<p>Can anyone address sorority life at Alabama? I hear it’s huge and I was wondering about the time commitment. Also, do the houses tend to pledge chapter legacies over othe PNMs?</p>
<p>Actually, the percentage of women in sororities at UA are a minority. But if you are in a sorority, it is a big deal. In comparison, Auburn has a slightly higher percentage of women in sororities. The percentage of women who are in Sororities at both schools declines from Freshman to Senior classes. It is a bigger deal for freshman, or shall I say Freshwomen lol.</p>
<p>Legacies are given extra consideration. However, being a legacy is not a guarantee. A non-legacy PNM may be a better fit in a chapter than a legacy. Recruitment is a process of mutual selection, and your objective should be to find a chapter where you feel at home. Don’t worry about the other PNM’s. </p>
<p>Make sure you check on the Greek life website. Most colleges have a set dress code for each day of formal recruitment.</p>
<p>i think alabama is about 25% greek. </p>
<p>my dd wants to go to alabama and might want to go greek, but we have no legacy status at all. i kind of wonder if she will be able to get in as a “newcomer.” idk?</p>
<p>Mike,</p>
<p>As long as your daughter puts her best foot forward, she should be fine.</p>
<p>There will be a “network” of girls who graduated from Alabama high schools. However, your daughter should rush if she wants to and see if one of the sororities meets her expectations. Putting aside the things people say about Greek life (buying friends, etc.) a sorority can be a wonderful support system for kids when they are away from home.</p>
<p>She needs to check on the Alabama Greek website and see what the dress code is for each day. Alabama is a competitive southern rush and things like that will matter.</p>
<p>yeah, we already looked at that. we are not talking about this year, so there is still time.</p>
<p>we still have senior year to get through!</p>
<p>yeah, i think it might be a good group for her being so far away from home. good point!</p>
<p>: )</p>
<p>MikeW, My d will be an oos freshman at AU in 2010 as well, and is undecided about recruitment. One thing to keep in mind, Delta Gamma is planning on re-colonizing in 2011, so there will be an opportunity their sophomore year to be part of a new group. Colonies usually take a greater number of upperclass members than do established houses. Alpha Phi pledged 200 members as a colony last fall. So if your daughter can’t decide as a freshman to pledge, sophomore year is not too late.</p>
<p>Beware of some free advice!</p>
<p>Yes, sophomore year is not too late to rush. However, your choices will be more limited because some sororities will weed out upperclassmen right off the bat and cut them- especially in a competitive rush like Alabama.</p>
<p>My advice would be to go through rush during freshman year with an open mind and see if one of the houses is a good fit.</p>
<p>If, for some reason, your daughter goes bidless, she can try to rush again or go for the DG recolonization in her soph. year.</p>
<p>By the way, the correct terminology here is “recruitment” not “rush.” I just wanted to mention that and I do not want to confuse you. Rush is a word that is no longer used in sorority recruitment, but old habits die hard. </p>
<p>Also, please emphasize that grades really do matter. She will be competing with girls who have high grades and were cheerleading captains, class president, or Miss Apple Blossem, for that matter. </p>
<p>I think sorority life is a great experience. Good luck!</p>
<p>oops, sorry, i didn’t know the term “rush” was out!</p>
<p>i am not a sorority girl. so i am WAY not in the know about these things.</p>
<p>i think my DD will be ok as far as grades and such go. her major liability would be that she is kind of shy. : /</p>
<p>Mike,</p>
<p>Yesterday was bid day at Alabama. Did your daughter go through recruitment? If so, how did it go?</p>
<p>hey - thanks for asking. so sweet of you to remember, but …</p>
<p>she is just going to be a senior in high school now, so we are good for now! : )</p>
<p>she has applied at alabama but hasn’t heard back yet.</p>
<p>we are also still needing to raise the ACT/SAT score for alabama to be a possibility,so there are still a lot of things up in the air right now!</p>
<p>Just to throw out some different observations from the mom of a son who is a freshman this year – that sorority rush thing (everyone calls it that – I guess recruitment is the correct term though!) is very high pressure. A few hundred girls (from what I hear) did not get invites (bids, whatever) from sororities and from what I’ve heard, they are very, very upset. There is a good bit of crying and contemplation (from some) of leaving the U completely. Counselors are going thru trying to help the kids.</p>
<p>Apparently my son’s friend – a girl from a NE state – did not get a bid. I hope she is okay. </p>
<p>It all sounds very high-pressure, elitist and anachronistic to me (& I was in a sorority at a NE college). Sorry to those who see the positive! No offense. I’m sure there are many upsides to this kind of sorority life. From the bits I’ve overheard, though, it sounds pretty rough. I feel bad for the girls. I hear AL has the biggest rush of any college campus.</p>
