups that get big name recognition, and that's why those groups DO get big name recognition and why membership becomes a status symbol.

I don't find anything* wrong with Ivy-level selectivity either, and in that regard, "freak show" was poor word choice. It's hard to make the case that you didn't mean it pejoratively.

It might be worth noting that you've changed your comparison from SEC recruitment generally being "freaky" to being selected for certain elite groups.

*I have problems with a lack of objectivity to how they seem to evaluate merit in some instances. But not with extreme selectivity in itself.