<p>My daughter will be a freshman in the fall. She had planned on rushing, lined up recs, then decided it wasn’t something she wanted to do this year. I was fine with whatever she decided. I was in a sorority , but went to school in Illinois, which I know is a completely different animal in terms of the greek system.</p>
<p>Flash forward to last weeks Bama Bound. It was great, we took away so much information, met some very nice people. On our drive back to the Atlanta area, she mentioned she had not met one girl who was not going down early for rush. Think she is a little nervous when she moves in on the 17th, that her roommate ( who is rushing) and most other girls will be consumed with getting their bids and be completely focused in their new ‘sisters’ and it may be difficult to meet other girls. She has always also had good guy friends in the past. She is in a co-oed dorm, burke west, so that may help.</p>
<p>She wants to get involved in other campus activities, and focus on her academics. I’m just worried it may be a bit tough to meet new girls…? She’s our oldest, and my only girl, so all this is new. Thanks for any advise from people who’ve been through the process!</p>
<p>She might want to just go thru rush just to meet people, if that’s a concern. If she’s in honors, she could look into Alabama Action or Outdoor Action.</p>
<p>After school starts, there’s a Get On Board Day, where all the clubs have booths for sign ups.</p>
<p>Does she have a major? If so, look into the clubs that are associated with her major.</p>
<p>(Mike is a GIRL…lol…the name is a Disney character)</p>
<p>I’m not rushing and neither are my 3 other roommates. I’ve met lots of girls who will not be rushing as well. Most of them are honors and living in Ridgecrest, but there are lots more.</p>
<p>My D did not rush last year, nor did her three suitemates.</p>
<p>Is your daughter doing any of the before school programs (OA, AA, Camp 1831)? My D did OA and a lot of her friends are kids she met at OA. Doing one of those programs makes it really easy to meet people, but my D also met people once school started, and she has a high school classmate who didn’t do OA/AA and had no trouble meeting people when she arrived for regular move-in. I would think that in a dorm like Burke it will be even easier to meet other students than it is in the suite-style dorm my D lives in.</p>
<p>I’m not rushing next year either! I think that at Bama Bound it seemed like EVERYONE was rushing because for the girls that were, it was an easy conversation topic and something most of them wanted more information about, so you would hear them talk about it more.</p>
<p>One of my D’s friends here that is going to Alabama, living in Burke, is not rushing. She is very outgoing so I’m sure she will be meeting lots of people. OA or AA are great ways to go at early move in and meet others that are not rushing. As someone else already mentioned, let her know about the events that will go on with all of the clubs set up and to find the ones she is interested in. If she likes sports then Alabama has a lot of intermural sports teams she could look into participating in.</p>
<p>While reading a post recently it became clear to me that Mike was female. I was somewhat shocked, but then realized that the name belongs to that round thing from Monsters, Inc. </p>
<p>My oldest daughter did not attend Bama (FSU) but she did belong to a sorority. It was a good support group but it seemed to demand lots of her time. I did not pledge a sorority in college, so I didn’t know a whole lot about it. She enjoyed it- but it seems to me that it has its pros and cons.</p>
<p>My daughter was at the Honors 'Bama Bound last week too. I know what you mean - she said it seemed like many girls were rushing - but she also met some who were not. She is not rushing and will be living in Burke. She is doing Alabama Action - so will be moving in early.
It sounds like there is a little bit of everything - which I think D realizes is one of the benefits of going to a larger school. She is wise to listen to her inner voice :)</p>
<p>there are definitely pros and cons to being in a sorority. probably more pros, overall, but at times the cons become evident and annoying, just like with anything.</p>
<p>i think it has been a great thing for my daughter, as she has all kinds of leadership on her resume that she would have likely not had. she also has a handful of people who would be happy to write her an awesome letter of reference. </p>
<p>the number of PNMS last year, i thought, had gotten to be around 2000. 1687 received bids. so, while that is probably about half of the freshman girls, there are still 50% who will not be involved.</p>
<p>i think living in burke will be great. i think the traditional dorm is much better for meeting people. but have your daughter get out there and do things, even if it means going to some of the welcome week events BY HERSELF!!! <gasp!></gasp!></p>
<p>If she wants to connect with someone that will be in Burke that is not rushing, pm me. I’ll be talking to the friend that will be in Burke tomorrow and can connect the 2 girls.<br>
She is outgoing, bubbly and very sweet girl.</p>
<p>There is a FB page for the Girls of Class of 2017. It is called
“UA Class of 2017 girls”</p>
<p>Minor point of correction: While only 33% of all undergraduate women are in sororities, 43.3% freshman girls join sororities, plus however many more rush but don’t bid. Source is the Common Data Set.</p>
<p>I want to a school (Cornell) with a lot of frats (not so many sororities) however it really had VERY little affect on my day-to-day life … frankly the only bad thing I remember is the hockey season ticket process was rigged in a way that favored frats & sororities … other than that the fairly large presence on campus did not affect my day-to-day life at all.</p>
<p>If my child was thinking about not rushing at a school with a big greek life I’d definitely want them to spend some time on campus to try to get a feel for how life is for independents.</p>