Sorority Rush

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any insight about rush at universities not in the DEC/deep south?

I rushed at UVa in the 80s and while there was definitely a pipeline of girls coming from Richmond prep schools and boarding schools who seemed to already know where they were going to pledge when they moved in first year., there were still girls like me, from DC, who got bids from what were considered the most elite houses (which were called the triple crown, gah)!

With social media et all, is it even worse, with so much of this is predecided... is a bit of a drag from kids who want to start over in college (like I did).

My daughter is at Wisconsin and she says the top houses are actually mostly out-of-state girls.

Mostly rich and hot coasties?

Makes sense

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry all you didn’t get chosen. It’s too late to be mad about it now. Presumably you are out of college?

You’re mistaken. Some of us were in sororities and regret it.

+1. I do. Worst college mistake I made.

And you weren’t able to exit the entire time you were in college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry all you didn’t get chosen. It’s too late to be mad about it now. Presumably you are out of college?

You’re mistaken. Some of us were in sororities and regret it.

+1. I do. Worst college mistake I made.

And you weren’t able to exit the entire time you were in college?

DP - I left junior year.

[Anonymous]

This is a huge mistake. Our children are already stressed-out to the max even before senior year begins over the college admissions lottery and parents have to had this degree of stress to college acceptance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is a social resume?

I suppose it is one of those things where "if you have to ask...."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would love to find a way to be more open minded, but this all sounds like a horrible way to spend my hard earned dollars.

It is hard enough for us to pay for college and to give our kids a good start toward a professional career. Wasting money on an activity that diverts effort from that...

Sounds crazy.

You might be surprised to learn that it's actually not a diversion from these aims at all for most sorority women. As several other PPs have indicated, GPA and academics are very, very important to most women in sororities. And it's important to their alumnae too. Joining a sorority also gives women a support system to succeed b/c they are surrounded by other like-minded young women who influence each other to do well (they have a scholarship chair who recognizes members with weekly incentives to go the library...they have pledge class programs where older members mentor younger members on how to effectively study, where to apply for scholarships/internships--sometimes through networking with sorority alumnae in their field; they educate women on campus safety/safety in numbers, responsible drinking--and require members to uphold certain standards of behavior if they do choose to drink. Binge drinking is a problem across all campuses. And it's a prevalent problem whether you're in a sorority or not--but sororities do not allow alcohol inside their houses (insurance prohibits it) and they do have programming that will teach your daughter how to navigate social drinking (if she chooses to engage in it) responsibly and to look out for her sisters. An all-women's social space like this is an incredible opportunity to gain experience in leadership, voluntarism, fundraising, and planning and executing meetings and large and small events. Older adult professional women advisory boards advise the women in the chapter on finance, housing, scholarship, standards, marketing, and education. They provide leaderhip opportunities and connect women to other leaders on other campuses through attendance at conventions or leadership conferences where they will meet and learn from alumna women of all ages across the nation. The professional world is FULL of sorority women, PP. (And I don't mean the kind you think of from Animal House or MTV. Real sorority women are just...women who are attending college and looking for support and connection from a group that will lift them up and who they can lift up and lean on for mutual friendship and support.)

It's a pretty cool thing, PP. You are right to not want to "waste money on an activity that diverts" from your daughter's goal of getting a good start on a professional career. I just wouldn't be so quick to discount sorority membership as one of those diversions when it can be and often is so much more aligned with what you have said you want for your DD.

You wrote a lot of words about how sororities are so much different than I would expect... but there are seven pages here of comments from women and a fair number of them sound like fairly odious people and none sound like they give two hoots for the academic part of getting a university degree. Totally outweighs whatever sense there might be in your words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would love to find a way to be more open minded, but this all sounds like a horrible way to spend my hard earned dollars.

It is hard enough for us to pay for college and to give our kids a good start toward a professional career. Wasting money on an activity that diverts effort from that...

Sounds crazy.

You might be surprised to learn that it's actually not a diversion from these aims at all for most sorority women. As several other PPs have indicated, GPA and academics are very, very important to most women in sororities. And it's important to their alumnae too. Joining a sorority also gives women a support system to succeed b/c they are surrounded by other like-minded young women who influence each other to do well (they have a scholarship chair who recognizes members with weekly incentives to go the library...they have pledge class programs where older members mentor younger members on how to effectively study, where to apply for scholarships/internships--sometimes through networking with sorority alumnae in their field; they educate women on campus safety/safety in numbers, responsible drinking--and require members to uphold certain standards of behavior if they do choose to drink. Binge drinking is a problem across all campuses. And it's a prevalent problem whether you're in a sorority or not--but sororities do not allow alcohol inside their houses (insurance prohibits it) and they do have programming that will teach your daughter how to navigate social drinking (if she chooses to engage in it) responsibly and to look out for her sisters. An all-women's social space like this is an incredible opportunity to gain experience in leadership, voluntarism, fundraising, and planning and executing meetings and large and small events. Older adult professional women advisory boards advise the women in the chapter on finance, housing, scholarship, standards, marketing, and education. They provide leaderhip opportunities and connect women to other leaders on other campuses through attendance at conventions or leadership conferences where they will meet and learn from alumna women of all ages across the nation. The professional world is FULL of sorority women, PP. (And I don't mean the kind you think of from Animal House or MTV. Real sorority women are just...women who are attending college and looking for support and connection from a group that will lift them up and who they can lift up and lean on for mutual friendship and support.)

