<p>Hey, so I was just wondering how many people dont get into sororities that rush?? Ive looked up a lot of stuff on it and about rush week before school and it seems really competitive. I am looking forward to joining a sorority but I was wondering chances of not getting in one. Any other info on greek life and rush week is appreciated! thanks!</p>
<p>recruitment in a nutshell…pm me if you need more info…</p>
<p>[Our</a> Potential. Your Move.mov - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<p>You can go here and seem some statistics: [Student</a> Affairs | Greek Affairs](<a href=“Fraternity and Sorority Life”>Fraternity and Sorority Life)
Let me point out these are just for formal recruitment. There is a second recruitment called “continous open bidding” that takes place throughout the year. Women are often pledged this way.
There are some caveats to that, which you can find out as you research. If you have an alumnae panhellenic group in or near your town, such organizations often host spring events to answer questions (spring meaning anytime from January through June).
One thing’s for sure - if you don’t try, you’ll definitely never pledge!</p>
<p>Recruitment at Alabama is one of the most competitive in the country. For a majority of the young women who go through this process it is a very positive experience and they receive a bid. Those young women who do not receive bids usually fall into one of several categories.
This first is grades. Each sorority on campus has a minimum GPA that PNM’s need in order to be considered (usually at least a 3.0 ). If you do not have the minimum GPA then chances are you will not be invited back to the next round of parties.
Letters of recommendation are a “must” for recruitment. Panhellenic will tell you that a sorority cannot “drop” you if you do not have a letter on file but realistically this is a factor in choosing who will receive invites to the next round of parties (at least early on in the process, ice water teas and philanthropy days). The letters serve as a tool to introduce you to the sorority and show them what qualities you have that would be a benefit to them. They are IMPORTANT…get 2 for each house!
Finally it is important to keep all of your options open. Don’t go in with the idea you will only accept a bid for houses A,B or C…keep an open mind, maximize your options for the entire week.<br>
If you have a solid GPA, letters of recommendation and maximize your options yo should be fine.<br>
I would not rely on COB to receive a bid. Most houses on campus are a quota and therefor do not participate in COB. Sometimes but not often a house that is below quota will have spring recruitment events and may or may not offer bids. If you are interested in spring recruitment then contact Panhellenic.
Southlander is correct in that local Panhellenic organizations will begin to have teas and informational meetings starting in January and continuing until early summer. You do not need an invitation to attend. I would strongly suggest you attend one if there is one held in your area.
I would also strongly urge you to attend Panhellenic Preview Weekend, March 23-25th…it’s a great way to get a picture of the recruitment process, they will give you TONS of info on recruitment and you get to visit each house for a very short time :). Also the sororities will each have tables set up and you will get a “picture” of what each is like.
I have helped many young women successfully go through this process at Alabama. If you have questions or need help feel free to pm me.</p>
<p>Actually, I would argue that Bama sorority rush APPEARS more competitive than it acutally is. It appears competitive because there are c.1600 girls rushing, there is lots of hype and hoo hah, and rush has lots of frills: door chants, decorations, skits, beautifully turned out ladies on both sides…BUT MAINLY because a lot of rushees only want certain houses…</p>
<p>IF (and it is for some people a BIG IF) you do the following, you can make it easier for yourself to receive A bid (note: this may not necessarily be to your first choice, or even your second. It is unlikely to be to the house that was your first choice after the first round, but you never know!)</p>
<ul>
<li><p>you have recommendations to ALL the houses, ideally a personal rec but a general info form will be fine if you have exhausted all your personal connections (advice on doing so was provided on the UA panhellenic website)</p></li>
<li><p>you have AT LEAST the minimim grades for each house (these were listed in the rush booklet provided to all PNMs - at least a 3.0)</p></li>
<li><p>you have prior connections to some girls in the houses, either through high school/camp/ECs or if impossible because you’re OOS, Panhellenic Preview Weekend</p></li>
<li><p>you have experience and evidence of community service, athletics, honors, dance, other ECs. i.e. you like joining in and being part of a group and contributing something. If you don’t like joining in and being part of a group, then I think you may not enjoy sorority life…</p></li>
<li><p>you are able to hold enthusiastic conversations with just about anyone, even if you’re tired/bored/hungry/hot…whatever… those girls you meet when you’re in that state will be voting on you later… smile and show interest even if all you want to do is lie down!</p></li>
<li><p>you have taken the time and effort to dress appropriately, do your hair/nails etc. You don’t have to look like a super model, but clean and neat, dressed for girls not guys, and humidity appropriate is advisable. The rush booklet will provide guidance for each round</p></li>
<li><p>AND FINALLY, and MOST IMPORTANTLY - you keep an OPEN MIND about ALL the houses. Especially at Bama where houses are 200+ girls and there are 80-100 in each pledge class. When girls say ‘I didn’t feel a connection’, I am slightly suspicious because there are so many people in those houses, that there are bound to be all kinds of types of characters that she hasn’t met yet.</p></li>
