<p>I, of course, will not be driving, so it’s my challenge to either ship stuff (CMU said they would send info about shipping stuff in mid-July, though it hasn’t come yet, but I guess technically it isn’t mid-July quite yet), or else pack it all into suitcases, but not so many that we have to pay the airline lots of $$. And then we have a small rental car when we get there Only my mom is taking me, though, so I guess we have the whole backseat and the trunk. We found some duffel bags at a closeout sale at REI that were really cheap - they’re the kind that come with these nice little cases to store them when you’re not using them, so they’re very compact. </p>
<p>CMU has Greek life - something like 15% of men and 10% of women are involved, I think? I’m not interested in rushing, though.</p>
<p>For those wondering on how to pack up all the dorm gear - you can order on-line at Walmart and then pick it up at the store - and, it can be any store you select - so, it can be one near your school. Also, if you order, you have 21 days to make your pick up at the store of your choice so you can order about 3 weeks in advance. I am going to do this with the frig for my son’s room. That way I have no worries about getting to MN and finding that every place is out of stock.</p>
<p>Oh, we also will take advantage of shipping items directly to the school. If you ship bedding, etc it is light and pretty low cost. The US Post office has one price shipping for boxes of various sizes. We did this every year for boarding school and it was always a breeze and freed up suitcases for other more important items (like clothes!).</p>
<p>This is also a good way to get your heavy duty winter gear later instead of bringing coats, boots, mitts, etc with you in August/September.</p>
<p>Our experience was that shipping boxes was cheaper than paying for an extra suitcase on the plane :)</p>
<p>fed ex GROUND is also pretty reasonable…that is how we got my eldest’s things to NYC and i use it at xmas all the time. 30-50 lb box from alabama to california runs about 20-30 dollars. takes about 4 days usually.</p>
<p>Lafalum: for UA sorority recruitment, the girls are supposed to have at least 1 LOR for each sorority from an alum of that sorority. If they don’t know any alum from a particular sorority, they are encouraged to reach out to their local Panhellenic association to connect with someone. While 1 is recommended, we were told that two are better; since there are 17 sororities that means a minimum of 17 and preferably 34 LORs. Official transcripts need to be sent to the sororities since most have a minimum gpa requirement; they also want a resume with a picture. Apparently first cuts are usually made based on a GPA that is too low &/or no recs. Can’t say I’m terribly sorry that D decided not to rush this fall as it sounds way more complicated than applying to college. I’m not making a judgment on Greek life; just wish that UA had winter recruitment like Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>have been at walmart online… love the dorm stuff, they have all kinds of fridge colors ie pink, purple and many colors of george forman grills LOL</p>
<p>
Hi y’all! Thanks for the breakfast tacos, austinmtmom, and for the coffee, parent56. MMM-mmm!</p>
<p>
I say GO FOR IT! It will make her happy (which makes you happy) and it will be what she sleeps under, studies on, and sits on every day. Our daughter used those space bags that you can vacuum the air out of and they were amazing! She used them for bedding, sweatshirts, sweaters, etc. Then she used them again to store her stuff for the summer to make it as small as possible and to make sure no bugs got in her stuff. We always flew and even moved her home the final time by air, in eight LARGE suitcases. (One suitcase was all shoes and boots…) That was, of course, right before you had to pay for bags on the airlines.</p>
<p>jackief - It gets pretty cold in Chicago (and a little colder in MN) in November - usually about 32°F at night, but sometimes colder. It gets up to about 50°F during the day. Layers will be good. </p>
<p>scualum - Those soft rooftop carriers work pretty well. We used one when we took the kids camping many years ago.</p>
<p>Welcome back, SWTCAT. JC40 had mentioned this sorority rush, too. We are from the Midwest and are going to need an education here. Is it a big deal for the guys and fraternities, too? At our son’s school, it is not an option for freshmen to join until second semester, so we haven’t talked about it yet. Letters of recommendation? From whom? Please fill me in.</p>
<p>Lafalum84 - Loved that orientation story. :)</p>
<p>I hope everyone is having a good day. The big game starts soon. I hope those vuvuzelas don’t make me crazy.</p>
<p>:cool: </p>
<p>RobD - Thanks for that info. I have a lot to learn… :eek:</p>
<p>Last year someone mentioned setting up an account with Fed Ex or UPS (can remember which) and that by doing so they got great shipping rates for care packages, etc. They also got some labels for their child so all they had to do was to box up his/her unused dorm items and it was charged to the parents account. I suppose this would work great after winter so all the jackets and extra blankets can be sent home.</p>
<p>Back from a trip to Target and BB&B. We selected as much as we could at BB&B to be picked up in MN, but ended up with a bedding set and mattress pad from Target. I guess we’ll be putting those in a box and sending them out ourselves. Carleton says not to ship anything to arrive before 8/15, but has no limit on the number of boxes. I would have ordered the items from Target, but was afraid the bedding set would be out of stock by the time I could order it for delivery after 8/14.</p>
<p>And on the topic of other stuff to send/bring/buy - we’ve opted for no blazer/suit here. S doesn’t own one, and we don’t think it’s a necessary expenditure right now (and he’s still growing). I expect we’ll ship 3 - 4 boxes, and take two large duffels on the flight.</p>
<p>Cecil, we ordered a fridge to pick up at Walmart in MN two years ago for D. Process worked out fine.</p>
<p>The rush process sounds wild to me. Both of my kids affirmatively wanted schools with little to no Greek life, and Carleton has none. I’m relieved after what I’ve read here.</p>
