<p>can yall current students tell me about UT's greek life? thanks!</p>
<p>City, State?
You'll need to get rec letters</p>
<p>does your hometown matter?</p>
<p>I can probably help you. What are you wanting to know?</p>
<p>Generally, Greek life is great at Texas! All of the houses have great girls and you can't go wrong with any of them :) </p>
<p>Basic info: You will need recs for the sororities (I'm assuming you're a girl - belle;)). You can get information about the houses on the UT Greek Life page on the website. If you are a senior, you will be mailed a greek life brochure during the summer, but you need to be preparing this spring for the fall. If you live in a city with a panhellenic group, they will probably be holding an information seminar, call them up and find out. As for recs, start asking your mom's friends, your friends' moms, your teachers, anyone you can think of if they were in a sorority and if they would write a recommendation for you (or a letter of support). Generally you will need one rec for each house along with a couple of letters of support. You will need to send a current picture and a resume along with your recommendation, so provide that to the person who is writing your rec.</p>
<p>If you want any more info, let me know.</p>
<p>Bomchikawawa, No, your hometown doesn't matter.</p>
<p>Oh, and check on the Greek life page for the registration deadline - you will need to register with UT Panhellenic to rush.</p>
<p>Yes, hometowns matter.</p>
<p>Hookem, why do you say that? I know that knowing girls in a house can help you. Or, if historically, lots of girls from your hs or town are rushed at certain houses, it can give you some benefit. Certainly if you are a legacy, it can help (although some of the houses have more legacies rushing in a year than spots in the pledge class). But, if you look at the makeup of the houses, there are girls from all over Texas and many from out of state.</p>
<p>So, are you just trying to intimidate the girl who asked? </p>
<p>Texas has guaranteed selection if a pnm maximizes her rush options, meaning that if she attends the maximum number of events that she is invited to in each round, including pref, she is guaranteed a bid. It may not have been her top choice, but there is a place for all who rush.</p>
<p>If you are a great girl with great things to offer a house and you present yourself well during rush, then where your from is not going to be a deal breaker...</p>
<p>There is an informal tier system at UT; it is mostly unknown by high school/incoming freshman (unless that person went to a school where a large amount of people each year go to UT and do the fraternity/sorority thing) and people not apart of greek life/don't go to the parties.</p>
<p>Hometown/high school is not as important for fraternities, but it is still a small factor.
For sororities, where rush is very competitive and girls get about 10 minutes to introduce themselves to each house, hometown/high school is a huge factor.</p>
<p>I will agree with just about everything you said in your last post, but I have also seen many instances where girls who "came from nowhere" got bids because of what they brought to the table. That is where "pre rush" activitites for the sororities come into play and it is why your resume, pictures and recommendations need to be tip top. They are how you are selling yourself - just as in a job resume - you need to put your best foot forward.</p>
<p>And, to speak to the tiers - there is without doubt tiers of both sororities and fraternities at Texas, but I encourage all girls who are rushing to try to go in with an open mind because ALL of the houses have great girls in them. UT rush is competitive and not all the rushees can pledge the "top" houses, so many great girls pledge the other houses and have a great 4 year (and beyond) experience with their sorority. Don't go in thinking, "I have to be an XYZ!" because it may not work out that way. Look around at the other girls rushing at the pref party, because those girls could likely be in your pledge class, and they are the ones that you will be closest to. That's just my 2 cents anyway! </p>
<p>I know alot of girls who were devastated to be cut from the house they thought they wanted only to bid somewhere else and find out that they were happy as can be. I also know girls who got their dream house during rush, but then became disillusioned during pledgeship and thought maybe they made a mistake, so it can work both ways.</p>
<p>And you know, interestingly, from my perspective, it seems as if where you're from matters more with the fraternities because they do so much of the rushing during the summer, and many of the top fraternities have their pledge classes decided before school even starts. It seems like guys in the chapters have to know about you (from highschool or sports or whatever) for you to get invited to the summer rush stuff. It's not like sorority rush where you go by all the houses and meet people.</p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p>Oh - and (if you live in Texas) go to Round Up in the spring if you can, you'll meet a ton of people. But, mind your p's & q's, you don't want to make an a** of yourself and give people the wrong impression before you're even at UT;)</p>
<p>Girls from small towns and girls from out-of-state get the benefit of the doubt when going through rush. Sororities would take a chance to get to know them moreso than say a girl from Cypress Creek or Woodlands.</p>
<p>yall i heard that hometown matters too. which kinda sucks bc im out of state!</p>
<p>hookem- are you in a sorority or fraternity?cant really tell the gender. and i know about the " top six" but i am gonna look past that, bc if i go in thinkin i have to pledge one of those its only gonna make it worse.</p>
<p>i also plan to be a cheerleader there. and i hope i get into the Hardin House.</p>
<p>would that help me at all?</p>
<p>p.s. how many recs & letters of support do i need for each house?