<li><p>If you get a bid and you’re still not sure, I suggest going through the New Member period and getting to know the other girls better. If you are still not sure, then you can always drop before initiation. At Bama, unless you are super well connected, almost the ONLY time you can get a bid is through freshman formal recruitment. I know they have an upperclassman quota, but the houses don’t have to use it, and it is only 5 girls vs 80+ for freshmen. There may also be COR, but again, you need to be super well connected to the girls already and you really cannot rely on it as a back up</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The ‘competition’ comes in for those girls who only want particular houses. c.50% of rushees and c.50% pledges are OOS. But a few houses remain predominantly Alabamian in make up. Several more houses are strongly Southern in nature, with only a token girl from the NW/NE. Some are more geographically diverse. A lot of girls, particularly those from the large cities (Huntsville, Bham, Montgomery, Mobile) will only want certain chapters and will drop out rather than accept an invite back to a chapter.</p>
<p>Remember that quota is determined the same at Bama as at most other universities: the number of girls remaining in rush at preference (last) round divided by the number of houses. If there are 1400 girls, then quota will be 1400 split btw 16 houses…places are not limited!</p>
<p>BUT during rush, each house will have different return rates which determine how many girls they can invite back. This is to ensure that as many girls as possible are placed as equally as possible in ALL the houses. The more popular chapters which everyone lists as number 1 will have to cut far more girls than the lower rated chapters - so there ARE limits on the numbers that return to each house… this is what drives the notion of competitiveness. But you can overcome this by being open to all the houses and staying in the process until the end</p>
<p>Remember:
- Rush exists to give every rushee a chance to have A bid, taking into consideration preferences from both sides. It does NOT exist to give you your first choice</p>
<p>2) FAR MORE GIRLS WITHDRAW than are released from ALL the chapters. Far more. Don’t be one of them!!</p>
<p>3) There are many stories of girls who were down to three or four chapters early in the week, felt really upset by this, but ended up in a house they love. Heavy cuts come after Philanthropy (second round), so expect this and ride it out. Remember - you can only have one bid</p>
<p>3) You want competitive? Then how about Indiana University which not only has a whole semester of rumor, trash talking, reputation slagging, dirty rushing etc - but then only has a limited number of spots open depending on how many seniors left the previous summer and how many beds there are available in the house! Invariably many girls go bidless… now that sounds awful!</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Here are the rush stats from the past several years (although not dead up to date)</p>
<p>You can see that FAR more girls withdraw than are released overall</p>
<p>You will also see that Bama has a c.80% pledge rate, which is pretty darn good (this also takes into account all those who withdraw)</p>
<p>Hope this helps quell the nerves! Now get those recs and keep your GPA up! :)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.greeklife.ua.edu/docs/Fall%20Rush%20Stats%20for%202001-2009%20revised.pdf[/url]”>http://www.greeklife.ua.edu/docs/Fall%20Rush%20Stats%20for%202001-2009%20revised.pdf</a></p>
<p>Great advice SoccerGirl! …I agree…I think that the perception of “competitive” makes it seem that way. And also I agree that problems arise when girls come in determined that only “certain” houses are for them and that they will not accept a bid from any other house.
And yep…big cuts after Philanthropy…but it only takes one.<br>
I can’t imagine going through at Indiana. I have a dear friend whose daughter went through last year and did get a bid but what a harrowing experience.</p>
<p>The advice about keeping an open mind is very important. I have about five friends who suicided because they didn’t want a certain sorority, just based on reputation – two of my friends did not suicide and ended up in that sorority. Although it had been their last choice throughout all of rush, they are both EXTREMELY happy and so glad they ended up there. The system has a way of working itself out, and almost everyone I know ended up so happy in the sorority they got into, even if it wasn’t their first choice, even if it was their last choice.</p>
<p>Also, like it or not, whether you’re from Alabama or not makes a ton of difference. You’ll notice that Delta Gamma, which colonized this year, has a huge percentage of OOS students. This is at least partially because so many OOS girls got cut from houses during formal recruitment for no other reason than being OOS.</p>
<p>Most of the sororities pledged a large percentage of OOS women. Heck, the university of made up of a large percentage of OOS students.</p>
<p>Here is the statistical breakdown of young women who received bids in 2011 :</p>
<p>Of the 2011 Panhellenic new members:
41% are from Alabama
59% are from out of state</p>
<p>-Only 3 chapters had more than 50% of their new members from Alabama
-In total, 20% of the women receiving bids were not from the South
-6 chapters had 20% or more of their members from outside the South
-One chapter had about 47% of their new members from outside the South
-Often, the Alabama and Auburn chapters of the same NPC group tend to have the same trend of in staters vs out of staters or non Southerners. For example, AGD at both schools tends to have a lot of women from Alabama, and Gamma Phi Beta at both schools tends to have a lot of out of staters, and a lot of members from outside the South.
*The South is considered NC, SC, GA, FL, MS, TN, KY, LA, TX, AR, and OK for statistical purposes. All other states were considered outside the South. Like Auburn, most NMs from VA were from the northern part of the state.
