OT To Greek Or Not To Greek

[ryann3794]

After reading all 18 pages of this thread I still have a few questions. Im looking to hopefully attend Ole Miss, South Carolina or Alabama next fall (I'm currently a freshman at a community college). Does anyone know how rush works at these schools, and if it's any different as a sophomore as opposed to being a freshman? If theres anyone from the north on here who happens to go to a big southern school, was it a big adjustment and did you find you were at a disadvantage as opposed to girls from that area (I live in NY)? Is it difficult to balance greek life and cheering? I've heard that at South Carolina it's nearly impossible to do both, while at Ole Miss and Alabama its pretty typical that girls do both. I've been reading up about it online a lot, and I know not to trust everything I read on the internet, but I'm starting to get the vibe that its extremely preppy and kind of stuffy. I'm sure it depends on the sorority and I know rush is pretty formal, but does it begin to become more laid back after that? And lastly, can you get a bid from more than one sorority, and is there a chance that you could get no bid at all? Sorry for kind of hijacking this and asking so many questions and I know fall of 2014 is pretty far away, I just want to know what I would be getting myself into sooner rather than later.

Alabama Greek life is VERY expensive. I'm about as pro Greek life as you can get but this is one thing to keep in mind. Like I'm talking a few thousand dollars in dues alone.


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[cheerKT]

After reading all 18 pages of this thread I still have a few questions. Im looking to hopefully attend Ole Miss, South Carolina or Alabama next fall (I'm currently a freshman at a community college). Does anyone know how rush works at these schools, and if it's any different as a sophomore as opposed to being a freshman? If theres anyone from the north on here who happens to go to a big southern school, was it a big adjustment and did you find you were at a disadvantage as opposed to girls from that area (I live in NY)? Is it difficult to balance greek life and cheering? I've heard that at South Carolina it's nearly impossible to do both, while at Ole Miss and Alabama its pretty typical that girls do both. I've been reading up about it online a lot, and I know not to trust everything I read on the internet, but I'm starting to get the vibe that its extremely preppy and kind of stuffy. I'm sure it depends on the sorority and I know rush is pretty formal, but does it begin to become more laid back after that? And lastly, can you get a bid from more than one sorority, and is there a chance that you could get no bid at all? Sorry for kind of hijacking this and asking so many questions and I know fall of 2014 is pretty far away, I just want to know what I would be getting myself into sooner rather than later.

Thanks for the tag, @HeresAThought!

I just graduated this past May from South Carolina and was in a sorority. I will be happy to answer any questions you have about recruitment at USC. I can tell you there are quotas for the amount of sophomores chapters must take included in their overall quotas for their new member classes, so you're not at a disadvantage rushing as a sophomore. I'm not from the north but you would not be alone here. USC gives out amazing out of state scholarships so they have students from all over. I did not cheer but I know many girls who did both. So I can tell you it's 100% possible. You just have to learn to manage your time appropriately.

As far as the rounds go, at USC it's the same for every chapter. It starts casual and gets more formal as the week goes on. I will link to you their Recruitment Guide on the Greek Life office website. I always find that very helpful! It has pictures of suggested attire for each round as well has the limit on houses you can return to and what not. I can also tell you at USC if you make it to pref night (the last round) you are guaranteed a bid to one of the houses you attend that night. You only get one bid.

Here's a link to the Recruitment Guide at USC. They redo it every year and if you decide to attend they will mail you the newest edition the summer before you attend.

Guide to Fraternities and Sororities | Fraternity and Sorority Life

Please don't hesitate to ask anything else. You can PM me on here if you need to!

 

[EmmaMazza:)]

Thanks for the tag, @HeresAThought!

I just graduated this past May from South Carolina and was in a sorority. I will be happy to answer any questions you have about recruitment at USC. I can tell you there are quotas for the amount of sophomores chapters must take included in their overall quotas for their new member classes, so you're not at a disadvantage rushing as a sophomore. I'm not from the north but you would not be alone here. USC gives out amazing out of state scholarships so they have students from all over. I did not cheer but I know many girls who did both. So I can tell you it's 100% possible. You just have to learn to manage your time appropriately.

As far as the rounds go, at USC it's the same for every chapter. It starts casual and gets more formal as the week goes on. I will link to you their Recruitment Guide on the Greek Life office website. I always find that very helpful! It has pictures of suggested attire for each round as well has the limit on houses you can return to and what not. I can also tell you at USC if you make it to pref night (the last round) you are guaranteed a bid to one of the houses you attend that night. You only get one bid.

Here's a link to the Recruitment Guide at USC. They redo it every year and if you decide to attend they will mail you the newest edition the summer before you attend.

Guide to Fraternities and Sororities | Fraternity and Sorority Life

Please don't hesitate to ask anything else. You can PM me on here if you need to!

Thank you so much! my main concerns were rushing as a sophomore, being from the north and balancing it with cheering (as long as I get in and make the team), so that puts my mind at ease a lot more. I'll definitely PM you if I think of any other questions

 

[cheeeeer93]

I just want to point out, yes there is a chance you won't get a bid. I didn't this past fall and it is heartbreaking. I'm planning on going through again this spring, but I'm still really worried I won't get one.


