Furman Freshman Tips Please

Colleges and Universities A-Z Furman University
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<p>Oh my God. I cannot imagine a world without Vans and Uggs!! Seriously, like 99% of the girls at my school have one or both. Good thing I haven’t bought them then, because they’re pricey anyway.</p>

<p>Ha, your rainboot story sounds like mine. I’ve never seen anyone wear them before but I guess they’re really necessary in SC!</p>

<p>I have another question … regarding the sorority yearly membership fees, is there any chance we can find out about those BEFORE we pledge? I really want to be in a sorority, and I know this sounds terrible, but the upper $900/yr just isn’t in my budget no matter how much I love that particular sorority … while one that is $500 might swing it. What if the $900 is my #1 and the $500 is my #2 and I pledge with my #1 and can’t pay for it?</p>

<p>I doubt I’d get much assistance from the sorority funds either because it’s not like we’re poor - my parents are just unwilling to chip into that sort of thing, you know?</p>

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<p>Unfortunately, they don’t disclose due fees during rush. All the sororities are forbidden to talk about it, which seems harsh, but once again it’s for a good reason. </p>

<p>Believe me, my parents were iffy on the whole thing and it sounded like I was going to have to pay the dues and stuff! I tried sneaking around and asking people about it, but no one would tell me anything! And the reason is almost what you eluded too… </p>

<p>Once you go through rush, you will realize where you belong. Being happy in a sorority is the MOST IMPORTANT THING. You have to feel comfortable with your sisters. If you pick a sorority based on price, you will find that you aren’t happy because these girls are nothing like you!</p>

<p>The sororities have a lot of options to help you pay for it because THEY KNOW IT’S A LOT OF MONEY! So I really wouldn’t worry about qualifying for anything! The sorority will work with you to figure it out!</p>

<p>(And about your parents not helping… My dad was in a fraternity and my mom was an independent. My mom always hated the Greek Life and thought sororities were like what you saw in the movies. Once she saw how wonderful the girls are and what an inspiring and loving community and HOW much it meant to me, she was willing to pay my dues. I think you’re parents will come around!)</p>

<p>And also a little side note, sororities are much cheaper than fraternities. The fraternities have to pay for parties and for their houses as well. Even though there is a small fee for housing for sororities in case we ever get houses, it is no where NEAR what the guys have to pay! SO be thankful you are rushing a SORORITY! </p>

<p>Sorry I can’t be much more help, but this is all that I can say about it! :frowning: BUT putting money aside, CONSIDER RUSHING! You DON’T have to accept the bid in the end! As I said before it is a great way to meet new girls and develop new friendships!</p>

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<p>I haven’t been on here for a little while, so I’ll comment on a few of the things that have come up.</p>

<p>First, restaurants.</p>

<p>There are a number of food options; I’ll go over a number of options.</p>

<p>In the immediate vicinity of campus, the shopping center that houses Publix has a string of restaurants. There’s a McDonald’s (closest fast food to campus, but not 24hr, unfortunately. If you’re wondering, yes, it is walkable. It takes about 20 minutes to walk from SoHo, but there aren’t sidewalks.) Also, there is a Mexican restaurant, which is about is typical a Mexican restaurant as it gets. There is Carrie’s deli, which is a pretty good sandwich shop; Torrelli’s pizza has enormous slices and is very popular on campus, but I’m not really a big fan; finally, Thaicoon is a Thai/sushi restaurant that is really popular among Furman students and has really good, and reasonably priced food for those who don’t want to go farther than just off campus.</p>

<p>Slightly closer to downtown on Poinsett is Monterrey’s, which is another Mexican restaurant. It’s much more popular, mostly because there are a lot of drink specials and it’s cheaper than the place near Publix.</p>

<p>Cherrydale is the big shopping center that has Ingles (IMO, the best grocery store near Furman). It has some fast food, but I can’t recall any good restaurants being in it. </p>

<p>In Traveler’s Rest, there is my favorite fast food, Bojangles, and a Waffle House that is full of Furman students most nights. k</p>

<p>I’m not a big fan of fancy restaurants, so I can’t comment on any of the more expensive options in Greenville, but my favorite downtown restaurants were mostly mentioned above, Liberty’s, Barley’s, Sticky Fingers BBQ, Chicora Alley, and then I like Chief’s for wings (better than Wild Wings, plus it’s not downtown, so parking isn’t a problem). Mellow Mushroom has had terrible service every time I’ve been there. I love the food, but the Greenville location is the worst I’ve ever been to. Expect to wait more than an hour from the time you get there, to the time you get food.</p>

