"I'm rushing 'for' a certain chapter"

[scgoldengirl]

Just out of curiosity. Do you think these girls are from your smaller towns or are the big city girls guilty as well?
When I rushed at USM back in the disco era, the worst offenders during rush, were the girls from small, kind of backwards towns in the middle of the state.
And what part of the state that you came from definitely played into your perception of each sorority.

[carnation]

I do see a lot of small-town girls doing it out of ignorance but also see some big city girls doing it, especially those from the private schools and upperclass (don't know a better term) public schools from which many girls tend to pledge a certain group of sororities. Here's a caveat, girls: there are so many of you from those schools that Awesome Alpha and Bodacious Beta can't take you all.

[MaryPoppins]

Originally Posted by carnation

Here's a caveat, girls: there are so many of you from those schools that Awesome Alpha and Bodacious Beta can't take you all.

Thus why the Greek systems on so very many campuses are expanding with colonies (new, young chapters) to serve more PNMs.

[DubaiSis]

I think it's just the 10 foot tall and bullet-proof thing that IS being a teenager, and is also why parents should monitor their kids' social media; for reminders of the social graces as much as for checking for drugs and otherwise unacceptable behavior.

And if Mom tells you it's not cool and you do it anyway because what does she know, then it's all on you and you'll get what you deserve.

[clemsongirl]

Slight hijack, but I don't understand why people would only apply to one or two colleges and not give themselves some backup. My boyfriend applied to only Clemson and Georgia Tech, and while he was accepted to both if he hadn't gotten into either he would have been up a creek without a paddle as far as starting higher education at a four-year university in the fall. Same goes for anyone who decides to apply to only reach/financially unattainable schools. I had a cousin that got rejected from everywhere except one school that he outright could not afford, so he ended up coming home after one semester. It just boggles my mind that anyone would think not having an affordable safety school as a last-resort backup is a good idea.

/hijack

Also, FWIW, I'm in both the Class of 2017 and the Girls' Roommate Search groups on Facebook for Clemson and nobody has said so far that they are rushing for any specific group. I'd like to think this means nobody is saying that, but in reality they're probably just making it their status instead of posting in the group. Still, I can dream.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by clemsongirl

Slight hijack, but I don't understand why people would only apply to one or two colleges and not give themselves some backup. My boyfriend applied to only Clemson and Georgia Tech, and while he was accepted to both if he hadn't gotten into either he would have been up a creek without a paddle as far as starting higher education at a four-year university in the fall. Same goes for anyone who decides to apply to only reach/financially unattainable schools. I had a cousin that got rejected from everywhere except one school that he outright could not afford, so he ended up coming home after one semester. It just boggles my mind that anyone would think not having an affordable safety school as a last-resort backup is a good idea.

Depends on timing. I had my U of I acceptance in-hand before I finished filling out my other applications. So then I just didn't do any other applications.

[HQWest]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Depends on timing. I had my U of I acceptance in-hand before I finished filling out my other applications. So then I just didn't do any other applications.

I guess I should have added that I had acceptances to two Big State U.s and one Regional State U, but on reflection, decided it would be better to take a chance on smaller private Nice Brochure U. and transferring if it did not work out. I really wanted to do something different then everyone at my high school.

A lot of time and money goes into applications so some people try to limit their list of applications if they have a pretty good idea of what they want or if they are going to Big State U. because everyone else is. I think the same crowd that thinks they can pick whichever sorority they want, thinks they can sign up for the school they want.

[adpiucf]

Originally Posted by clemsongirl

Slight hijack, but I don't understand why people would only apply to one or two colleges and not give themselves some backup.

With respect, some of us are first generation college students and had literally no advisement from family or guidance counselors. In the pre-internet era, I was on my own. Today, I would have probably been able to go online and see the "norm." Back, then I applied to 3 random in-state schools and chose the one where I didn't know anyone. Don't recommend picking a school at that basis, but I didn't know any better when I was 17 and no one I talked to about it-- parents, teachers, friends-- advised me any differently.

Similarly, I had no idea what rush was or what a sorority was, and I was completely turned off by the Minnie Mouse-voiced bimbo preaching about Greek Life at my freshman orientation. It wasn't until I met Greeks in my classes that I thought this could be something for me and I rushed the following year (with certain biases and stereotypes in mind, but, thankfully, no Facebook to broadcast those thoughts to).

[clemsongirl]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

With respect, some of us are first generation college students and had literally no advisement from family or guidance counselors. In the pre-internet era, I was on my own. Today, I would have probably been able to go online and see the "norm." Back, then I applied to 3 random in-state schools and chose the one where I didn't know anyone. Don't recommend picking a school at that basis, but I didn't know any better when I was 17 and no one I talked to about it-- parents, teachers, friends-- advised me any differently.

Similarly, I had no idea what rush was or what a sorority was, and I was completely turned off by the Minnie Mouse-voiced bimbo preaching about Greek Life at my freshman orientation. It wasn't until I met Greeks in my classes that I thought this could be something for me and I rushed the following year (with certain biases and stereotypes in mind, but, thankfully, no Facebook to broadcast those thoughts to).

