Recs for international students interested in greek life?

[angels&angles]

To start: this is all anecdotal. I did not attend UT or any SEC school. I will not be revealing any membership selection, as that is private. However, during my time as a active, my group pledged 1-2 international students per pledge class. We were generally the only sorority (out of 5 at the time) to do so. About half of the international students we pledged dropped out of the sorority. A few of them I think only rushed because that was campus culture (80% Greek) and really didn't know what they were getting into. The other half were some of the best, coolest, most dedicated sisters we had. I roomed with a girl from Israel who taught herself English in high school by watching Friends. A
She attended every event we had, and had one of the highest GPAs in the chapter. She put me to shame! Personally, I think the other chapters missed out by not pledging international students, but the retention rate was poor enough that they may not have felt it was worth the risk.

I suppose my point, which I seem to have lost, was that you may need to impress on the sororities during rush that you DO know what you're getting into and are going to stick it out. I think putting in enough legwork to secure recs from India will help that a lot. No one can tell you what your chances are, but I think you're going about this the right way.

[Lola96]

Originally Posted by angels&angles

To start: this is all anecdotal. I did not attend UT or any SEC school. I will not be revealing any membership selection, as that is private. However, during my time as a active, my group pledged 1-2 international students per pledge class. We were generally the only sorority (out of 5 at the time) to do so. About half of the international students we pledged dropped out of the sorority. A few of them I think only rushed because that was campus culture (80% Greek) and really didn't know what they were getting into. The other half were some of the best, coolest, most dedicated sisters we had. I roomed with a girl from Israel who taught herself English in high school by watching Friends. A
She attended every event we had, and had one of the highest GPAs in the chapter. She put me to shame! Personally, I think the other chapters missed out by not pledging international students, but the retention rate was poor enough that they may not have felt it was worth the risk.

I suppose my point, which I seem to have lost, was that you may need to impress on the sororities during rush that you DO know what you're getting into and are going to stick it out. I think putting in enough legwork to secure recs from India will help that a lot. No one can tell you what your chances are, but I think you're going about this the right way.

Okay, she learnt english by watching Friends?! :O that is very interesting indeed. So is the retention rate of international student, as you said. I'm glad to hear that some sororities consider internationals though haha thank you so much! xx

[Sciencewoman]

Originally Posted by angels&angles

To start: this is all anecdotal. I did not attend UT or any SEC school. I will not be revealing any membership selection, as that is private. However, during my time as a active, my group pledged 1-2 international students per pledge class. We were generally the only sorority (out of 5 at the time) to do so. About half of the international students we pledged dropped out of the sorority. A few of them I think only rushed because that was campus culture (80% Greek) and really didn't know what they were getting into. The other half were some of the best, coolest, most dedicated sisters we had. I roomed with a girl from Israel who taught herself English in high school by watching Friends. A
She attended every event we had, and had one of the highest GPAs in the chapter. She put me to shame! Personally, I think the other chapters missed out by not pledging international students, but the retention rate was poor enough that they may not have felt it was worth the risk.

My daughter is a current member of the same chapter, and I spent some time reflecting on this issue after recruitment. This school combines 80% GLO membership with highly competitive admissions. Like other highly ranked schools, it attracts international applicants and a diverse applicant pool. Many of the daughters of immigrants and international students on my daughter's floor did not go through recruitment. Of those who did, it struck me that they seemed to make up the majority of those released. I know MS is private, but that is troubling to me. I'll refrain from saying any more.

One of her pledge sisters is from Mongolia. It would have been a real challenge for her to get recs!

[Lola96]

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

My daughter is a current member of the same chapter, and I spent some time reflecting on this issue after recruitment. This school combines 80% GLO membership with highly competitive admissions. Like other highly ranked schools, it attracts international applicants and a diverse applicant pool. Many of the daughters of immigrants and international students on my daughter's floor did not go through recruitment. Of those who did, it struck me that they seemed to make up the majority of those released. I know MS is private, but that is troubling to me. I'll refrain from saying any more.

One of her pledge sisters is from Mongolia. It would have been a real challenge for her to get recs!

Exactly...this is what I read on many of the forums/threads I go on but I also think that the reason they didn't make it through was because of the lack of recs?...I mean, its the only legitimate and fair reason I can think of. Why else would they be released (assuming they do have every requirement)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't GLOs in highly ranked universities with diversity want to have international students in their sororities/frats too? I mean..it just goes on to show multiculturalism as I see it...

Also, What's MS? haha...(not an expert in Greek Life)

[angels&angles]

Originally Posted by Lola96

Exactly...this is what I read on many of the forums/threads I go on but I also think that the reason they didn't make it through was because of the lack of recs?...I mean, its the only legitimate and fair reason I can think of. Why else would they be released (assuming they do have every requirement)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't GLOs in highly ranked universities with diversity want to have international students in their sororities/frats too? I mean..it just goes on to show multiculturalism as I see it...

Also, What's MS? haha...(not an expert in Greek Life)

MS = Membership selection

And, Lola, I think you're a little confused about the process. A lot of PNMs who have their recs and GPAs in order still don't get bids. It's about a lot more than who you are on paper.

At the school Sciencewoman and I are talking about, recs are not very important.

With regards to the international students rushing, I think there are several issues at play. The first and most important is that, historically (AT THIS SCHOOL), the student population is mostly white and the campus culture is VERY distinctive. PNMs and actives meet and get to know each other in a large variety of ways, from the very structured and formal "Meet the Greeks" events, through the less formal class/club setting, all the way through--probably the most important for this campus--PARTIES.