<p>For the most part, Furman students don’t eat at the DH on Friday or Saturday night. The DH has relatively limited options, and most people want to go out anyways. </p>

<p>Now, another big thing that was brought up–briefly–in a post above was Furman’s “dry campus” policy. </p>

<p>You’ve probably heard, by now, that this policy is, as of August 1st, no more. Let me explain what this means.</p>

<p>For students OVER the age of 21 who live in the North Village apartments, alcohol consumption is now permissible inside the apartments. The dorms are still completely dry (even for the handful over 21), however, to mitigate any potential negative effects of the new alcohol policy, Furman’s new student conduct code has stiffened, or added, a number of new rules against alcohol use. The full text can be read at [Student</a> Conduct Code](<a href=“Furman University | Top Private Liberal Arts University in Greenville, SC”>Furman University | Top Private Liberal Arts University in Greenville, SC), but I’ll explain the differences between this upcoming year, and years past.</p>

<p>Underage drinking at Furman has always been prohibited, but in the past, there was nothing that RAs could do if someone came back to the hall from drinking, but had no alcohol on them. This meant that as long as you didn’t get caught in the act of drinking, you were home free. There were many times last year when a person would be heavily intoxicated on the hall, but the only punishment that they could be handed would be a noise violation. Next year, public intoxication is punishable almost as heavily as being caught drinking. Additionally, hosting a party is now a separate, more punishable, offense. And, “alcohol abuse” has been added as an offense. </p>

<p>I can’t say exactly how all of this will play out next year, but I think that it’s important that people know the rules before they come to campus. Lots of my friends had no idea that Furman had a dry campus policy. It did. It’s enforced.</p>

<p>What I suspect will happen last year is that a lot of the drinking that went on on campus will move off campus to the fraternity houses or to downtown bars and clubs. Furman seems pretty serious about preventing the new policy from turning North Village into a place where people go to party.</p>

<p>I suppose we’ll all have to wait and see exactly how it plays out.</p>

<p>On the whole Greek life thing, I would recommend to everyone who enjoys meeting people and going out to rush. If you like having friends, rush. You’ll make a ton of friends just going out and meeting all the sisters/brothers and all the other freshmen who are rushing. While I did not stick with pledging, I was still incredibly happy that I had gone through the whole process. Most of my best friends on campus I met through either my hall or through rushing. </p>

<p>On the clothing thing, let me say this: Greenville’s weather is totally crazy and unpredictable!!! Be prepared for lots of rain! Also be prepared for insane heat and humidity. It doesn’t get crazy cold, but I’d recommend that everyone get a really warm Patagonia, North Face, or Mountain Hardware fleece for Dec-Feb when it gets down to 30ish at night.</p>

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<p>Thanks ya’ll :slight_smile: Really good advice! I will definitely rush and keep my fingers crossed that everything works out!</p>

<p>OK, last question because I’ve asked a million - do either of you know anything about the Shucker Leadership Institute? I read up on it and was really sold but then I saw something someone posted on Furman’s facebook group saying it was a waste of time. What have you heard about it? I don’t want to put a lot of time in a boring club that doesn’t really DO anything.</p>

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<p>I have a couple friends in Shucker. They don’t like it at all. But then again, I have heard that some people love it. It just depends. I don’t know what else to tell you… sorry!</p>

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<p>Hi you guys! Thanks for all the valuable information! Furman is my first choice, right now at least haha. I’m interested in majoring in Psych. I know there have been quite a few questions regarding sororities, but I’m a guy, so I’m interested in hearing some information about the rush and pledging process for Frats. Thanks in advance!</p>

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<p>Hey thank you VERY much caliprincess :slight_smile: Yeah dunno if I’m going for Shucker now haha!</p>

<p>[edit] P.S. Jrdnwcrsby - I think Woody2013 did a pretty thorough explanation a couple pages back if you wanna take a look :)</p>

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<p>I’m not sure exactly where my last post on the subject is (I think I posted a bit on it earlier in this thread), so I’ll just answer your question again here.</p>