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Not receiving a bid is very rare.. especially if you go through all rounds and don't suicide. Chapters are allowed to extend bids over campus total during formal recruitment so it's really more extenuating circumstances on pref night that would prohibit you getting a bid. I can only think of one case where I know a girl came to my house and probably another for pref and didn't get a bid whatsoever but that was a VERY different situation.
Definitely PM me if you have questions about recruitment though!!

 

[0riginal]

I've been thinking about rushing, but I don't have the money to pay for it. I've applied for plenty of scholarships every opportunity I get, sadly with no luck...I'm going into my second semester as a sophomore soon and I feel like this is my last chance. Any suggestions or ideas?

 

[Little Coach]

I was greek and cheered and I would do it all over again. It's a great way to meet people and get involved with the school.

 

[ryann3794]

I've been thinking about rushing, but I don't have the money to pay for it. I've applied for plenty of scholarships every opportunity I get, sadly with no luck...I'm going into my second semester as a sophomore soon and I feel like this is my last chance. Any suggestions or ideas?

many chapters will work with you to create payment plans! Definitely go through recruitment, you can always drop if it becomes too expensive

 

[cheerKT]

I've been thinking about rushing, but I don't have the money to pay for it. I've applied for plenty of scholarships every opportunity I get, sadly with no luck...I'm going into my second semester as a sophomore soon and I feel like this is my last chance. Any suggestions or ideas?

Like @ryann3794 said, there are usually payment plans available. There's also the opportunity for scholarships through your Greek organization! I know several girls in my chapter received some scholarship money through Kappa Kappa Gamma headquarters.

 

[krystynakrez]

Thank you so much! my main concerns were rushing as a sophomore, being from the north and balancing it with cheering (as long as I get in and make the team), so that puts my mind at ease a lot more. I'll definitely PM you if I think of any other questions

I go to East Carolina and I'm from New Jersey and even though I hate to say it, where I'm from definitely impacted which sorority I ended up in. My sorority is known to be the "northern" sorority on campus.

As shallow as it sounds, theres a few sororities on campus that WILL NOT give you a bid unless you are southern, blonde, and have an accent. They are typically the "southern" founded sororities as well. I'm not saying it's impossible for you not to get a bid there, but it is very very very rare. And even so, will you fit in with a bunch of southern girls?

Just because you're in a sorority doesn't mean you have to be preppy either. You'll find which one fits you the best and if you don't then maybe it's just not meant to be!

Also, if you do end up going to Bama and rushing.... recruitment there is on a whole different level. It's DEFINITELY going to be almost all southern chapters so just be aware.

 

[laughAlittle]

I go to East Carolina and I'm from New Jersey and even though I hate to say it, where I'm from definitely impacted which sorority I ended up in. My sorority is known to be the "northern" sorority on campus.

As shallow as it sounds, theres a few sororities on campus that WILL NOT give you a bid unless you are southern, blonde, and have an accent. They are typically the "southern" founded sororities as well. I'm not saying it's impossible for you not to get a bid there, but it is very very very rare. And even so, will you fit in with a bunch of southern girls?

Just because you're in a sorority doesn't mean you have to be preppy either. You'll find which one fits you the best and if you don't then maybe it's just not meant to be!

Also, if you do end up going to Bama and rushing.... recruitment there is on a whole different level. It's DEFINITELY going to be almost all southern chapters so just be aware.

can anyone from bama reply to this?

 

[krystynakrez]

can anyone from bama reply to this?

Also, to continue what I was saying about Alabama, here was their rush this year...



Keep in mind this was only Spring rush

 

[ryann3794]

can anyone from bama reply to this?

I know "northerners" at both Alabama and USC that are Greek... I definitely have to disagree with the southern stereotype statement. I've never seen that to be true.

 

[krystynakrez]

I know "northerners" at both Alabama and USC that are Greek... I definitely have to disagree with the southern stereotype statement. I've never seen that to be true.

What I was referring to was the specifically southern sororities. Maybe it's different at my school but I could name a few

 

[cheerKT]

can anyone from bama reply to this?

Not from Bama but from another SEC school.

There are stereotypes but as always, there are exceptions. I don't believe there were "northern sororities" on campus as much as there were "southern" ones. Ones that were stereotyped as consisting of mostly southern girls. Definitely not a hard and fast rule however, they would get in tons of trouble. And being as large as they were (300+ members) there's no way everyone came from beneath the Mason-Dixon line. My chapter was in no way like that. Just to put it into perspective, our last 6 presidents were from Ohio, California, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and most recently Pennsylvania. Most on campus were pretty diverse as well.

Greek Life down here could definitely not be that selective due to the high persentage of out of state (northern) students here. They would risk not making new member quota which would put you in trouble with the Greek Life office as well as your own chapter headquarters.

 

[0riginal]

many chapters will work with you to create payment plans! Definitely go through recruitment, you can always drop if it becomes too expensive

Like @ryann3794 said, there are usually payment plans available. There's also the opportunity for scholarships through your Greek organization! I know several girls in my chapter received some scholarship money through Kappa Kappa Gamma headquarters.

I have heard about the payment plans, which would make it a ton easier and possible, but even then I only coach and that covers my commute to school. I don't think my parents would necessarily be excited to pay for me to be in one either. I know some other girls I may talk to about it too. Thank you guys!