Recs for international students interested in greek life?

[FSUZeta]

Membership selection.

I would say another reason that an International student might not be selected is if they were only studying abroad for one year.

[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.

[FSUZeta]

Ah-hah. That would make a difference.

[Titchou]

And keep in mind that all sororities expect that your membership is for life. And they take into consideration whether a PNM is committed to that extent. If they sense you are doing it just for the experience while you are here, you'll be released pretty quickly.

[BAckbOwlsgIrl]

Remember to ask your male instructors too. Sorority women have husbands. You never know who is married to member of a sorority. Seriously.

Sidetrack here...
Often newmembers, or at least back in my day, were required to pay a one time building fee that went towards the house; eg. additions, etc. Wouldn't it be advantageous to have a few one year members (international students, upperclassmen etc.) where they could get increase this amount, especially is a house needs a new addition?
I may be way off here. I have always wondered about this.

...end of side track...

[Titchou]

Most of those building fees are in the less than $300 range so one or extra don't make a lot of difference. A pledge class of 100 vs 50 would make an impact.

[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.

[Titchou]

It's all up to recruitment week, your grades, your recs, your connections.

[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.