<p>Furman has chapters of Sigma Alpha Episilon, Sigma Nu, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Chi, and Kappa Alpha Order. Beta is currently a colony (the stage before a Fraternity becomes a chapter–they’re pretty new on campus and still need more people to be a full chapter), but probably will be a chapter before you get here. There’s always the chance that another fraternity will be started, and one will close, before you get to Furman. I don’t believe in ranking fraternities, but it’s definitely true that some are more widely respected on campus than others.</p>

<p>The rush process at Furman is MUCH DIFFERENT than it is at almost any other school. First, it’s delayed. That means you can’t pledge first semester. I think this is a good thing because you make your friends outside of the Greek system, and then use those relationships to decide where to go. Pledging begins the day before MLK Day. </p>

<p>I’ll go over the process chronologically:</p>

<p>O-Week: Only freshmen on campus. Get to know your friends and find out who knows upperclassmen or other people on campus that will be coming the following week. </p>

<p>First semester: Rush at Furman, first semester, is very loosely organized. There are a few official events with all of the fraternities participating, and each fraternity keeps an official email list of rushees that they use to disseminate information on events and the like. These events include an early of the year barbecue, late in fall there are “smokers” where the fraternity hosts rushees and puts on a presentation, introduces you to the brothers. Cigars are provided, but I would imagine its only a matter of time before the events go smoke-free. Finally, in December, each fraternity has a “closed night” where the brothers select the rushees that they want to invite out to get to know better. These events are usually held at a restaurant, or a bar, and are a great time. </p>

<p>Other than those events, the process is very unstructured on a campus-wide basis. Each fraternity is free to hold its own rush events, that are not necessarily registered and advertised through the school’s office of Greek life. Almost every fraternity has a weekly rush dinner, and most have a preferred restaurant and night that they hold these. Additionally, there are a ton of other rush events like paintballing, golf, and the like.</p>

<p>But for the most part, rush does not revolve around pre-planned events and parties. Rush revolves around getting to know the brothers and other rushees in less organized environments. This past year was much different (from what I understand), than those in the past because the fraternities did not have houses. I would imagine that in the future the fraternities will hold lots of rush events at their houses. I spent a lot of time in the North Village apartments of fraternity brothers, and a lot of time at rush dinners and other rush events. </p>

<p>A lot of freshmen don’t go out and really make a concerted effort to hang out with upperclassmen early on in the school year. I went to rush events for almost every fraternity and there were a lot of people who pledged who I had never seen all of first semester. For me, I went to a fraternity party the night before classes started and hung out with those same guys I met there through the rush process. </p>

<p>The week of second semester is when the rush process really goes into overdrive. I would say that most freshmen know pretty well where they’re going to end up at the beginning of the semester, but each fraternity works especially hard in the last week to solidify the rushees they think they have, and to win over the ones that are still up in the air. The Saturday before MLK Day is Mountain Party day. Each fraternity has a designated meeting location. You go to the meeting place of the fraternity you’re hoping to get a bid from. You can’t get multiple bids, so you have to put all your eggs in the proverbial basket. For the most part, as long as you know and get along with the brothers, and show up to rush events, you’ll get a bid. Going to their mountain party signifies your interest.</p>

<p>The next day is Bid Day. You’ll go to the chapel, get your bid, and be escorted away by that fraternity. </p>

<p>Pledging begins.</p>

<p>Each fraternity does pledging completely differently. Officially, it’s a six week process. Almost every fraternity adheres to this rule. When rushing, try to ask brothers about the pledging process. If they’re smart, they won’t tell you too much. If they’re not in the most cognizant state of mind, they’ll tell you a lot of useful information. </p>

<p>Pledging is a huge time commitment, regardless of where you go. There’s a lot to memorize, and a lot to do. You’ll do a lot of driving, and a lot of other things. Most fraternities are pretty good about working with you so that your GPA does not get killed. I won’t go into any more detail than that.</p>

<p>Overall, the whole process I think is great for meeting people and getting to know the school better. </p>

<p>If you have any other questions about the school, or pledging, feel free to ask. Furman’s a great school, and it’s awesome to hear that you’re interested. I’d highly, highly recommend that you do a campus overnight in the fall or spring.</p>

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<p>How open are the students are Furman to girls that are not heterosexual? This is a serious question.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>Furman does have a small minority of openly homosexual and bisexual students, but it is certainly not widespread. There are a lot of students who are morally opposed to homosexuality, but I believe that the campus atmosphere is fairly welcoming of those who are not the typical WASP type. </p>

