Still awaiting decisions from some other schools, but our daughter was accepted for EA for UGA’s Class of 2023 and is strongly considering enrolling - especially after a campus visit there last month.
General question: any insights, things to consider, concerns re: a girl from the Northeast who’s interested in joining a Sorority at UGA?
We’ve heard everything from “it’s very difficult if she doesn’t have recommendations from current UGA chapter members/alumni” to “it’s not an issue, there’s a sorority for most who’d like to join one”, but always looking for additional input as it could potentially be a factor in her decision to ultimately enroll there or not.
Not sure if it’s a factor but I would describe her as socially moderate/politically conservative…only adding as I’ve read elsewhere that more progressive-minded women may be challenged assimilating to some elements of southern culture.
Whether a progressive-minded person would be challenged by some elements of southern culture is entirely up to them. There are many progressive-minded people in the south, particularly on nationally-ranked university campuses.
The top states represented by enrollment at UGA are not all from the south - 16% of the entering UGA first-year class come from outside Georgia and represent 49 different states. In addition, 134 students come from countries other than the United States. The top 10 home states (other than Georgia) of students are:
North Carolina
Texas
Tennessee
Florida
Virginia
South Carolina
Maryland
New Jersey
New York
Illinois
California
Only 31% of women join a Sorority at UGA and they address letters of recommendation here:
www.greeklife.uga.edu/content_page/panhellenic-recommendations
My D attends UGA, has beliefs in-line with your D, and we from the mid-atlantic region. There is a growing presence of out-of-staters at UGA and my D has made a lot of in-state and out-of-state friends on campus.The weather is really nice in Georgia and there is a lot of school pride. They also have one of he largest College Republican clubs in the country, which my D is part of, but the students are welcoming and come from all political stripes so I would not be concerned about her getting along socially. I would say that it is not as big on “social justice” as some of the schools we toured.
My D is not in a sorority but her roommate is. My 2 cents, I would not recommend rushing as a first semester freshman until they get a feel for the university and the rigor of their classwork. Maybe rush in the spring. UGA is definitely a party school but the students generally know when they have to buckle down and get the work done. Sororities and frats involve commitments of time and money which sometimes involve more and cost more than one would expect. Do your homework first as this might hurt a first year student that is trying to get their priorities in order and needs to learn how much time to commit to classwork to be successful.
This parent packet has info you may be interested in https://greeklife.uga.edu/uploads/docs/UGA_Panhel_Parent_Packet_2018_for_web_final.pdf
Page 17 has sorority recruitment stats from 2016 (1,523 women started recruitment) and 2017 (1,763). # Pledging: 77% and 79%, respectively. Number not matched: 5% (80) and 3%(66), respectively. The released numbers were fairly small. Many other women voluntarily withdrew (generally because they were cut from their favorite houses)
Thank you very much for the comments/feedback, everyone. Very helpful and insightful.
Wishing everyone the best on their/their student’s college journey!
I am a mother of a son…who goes to UGA and is in a fraternity. So obviously, I didn’t do the sorority thing, but am on a lot of parent facebook groups and heard a lot from my son. I think I can give you some good info.
- We are from Texas. The Texas girls seem to do very very well during Rush. Don’t know anyone from Texas who didn’t get something she was very very happy with.
- My son knows tons of out of state girls in sororities from all states.
- Everyone is so nice…we have been floored by the hospitality of the Georgians in general.
- During sorority Rush…maybe it is a little more bleak. Many in state and out of state parents were panicking during rush. Daughters got cut from such and such…panicking. Well, in the end, it sounds like all of them got somewhere they were very happy with…even if it wasn’t there very first out of 18 (17?) choices. And based on many of my friends, lots of out of state girls get “top” houses…if there even is such a thing. I would tell you to definitely question any rankings you see or hear. People are happy, blissfully happy, pretty much up and down the chain of “rank”…don’t let it worry you or obsess over it. They all have sisterhood - they all have parties - they all have mixers…they all do philanthropy events…and Athens in general is party city…
- The Greek System as a whole is very fun, cohesive…and as an out of state family, it has been awesome for my son to get placed into an instant friend group. Obviously, it is not the only way…because Greek was the way my son went, that’s what I hear about, but the UGA Facebook group I’m in has moms of kids both in and out of Greek and EVERYONE is happy at UGA. (Well, not everyone…they are teenagers after all, but you get it).
- If you can possibly make it work, try to send her down there for one of the spring frat parties …if you can find a friend of a friend of a girl in a sorority…there were some girls that visited in Spring and met some current girls…very informally of course. I do think this helps. It is not mandatory…but if you can figure out a way, it might help her get some connections.
- Connection with girls in the house is the most important thing…from what I heard. Not all houses, though. That just makes sense.
- Can’t say enough good things about UGA.
UGA sorority recruitment uses a program to get the maximum number of PNM into houses if they follow the program. that requires them to accept the maximum number of invitations per round of parties. If they do so, they are almost guaranteed a bid. I’d bet those 5% and 3% ‘non-match’ figures above were PNM who didn’t accept the maximum number of invites because they were only interested in one or two houses.
Sorority recruitment in the south is changing. It used to be that unless you knew how to do it, including the spring rush parties for high school girls and getting 2 recommendations for each house, you really had no chance. That isn’t the case any more. UGA sororities are going to have a huge number of GA girls, but that’s because UGA has mostly instate students. OOS students will be fine.
@TexasStudent2018 & @twoinanddone - thank you very much for your insight & perspective…so helpful and I appreciate you taking the time to share!