Now, I'm generalizing a bit here, but the international students (students who actually were raised in another country and came to the US specifically for school) are, for a variety of reasons, less likely to join the general social scene, and thus are less well known to active sisters.

Furthermore, as previously mentioned, the retention rate of pledged international students is not particularly high (esp considering that at this campus the retention rate for the average American new member is quite high). Again, I think a lot of this can be attributed to international students not knowing exactly what they're getting into--there's really no equivalent to sorority life, especially in the South!

With that in mind, when sorority members meet international students going through rush, especially those who they don't know well and haven't "clicked" with, they may wonder if offering her a spot will take one away from a girl who will stick out the whole process. At UT Austin, where cuts will be massive, this could be a very real concern.

As an active, these were the sorts of things I thought about when making MS decisions. A girl from China who had been on my floor freshman year went through rush sophomore year and I counseled against giving her a bid for many of the reasons I just enumerated. I felt she was sweet, but not a great fit with the chapter, and seemed clueless enough about Greek Life (even after a year!) that I doubted she would stay.

With that being said, as previously noted, my chapter did extend bids to international students, many of whom were great additions to the chapter. And to your last point, Lola, the chapters at my school were about as diverse as the school itself--international student is not the same as "not white". I think culture is a bigger player here.

So what can you do? For UT--recs! Moreover, read up on the forums here about conversations during rush! Be the best version of yourself for rush. Make sure you are well-informed about rush and Greek Life in general, and try to (naturally) let the sisters know that you do understand what you are getting yourself into.

I hope this was helpful. (Sciencewoman, does this tally with what you know/explain a bit?)

ETA: FSUZeta, I am speaking here about four-year international students (rather than study abroad students), which is I believe the category Lola falls into. Lola--do be sure your rec writers know you will be a full-time, four year student if that is indeed the case.

[Lola96]

Originally Posted by angels&angles

MS = Membership selection

And, Lola, I think you're a little confused about the process. A lot of PNMs who have their recs and GPAs in order still don't get bids. It's about a lot more than who you are on paper.

At the school Sciencewoman and I are talking about, recs are not very important.

With regards to the international students rushing, I think there are several issues at play. The first and most important is that, historically (AT THIS SCHOOL), the student population is mostly white and the campus culture is VERY distinctive. PNMs and actives meet and get to know each other in a large variety of ways, from the very structured and formal "Meet the Greeks" events, through the less formal class/club setting, all the way through--probably the most important for this campus--PARTIES.

Now, I'm generalizing a bit here, but the international students (students who actually were raised in another country and came to the US specifically for school) are, for a variety of reasons, less likely to join the general social scene, and thus are less well known to active sisters.

Furthermore, as previously mentioned, the retention rate of pledged international students is not particularly high (esp considering that at this campus the retention rate for the average American new member is quite high). Again, I think a lot of this can be attributed to international students not knowing exactly what they're getting into--there's really no equivalent to sorority life, especially in the South!

With that in mind, when sorority members meet international students going through rush, especially those who they don't know well and haven't "clicked" with, they may wonder if offering her a spot will take one away from a girl who will stick out the whole process. At UT Austin, where cuts will be massive, this could be a very real concern.

As an active, these were the sorts of things I thought about when making MS decisions. A girl from China who had been on my floor freshman year went through rush sophomore year and I counseled against giving her a bid for many of the reasons I just enumerated. I felt she was sweet, but not a great fit with the chapter, and seemed clueless enough about Greek Life (even after a year!) that I doubted she would stay.

With that being said, as previously noted, my chapter did extend bids to international students, many of whom were great additions to the chapter. And to your last point, Lola, the chapters at my school were about as diverse as the school itself--international student is not the same as "not white". I think culture is a bigger player here.

So what can you do? For UT--recs! Moreover, read up on the forums here about conversations during rush! Be the best version of yourself for rush. Make sure you are well-informed about rush and Greek Life in general, and try to (naturally) let the sisters know that you do understand what you are getting yourself into.

I hope this was helpful. (Sciencewoman, does this tally with what you know/explain a bit?)

ETA: FSUZeta, I am speaking here about four-year international students (rather than study abroad students), which is I believe the category Lola falls into. Lola--do be sure your rec writers know you will be a full-time, four year student if that is indeed the case.

From what I understand, internationals are not fully aware of the ways of Greek Life and this leads them to drop out halfway. And GLOs think twice about admitting internationals because obviously, they don't want people to depledge.

Right now, I am in the process of understanding Greek Life (mainly on here haha) & I have HS senior friends moving to the US (and are going to rush this fall) and a sibling who's at college in the US (she never rushed/preferred Greek Life because of her major but she says I'd like it...& this is when I began researching it..). My question is, does the resume/application to rush include something like a statement of purpose/essay where I can explain why I am doing this? Or is it all up to rush week?

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by Lola96

From what I understand, internationals are not fully aware of the ways of Greek Life and this leads them to drop out halfway. And GLOs think twice about admitting internationals because obviously, they don't want people to depledge.

Remember, she only described the situation at her school. This may not be the case everywhere.

[Old_Row]

Originally Posted by Lola96

I have HS senior friends moving to the US (and are going to rush this fall) and a sibling who's at college in the US

See those are the people you are going to need to talk to to help you get hooked up with recs. If they end up in sororities, they might be able to write you a rec depending on the sorority's rules or they can refer you to an alumna lady of their group who may do it or even be able to refer you to members of other sororities too. Even if they don't join sororities they may end up knowing a lot of members through class and other activities and may be able to refer you to them. That's how you can work your network from so far away.