<p>Me too. I’m still not really sure what it is, to tell the truth. My college didn’t have frats or sororities, and D’s had a small Greek presence that she wasn’t interested in. I’m not sure how S feels about it - I think about 15% of the kids at Delaware join, but I have no idea about the timetable.</p>
<p>I am glad UVA’s is a spring rush but I don’t know if D will be interested. They do have one that is an engineering sorority that she may look into. She met one of the girls when we went for the engineering open house in the spring and she liked the idea of the networking and help from other members all going through the e-school. We’ll see.</p>
<p>The math text book D needs for calc is $250 and is the 6th edition. We actually own the 5th edition because I found it online when she wanted some outside texts for BC calc. We’re too worried if there is any big difference it would be a major one but maybe now I can try and sell the 5th edition (she was only keeping it since it had been a big help). Now though we’re hoping it means this class will be an easy entry into school for her. That of course was the first class I checked for books so I was scared they’d all average $350 (math needs some other items too) but fortunately the others are around $100 each…still $$!</p>
<p>It sounds like UA is different but at South Carolina, we were told that you could get one of the sorority sisters you meet during rush week to write a LOR for you. The question came up when we were touring the Greek Village because obviously the LOR can put some students at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>I know that the fraternities at both South Carolina and UA start hosting summer parties and invite incoming freshman (who’'s name they have gotten from frat brothers) so that they can meet and greet before rush starts. Generally, an upperclassman who knows the incoming freshman will invite them. Son went to an informal event a few weeks ago while we were in town for orientation. He was invited by someone he knew that had been at our HS.</p>
<p>I’m not sure this is the case for the sororities as the sororities are much more competitive and seem to follow stricter guidelines than the frats. Rush week can be very stressful.</p>
<p>BTW- The University of Illinois reportedly has the largest Greek system in the country but there are very large Greek presences in a variety of schools both public, private (Washington and Lee - that one surprised me for some reason), north, south, east, west.</p>
<p>There is some interesting information on Greekchat dot com - it’s a forum.</p>
<p>PAO2008, WashU has a service that we thought sounded terrific. They have a truck pick up from our local train station. They can pick up any number of boxes and other items and I particularly like the fact that this is explicitly for WashU. I had originally thought of shipping via UPS or just buying stuff at BBB, but my husband concluded this is THE way to go. Check it out:
It would make your PB purchase doable, without guilt.</p>
<p>It really, really depends on the school your daughter is attending. Sorority rush is significantly more involved, though, than fraternity rush regardless of what region of the country you live in, so DS parents, y’all can sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. (Do be prepared, however, for a hefty tab to be tacked on to your son’s college bill. Some frats can add as much as 5K+ per year.) DD parents, those of you whose daughters have selected certain southern schools are in for a whirlwind. Our D had narrowed her list to BC Honors (Jesuit – no Greek system at these schools), Northwestern (about half Greek but very, very laid back; received laughs when we asked how many recs were suggested – were told to simply go online and sign up about a month before and that recs weren’t really necessary), and UVA (very southern Greek system; rush can be intense from what we’ve heard). She has always wanted to attend a school where there was not only a strong Greek presence, but those that were involved were really dedicated. This actually contributed to her selecting UVA.</p>
<p>As for R.I.F.s (recs) and letters of support…like RobD said, it really depends on the school. We were able to secure a RIF for each of the sororities and several letters of support for each. The packets usually contain a resume, a head shot and full body shot, a transcript, and a hand-written thank you. You give a more polished packet (folder) to the lady who writes your RIF. Those writing letters of support get the same thing except they also receive a stamped envelope addressed to the lady who writes the RIF. When they finish writing the support letter, they send it along to the one writing the rec. The whole accumulated package then gets sent to that sorority at the college prior to rush. To compose everything does take considerable time; however, at least it’s done and we can breathe until after Christmas. Like SWTCAT said, it can be very competitive at some of these southern schools. I’ve told D to smile and be herself. Whatever happens will happen, and she’ll wind up being placed where she’s meant to be. If she gets cut, then it simply wasn’t in God’s plan (same advice we consistently gave throughout the app/decision process).</p>
<p>From what D was told, they couldn’t get LOR from current members only alumni. And there’s not supposed to be any contact between the sororities and PNMs (potential new members) over the summer. There’s a cutoff date but I don’t remember what it is.</p>
<p>Ithaca has no fraternities or sororities. They supposedly have a “secret” one but I didn’t think that was the purpose. I didn’t want to go to school with a Greek life anyway.</p>
<p>RobD…you’re D is right. You can’t have a RIF (rec) from a current member – only an alum; however, you can have a letter of support from a current member but obviously not from a member at the school where your D will be rushing.</p>
Only my mom is taking me, though, so I guess we have the whole backseat and the trunk. We found some duffel bags at a closeout sale at REI that were really cheap - they’re the kind that come with these nice little cases to store them when you’re not using them, so they’re very compact. </p>
</p>