University of Texas-Austin Roundup

[FSUZeta]

Originally Posted by Eightisgreat

haha...I don't buy the keg, but not a prude either I am just in the camp of if doesn't hurt to not be there, why take the chance of going and getting into a situation that could hurt her? I am refering to the innocent stuff..not getting crap faced and acting a fool. I am simply talking about a guy coming up and saying hi and her having a conversation with an active's boyfriend and pissing said active off, even though kid would have no idea who's who because she new and just being nice. I just see it as a mine field. She came to me looking for an opinon on whether to go or not, and her, not being sold on the idea one way or other, and me, frankly not sure how to guide.

this. when my daughter was a freshman(different school) she thought about attending some fraternity rush parties, which were held in the evening the same days as sorority recruitment, which was a daytime event. i told her that it was up to her what she did, but that i wanted her to realize that she would be on display in an unsupervised situation, i.e. not organized sorority rush, where sorority members would be scrutinizing every move she made and the most innocent incident might be misconstrued (much like your scenario where your daughter might have a purely innocent conversation with a guy, who turns out to be the boyfriend of uber jealous susie sororitysister). the cons outweigh the pros in my book. not to mention that should she wait to attend a fraternity party until after rush, her sorority sisters could warn her off any douche bag guys that always prey on freshmen girls.

my daughter decided to wait until rush was over to attend any fraternity parties. her social life did not suffer.

[Ladybugmom]

EIghtisgreat...I had your same dilema . D did not attend Roundup because I had the same fears that you are describing. D says now that it would have been a benefit for her to attend because she did not know many girls already in houses. Her rush was a rollercoaster and not something either of us want to go through ever again! The outcome was good and she is happy, but in hindsight she wished she had gone to Roundup. I cannot stress enough the importance of keeping an open mind. There were some great girls that dropped out because they couldnt see past the Big 6. I can honestly say that all of the chapters at UT are excellent and they all have a variety of girls. Please PM me if you have any further questions.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Ladybugmom

Daughter says now that it would have been a benefit for her to attend because she did not know many girls already in houses.

The OP said that her daughter DOES know girls already in the sororities (houses is really not a correct term) so that's not a problem for her.

[dnall]

What are UT sorority chapters now, like 200 girls? A couple friends from HS is not the same as it may be at a lot of other campuses.

And, I think it was said before the number of legacies that go through at UT versus quota. I recall my gf saying a sorority chapter there last fall took a huge pledge class and all but 5 were legacies. Obviously legacy doesn't guarantee you a bid. I'm just trying to express how competitive it is & that every possible advantage is important.

There will always be the view of should you take the risk of maybe someone will see you in an unscripted social situation & it'll hurt you, versus what can you gain by using that social situation as a learning/networking/interview process to set yourself up for success. Obviously that applies well beyond rush. Personally, I lean toward the more aggressive approach, but to each their own.

[Ladybugmom]

^^^you are correct about legacy status. It can play a huge part for some. I will say that some of the sororities (thanks for the correction by the way 33girl) can and will cut legacies at UT.. Legacy and who you know in the sorority can play a very big part in the process, but not always... I would also say that how you carry yourself, your personality, and if you are a good fit can be as important to some sororities. I cannot stress enough to keep an open mind...

Honestly at UT, one needs every advantage they can get..just knowing someone is not going to get you in the door..my D told many stories of girls that were heartbroken because they got cut from sororities that they knew someone from high school (including my D). I would say that happened ALOT. You also have the "camp" factor that comes into play as well as NCl and other groups.

[srmom]

Just to chime in (haven't been on gc in a while ), as a mom of sons at UT, Round Up is a BLAST!

Looking at their pictures, it is clear that it is as much or more of a sorority recruiting event as fraternity. Not only are all the sorority girls wearing startlingly bright clothes and accessories with their letters proudly displayed, but the boys are wearing them as well. At chapter on Monday before Round Up, the sororities come by and drop off their gear at the fraternities, and the guys line up and take what will become a staple for their upcoming year's wardrobe (thank you, girls !).