Pre-internet, that's completely understandable. And even for first-gen college students nowadays, if you live in a bubble entirely comprised of people who never went to college it can be really hard to figure out the ins and outs of such a complicated process. I was imagining more the affluent, suburban, white-bread kids I grew up with who had the resources and should have known better but for whatever reason decided not to hedge their bets. If a PNM can google how rush works then a reasonably intelligent teenager should be able to google school costs and acceptance rates.

[adpiucf]

Originally Posted by clemsongirl

I was imagining more the affluent, suburban, white-bread kids I grew up with who had the resources and should have known better but for whatever reason decided not to hedge their bets. If a PNM can google how rush works then a reasonably intelligent teenager should be able to google school costs and acceptance rates.

Totally agree!

[DubaiSis]

Technically, I didn't apply to any universities. I was pre-accepted into a couple schools without trying or expressing any interest. But the rules I was functioning under was "you can attend any school you want as long as it has the word IOWA in the name." For me, that meant one school. They pre-accepted me. Process complete. I do wonder how I would have handled that process if I'd had broader horizons.

[Titchou]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

Technically, I didn't apply to any universities. I was pre-accepted into a couple schools without trying or expressing any interest. But the rules I was functioning under was "you can attend any school you want as long as it has the word IOWA in the name." For me, that meant one school. They pre-accepted me. Process complete. I do wonder how I would have handled that process if I'd had broader horizons.

Yeah, I was under the "you can go to any school you want but the only one I'm paying for is Alabama" rule....

[Sciencewoman]

Originally Posted by Titchou

Yeah, I was under the "you can go to any school you want but the only one I'm paying for is Alabama" rule....

That's what my dad said to me about Michigan. (actually, he said he'd only pay for the application fee to Michigan, but since he paid for my tuition when I transferred to Maryland, I guess he got over it)

I have to say that my daughter had a preconceived "favorite" last fall that stayed the same right through January recruitment, and that's where she joined. In her case, her favorite was based on women she met during the through common clubs/activities, and where she thought she'd best fit; it was not based on tiers. I confess I actually considered ordering some Pi Phi items during the Lily Pulitzer half-off sale the week before her recruitment, but I refrained. Missed that deal...but I didn't want to jinx it.

Winter recruitment is a different animal, though. In her case, girls had to make an effort to get to know sorority members during the fall...recruitment was a 4 month process. By the time formal recruitment week rolled around in January, she had a good idea about where she'd made connections, and where she hadn't.

[AOII Angel]

For all the admonishing about PNMs and college bound students hedging their bets, you'll never see this behavior go away because for as much as we bitch about it, there aren't dire consequences for every student who does it. PNMs go through recruitment every single year with this attitude. Some have magical recruitments, some have nightmares. The ones that end up where they wanted feed the beast. We all know it happens. Pretending like the system magically spits out each and every person who dares not be Panhellenic is stupid. We do get to see a lot of these girls go home when they drop out rather than take a bid from a chapter "below them" but there are plenty whom get the chapter of their dreams. Honestly, if they would rather drop out then join a group of women having a great time without them...a doubt they'll be missed.

[MaryPoppins]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

For all the admonishing about PNMs and college bound students hedging their bets, you'll never see this behavior go away because for as much as we bitch about it, there aren't dire consequences for every student who does it. PNMs go through recruitment every single year with this attitude. Some have magical recruitments, some have nightmares. The ones that end up where they wanted feed the beast. We all know it happens. Pretending like the system magically spits out each and every person who dares not be Panhellenic is stupid. We do get to see a lot of these girls go home when they drop out rather than take a bid from a chapter "below them" but there are plenty whom get the chapter of their dreams. Honestly, if they would rather drop out then join a group of women having a great time without them...a doubt they'll be missed.

This is all true. However, since it either borders on tent talk or is actual tent talk, it would not be serving our PNM public well if we did not do everything to quash this sort of thinking.

The PNMs for which the "rushing certain chapter(s)" works are what most of GLO women here feel are the extreme minority of PNMs. If we don't say something about how it's not the way to approach recruitment then we are reinforcing that approach that "rushing certain chapter(s)" is okay. The PNMs will assume it's okay for most of them to just rush one chapter, and not just the PNM with the magical recruitment that gets the ONE chapter she had her heart set on from the beginning.

Here's an analogy which is similar to this kind of thinking from recruitment: It's like depending on the fact that you Special Snowflake PNM are a legacy to a 100+ year chapter "FGH" at Magnolia Republic University (MRU) to get you onto the MRU FGH 100+ year chapter first bid list . . . You may not relaize you are competing with many, many, worthy PNMs at MRU and that older chapter cannot take all of its legacies due to the generations of FGH Alumnae that MRU FGH has produced. Those women had many more daughters than sons it seems. MRU Legacy PNMs cannot depend on their legacy chapters and here at Greekchat we tell them that information routinely here. To do otherwise is a disservice to those legacy PNMs.