<p>Mark your calendars! March 8th according to DD. “Preview Day is an opportunity for prospective members to experience sorority life at The University of Alabama”</p>
<p>Thanks for the information! DD and I will be there!!</p>
<p>Thanks momoftriplets! Is there a link somewhere that tells you more about it?</p>
<p>Thanks for posting this…it’s nice to know early on so parents can make plans. You can look at the UA Panhellenic page to see a brief synopsis from last year. It’s a fun day of information and visits for the potential pnms to all of the sororities. In the past there were invite teas and parties but that was not the case last year. The invite teas and parties were held on a different weekend. I haven’t even asked DD what they are doing this year since she is a senior and they are not required to attend. For those of you planning on or interested in going through recruitment you might want to start putting your resume together and start lining up those recs. It is never to early to start this!</p>
<p>And start buying clothes with an eye to Preview Weekend, Private Teas, Recruitment, GameDay Dresses, a White Ritual Dress, formal gowns, LBDs, And, of course, Norts.</p>
<p>The cool thing is that those high school senior clothes will be NEW to everyone at college, so select accordingly.</p>
<p>DD just wore her (stunning) HS junior prom gown to her first college sorority formal last night. Still looked great in it. (You guys won’t tell, right? Lol)</p>
<p>I also think the college girls do a lot of trading clothes…</p>
<p>Thanks for posting this! A couple of questions for more experienced moms… How soon should hotel reservations be booked? What was the timing of events last year? I’m wondering if we should plan to stay both Saturday and Sunday nights. It’s about a 5hr drive to T’town for us.</p>
<p>Hotel reservations: book at the slightest hint of the date! In other words, book now!</p>
<p>You need to be there the night before for registration. Pretty much 3 nights.</p>
<p>We had some appointments set up with faculty in DD’s major on the Friday…Also, you will need mani/pedi before…so plan ahead.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. Is there likely to be anything scheduled for Sunday? Any CC moms of potential rushees care to share where you’re planning to stay? We stayed at Winngate when we visited campus last spring. It was fine, but I’m interested in hearing other suggestions too.</p>
<p>I like the Microtel on Veteran’s Memorial</p>
<p>Gamom, we like that Microtel too. I just booked it for 3/6-3/9. Join us!!</p>
<p>Also if you use twitter or your daughter does, go ahead and follow ua Panhellenic. They tweeted the info about preview a few days ago and will most likely tweet the day registration for it is open. They did last year. I will concur, book hotels as soon as you know. Also, book hotels for move in and bid day the minute those dates are announced as well. </p>
<p>I know my D has already been asked to think of hometown girls coming to school next fall and give info. Make sure that any girls you know in sorority at bama know you are coming to bama in the fall and want to rush. If you don’t know any don’t worry, but I would definitely recommend going to preview. It will help introduce you to the houses but also takes some of the mystery out if the process for your D. It made mine less nervous about recruitment.</p>
<p>TXArchitect: After reading the list of all the events one needs clothing for, I’m glad that I have two sons. As is, the older son, who was president of his fraternity while at Bama, has more clothing than his parents (or dang close to it). Hopefully his kid brother does not travel that same road, or he better have a job while attending college.</p>
<p>Also, girls should be very mindful of the information they convey on every form of their SOCIAL MEDIA.</p>
<p>It will be studied. Make it SQUEEK!</p>
<p>Got the early info from DD’s sorority FB page! Love following what the girls are doing. They do a great job of posting what they’re up to. I agree with all of the comments above. Book your reservations at the mention of a date for Preview, Private invites, move-in day, bid day, parents weekend… DH and I are a little spoiled because we only have a three hour drive but even if you live close, I’d book the night before and night of for preview and private teas. They are LONG days for the girls. This year’s freshman CC class had a “social coordinator” in TXArchitect. If you can, book Ahpimommy for a “all you need to know about sorority recruitment” session on preview weekend. Moms have a lot of down time those days, so it’s nice to get together with them. You need that “social chair” though!!!
Absolutely see if your student’s advisor/department chair can meet with you on Friday before. Ours gave us 90 minutes of uninteruptd time! If your DD has an idea of what dorm she wants, housing can give you a quick look at any empty rooms, too. FWIW, Tutwiler has a “book” of dimensions at the front desk. I took photos of the pages with my phone. Gives you ceiling height, drawer depth, shelf height, etc.
Start looking for recs now if you think you might be struggling!!! They are super important.</p>
<p>Book your lodging venues now. The decent places book fast. If traveling with spouse and siblings and need more space/beds, look into VRBO condos.</p>
<p>How important is Preview Weekend? Coming from OOS.</p>
<p>I will be a PNM in the fall. I have a school conflict that I absolutely cannot miss on March 8th, meaning that I can’t attend Preview Weekend. Greek Life is very important to me, and I’m very nervous - I’m coming from OOS, I don’t know any girls in Alabama sororities, and I’m not a legacy. I feel as though I’m going to be at a huge disadvantage. Can y’all give me any advice?</p>
<p>I think you will get a variety of opinions here. I always tell OOS mothers and daughters IF you are able to attend (financially and time commitment wise) then you should go. It’s an interesting day, your DD will get a brief visit with every house and you will get a chance to start to make connections and meet others who are also going through this process. In addition some use this time to meet with potential roommates and parents. Panhellenic does a good job of sharing information…there’s a lot. that being said if you cannot attend it WILL NOT impact whether your DD receives a bid (as long as she gets her recs, keeps an open mind and maximizes her options). There are quite a few of us here who would be happy to chat with you about the process and can also share most of the information you would receive at Preview.</p>
<p>It is not the end of the world if you cannot attend, and frankly many incoming students will live too far away to come. There is absolutely no requirement that PNMs attend. Heck, plenty of girls have no idea they want to go through recruitment at that point! Plus there are lots of high school events happening, especially for seniors.</p>
<p>Many of the sororities host invitation parties that weekend, and one other, so you might want to ask the panhellenic office about signing up for those so that you can at least get mail about them.</p>
<p>And if you have an alumnae panhellenic organization in your town, or close to your town, you might want to keep a watch for events they host for PNMs. These could be as early as mid-January. This gives you locations for alumnae panhellenics (the blue pushpins), but not necessarily how to contact them: <a href=“http://www.npcwomen.org/map/default.aspx[/url]”>www.npcwomen.org/map/default.aspx</a> You may have to search for a Facebook page, or search your local newspaper archives. Many do not have websites.</p>
<p>You can also start asking women you know if they are in a sorority, and if so, which one. Keep a list! Tell them you are planning to go through recruitment and ask if they will consider writing you a recommendation.</p>