<p>When we toured Chicago they mentioned the 10% fraternity rate. Didn’t sound like the frats had a big presence on campus.</p>
<p>I didn’t realize Chicago didn’t start until mid-Sept. I think my son would be bonkers by then (and me, too) Most of his friends will be gone by Mid-August although a few schools around here don’t start until after Labor Day.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure we will be taking two (smallish) SVUs. Especially if we are toting a fridge and microwave. We haven’t decided whether son will be taking his SVU at first, so it might be that hubby and I will be driving separate cars. Fortunately, we are only 1 1/2 hrs from school.</p>
<p>scualum, that roofbag thing looks great… we probably wont need one…i will be going in my car (suzuki aerio with seats down) and son will have his ford focus. should fit everything but if not, he is only 2 hours from home, so could run back on a weekend for another load.</p>
<p>Leave MIL’s house in about an hour to take ds2 to his summer camp. MIL seemed sad that this might be the last time she sees ds1 before he leaves. I think we’ll make one more quickie visit, but no guarantees.</p>
<p>Glad to hear UChicago is starting late. So does ds. One of his best friends, who is spending a good part of the summer in China with family, is UChicago so they’ll hopefully get to spend some time together before they both head out.</p>
<p>Good morning all!! WOW…I have been gone for almost a week and it has taken me 3 days to catch up on this thread! Our vacation on the Texas coast was great for 3 days and then another tropical depression hit…and rain was predicted for several more days. After talking to a city worker that was predicting power outages and 60-70 MPH winds, we decided to come home 2 days early…that put H and I in a real FUNK for a couple of days. I think D was okay with it because she was able to hang with friends here at home. Oh well…back to work tomorrow :(…</p>
<p>As far as dorm shopping goes, We have D’s bedding and we bought a rally cute lamp at Hobby Lobby yesterday. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by the whole process and trying to weed out what she really needs…Walmart had a special ad in today’s paper with alot of cute, brightly colored dorm stuff… if I can get the courage to go there, D and I might head there later :)</p>
<p>We have had the added stress of getting ready for sorority rush…here in the South it is a BIG deal which requires multiple letters of recommendation and a whole new wardrobe…it is a VERY competitive process and many girls get cut out completely…I am going to need multiple happy hours to get through that week! :)</p>
<p>In the South here also - rush really is a big deal - they even start inviting prospective rushees to parties in the summer. Our college actually publishes a daily ‘dressing guide’ for girls during rush week.</p>
<p>It’s a lot less daunting for the boys - they don’t need the letters of recommendation (that I know of but it helps tremendously if you know someone in the fraternity). Son can’t make up his mind whether he will rush or not. I think he’s very torn although most of his HS buddies will be joining frats at their respective colleges. I wouldn’t be surprised if he does join a frat.</p>
<p>At one point during the college search, going to a school that was not Greek dominated was high on his list. Now that he going to our flagship, he’s not sure what to do. I’ve advised him he can always wait. It’s pretty easy to join a frat later on (not so much with sororities).</p>
<p>SWTCAT…I can totally relate to your anxiety about rush. One of my D’s good friends who goes to UT said the first day the girls have to all wear khaki shorts and a white tee tucked in. They’re given a see-through purse. They do this because they don’t want the rushees to show up in couture clothes with Valentino bags trying to buy their way in; in short, they want to level everyone. I have also heard of girls getting crushed the last day when they don’t get a bid. TCU and SMU are supposed to be cutthroat as well – not sure. D will be rushing after Christmas but getting her packets, photos, etc. put together and distributed was a lot of work. At least it’s done. Our local panhellinic insisted that everything be submitted before June 1 even if your school does second semester rush. I’ve heard that rush at D’s school can be pretty intense – not really sure though. Good luck!</p>
<p>Regarding the roofbag - we borrowed a friend’s roof bag, drove to Colorodo from Chicago during Christmas week. Bag was great, just a little bit frozen. We put everything in black garbage bags inside the roof bag to make sure nothing got wet.</p>
<p>Also, we also strapped on Luggage Straps to be doubly safe.</p>
<p>Morning all! Popping by to offer some breakfast tacos before I head off to work!</p>
<p>coskat - Glad orientation went well! Sorry about the BB&B wait. That does not sound very well organized!</p>
<p>mdemvizi - Glad you enjoyed Mary Poppins!</p>
<p>SWTCAT - Sorry your vacation got cut short Eeek - I can’t even imagine having to prepare for rush! Best of luck. Some sorority will be very lucky to get your D!</p>
<p>BUandBC - The Buble concert sounds wonderful. Glad you had a good time!</p>
<p>Yds - Hugs to your MIL! Hope y’all can make that quickie trip for her to see DS1 again before he heads off.</p>
<p>Guess it’s time to conjure up the logistics fairies for all those who are trying to figure out how to get all the “stuff” where it needs to go. With a 20 hour trip each way there is no way we could take 2 cars so we will just stuff the minivan and head out. D decided she wants to spend the night in New Orleans on the way and do a bit of last minute fun shopping in the French Quarter. H seems very happy with that idea. Hmmm…</p>
<p>for those of you taking out private/parent loans/cosigned loans you may want to consider power of attorney and/or do as we did with oldest son (alternative loans) bought a term policy for the amount borrowed (cheap for them at age 18)</p>
