<p>Hello! I am a admitted student and I have some questions about the rushing process for sororities. </p>
<p>1) Is it allowed?</p>
<p>2) How would I go about doing it if I were to commit to Alabama?</p>
<p>3) How competitive is the process? Hazing? Any deaths from hazing?</p>
<p>4) How does rushing work in general for any school? My knowledge of the whole process is really limited. </p>
<p>Sorority Recruitment is held the week before Move-In, although you will be able to move in early if you participate in Recruitment! Convocation is going to be August 7th and Bid Day will be August 15. Freshman are generally the majority during recruitment, but upperclassmen will rush as well. Registration will probably be around the end of April or beginning of May, where you will pay the recruitment fee and put in all of your information. In 2013, there was a 90% placement rate for girls that started recruitment. (Meaning that 90% of the girls that registered got bids on Bid Day.) UA has a strict no-hazing policy, so that shouldn’t be a worry of yours! Formal recruitment (held usually in the fall for more southern schools and usually in the spring for Northern schools) is divided into different rounds where both the houses and the PNM (potential new member) narrow down their selections. At UA, the rounds are Open House, Philanthropy, Skit and Preference. You will visit a maximum of 16, 12, 8, and 3 houses respectively. I strongly recommend rushing, as my DD loves her sorority and it really shrunk down Alabama’s campus for her. </p>
<p>If you think you might want to rush, now is the time to begin asking your mom’s friends, your teachers, etc. if they were in a sorority and would write you a rec. (Alumnae recs can be an important factor – along with your high school EC’s and GPA – at schools with a competitive rush. A rec won’t get you a bid, but not having recs can put you at a disadvantage.) The women don’t have to be alumnae of Alabama, just of a sorority that has a chapter at Alabama. Your hometown may have a Panhellenic group that can help with this.</p>
<p>@"NC Mom" " Wow!! That was very very helpful! So a few follow up questions:</p>
<p>At what point do you actually figure out what sorority you will be going to?</p>
<p>How much should I expect to pay?</p>
<p>If I choose Bama, when I go to pay my tuition deposit, will I see an option to register for recruitment or will I get an email? </p>
<p>What was your daughter’s rushing process like?</p>
<p>Will they guide me through this process?</p>
<p>What do sororities general look at? (It’s like applying to college all over again lol)</p>
<p>If I get a bid, I don’t automatically get in?</p>
<p>@yaupon Didn’t know that. Thank you! If I get a letter of rec from a person at one chapter, will it increase my chances at all chapters? Or just that specific chapter. Also, who decides if you get in? </p>
<p>CaliCash, you will go through recruitment for all the sororities. Over the course of the week, you will narrow down your choices, and the sororities will do the same. Sororities at Bama are expensive, but they include meals Monday through Friday lunch. You can expect to pay between $6000 and $10,000 a year. You won’t get any information about recruitment when paying your tuition deposit, but you can go to the Alabama Panhellenic website and click on the Recruitment link for more information. It is also on this site that you will register for recruitment. Yaupon is correct. You need to start gathering names of people who can write you a rec. Do as much research about the process as you can. There is a Bama mom who has a blog specifically about the Recruitment process. Google Sorority Girl 101 and you will find it. She is a great resource! Good luck to you!</p>
<p>A rec letter is specific to a particular sorority, so ideally you would have one for each sorority at Bama. I second NC Mom’s suggestion of becoming familiar with both the Alabama Panhel site and the Sorority Girl 101 blog; you’ll find lots of helpful information there. Membership selection is generally made by the actives (upperclasswomen) of each chapter; sometimes alumnae may also play a part. </p>
<p>Cali, here are the links to the sites:
