Sorority Rush
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Anonymous
Possibly because they share test files that other students don't have access to. |
Anonymous
I'm sure you can find 2 or 3 individuals this applies to across every campus from one year to the next. And that is basically because in a group of 1600 young women, there are going to be 2 to 3 women who are just socially awkward to the point of making everyone uncomfortable or they say inappropriate things that make them stand out in a negative way. On smaller campuses, sometimes a girl's "mean girl" reputation or "drug user" reputation precedes her and scares women away from wanting that particular girl to represent their group. For example, those girls whose racist snapchat caused such an uproar in MCPS a few weeks ago likely would not be carried by any house past the first round b/c no one wants to touch that hot potato issue of having a member with that sort of negativity. Sometimes it is not as obvious as that and there is nothing "wrong" with a girl but she just happens to be "dropped" by all groups. (Maybe one group thinks she appears too stuck up for them so they strike first by not inviting her...but then the group they thought she would choose drops her too.) This happens. It really does. Because it's not as though all the groups get together and compare lists. But it is rare to be dropped by ALL groups. |
Anonymous
Test files??? Bwahahahaha! Oh...I'm sorry. Were you in college in like 1983?? No one has these mythical "test files" anymore. And professors are far too savvy to re-use the same tests at this point. It's the computer age, friend. They don't need to worry about mimeographing their ONE copy of the exam they've used since 1969! 
But snark aside, it's likely b/c minimum GPAs are required to remain a member in good standing. Once you post a GPA below that minimum, most groups require that you attend proctored study hours at the library (and you are placed on "academic probation" as a warning to get your grades up). The sorority groups recognize that the women are at university PRIMARILY to get an education and they want to help each other focus on that goal. If you are messing around and unfocused, they will HELP YOU by providing corrective measures to get you back on track. Yes, they do want to keep their status and standard of a high-GPA sorority...but they also know that if they don't help their members prioritize academics above other things, those members could wind up failing out of school and that's lost revenue as well. It benefits the whole sorority AND the individual members when sororities care about grades and academic performance. |
Anonymous
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. 
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Anonymous
| ^^ agree with above. It works for some women and not for others. People are different. Some women just don’t want to spend time in sorority and that’s fine. Perhaps they give out that signal and that’s why they are “excluded”. |
Anonymous
| 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? |
Anonymous
PP...when you go out to dinner with your friends, do you send an invitation to everyone you've ever met or just a few? If the latter, why are you excluding some people and not others?? I applied for a job at Google. I didn't get it, even though I think it would be way cool to work there and I would have made a pretty amazing addition to their team. I'm not going to go through life all bitter about not working at Google though. I don't even think they are "exclusive" so much as just wanted to hire a different person who was also pretty well qualified. I got a job at a different company. It worked out great. A sorority is a membership-based organization, and no, it does not include everyone in membership. But it doesn't mean that the individual members can no longer be friends with people who are not given a bid. I am friends with many, many girls who pledged a sorority that did not invite me to pledge. It's fine. |
Anonymous
We, too, live in NOVA. Maybe we're weird because we are an intellectual family but not one of my children, male and female, had any interest in rush and not one of their friends participated. And,yes, one of them is at UVA and has never stepped foot in a Greek house. There is life outside the Greek world, you know. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
I grew up. I matured. I realized what the Greek system did to women. Parents who push their 18 year olds in this system need to step back and ask themselves "just WHY?". Why join a group that excludes? That hurts? That is costly? I do agree with the PP about it being women's Hunger Games. I changed my opinion about the Greek system because I realized that my sorority brought out the worst in the women. They were mean, spiteful, vindictive and gossipy, and most of them continued to be that way to this day. I was lucky to get out with just very bad memories of being President. I have received no benefit from the experience. |
Anonymous
Isolation is a real problem at most colleges. So much so that colleges are trying to find ways to address it. It’s one of the contributing factors to the increased mental illness and suicides in this age group. As long as DD is in a healthy, positive sorority, it could be just what she needs to feel connected in her new home. As we tell the kids- keep an open mind. - former GDI snob with a daughter rushing at an SEC school |
Anonymous
| Sororities sound wonderful in theory. A bunch of instant friends. The problem is, if you're ugly, like I am, you are excluded. |
Anonymous
Well, let’s all bow down to the “intellectual family.”
You sound insufferable. |
Anonymous
Haha. Reverse snob. You were too intellectual to join Greek life or they saw right through you ? |
Anonymous
+1 we’ve all met this person / people like this IRL |