It's a pretty cool thing, PP. You are right to not want to "waste money on an activity that diverts" from your daughter's goal of getting a good start on a professional career. I just wouldn't be so quick to discount sorority membership as one of those diversions when it can be and often is so much more aligned with what you have said you want for your DD.

You wrote a lot of words about how sororities are so much different than I would expect... but there are seven pages here of comments from women and a fair number of them sound like fairly odious people and none sound like they give two hoots for the academic part of getting a university degree. Totally outweighs whatever sense there might be in your words.

I agree. Why pay for college at all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any insight about rush at universities not in the DEC/deep south?

I rushed at UVa in the 80s and while there was definitely a pipeline of girls coming from Richmond prep schools and boarding schools who seemed to already know where they were going to pledge when they moved in first year., there were still girls like me, from DC, who got bids from what were considered the most elite houses (which were called the triple crown, gah)!

With social media et all, is it even worse, with so much of this is predecided... is a bit of a drag from kids who want to start over in college (like I did).

My daughter is at Wisconsin and she says the top houses are actually mostly out-of-state girls.

Mostly rich and hot coasties?

Makes sense

Coasties? That’s not a word that Midwesterners use.

[Anonymous]

Nor most of the other words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would love to find a way to be more open minded, but this all sounds like a horrible way to spend my hard earned dollars.

It is hard enough for us to pay for college and to give our kids a good start toward a professional career. Wasting money on an activity that diverts effort from that...

Sounds crazy.

You might be surprised to learn that it's actually not a diversion from these aims at all for most sorority women. As several other PPs have indicated, GPA and academics are very, very important to most women in sororities. And it's important to their alumnae too. Joining a sorority also gives women a support system to succeed b/c they are surrounded by other like-minded young women who influence each other to do well (they have a scholarship chair who recognizes members with weekly incentives to go the library...they have pledge class programs where older members mentor younger members on how to effectively study, where to apply for scholarships/internships--sometimes through networking with sorority alumnae in their field; they educate women on campus safety/safety in numbers, responsible drinking--and require members to uphold certain standards of behavior if they do choose to drink. Binge drinking is a problem across all campuses. And it's a prevalent problem whether you're in a sorority or not--but sororities do not allow alcohol inside their houses (insurance prohibits it) and they do have programming that will teach your daughter how to navigate social drinking (if she chooses to engage in it) responsibly and to look out for her sisters. An all-women's social space like this is an incredible opportunity to gain experience in leadership, voluntarism, fundraising, and planning and executing meetings and large and small events. Older adult professional women advisory boards advise the women in the chapter on finance, housing, scholarship, standards, marketing, and education. They provide leaderhip opportunities and connect women to other leaders on other campuses through attendance at conventions or leadership conferences where they will meet and learn from alumna women of all ages across the nation. The professional world is FULL of sorority women, PP. (And I don't mean the kind you think of from Animal House or MTV. Real sorority women are just...women who are attending college and looking for support and connection from a group that will lift them up and who they can lift up and lean on for mutual friendship and support.)

It's a pretty cool thing, PP. You are right to not want to "waste money on an activity that diverts" from your daughter's goal of getting a good start on a professional career. I just wouldn't be so quick to discount sorority membership as one of those diversions when it can be and often is so much more aligned with what you have said you want for your DD.

You wrote a lot of words about how sororities are so much different than I would expect... but there are seven pages here of comments from women and a fair number of them sound like fairly odious people and none sound like they give two hoots for the academic part of getting a university degree. Totally outweighs whatever sense there might be in your words.

Sounds like you only read the the short posts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any insight about rush at universities not in the DEC/deep south?

I rushed at UVa in the 80s and while there was definitely a pipeline of girls coming from Richmond prep schools and boarding schools who seemed to already know where they were going to pledge when they moved in first year., there were still girls like me, from DC, who got bids from what were considered the most elite houses (which were called the triple crown, gah)!

With social media et all, is it even worse, with so much of this is predecided... is a bit of a drag from kids who want to start over in college (like I did).

My daughter is at Wisconsin and she says the top houses are actually mostly out-of-state girls.