<a href=“http://www.thesororitylife.com”>www.thesororitylife.com</a> - this is a site operated by the National Panhellenic Conference, which is the umbrella group for all sororities. Lots of good info here, lots of basic info. They also operate <a href=“http://www.sororityparents.com”>www.sororityparents.com</a>, which is geared toward answering parents’ questions. Goo info for you, too.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.uapanhellenic.com”>www.uapanhellenic.com</a> - this site belongs to the University of Alabama Panhellenic Association, the umbrella group for UA sororities. Most of the info is for 2014 recruitment, but it will be pretty much the same for 2015 recruitment. Go to “Recruitment” and thoroughly examine all aspects of this site! On the front page are links for several publications, among them “Greek Chic.” This is a booklet that will be mailed just before recruitment. Be sure to read this year’s version for more info! Check the FAQ under Recruitment for costs of signing up for recruitment as well as the cost of being in a sorority.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.sororitygirl101.com”>www.sororitygirl101.com</a> - As NC Mom says, this is a blog written by the mother of a UA student who just graduated in May. Mother Tammy is greek, and her daughter is also greek, but they are in different sororities. Mother has been a recruitment consultant for several chapters of her sorority, including the Alabama chapter, so she is well versed in how things work.</p>
<p>Personally, I am also a recommendation adviser for my sorority. Several parents on this board are also greek or have kids that are. We’ll be happy to answer any questions.</p>
<p>Welcome, and Roll Tide!</p>
<p>Mom of a D in her second year at Alabama and she is in a sorority.</p>
<p>Here is what you need to do starting now:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Find recs for each sorority at Alabama, 2 each is best. If you get more than 2 for one house, take them! Someone wants to write a rec for you, GREAT! Ask your parents friends if they were in a sorority, teachers, your friends moms, everyone you know! </p></li>
<li><p>Post this on your FB and your parents change the wording and post on their FB as well:
“Sorority help needed
I will be attending The University of Alabama next year. I plan on going through formal recruitment in order to join a sorority. I am needing 2 Reccomendations per house at UA.<br>
If you, your mother, grandmother or close family friend were in a sorority and would like to write a Rec for me it would be greatly appreciated.<br>
Please let me know soon and you can private message me or email me at <a href="mailto:abcdef@abc.com”>abcdef@abc.com</a>
Thank you for your help"</p></li>
<li><p>Keep a good list of your potential rec writers with which sorority they were in, phone number, email address and mailing address.</p></li>
<li><p>Keep watching the Alabama Panhellenic site to see when registration opens and register.</p></li>
<li><p>If you can attend Preview Weekend at UA the weekend of February 28, do so.</p></li>
<li><p>If you have not, get your housing deposit submitted asap.</p></li>
<li><p>Join the UA students FB for your class. Find the roommate finder and connect with other future students there. Could even find others that plan to rush and potential roomies moms might write a rec for you.</p></li>
<li><p>Work on your resume and rec packet info. These need to be mailed to your rec writers by the end of April. Be considerate of their schedule. Don’t give it to them at the last minute. What is needed and how to word the resume can be found online.</p></li>
<li><p>Find your local Panhellenic for alumni. See if they have a way to sign up for PNM’s (potential new member). They often have workshops for PNM’s. </p></li>
<li><p>Clean up your social media!!!
If you would be embarrassed for your grandmother to see it, it should not be on there.<br>
Yes, be a prude in a good way. No pictures of alcohol, smoking, drugs, etc
No reference to such either.</p></li>
<li><p>Move in for PNM’s is a week earlier than everyone else in order for recruitment to be completed before the first day of school.</p></li>
<li><p>Bid Day is on the last day which is the Saturday before classes start. All girls still in recruitment will be taken inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. You will receive an envelope with your bid inside. Then you will go find the actives from that house with the letters and then as a group will run to your house. A light meal, info and such will be done all dependent on what each house normally does.
If you receive a bid and all is good, your family agrees to pay the dues, you agree to the rules, etc, you are in.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Hope this helps </p>
<p>@TxNewCollegeMom How has your daughters experience been living in the house? How many rooms are typically there and bathrooms? </p>
<p>The Houses are all different. Many are quite large (they’re like mansions), so likely lots of rooms and lots of bathrooms.</p>
<p>My daughter has opted to not live in the house. Freshmen do not live in the houses. She’s a soph and lives in an apt on the edge of campus and likes that.<br>
The houses are all different but they are HUGE! Her house can house about 60 girls. The girls in executive positions live in the house and some of them have private rooms and their own bathroom. The rest are 2 per room and community bathrooms on each floor. Each house is a bit different but still pretty much the same as far as some basic things. Her house is one of the newer really large houses. </p>