My D is a freshman at Elon this year. She is nervous because almost 1/3 of the girls who rush are not accepted to a sorority. Does anyone have any pointers. This is all new to me. My husband and I never were part of Greek life when we went to school, and my S went to a school where greek life is open to everyone, so he saw no need to rush.
I think most girls could get a bid if they weren’t picky about which organization to join, but many drop out during the week for various reasons but often because they aren’t invited back to the sorority they have their heart set on. My daughter went through recruitment her freshman year but decided that it wasn’t for her (and I think she was right, given her personality – she doesn’t have much tolerance for “girl-drama”. She was glad she went through though, said it was a good experience). As a junior she is very happy with her decision and has many friends both in and out of sororities (Elon is very good that way).
She has friends in all of the sororities and they are all very happy where they ended up; even the ones who didn’t get their first choice. So make sure that your daughter doesn’t worry about what “tier” the sororities are and instead looks for a group of girls she can connect with. There are great girls in every organization. Recruitment can be a very tough process emotionally. Prepare her that she may not get invited back by every sorority and to not take it personally . . . it’s probably not that they didn’t want her but that they could only invite back a certain number and girls with connections. were higher on their list.
Grades are important to sororities, and many will cut girls early if their GPAs aren’t high enough.
Some of the sororities are very conscious of brand names and how much money is in the family. At one party my daughter was asked where she liked to shop and what her dad did for a living. But this is not the norm. Most of the organizations are true sisterhoods and a source of connection and fun for the girls.
Overall, recruitment is a very fun week and a great way to get to know lots of girls. I hope it goes well for her and that she finds a great organization to join… Good luck to her!
Thanks so much for all your advice. I truly appreciate it!