They wouldn't take juniors or seniors if they didn't count towards their total? Its like free members. Say total is 200. If they can recruit 30 more juniors and seniors during informal rush, it doesn't count towards their Total.

Well, it's not like the big schools in the Deep South or anything, but it can get competitive, yes. Freshman have the best chances of pledging the larger houses.

that was pretty interesting...i was wondering if being a junior at penn state makes joining a sorority difficult. since only a smaller number of freshmen are admitted to the main campus and most people transfer in from the smaller campuses junior year, is junior status looked down upon by the groups? would chapters not give someone the opportunity to pledge even tho they never had the opportunity to before? is this why they made the juniors "free?"

I just read this entire thread, and this is obviously a bigger problem then i was aware of. I can only add this thought: while it is easier for freshman to rush bc they are younger, why wouldn't it be easier for sophmores or juniors to rush because they know people. Granted, I come from a small private college in the south with a rediculously large greek population, but when sophmores espe. went through rush we all went nuts and everyone was so competitive over them because we all went out and got to know them, if we didn't already. As for Juniors, two girls in my pledge class were juniors, one ended up graduating with my class bc she had transfered and was in a hard major, the other got in and came to social functions and then disapeared. She only saw joining as a social aspect- she had already made her friends and her way through college and she didn't really need us....at least thats what it felt like. Also, when she did come out she never spent time with our pledge class- always with a few upper classmen that she knew before she got in.
I think that is why orgs. are afraid to take Juniors esp....orgs feel like these pnm's "don't need to glo" or only need it for social reasons.

COB
 

I'm a junior at UK and there is pretty much no way of getting in a larger house unless you're a freshmen. I'm doing COB right now. Wish me luck!

Re: COB
 

That's totally true. I was eventually cut from all the biggest houses except one, and being a sophomore was probably the reason (so I'm told...but hey, if they didn't like me, that's fair enough). Juniors do have a chance, though. My roommate's friends were trying to get her to wait and rush when she was a junior by credit hours, because they could take her then. But she ended up joining our sorority instead. :p

Good luck with COBing! :)

.
 

Thanks AchtungBaby80!!!

UKDaisy, best wishes with your rush experience!

i didn't go through recruitment until i was a sophomore. i was so scared because i had a bad experience during my freshman year with recruitment. i had never went through rush so the girls screaming and yelling freaked me out and i left. they tried to calm me down but i was like, 'oh my goodness, these girls are crazy!'
so, sophomore year after i had partied with everyone and become a favorite at parties, i decided 'hmmm, maybe i'll rush again because i really want to go greek!' this rush scared the hell out of me because i had transferred school and was the only minoritiy in the room. i started to walk out when another girl came in behind me and goes, 'i can tell what sorority i'm not going to be in!' the room was full of blondes. so, me the minority sophomore and her the brunette freshman, walked in together. we ended up in teh same rush group. and every night, we would pray that we didn't get cut. i got cut from one group because my GPA was a 2.75 and she got cut from another group because she was 'it'. i was upset about the grade cut and she was like, 'but you still have so-n-so. . .shut up!'
well, she and i ended up making the heartfelt decision of going PHI SIGMA SIGMA(only i thought she was going someone else and since i still had the 'it' sorority, she thought i had chosen them.'
the best feeling of all, i was so nervous that i got cut because i was older. . .but when i went to get my bid card and i walked down with the other girls, the phi sigs bomb-rushed and tackled us to the ground. . .and i looked around. . .and there was my friend. . .hugging and taking pics with our new 'blonde' sisters.

now, we're archon and vice archon of a chpater. . .

so, if you're a junior going through rush, just shrug it off and be yourself. . .at least you've proven that you can handle college. . .

bump...
 

...saw a new rush thread started on this topic but I don't know how to include it in my post so I am bumping it up....

What a cool story, White Chocolate!! Thanks for sharing!

For the schools with a serious problem, couldn't they modify some of these ideas in the following fashion:

Encourage juniors and seniors to sign up for formal Rush BUT, don't have them go through with the Freshmen. Have an extra day of rush for the upperclassmen and don't include them in total, but you could quota them if you were afraid they all wanted the "best" houses.

LOL. You girls . . . I swear:)

What I don't understand is -- if you don't include juniors & seniors in total, what's to stop a house from giving bids to 300 of them? Would that just never happen, or would it not be a bad thing? Maybe that's a dumb question (probably) but it's just something I've always wondered whenever anyone mentions the topic.

I am a sophmore who went through formal and then informal and got very undesirable choices(mainly because of my GPA). Not that I wasnt willing to give them a chance, but I felt that while going through informal, the girls were just trying to fill quota and they werent even nice. My roomate wasnt even rushing yet they gave her a bid.
Now I am gonna be a junior and I fear that my chance of ever going greek is gone. What are my options? A junior going through fromal here at my school is virtually UNHEARD of.

Thanks a bunch

Kelly

Kelly....
 

...as you may have read here on this thread, some colleges do not count juniors against quota -- you may want to ask the Greek advisor if that is the case at your school. Regardless, you can start now to get recs lined up for all the sororities at your school - check with the local alumnae Panhellenic group for help in this area. Where do you go to school and what sororities are there? Also, are you a legacy or do you have any Greek relatives? Talk to them. I personally rushed as a junior in formal rush at a pretty competitive school (Southern Cal) -- I had no recs -- I had no clue to even ask for them -- and I had no Greek ties in any branch of my family tree...so I know it is tough, but it CAN be done. Are your grades good? Do you have strong extracurricular activities? How is your appearance? That last question may seem shallow, but if juniors are not freebies, then looks WILL factor into the equation...all other things being equal. Keep thinking positive and let that positive sunny outlook be reflected when you do rush. Make the sororities WANT you no matter what year you are in school! Keep us posted and ask questions...one thing I have learned here on Greek Chat is that everyone is very helpful and they all have great ideas! Good Luck!