Finally…
Girls receiving bids from Alabama (535), OOS (771) of those OOS (522) were from what was considered “Southern States” in this computation and 249 were non-Southern States.
FYI…girls are not cut solely because they are from OOS. I cannot go into the formula used in decisions about issuing back invitations to parties but I will tell you that being from OOS has nothing to do with it! The disadvantage OOS girls have is their unfamiliarity with the process. They don’t understand how important recs are. Ladies…you need them.
I would encourage anyone who is thinking about going through the process to get started now looking for women to write you a recommendation.<br>
You also can start getting your resume in order, getting your pics taken, and after the holidays you can begin to put your rec packages together to give to the women who are writing them for you.</p>
<p>Being from Alabama is important in that you will know girls in most, if not all the houses before rush. This is especially true if you are from one of the high schools in those cities I mentioned above. Not only HS, but also church groups, sports, etc means that you have a lot of connections in the houses. You have also maybe been going to visit older friends on campus for football games etc. When my sister went through she aleady knew girls in every house - in some houses, she knew a LOT of girls. It is these girls who have the best shot at COB and sophomore rush, by the way, NOT the OOS girls… connections matter…especially in the South…(well, actually everywhere, but especially here I think)</p>
<p>BUT as the stats ADPhimommy posted above, more pledges are from OOS! So there is every chance you will receive A bid. Although as Regina points out, it may not be to your first choice…</p>
<p>thank you guys so much(: that was a lot of information but really helpful! I have an open mind because I dont really know what to expect so I will be considering all of them. I really want to attend Spring Panhellenic Preview but it is just too far to make another trip. I meet the gpa (4.0 unweighted) and I have two people who can write me LOR, but one of them was in a sorority that alabama doesnt have…is that okay?? and when you say two for each sorority can i send the same two to each or how does that work? Being from OOS im not really familiar with the process. I had some questions but I cant remember them all! but you guys really know youre stuff, thanks. As of right now I am doing formal fall pledge and hope for the best!</p>
<p>For each sorority, you need to have a recommendation from someone who was in that sorority (but the person did not have to go to Alabama, they can have been in the sorority somewhere else) i.e. for Alpha Phi, you must have a recommendation from someone who is an Alpha Phi, but she can have graduated from any college. Since you’re from OOS and probably don’t know many people in sororities at UA, it is VERY important to get these recommendations, as some houses will cut you after the first round automatically if you don’t have a rec. I know it’s difficult if you’re from OOS, so you just have to do the best you can. You can contact local alumnae groups if you are desperate. Good luck!</p>
<p>Madster, the person who writes the recommendation will send it directly to her sorority’s chapter at UA. You should NOT be sending the recommendation.
I would suggest you follow up with that person to make sure she sends the recommendation. I’ve had potential new members give me envelopes that they addressed to the chapter (addresses are on the Panhellenic Web site) and stamped - that was a big help!</p>
<p>Southlander is correct…the person who writes your rec will send it directly to their particular chapter at Alabama. Panhellenic will give yo those addresses and contact person at Preview Weekend as well as list them on their website. The sororities had elections in Nov/Dec and so I am not sure if the correct contact people have been updated (I actually haven’t had time to check the Panhellenic website recently).
I would suggest you get TWO recs for each house, that way if someone does not follow through you still have one.
ALSO…when I help young women I have them put together a Recommendation Package to give to the person who is writing the rec. It includes the following: their resume, 2 pics…usually one head shot and one full body (think senior pics)…you need to have your name , home town and high school on the back written neatly, an addressed stamped envelope for where the rec is to be sent, and a personal thank you note to the person writing the rec. A personal letter of introduction is a nice addition to any rec packet. If I am able I will often meet with the young woman so I can confidently write this. This letter helps the sorority see the PNM from a more personal standpoint. It is not a necessity but a nice touch. Good luck!!! Now is the time to get started on this.</p>
<p>I’m an oos student wanting to join a sorority. When do I have rec letters sent to each sorority? I’ve been trying to get as many rec letters as I can. So far I only have six sororities at Alabama covered. I have multiple recs for each of these sororities and I’m a legacy to two. For some reason, everyone I know seems to have belonged to the same six sororities. I’ve read that I should contact my local Panhellenic council. On the Panhellenic site there is contacts to many of the local sorority alumnae groups. Should I just contact them directly to see if I can get a rec? Does it hurt me that I don’t have any UA alumnae writing my letter? I am planning on attending the spring preview weekend. I’ve heard there are also open houses and teas put on by the sororities. How do I find about those events? I don’t know a soul that attends UA and am worried about my chances. Thank you for any help you can offer.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>My sorority is at Bama…let me know if you need a rec. PM me.</p>
<p>Mom2collegekids, I sent you a pm. I’m not sure if it went through. It doesn’t show up in under my messages. Please let me know if it didn’t work. Thank you.</p>
<p>My sorority is also on campus. Pm me and I can help you.</p>