<p>I can’t speak from a female perspective, however. I know of (off the top of my head), only a very small handful of females who proclaim to be anything other than heterosexual. I don’t know of any problems, but I do know that the LGBTQ community at Furman is not particularly large or vocal. </p>

<p>I wish I could issue more insight here, but I’m going to throw you the stock, “visit the campus” line, but recommend that if you/your D/whomever would be applying to Furman signs up for a campus overnight and makes a note to admissions to put them in contact with someone involved with EROS (Encouraging Respect of Other Sexualities), which is the primary LGBTQ organization on campus. I’m sure that they could offer far more on the topic than I can.</p>

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<p>Thanks so much, woody2013, for all the information!</p>

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<p>Hey Woody2013 I remember you mentioning you were on newspaper. What’s that like? Is it a really big time commitment?</p>

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<p>While I can’t speak for how the editors will run the paper this coming year, I can say that last year the newspaper was a fairly laid-back organization that didn’t require a specific time commitment from me as a writer. I wrote an article for about every other issue, and the time spent on each article varied wildly. Other than writing the articles themselves, there’s a weekly staff meeting. </p>

<p>I like writing for the paper a lot, and you get paid $8 an article (minus taxes), which is really nice. The paper isn’t really as good as I think it should be, and it should have more advertising (and thus, more money to work with) than it does, but it’s a great place to write for. There’s nothing to lose by showing up to the first few meetings, writing a few articles, and then deciding whether to stay on for more.</p>

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<p>Hm that sounds like a great opportunity! It’s pretty classy that you all get paid. Thanks for the info :)</p>

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<p>Hey … could any of you guys tell me about Xi Theta Xi? Thanks :)</p>

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<p>I actually looked for information on Xi Theta Xi, figuring it was an honor society that I hadn’t heard of, but I couldn’t find any. I’m not sure whether there isn’t info online, or what, but I don’t know anything about it.</p>

<p>Where did you hear about it/what do you know?</p>

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<p>It’s a service oriented sorority - I saw something about it on facebook. I looked it up on google but it’s pretty hard to find. Don’t trouble yourself, though - I’m sure I’ll get lots of info on it, and lots of other organizations, when I arrive in the fall :slight_smile: So excited!</p>

<p>And hey not to say this a billion times, but thanks so much for all your great advice!! I feel a lot better informed/prepared now.</p>

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<p>My daughter is hoping to attend Furman, preferable in January 2011. She started her freshman year at another university which turned out to be more of a party school and she has now realized that she would like to go to Furman. She is an American but graduated from High School in Canada (due to my husbands job taking us to Canada for 3 years) at a college prep school with good grades. Her ACT comp. was 29 and her SAT’s for verbal and math were about 1250, while attending school in a place in which they do not take SAT’s or ACT’s because Canadian Universities do not use them. She had lots of activities, as well as doing a good job making the transition to a Canadian school as a sophmore in high school.</p>

<p>She had a scholarship based on merit, grades, SATs, ACT’s, at another private US school that would have paid for half of her tuition. I am wondering how the scholarships work at Furman. She has her heart set on the campus, but we are going to need scholarships to help us pay for her education there. We fully support her desire to go there and believe that it is a very good fit for her. We just don’t know the ropes at Furman since we only recently moved back to the US and South Carolina specifically.</p>

<p>Also, greek life at Furman. She is interested in it. I am wondering if she is able to transfer this January as a Freshman, would she be eligible for sorority recruitment?</p>

<p>This is my first posting and hope that I have gone to the right place.</p>

<p>Thanks for any help that anyone can give us.</p>

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<p>Unfortunately it is really tough to get a scholarship as a transfer student. I believe Furman only has one scholarship available to transfer students and it requires that the student has completed 2 years at another college. The other scholarships for freshman have already been awarded and they are extremely competitive. Furman does have a coordinator that handles transfer students and you may want to contact that individual. Check out the Admissions page on the Furman web site for that info. </p>

<p>The only other thing I saw regarding transfers is that a current 3.0 GPA is required. Furman has accepted more transfer students in the last 2 years but the transfer acceptance rate is slightly lower than the regular acceptance rate. Their Common Data Set has a lot of this info. As far as the rush process, I believe it does not start until January so I would think she would be eligible but I am not sure.</p>

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<p>Thank you for your (quick) response. I am still hopeful that we can find a way to make it work for my daughter since she is very excited at the prospect of attending Furman, and as I said, I think that it would be a great fit. We are going to visit the campus and will ask lots of questions.</p>