i was thinking 5?</p>
<p>woah i just looked at the sororities web pages, it is possible to get a bid if your not white?! jeez. </p>
<p>( just a question no offense to any1 =) )</p>
<p>So does anyone have any more info for fraternity rush? I'm still thinking about it. I know a few guys in houses but don't really know much about the process. Does anyone have any more info?</p>
<p>belle: Girls from the South (especially if they went to a private school) don't really have any trouble at all. That + Hardin + cheerleading would definately make you desirable by the top sororities as long as you've got a great background, good reputation, social, etc. Watch what sort of pictures/information you post on facebook or anything like that where they can link it to you. Sororities review each applicant during the summer and find any type of information they can about them. Contact the greek life office and ask what items you'll need.</p>
<p>thanks hookem!</p>
<p>loneranger, my son is in a fraternity at Texas, and I can describe how it worked for him. I'm sure it can go differently, but this is what he did. </p>
<p>He knew a number of guys who were in fraternities from his school and from the sports that he has played over the years. Starting senior year, he started getting invited to things in Austin, parties and events. He would stay with guys in the fraternities and they would introduce him around to the other members. Then in the summer, he got invited to rush events that the different houses were holding, things like baseball games, ranch parties, etc. He would go to the ones that he was interested in and he started narrowing it down that way. By the end of the summer, he knew which house he wanted to pledge and he got a bid from them. There wasn't any "formal" rush type week or anything, and there were some houses he didn't even go to. It was pretty much based on who he knew before he went into it.</p>
<p>All summer long in Austin, the houses hold events during the orientation weeks for freshmen, so look for things to go to then. Also, for the guys who have to do the summer session, they have multiple weeks (all the orientation weeks) to go to things in Austin. If you are in one of the big cities in Texas, there will be events that will be held in your town, they are by invite.</p>
<p>Like I said in a previous post, Round Up, in the spring, is a good time to go because the houses hold open parties where you can meet a bunch of guys. </p>
<p>Does this answer your question? </p>
<p>There are no recommendations or resumes or anything like the girls have. It's much more about if they like you when they meet you.</p>
<p>For guys, going through summer school & staying at Towers while there would be the best idea if you don't know anyone. If not, then you should be trying to make it down to as many events as possible. You will eventually meet a group of guys that know what’s going on and you’ll kind of tag-a-long to the different parties. Get to know the actives and also freshmen that you fit in with.</p>
<p>Fraternities also hold Houston and Dallas State, which is where they have bartabs in those cities, but this is well after people from these cities have been down for orientation or have met the guys in the house already.
Some fraternities do New Orleans trips. </p>
<p>Also, it’s not just high school that can get you in; if you went/go to Camp Stewart, Ozark, Longhorn, a couple others you will probably know people that are already in fraternities. </p>
<p>Round up is also a good way to go around to all the houses and introduce yourself and get on the rush list. It's not just people you knew from high school, most anyone can get into each party as long as you don’t look ridiculous and act appropriately. This is a little bit more concrete, as all fraternities have parties on the exact same days during a weekend; so you know there will be something going on and that you’ll be able to get in if you are indeed an incoming freshman.</p>
<p>There are also golf and lake trips during the summer, but it’s difficult if you aren't in Austin at the time to get to these. They’ll also have some slower nights where it’s just beer pong or watching basketball at the house.</p>
<p>There are late nights during each orientation week; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I believe (it's been awhile). Each night two of the big fraternities hold parties.
The sororities used to hold pre-parties before these, but I don't know if they are allowed to anymore (because of the alcohol served). Sororities will call their rush list and invite them to dinner, though, before they go out to the late nights; dress appropriately (no jeans and t-shirt; most girls wear dresses). There has been a few incidences with this where some of the houses did not notify everyone that applied; some sororities have their own rush list set with girls they want. Nevertheless, you will need to have applied already, unless you are from Highland Park…</p>
<p>During the summer, there are additional parties on some big weekends...and of course Austin State at the conclusion of summer. A large number of bids go out during these weekends.</p>
<p>Girls: the best thing to do is to have everything ready as soon as possible, recommendations and at least two letters of support, resume, picture, and so on. Do a good job on the application. Come down as often as possible so that you can introduce yourself to the different sororities and go to dinners. Act appropriate, dress nicely, and be social…not awkward. Once again, if you don't know anyone, find a group of girls that seem to be taking rush seriously and know about each house/what's going on.</p>
<p>In addition, generally, girls are so afraid of making the wrong move during summer fraternity parties that they huddle in their little circles with other freshman girls that are rushing. I think that is safe example to follow during parties until you get a bid. The actives will take you to each of the late nights and introduce you to some of the guys and girls they know; be cordial and don’t get too drunk because the active that took you will be watching you like a hawk.</p>
<p>I'm from out of state and don't know if I want to rush as soon as I get there. Do many people rush sophomore year?</p>
<p>idk about soph year but a lot of people rush spring of freshman year.</p>
<p>if you are from out-of-state you are actually going to be at a distinct disadvantage from the start unless you come down early for the summer so you can make summer rush events.</p>
<p>It might even be better for you to sit out awhile and then try to rush.</p>