Anyway, many, many high school girls attend, going in groups and staying on floors of sorority girls hosting them. These are pre-pre recruitment unofficial visits, and do not fall under the silence period. Panhellenic recommends that seniors not attend, but they do (just as they did back in my high school days - the more things change, the more they stay the same at UT).

As long as girls are in a group, have no preclivity for wild behavior (and want to have a successful rush) especially if they are staying with upperclassmen, they'll be fine - they'll be escorted from party to party and watched over like little ducklings.

And -to answer before it gets asked -

Camp: as in Waldemar, Mystic and Longhorn (co-ed) -popular girl's camps in Texas where a ton of future Longhorn Greeks go every summer since they could walk

NCL: as in National Charity League - a volunteer organization that moms and daughters participate together in requiring a certain number of hours at designated charity organizations, starts in junior high, goes through senior year, culminates in a fancy "Presentation" event.

As a boy mom, I'm glad to say I didn't have to worry about this stuff!

[AXOrushadvisor]

The camp thing has been on here before with UT. My dd went to Camp Mystic- we live in the southwest, but my in laws are from Austin. I can tell you there are tons of sorority women working at Mystic for the summer and even more HS Seniors headed for recruitment. I always pick up AXO recruitment shirts for my daughter- she likes to sleep in them. She would always get tons of questions about what her affiliation was with AXO when she was at camp wearing the shirts. On a side note, I have heard that if you are an M girl at Mystic that will set the stage for your recruitment at UT. That the groups know that you are a well rounded nice girl if you get that distinction.

[Just interested]

Thank you srmom, that is exactly what I wanted to say. Round-up has been for generations (since I was a kid in the early 60's, at least) for the HS seniors to go to UT to see what college is like. It is so much fun and at one time, I don't know about now, there were kids went who went that weren't even going to UT. It is for HS seniors. It's Round-Up (rounding up all the HS seniors for college)

Fun! Fun! and more Fun!

[Ladybugmom]

XXXOOOO

[Regina.George]

Originally Posted by Ladybugmom

lol SRMOM..My D said that her sorority has a spread sheet of all of the fraternities and who they are providing shirts/gear for.. It really is a big deal! I can hardly wait to get the bill She is more excited about Roundup than she was Springbreak! She also said that they get points for inviting senior girls to roundup. They want them to come, especially to the events at the sorority houses. Roundup has been a very big deal for years..I even attended in the stone ages and have some great pictures in the archives...so much fun!
Thanks SRmom for clarifying camp and NCL..two big factors here in Texas..

[Ladybugmom]

^^thanks for the QFP Cute..Actually 33girl..that is an edict from IFC..what I am referring to are the philanthropy events that take place at ALL of the sorority houses during the day..NOT the fraternity events. Each sorority has a daytime event where they are trying to raise money for thier respective philanthropy. I could go, you could go, Grandma Betty could go. I would not encourage any senior girls to attend any fraternity events. The wristbands they are referring to are for the fraternity events that take place at thier respective houses (mostly at night).

[Ladybugmom]

Originally Posted by AGDee

It sounds to me like the compromise of attending the day time events but not the fraternity parties is the best option. That way she can start to get her name/face known with the sororities but not have to deal with the social pressures/minefield side of the parties.

This^^^^

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Ladybugmom

^^thanks for the QFP Cute..Actually 33girl..that is an edict from IFC.

Oh come now.

We all know that the IFC is only saying that because they're being forced to from higher up. Show me a bunch of guys who don't want a brand new crop of girls to plop down into their midst and I'll show you...a bunch of gay guys. LOL

[dnall]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Oh come now.

We all know that the IFC is only saying that because they're being forced to from higher up. Show me a bunch of guys who don't want a brand new crop of girls to plop down into their midst and I'll show you...a bunch of gay guys. LOL

True that! A new crop that doesn't know how big an azz you made of yourself the previous year.

[AnchorAlum]

I knew of one girl whose grandfather was an extremely FAMOUS legal type and her Mom was in one of the "Big 6" at UT. She went down to roundup and passed out in a fraternity house, so trashed that she wet her pants while passed out.

It was such a big deal she ended up not even going to UT. Her Mom never understood why she insisted that she didn't want to go to Austin. We were all afraid to tell her and she never found out.