<p>I am so stressed out and confused about the whole process of rushing. I read over the UT Panhellenic website and it talks about letter of recommendations. How many should I get and what are the steps I should take to registering and joining? Thank you!</p>
<p>University of Texas Recruitment August 21-28, 2012</p>
<p>Make sure you register for recruitment. Online recruitment registration begins Monday, May 21, 2012 and concludes at 5 p.m. on Monday, August 13, 2012. Paper applications will not be accepted. This is very generous window. Dont come here on August 5 and ask about letters of recommendation, etc, because it will be too late. The time to do that is now.</p>
<p>Letters of Recommendation & Registration </p>
<p>YES you need them. So this does not turn into a three page post, if you dont know a soul who was ever in a sorority (not likely, but there is always someone that comes here and claims that) register with your local panhellenic organization and they will help you get a letter for each house. Greek Chat is NOT the place to hunt and gather letters. In Texas, the UT Office of Greek Life lists these local organizations here </p>
<p><a href=“http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/gli...pc_alumnae.php[/url]”>http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/gli...pc_alumnae.php</a></p>
<p>Now go register with them and again THEY will help you. Please do not confuse registering with them and registering with UT as the same thing. They are different. You should register with your local alumnae first, UT second. Why? Because your LOR should be written before UT registration even opens. </p>
<p>Even more about LOR</p>
<p>Please make sure you take the resume you used to apply to UT and fancy it up and have it ready for your local panhellenic. You will need at least 14 copies of it. They are here to help you but they are not your administrative assistants. You need your transcript too. Grades matter and to UT sororities they matter even more. If your GPA is below 3.5, you will already be on the short list before recruitment even starts. You will also need two photos of yourself. A close up. A full body shot. If you are sending hard copies to someone who is writing your LOR, they will need your resume, transcript and both pictures. You will probably not get them back so do yourself a favor and upload good photos of yourself to Costco and have plenty on hand. (This should be less tan $20 and if that kills your budget, you may want to rethink sorority life) Put your name and contact information on the back of each and every one. (Note: some ladies will have you email your photos, transcript and resume. If you dont know how to attach things to an email, you need to learn this skill A.S.A.P.)</p>
<p>One last note about LOR. </p>
<p>Please take the time to thank each and every lady that writes a letter for you. The letters take time and the good ones take research. Not thanking them is bad form. Also, make sure you drop a note after recruitment to the person who you now share a sisterhood with. She should find out from you. And if you really want to be like Emily Post, a quick email to every lady that wrote for you telling them where you pledge is always welcome.</p>
<p>The When and Where:</p>
<p>Formal recruitment always occurs the week before classes start in the fall semester. For 2012, recruitment will be held August 21-August 28, 2012 and the schedule will be as follows:</p>
<p>Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Opening Convocation @ Hogg Auditorium
8:00 PM-9:30 PM </p>
<p>(If you are living in SRD or Hardin, this will be your move in day also. Get to your dorm early…if they say move in starts at 9:00, get there at 8 or earlier, get your stuff done and find time to chill before convocation. Look nice, but you dont have to get dressed up. Girls will be in everything from Nike shorts to sundresses but make sure your hair looks nice and you have make up on if you normally wear it.)</p>
<p>Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Open House Day 1
10:00 AM-7:00 PM</p>
<p>(For both Open House days, you will be given a T-shirt to pair up with khaki shorts. They recommend tennis shoes, but many, many girls will wear sperrys or sandals, and wear a belt. It just looks more finished)</p>
<p>Thursday, August 23, 2012
Open House Day 2
8:30 AM-2:30 PM</p>
<p>First Round of selections this afternoon </p>
<p>Friday, August 24, 2012
Pick Up schedules from counselors @ 11:00 AM (Your counselor and your group will have pre-determined meeting locations
.typically in or around Hogg)</p>
<p>Philanthropy Day 1
12:20 PM-9:35 PM</p>
<p>(Sundresses)</p>
<p>Saturday, August 25, 2012
8:30 AM-4:15 PM</p>
<p>Second round of selections this afternoon. This selection narrows the houses down to a maximum of 6.</p>
<p>Sunday, August 26, 2012
Pick Up schedules from counselors @ 12:30 PM (again, max schedule of 6 houses)</p>
<p>Skit Night
1:45PM-10:15PM </p>
<p>(Dress like you would wear to a graduation or early evening wedding)</p>
<p>Third round of selections this evening. PNMs are deciding which houses they would like to preference. This of course does not mean this is what they get.</p>
<p>Monday, August 27, 2012
Pick up schedules from counselors @ 3:30 PM (max schedule of 3
.but remember
it only takes one)</p>
<p>Preference Night
4:45PM-9:45PM
(Black Dresses
.think Little Black Dress think classy)</p>
<p>PNMs make their final selections after the parties. Rank houses 1-2-3 if applicable.</p>
