<p>My daughter may be attending next year as an OOS honors college member. She does not think she wants to join a sorority. I’m nervous about her finding her place without the immediate group of friends a sorority would provide. I’d love to hear from parents of non Greek students as well as the students themselves about their non Greek experiences at UA. Thanks.</p>
<p>my daughter was not involved in greek life during her freshman year. she did fine. you have to take some initiative to get out there and find some things to be involved with. it is best if you get out and do it from day one while everyone is new and looking to make friends.</p>
<p>do AA or OA. those kids seem to bond and stick together through the years.</p>
<p>Have her do Alabama Action or Outdoor Action and she will immediately find a group of like minded friends. My D is OOS (from Illinois) and not in a sorority. She did Outdoor Action and many of her friends are kids she met at Outdoor Action or through others who did Outdoor Action. Her circles keep expanding, but at the core are those Outdoor Action kids. That first week is critical in feeling a sense of belonging, and I think the honors college does a great job of helping students find their place through the one week service learning courses at the beginning of the year.</p>
<p>Neither of my kids pledged and had active social lives.</p>
<p>What will her major be? Some majors seem to have more Greek students than others.</p>
<p>My dd is also interested in knowing this. She still hasn’t decided about whether to rush.</p>
<p>idk how camp 1894 (or whatever it was called) was received, but this would be another way to meet people before school starts.</p>
<p>She is undecided so will start in the college of arts and sciences. I will research outdoor action - it sounds like a great opportunity. Thanks.</p>
<p>There is a relatively new organization on campus called “The 49” with the specific mission of engaging with OOO Students. If it will let me, here is the link:</p>
<p>[Student</a> Involvement & Leadership](<a href=“http://studentinvolvement.ua.edu/49.cfm]Student”>http://studentinvolvement.ua.edu/49.cfm)</p>
<p>The student religious groups are often close, and involve non-Greek and Greek students.</p>
<p>My Computer Science major DS is not interested in joining a fraternity and instead did the Honors College “Alabama Action”. This is one of the programs several posters mention above.</p>
<p>It involves moving into the dorms about 9 days before classes start and then community service work for five days or so. This provides an opportunity to bond with other students (co-ed). That’s exactly what happened as my DS group of friends resulted from this program.</p>
<p>Neither my daughter nor my son are Greek and they both have very active social lives! They have met their friends through church, Alabama Action, dorm neighbors, intramurals and class study groups.</p>
<p>I think doing Outdoor Action or Alabama Action is a very good idea for anyone who won’t be going thru Rush. It’s a great way to make new friends quickly.</p>
<p>[First</a> Year Experience](<a href=“http://fye.ua.edu/tcamp.cfm]First”>http://fye.ua.edu/tcamp.cfm)</p>
<p>I thought I should add another endorsement of Alabama Action and Camp 1831. Freshman son did both and 1831 was first and a great ticket for early move in. We joked as we had such a relaxed move in that even if 1831 was a bust, it would be worth that move in time! It was instead a good experience, son enjoyed it. Then 2 days later Alabama Action week began and was an even better surprise. He really enjoyed the people he met and so far, that week was the seed for future friendships. Since then, he has connected with church and is going on a weekend retreat next weekend off campus with that group. I think the student has to make a choice to try these offerings and if they do, they will find others they have things in common with. We told our son it would take some effort, and it did, but his willingness to try paid dividends.</p>
<p>SpaceCoastMom - Is your son going to the Capstone retreat? If so, my son is going, also! He is a sophomore this year and participated in AA before his freshman year. 
Maybe they will meet!</p>
<p>Ditto to all the above. My non-Greek D loved AA and made several friends there. She also has friends from her church group (Capstone), her intramural teams, one of her minor programs (CBH), her part-part-time job on the Crimson White, and some of her classes. She did a study abroad last summer and made some new friends in that group. They really will meet people with similar interests as they get involved in activities. She does not regret her decision to not rush.</p>
<p>I’m so happy I found this thread! I will be attending UA in fall of 2014, and was worried that not rushing would put me behind with making friends. Thanks for the tips about AA. =)</p>
<p>My daughter is an OOS Freshman - non greek. Unfortunately she didn’t get into Honor’s Housing (we submitted our deposit before the deadline, but not as early as we should have). I think if you are non-greek and get into the Honors Housing - there will be no problem. It has been an issue for my student because the vast majority of Honors kids are in Honors Housing. The first week of Alabama Action was rough because everyone she was living with was going through Rush - and she was trekking across campus to meet up with the Honors Activities at Ridgecrest. I would say it’s still not ideal. Honors has a lot of great activities - but they hold so many activities at Ridgecrest. It’s great for everyone who managed to get into Honors Housing. But for a Non-Greek Honor’s Freshman - it’s not quite the ‘situation’ we were expecting. Bottom Line: Get your deposit in early to secure Honors Housing. I think it would have made these first few months of transition much smoother.</p>
<p>Although my D did the Greek thing, she saw lots of kids doing AA during rush and was almost jealous. She wanted to go on some of the outings they were doing!</p>
<p>Also, want to dispel the belief that if you are not Greek you won’t fit in or that you will only be friends with non Greeks.</p>
<p>My D is in a sorority, but her roommate did not rush and they have become very good friends and do lots of things together, especially on the weekends. In fact they have made friends in the dorm with a group that consists of a mix of Greek and non Greek kids.</p>
<p>It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing thing. At least for my D, being Greek doesn’t mean her whole life revolves around it. It’s more like a club. Sometimes she does stuff with her sorority, and other times with her dorm friends. It’s a nice mix.</p>
<p>Thank you to Sticker for starting this thread! You all are talking about things I have been wondering about a bit. My DS will be OOS Honors & Engineering, and plans to live in Mary Burke Hall. We just can’t justify the very high cost of the Honors housing (amazing as it is), and he doesn’t want to take out a loan (and we of course don’t want him in more debt than necessary). He’s definitely planning to do AA or AO, and he will get involved with a church group I am sure; I really don’t think he’s going to have any trouble finding good friends who are not involved in the Greek system. I figure the jaunts across campus to attend Honors events will be good for him :)</p>