So I’m going to be a PNM at an SEC school in August. I plan on rushing but I have one major problem. My Junior and Senior Year of HS I had a 3.6 and a 3.8 GPA for the year but my overall GPA is a 3.1 because is circumstances my freshman year which left me with a LOW GPA to work from. My school has a cut off of 3.2 for most sororities. I took all Honors and AP classes so its not like I am dumb or anything. How worried should I be about being cut in the first round of recruitment because of my low GPA that does not reflect my High Honor Roll and my A’s and B’s for the last 2 years in difficult classes.
Was the gpa weighted? If not, list your weighted gpa on the application, or your core courses only, or list “gpa 3.7 (jr/sr years; 3.1 unweighted for 4 years)” and explain.
There isn’t much you can do about the facts. If there is a cut off and they need an official gpa from the admissions office, you may not be able to participate in recruitment immediately. It depends on the rules. You would have another chance when you get your first college gpa.
“CRISIS”??? Please don’t put so much weight on getting into a sorority that it would be a crisis if you didn’t. You are setting yourself up to be miserable if it doesn’t happen. College is about way more than Greek life. I’m not saying wanting to join a sorority is wrong, but please keep it in perspective.
You may want to join a sorority but not having the required GPA is not a CRISIS. You can try explaining your circumstances but if you are unable to rush it is not a CRISIS. Plenty of people have a fantastic college experience and have zero interest in joining a sorority or fraternity. Try to go with the flow and enjoy college for what it is when it is rather than exaggerating and calling it a CRISIS.
Oh, sweetie, I sincerely hope this is the biggest CRISIS you face for the rest of your life.
Take 3 deep breaths and repeat “first world problems” until you’ve settled down a bit.
@haleycub26 you’ve had your heart set on this, it feels like a lot is riding on it. Everyone dreams of college and for you it included a sorority…it’s ok to feel upset and try to figure it out.
Not sure which school, but you might want to reach out to Panhellenic there and ask the question about GPA requirements since you were increasing. I know at my D’s school there is a minimum for girls to go through rush but each individual house may have a higher GPA standard so even if you are able to rush just know you still could be limited on options.
What I also know is GPA is usually one of the first reasons girls get dropped by a house. I don’t know if recommendations are needed at your school but if they are perhaps you could have your people help explain your GPA in their rec letters. You should be able to search the grade report for your school and she the overall GPA averages for each chapter. That might also give you an idea of which houses might have a higher GPA standard.
If you do run into an issue this rush, you can always look for chapters that might do an informal in the Spring. I know it is harder at a lot of competitive schools for Sophomore’s to rush
Are you sure they look at your high school GPA? At the colleges I’m familiar with, it’s your college GPA that matters. For example, one school notes that you’ll need one term (12 credits or more) with a 2.5 GPA to be considered. They don’t look at your high school GPA. Please double check this, just to be sure.
@RoaringMice For schools that let incoming freshman rush, they use HS GPA
If you rush as a freshman at the start of Fall then they will use your official HS transcript GPA since that is all they have to go on. If they do rush in the Spring time then they tend to want your first semester college GPA.
When I rushed my fraternity there was no minimum to rush but there was a minimum to get initiated so we weren’t initiated until our first semester GPA was in. With my D, her rush at IU was in January so they had their first semester GPA’s already established and then she was initiated before the end of the semester. Some sororities did initiations even sooner. Just depends on the chapter and the school on how they do it.
I actually liked having my D’s rush be at the start of the Spring semester because it gave her the whole first semester to just get adjusted to college without the extra stress of rush and Greek life. Plus it gave her the first semester to go to some of the events to learn more about the different houses and get a small look at what Greek Life was actually like before deciding if she wanted to try and rush.
Students who don’t take AP or honors courses are “dumb”? That’s a pretty sorry attitude.
If you don’t have the GPA to rush in the fall you may have to wait until you’re eligible. The purpose of attending college is to get an education. Kudos to the school for making sure students are on solid academic footing before letting them join ECs that will take time away from their studies.
@austinmshauri GPA isn’t set by the school it’s set by the National Chapter of each individual Fraternity or Sorority. The school may have a bare minimum and then each chapter will have their own (typically) higher GPA.
If those are the houses cutoffs there’s nothin you can do. PanHel recruitment is pretty standardized across the board.