<p>Tuesday, August 28, 2012</p>
<p>Bid Day @ 5:00 PM Hogg Auditorium-
Recruitment counselors house affiliations will be revealed and girls will join their new member classes and walk as a group to their respective houses. (A note about Moms. UT has not branched into family bid day as of yet, but more and more moms have been attending as of late. Mainly for a quick house visit and a few pictures and then the NMs attend bid day activities with their new sisters.)</p>
<p>Cost</p>
<p>How much does it cost to be in a sorority at UT?</p>
<p>For the first year the cost range in dues is from $2600-$3900 in the new member year (Fall & Spring) For the following year, dues will fall to $2200-$2600. If you live in the sorority house, the cost to live in most houses, plus meals, plus dues will cost just a tad more than room and board at SRD or Hardin. So the first year is really where the majority of the costs are. There are also other costs for merchandise and t-shirts. It is easy to spend $500-$1000 your first year on this stuff alone. Of course that is optional, but the fact is most girls buy the stuff.</p>
<p>What are the best Sororities at UT?</p>
<p>No one should answer that question, because no one here, or at UT, or in Austin, or Dallas, or Houston, would ever agree. The best sorority at UT is the one that you feel like you can grow as a person and have a great time. DO NOT GO INTO RECRUITMENT HAVING TO BE AN ABC. If you do that, it will end in failure. It does not matter if your best friend is an ABC and all of her sisters love you. She has 200 sisters (and you can’t know them all) and the process is so more complex than that, so dont drink that turnip juice. Also dont go into recruitment just knowing you have to be AB because your mom was an AB at Northwestern in 1985. Being a legacy can matter, but the reality is there are more legacies going through UT recruitment than there are spaces for all the PNMs. All that legacy status will do is keep you in the game an extra round but the reality is if you arent a match for AB then you just arent a match, you just get to carry the hope stick around an extra day. Now if your momma and your grandmother were involved Texas ABCs then your legacy status probably holds a bit more water. And that is just the truth. Not all legacies are created equal.</p>
<p>Great info as usual Collegeshopping! Please read what she said carefully girls and take it to heart! She knows what she is talking about! Sorority rush at UT can and will be a very positive experience as long as you go in with an OPEN mind and follow what Collegshopping has written here. </p>
<p>There is truly a home for everyone at UT. The pledge classes have gotten larger and larger each year, thus making it very possible that you will find friends that are “like” you in every house…ie…there are smart, athletic, nerdy, beautiful, non-partiers, partiers…in EVERY single house. EVERY house has fraternity mixers and a full social calendar.</p>
<p>One thing to note is that it is VERY easy to get caught up in “tent talk”…PLEASE, PLEASE try to avoid it at all costs. What is one Suzy Q’s opinion of ABC may not be your opinion. Don’t let anyone eles interfere with you finding your sorority home. Once rush is all over, most girls don’t even care what house thier friends are in…in fact, most girls have friends in every single house, espcecially if they live in Hardin House or SRD…simply because every house will be represented in those dorms. </p>
<p>I have heard story after story of girls that went in with the attitude that they would only be in a handful of houses because they heard the others weren’t “good”. So they get cut by houses they thought were good enough and they drop out of recruitment…guess what…the girl down the hall that is gorgeous and smart is in one of the houses that you had left and so is your favorite suite mate and so is Sally Sue that you love from high school and you find out that you were a FOOL for drinking the turnip juice, as Collegeshopping said in her post. Many, Many girls that are drunk on the turnip juice are VERY disappointed on bid day and ALONE…please dont be one of those girls.</p>
<p>UT is competitive…some “legacy heavy” houses already have more UT legacies going through rush than they have openings. That means that thier mother, grandmother, etc. went to UT and was an XYZ at UT. There are absolutely no guarantees that if you are a legacy, you will get your legacy house…and what that means for non-leagacies is that you better have an open mind and Recs to the all of the houses…because it is a numbers game and some houses just dont have room for you even if half the house is from your high school and your best friend’s sister is pulling for you. </p>
<p>I hope that we dont sound harsh…however, we have both been through this with our own daughters…this stuff needs to be said so that hopefully every girl that goes through rush at UT will find her home!! END RANT LOL</p>
<p>Thank you so much!!! All the information you gave has helped!</p>
<p>Do you recommend getting more than one letter of recommendation per sorority? I’ve heard getting more than one is helpful. Will I get cut if I only have one?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You can get more than one but I would never flood a sorority with more than three.</p>
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</p>
<p>That would not be a reason to be removed from a party list</p>