Mostly rich and hot coasties?

Makes sense

Coasties? That’s not a word that Midwesterners use.

Oh, it is. The coastie vs. "Sconnie" divide is most definitely a thing at Wisconsin (and I would think at other state schools in the Midwest that attract large numbers of students from the coasts).

There's even a wikipedia for it! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastie
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article: http://archive.jsonline.com/news/religion/79373062.html/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any insight about rush at universities not in the DEC/deep south?

I rushed at UVa in the 80s and while there was definitely a pipeline of girls coming from Richmond prep schools and boarding schools who seemed to already know where they were going to pledge when they moved in first year., there were still girls like me, from DC, who got bids from what were considered the most elite houses (which were called the triple crown, gah)!

With social media et all, is it even worse, with so much of this is predecided... is a bit of a drag from kids who want to start over in college (like I did).

My daughter is at Wisconsin and she says the top houses are actually mostly out-of-state girls.

Which are the top houses at Wisconsin?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any insight about rush at universities not in the DEC/deep south?

I rushed at UVa in the 80s and while there was definitely a pipeline of girls coming from Richmond prep schools and boarding schools who seemed to already know where they were going to pledge when they moved in first year., there were still girls like me, from DC, who got bids from what were considered the most elite houses (which were called the triple crown, gah)!

With social media et all, is it even worse, with so much of this is predecided... is a bit of a drag from kids who want to start over in college (like I did).

My daughter is at Wisconsin and she says the top houses are actually mostly out-of-state girls.

Which are the top houses at Wisconsin?

kappa kappa gamma

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would love to find a way to be more open minded, but this all sounds like a horrible way to spend my hard earned dollars.

It is hard enough for us to pay for college and to give our kids a good start toward a professional career. Wasting money on an activity that diverts effort from that...

Sounds crazy.

You might be surprised to learn that it's actually not a diversion from these aims at all for most sorority women. As several other PPs have indicated, GPA and academics are very, very important to most women in sororities. And it's important to their alumnae too. Joining a sorority also gives women a support system to succeed b/c they are surrounded by other like-minded young women who influence each other to do well (they have a scholarship chair who recognizes members with weekly incentives to go the library...they have pledge class programs where older members mentor younger members on how to effectively study, where to apply for scholarships/internships--sometimes through networking with sorority alumnae in their field; they educate women on campus safety/safety in numbers, responsible drinking--and require members to uphold certain standards of behavior if they do choose to drink. Binge drinking is a problem across all campuses. And it's a prevalent problem whether you're in a sorority or not--but sororities do not allow alcohol inside their houses (insurance prohibits it) and they do have programming that will teach your daughter how to navigate social drinking (if she chooses to engage in it) responsibly and to look out for her sisters. An all-women's social space like this is an incredible opportunity to gain experience in leadership, voluntarism, fundraising, and planning and executing meetings and large and small events. Older adult professional women advisory boards advise the women in the chapter on finance, housing, scholarship, standards, marketing, and education. They provide leaderhip opportunities and connect women to other leaders on other campuses through attendance at conventions or leadership conferences where they will meet and learn from alumna women of all ages across the nation. The professional world is FULL of sorority women, PP. (And I don't mean the kind you think of from Animal House or MTV. Real sorority women are just...women who are attending college and looking for support and connection from a group that will lift them up and who they can lift up and lean on for mutual friendship and support.)

It's a pretty cool thing, PP. You are right to not want to "waste money on an activity that diverts" from your daughter's goal of getting a good start on a professional career. I just wouldn't be so quick to discount sorority membership as one of those diversions when it can be and often is so much more aligned with what you have said you want for your DD.

You wrote a lot of words about how sororities are so much different than I would expect... but there are seven pages here of comments from women and a fair number of them sound like fairly odious people and none sound like they give two hoots for the academic part of getting a university degree. Totally outweighs whatever sense there might be in your words.

Sounds like you only read the the short posts.

skimmed, got bored, and said "nothing to learn here -- boy oh boy do these women go on. and on."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any insight about rush at universities not in the DEC/deep south?

I rushed at UVa in the 80s and while there was definitely a pipeline of girls coming from Richmond prep schools and boarding schools who seemed to already know where they were going to pledge when they moved in first year., there were still girls like me, from DC, who got bids from what were considered the most elite houses (which were called the triple crown, gah)!

With social media et all, is it even worse, with so much of this is predecided... is a bit of a drag from kids who want to start over in college (like I did).

My daughter is at Wisconsin and she says the top houses are actually mostly out-of-state girls.

Which are the top houses at Wisconsin?

kappa kappa gamma

Lol no. Gphi is still holding on but Alphi Phi is killing it the last few years. Upcoming recruitment could change everything tbh.