my little sister is also going through rush at auburn this week. "kate" has definitely provided more info to you than i have received!!! i have been VERY pleased to hear my little sister's voice go from bordering on sheer panic the night before rush began, to actually sounding like she was having fun yesterday.
thanks for starting this thread!! you have done a great job keeping us updated, but i do have a few comments/observations to offer also if you don't mind. just as leesek just said, you do not have to be a legacy to get a bid and in a lot of cases it actually can hurt you.
for example, my sister's best friend is also going through rush, as is another one of their friends from high school. the best friend happens to have an older sister who just graduated from auburn and was in a sorority. i'm too tired to figure out a witty code, so i will call this sorority A. the best friend also happens to have a cousin who is active in another sorority on campus, B. my sister is fortunate to be a legacy to sorority C b/c of her big sis
. the other friend is not a legacy of any sorority (that i know of).
since there are 3 of them and they are all in different pi chi groups, they really learned a LOT after just the first day and got to share their likes and dislikes with one another, which can be good and bad. my sister did not visit sorority A or C the first day, but did visit B. the best friend visited sorority A and C the first day, but not B. at the end of the day, the best friend says that she "hated" sorority A and "loved" sorority C. i could tell my sister was relieved by this report since she would be visiting C first thing the next morning. for whatever reason, i think they both were already leaning toward C. in the nicest and non-bossy way possible, i tried to impress upon them how important it was not to go into this process with any pre-conceived ideas about the groups or feeling any pressure to pledge a family member's sorority. this can only lead to disappointment and unhappiness b/c you are being unfair to yourself by possibly limiting your options to the point that you may end up with none and you may very well completely overlook the sorority that is actually the perfect fit for you.
anyway, my sister really liked sorority C the second day and said she was really made to feel comfortable there with several sisters introducing themselves to her, including the president, which obviously makes any rushee feel welcome. of course, i was pleased with this report, but i began to become concerned about best friend. i was VERY worried she would be dropped by several sororities based solely on her connections to sororities A & B.
my concern was on several different levels - i really like best friend and know what a wonderful asset she would be to any group, so i was dreading see her get cut by a group based on absolutely NO fault of her own (she has a 4.0, 32 ACT, leader/athlete in hs, cute, etc). my other huge concern was the fact that, prior to rush starting, my sister was pretty hesitant about the whole process and i wouldn't have been surprised if she called and said she decided not to do it. side note - this would have been fine with me, although i think anyone can benefit through participating in rush, whether you pledge any sorority or not. anyway, since she was so hesitant to begin with, my concern was that best friend would get cut by C and my sister would not, which would possibly make my sister lose interest or just the excitement of possibly joining the same group as your best friend. this shouldn't have any effect on my sister's ultimate decisions, but i have to keep reminding myself that they are fresh out of mom and dad's house and losing your "comfort blanket" the first day does not make the rush process any easier.
well, i get the call this morning - i must have a crystal ball b/c best friend has been dropped by C, but not my sister. i could hear the disappointment in her voice and i was personally disappointed b/c i know what an asset she could have been to C, but also the ONLY reason she was dropped was b/c of her connections with A & B. btw, the "other friend" i mentioned earlier was not enjoying rush as of the last update i received and actually told my sister that sorority C was breaking some sort of rule by mentioning they had heard great things about her.
i reminded my sister about recommendations and how the point of those are to inform the sorority of "great things" about you. there is some obvious jealousy going on there and my sister told me that the "other friend's" pi chi group was "just like that" and "really weird" about sharing their experiences at the different sororities with each other. so, there is apparently at least one pi chi group that probably isn't the most fun group to be in right now!!!
ok, i just realized i wrote a novel just to say - not only do you not have to be a legacy to get a bid, but a lot of times it hurts you. i didnt get a call tonight and i'm hoping this is b/c my sister was just so tired she went straight to bed and not b/c she had a bad day. i also hope she can continue to have a good week and keep an open mind when best friend may not pledge the same sorority, if either of them pledge at all. sorry for getting carried away with those details. i think i must have had a lot of energy that needed to be released. LOL
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