How is Sorority Rush going?

[Anonymous]

I rushed at UVA. I was not wealthy, but did attend a private high school. One of the sororities did not give me the time of day until they learned I had gone to that school. Ended up dropping out. Left such a bad taste in my mouth between that and them looking at the label on my coat. Idiots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I was asked (25 years ago). Where I summered

DD was asked same question at UVA last week.

PP, how is your DD doing? Is she still participating in rush?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a good way to research which sororities may be on the verge of closing chapters? My daughter wants to meet more friends, but is loathe to go thru formal rush and would rather do COB. Only worry is if COB houses are on the verge of closing their chapters.

Universities post each semester on line which Greek organizations are in trouble and in detail the issues. Just google your kids school student life office and it should be posted there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there a good way to research which sororities may be on the verge of closing chapters? My daughter wants to meet more friends, but is loathe to go thru formal rush and would rather do COB. Only worry is if COB houses are on the verge of closing their chapters.

Universities post each semester on line which Greek organizations are in trouble and in detail the issues. Just google your kids school student life office and it should be posted there.

No - you are referring to hazing reports. They don't report which are on the verge of closing for numbers reasons, which I think is what the PP is asking about.

[Anonymous]

Look at how long the house is situated at the school. Also if it is a strong national sorority. A lot of girls are wanting to rush now so if there are a lot at COB then it is a good sign. As for the comments on UVA and have no idea but sometimes you say you are from a school and someone may be interested because they know people and it creates good conversation. Stop thinking the worst of people. FYI I actually do not believe someone would be turned off and not return to a house because someone was interested when you said you were from a certain school. No one cares stop thinking that. People care only in terms of common friends which give a better idea of you etc. Being in a sorority is fun. Stop worrying which one and just see if there are people you could have fun with. It is fun and not that deep. A few parties and formals and trips and singing and eating and it is fun. I still see my sisters and you know what it is still fun but I am not that serious so okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was asked (25 years ago). Where I summered. It was the same place I wintered btw.

LOL

[Anonymous]

If your DD is at UVA, I can tell you which ones may be in danger of shutting down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I rushed at UVA. I was not wealthy, but did attend a private high school. One of the sororities did not give me the time of day until they learned I had gone to that school. Ended up dropping out. Left such a bad taste in my mouth between that and them looking at the label on my coat. Idiots.

I'm the one who posted above my perspective that it seems like immature people who want to continue in high school "clickiness"

Your anecdotal experience seems to support my perspective.

Looking at the label on your coat? Seriously.... How is that not superficial and pretentious...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your DD is at UVA, I can tell you which ones may be in danger of shutting down.

Can you post a link to support which ones are shutting down at UVA?

[Anonymous]

PP, how is your DD doing? Is she still participating in rush?

Yes, she is - invited to 10 houses and dropped 4, has 6 on her list today, but she was dropped by 2, and invited back to 2 she dropped which I thought was odd. It sounds like she is excited about 3 of the remaining 6. There was a lot of buzz last week and some girls were devastated when they found out dirty rush was real and were dropped by their preferred houses - crying all day and posting their anger/despair. So, DD is still interested, but going into mtgs today with open eyes and genuinely looking for good connections and vibes. Despite all the talk about sisterhood and service, as several PPs noted, this process is all about looks, money, who you know and what you wear.

For the PP asking about the financial health of chapters, I don't know, but the "bottom" 3-4 houses are easy to discern. One didn't have enough girls to manage rush and had to bring in sisters from JMU. I don't know if they just have a small chapter or if they have a lot of girls currently doing semester abroad. Those houses were dropped by everyone my DD knows which is really unfortunate because the girls seem to be very nice. It sounds like the sheen of the process has worn off and quite a few girls are planning to drop if they don't get the house they want. Best of luck to all your DDs!

[Anonymous]

Hi-you can get invited back by sororities you dropped because they ranked your daughter high and sounds like the college panhellenic wants to help give as much choice as possible which is nice. I hope your daughter stays because it really really really does not matter which house. Sounds like a big school and I am still so surprised at all the winter rush and not sure which rush is better. So to keep in mind all the sororities have mixers and date events and all the fun stuff. If she stays in she will find friends and may find herself going in empty nester trips with her sisters years later. In the bonds….

[Anonymous]

One other thing sometimes the top house or two makes a larger cut (dictated by panhellenic to do so) than others early round. This is not a bad thing because it allows girls to look broader at houses. I realize that early cut is painful but a good thing in the end. Cannot stress enough that being in a certain house does not matters. Hope more greeks can chime in that it does not matter. What matters is the social stuff that everyone has access to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a good way to research which sororities may be on the verge of closing chapters? My daughter wants to meet more friends, but is loathe to go thru formal rush and would rather do COB. Only worry is if COB houses are on the verge of closing their chapters.

To be clear, this question was not about UVA. It was about a school with regular rush in the fall that also has some COB in winter and spring. My daughter didn't go through the fall rush--she just wasn't interested at the time. For the winter, they only have COB. All the COB houses are strong nationally so that's not a clear indication they would be folding soon. Since my daughter's goal is really to make some friends at a large school, I think she'd be safe joining as even if the group folds in the next year or so hopefully she would have met some friends by then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at how long the house is situated at the school. Also if it is a strong national sorority. A lot of girls are wanting to rush now so if there are a lot at COB then it is a good sign. As for the comments on UVA and have no idea but sometimes you say you are from a school and someone may be interested because they know people and it creates good conversation. Stop thinking the worst of people. FYI I actually do not believe someone would be turned off and not return to a house because someone was interested when you said you were from a certain school. No one cares stop thinking that. People care only in terms of common friends which give a better idea of you etc. Being in a sorority is fun. Stop worrying which one and just see if there are people you could have fun with. It is fun and not that deep. A few parties and formals and trips and singing and eating and it is fun. I still see my sisters and you know what it is still fun but I am not that serious so okay.

Wut? You should have spent more time in English 101 class and less time having fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

PP, how is your DD doing? Is she still participating in rush?

Yes, she is - invited to 10 houses and dropped 4, has 6 on her list today, but she was dropped by 2, and invited back to 2 she dropped which I thought was odd. It sounds like she is excited about 3 of the remaining 6. There was a lot of buzz last week and some girls were devastated when they found out dirty rush was real and were dropped by their preferred houses - crying all day and posting their anger/despair. So, DD is still interested, but going into mtgs today with open eyes and genuinely looking for good connections and vibes. Despite all the talk about sisterhood and service, as several PPs noted, this process is all about looks, money, who you know and what you wear.

For the PP asking about the financial health of chapters, I don't know, but the "bottom" 3-4 houses are easy to discern. One didn't have enough girls to manage rush and had to bring in sisters from JMU. I don't know if they just have a small chapter or if they have a lot of girls currently doing semester abroad. Those houses were dropped by everyone my DD knows which is really unfortunate because the girls seem to be very nice. It sounds like the sheen of the process has worn off and quite a few girls are planning to drop if they don't get the house they want. Best of luck to all your DDs!

This is UVA, correct? My DD told me the same story, about that sad house. DD asked what she liked most about fundraising for the their charity, that's when the girl admitted that she didn't actually attend UVA, that she was from JMU, and they did fundraising differently at JMU.