<p>JC…we can commiserate together although D will be well through the process before your D…I will hold your hand for sure We have the khaki shorts ready to go although I didn’t realize that the t-shirt had to be tucked in…I did know about the ziploc bag for a purse which I am glad about…I am all about having a level playing field although I am afraid at UT it is more about who you know and D doesn’t know many that are in houses already. It will be a trying week for sure! She is not a legacy so she will be going in with a very open mind…She moves in August 18th and rush starts the 19th…YIKES!</p>
<p>JC…I think you mentioned a few days back that SRD or Hardin House (all girls dorms at UT) were the way to go…D is living in Hardin and at first was a little bummed because it is so strict and is all girls…she got to stay in her actual room at orientation and I think she was pretty happy…met a lot on nice girls and her room is really BIG compared to others we have seen…the best is that it has a very large walk in closet :)</p>
<p>me too swtcat…its the only store we have here (no target, no mall, no BBB etc)., so always busy on the weekend, and they usually only have a few checkouts open…i’m just too impatient.</p>
<p>Thanks Austinmom…we actually stopped in Austin on the way home and ate at Hut’s…one of D’s favorite restaurants in Austin… H and I used to eat there when we were in college…it is ancient!</p>
<p>all this rush talk is totally foreign to me. There were sororities at my school, but none of my friends were in them. I had many friends in frats and hung out at several. There were many fewer sororites with high competition to get in, there were over 50 frats and every boy interested could find one which fit and it was much more chill to rush them. I’ll be enjoying listening to the talk of the southern rushes.</p>
<p>Count me in as another CRV owner; we plan on having D2 come with us so folding the split seat down won’t work. Think I’ll leave this logistical issue up to DH.</p>
<p>Sorority recruitment is also very competitive at UA; D decided not to rush because she had already committed to an honors program that ran the same week as recruitment; 1 girl was able to do both last year & D didn’t want to start off the year that stressed. I think that we were told that 1500 girls rush each fall. </p>
<p>Saw the Wal Mart flier too; there’s an item or two in there that D is interested in but I don’t think I have it in me to go there on a Sunday. Maybe I’ll just have her order some more books.</p>
<p>Parent56: glad that Borders worked out for you!</p>
<p>Wow, the sorority stuff… are you serious? When I was in college in PA, rush was a week long but there was no letters of recommendation or photos or packets… yikes. D is heading to Elon and wants to rush (or go thru recruitment or whatever they’re calling it now, supposedly they don’t want to use the term rush). She said they do it during their winter term (1 month in January). Please tell me it won’t be like MomLive, jc40 and SWTCAT describe! :eek: Pictures? Packets? Letters of recommendation? Who in the world writes these LOR’s, and what would they be supposed to say?</p>
<p>edit - just checked with S, who is in a frat in PA and has friends in sororities. He said their sorority rush is more formal/organized than the frats, and there was a dress code, but he’d never heard about pictures or LORs or “packets.”</p>
<p>Hi everyone! It took me a while to get caught up, but I am. :)</p>
<p>The “connections” day at D’s college was ok. They separated the kids and parents right at the beginning, then we sat in a room and had different people give talks. We then were sent for lunch, which I had by myself (as D had a differently scheduled lunch time), then back to the same room for a “information fair” and little breakout sessions until the parent panel. Then we were taken to our kids’ dorm to meet up with them and see their room.</p>
<p>Unfortunately D’s dorm is the one that all of the summer workers are staying at so they didn’t let us see her room - I was really bummed about that. The room we did see was MUCH smaller than I thought it would be. So it was an eye-opening experience. I figured out at the end of the day that the program for the students was really the big thing for the day, and they were just kind of trying to keep the parents out of the way :)</p>
<p>So I am glad I went but didn’t get a lot out of it. D’s dorm has a/c, which I am happy about (not all of the dorms do). D had a great day, but we only had a few minutes to catch up before she had to check in to her week long program, so I guess I will hear about it when she gets back. Or not.</p>
<p>All the talk about moving makes me glad (again) that she picked a school so close. My partner has a vibe, which is very similar to the CRV I think in that there is a lot of space. We will probably have to take both cars to move her in and out. </p>
<p>I think that’s the point of the vast majority of Parent Activities at orientations, haha. Keep the parents away from the kids. Although at D’s orientation we were at a Parent session, and the kids were at their session, and as our session approached the time it was supposed to end you could hear beeps and ringtones all over the room. The Moderator laughed and said, “I guess we need to stop now, since it’s clear your kids are done with their session and are looking for you!” </p>
<p>We have a Honda Pilot with a large Thule box for the roof. Fitting D, H, me and all her stuff will be a challenge…</p>
Eeek - I can’t even imagine having to prepare for rush! Best of luck. Some sorority will be very lucky to get your D!</p>
We have the khaki shorts ready to go although I didn’t realize that the t-shirt had to be tucked in…I did know about the ziploc bag for a purse which I am glad about…I am all about having a level playing field although I am afraid at UT it is more about who you know and D doesn’t know many that are in houses already. It will be a trying week for sure! She is not a legacy so she will be going in with a very open mind…She moves in August 18th and rush starts the 19th…YIKES!</p>
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