<p>If I’m incorrect in any respect (hope so!) I’d be glad to learn that the situation is otherwise!</p>
<p>This year was the biggest groups of girls rushing in the history of the university. I heard from friends who are rushing that about 1700 girls rushed and about 700-800 got bids. These girls had to put up with very ridiculous rules during rush week. They had to wear dresses at all sorority functions, and most involved heels. They had to smile the entire time they were in any house regardless of whether or not they liked it. Also, they had a midnight curfew and a very strict no drinking policy. The last one doesn’t sound bad but when you have to watch all your new friends stay out until 2am while you’re stuck in your room, it gets old fast. What they wore was chosen for them on a day-to-day basis. The sororities put spies (definitely girls but probably guys from the frat their paired up with too) on campus to make sure the rules were obeyed. Violation of certain rules such as the curfew and drinking policies result in being dropped from every house.</p>
<p>As far as legacies go, they will only get you to the 2nd day and after that it doesn’t mean a whole lot.</p>
<p>After bid day, I talked to some friends who got bids, and they said it was completely worth putting up with all of rush week to get into a sorority. They are already out having a great time as pledges with their soon-to-be sisters. Every time I see them, they look incredibly happy.</p>
<p>Actually last year’s rush was larger. This year 1479 girls registered for recruitment, and over 1200 received bids. Girls who go bidless often don’t maximize their options or choose to drop rush on their own. Some even drop before rush starts. The system works because pledge class quota is based on the number of girls who rush. A new sororiy was added last year to decrease the large size of pledge classes. Hopefully another sosority, Delta Gamma, will colonize in 2011.
For the majority of girls rushing, it’s a fun experience and they enjoy it. It’a not any more competitive than the current job market, so maybe these young ladies are a little better prepared than most for the future after college.
Check out UA news, they state that over 1200 girls pledged.</p>
<p>I have 2 cousins who went through rush this year. Actually, their mothers are my first cousins. I haven’t talked to the girl’s mom’s as of yet but I did see the sorority list on the UA web site and their names were not listed. I know that they were very concerned with their high school GPA’s. Both had a 2.8. Most of the top sororities had a cutoff of 3.0. One of the girls attended one of the top high schools in the country (Trinity Prep/Orlando) and was a legacy (mom was a Theta at Univ. of Florida). Her 2.8 at Trinity is probably academically stronger than a lot of 4.0’s at most Alabama public’s. However, she did not make the cut. Like I said, I have not talked to her mom yet but my gut feel is that she did not make the Tuesday cut for the few houses she really wanted and she probably dropped out. Bottom line is that it is very competitive these days.</p>
<p>crimsondude, You said it all in your post: “the few houses she really wanted”. That is what I mean by girls not maximizing their options. Your cousins would rather not go Greek, than take a chance on a house they are not familiar with. The choice is theirs.
It’s a shame they couldn’t explain the gpa from the private school. I’ve heard other people say they have had the same issue.</p>
<p>Like MikeW, I have a DD who is a current HS senior who is looking at UA for next year. We are from the NE, so Greek life is well, Greek to me 
I had looked at the UA Greek website a while ago and I have a question about the recommendations: do the girls rushing have to get a recommendation from a sorority alumni for each house to pledge/rush that house?
Thanks!</p>
<p>RobD, yes, recs are required at UA. I can’t stress “required” enough! I would seek assistance from your local Panhellenic if you are not familiar with the recommendation process. Not having a rec to a house at UA is probably the quickest way for a PNM to be dropped.</p>
<p>RobD, Please try to find alumni from each sorority to write recs for your daughter. Even though you may be told it is the sororities’ responsibility to get recs, it is really to your best interest to get them yourself. They can be from an alumnus from any chapter, not necessary from UA.
It’s also helpful to attach a resume and photo.
My daughter hasn’t decided to go through recruitment yet, but I am already thinking of friends and family who can write her recs. I attended a different SEC school, and rush was almost as competitive 30 years ago as it is now. some things just don’t change.
Go to [url=<a href=“http://www.greekchat.com%5DGreekChat.com%5B/url”>http://www.greekchat.com]GreekChat.com[/url</a>] to learn more about recruitment.</p>
<p>Wow! Thanks for the quick replies I guess here’s my next question: I’ve always thought of recommendations as being from people who know you. I’m sure once she starts asking, DD will know alumni from a few of the UA sororities, but I can’t imagine all. Does she request recommendations from alumni who don’t know her?</p>