UCF Junior Transfer Student Joining a Sorority
 

Hello everyone!

I attended a community college to recieve my AA because I had a scholarship and wanted to be close to home. I just got accepted into UCF and I’ve always wanted to join a sorority. I’m a little worried because of my class standing. I’m a pre-med student, currently majoring in Biology. My GPA is 3.0 which I know is a little low but I have plenty of reasons not that it’s relevant now, but they’re no longer a problem and should no longner affect my GPA. I’ll be transferring as a junior, however I plan on double majoring as well so I should have an additional year to earn my degrees.

I work a full time job and I am very involved in the community. I volunteer at a local animal refuge and children’s hospital. I tutor elementary students as well. I also travel to Europe every summer and go to different countries and visit my mom’s hometown and volunteer there as well.

What else can I do to make me stand out and make more sororities bid on me considering my average GPA and my class standing.

Do you believe I have a shot?

*** I will be starting fresh in Orlando meaning I will not have a fult time job or any of the volunteer opportunities that I have now since I live two hours from Orlando

You’re a junior with a not great GPA and a full time job, and other interests that while admirable, seem like they would take up the majority of your remaining free time.

No, I don’t think you have a shot.

I'd check out the GPA stats for the sororities at your new school, to see what you're up against. If it's your dream to go Greek, I don't think your time is necessarily wasted by trying. Being an upperclassman - regardless of GPA - will certainly limit your options, though.

It's good to play up your activities to show you have leadership ability and a history of reliable involvement, but be careful that you don't appear overbooked. It's kind of a catch-22, even for actives; you need to be super-active in your chapter, but there's also strong encouragement to be visually present in other campus organizations to lift your GLO's profile.

Good luck!

I know nothing specific about UCF rush. But you won’t know unless you try, and by going through rush you may make some new friends even if it doesn’t work out. If you do try, my advice:
Get recommendations for EVERY sorority. With the information you provide the rec writer, write a letter explaining the circumstances of your GPA, that you do plan to be there more than two years, etc. Ask that they include that info in their recommendation, if they can.
Know the odds aren’t in your favor, so be prepared for “rejection” and realize it is the circumstance, not you.
Be open to EVERY house that is willing to give you a shot. Sometimes the houses considered rock bottom have the best sisterhoods.
Good luck if you go for it!

You definitely need to get recs for all the groups. I'm not sure if UCF has upperclass quota but it would help you if they do as you wouldn't have to worry about taking freshman's place. The Greek Life office at UCF can tell you if they do. If GPAs aren't on the web site, the GLO can also give you that information. Put your best self forward and give it a try. You will never know otherwise.

*** My GPA is actually a 3.2. I don't know why I typed 3.0?! Lol. As for leadership I was involved in an Achiever's Club at my CC, mostly based on leadership skills for my freshman year. I hope that's enough even though it was only a years worth.

Anyways, thank you for the help but do you mind me asking where is the best place to find people who are willing to write rec letters. I don't know any alumni. I actually emailed a group for sorority alumni in my hometown in hopes they would help. They are actually very great ladies in our community! I know it's not guaranteed and that it might be a little forward but this is something I dreamed of since high school and not for the superficial reasons but I actually love the philanthropy aspect of it and I really want to make new friends as many of mine are going separate paths. I only posted this thread so I know that I did everything I could to ensure I could make my college experience come true! I know that I should go in with an open-mind and that I am more likely to be rejected for my class standing, I just wanted a few opinions from some people who are already on the inside.

I appreciate the honesty. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best, ammirite?!

Ask friends of your parents, former teachers, former bosses. You probably know alumnae and don’t realize it.

The best advice has already been given. Get all the recs you possibly can. You have great activities and a full time job which you state is in the past. Now you are ready to concentrate on school full time. Best of luck to you. As you said...hope for the best!

Thank you! I'll make another thread in a few months to update you guys!

And the alums can be from ANY school-not just UCF. You know lots of women who went to college. Ask them all. If you find one,ask if she knows anyone in the other groups. Greek women know other Greek women. Network.

Is this young lady still considered an undergraduate, even though she has already earned an AA degree at another college?

She hasn't earned a Bachelor's Degree, so yes.

Yeah, quite a few CC students opt to get the Associate's degree before transferring to a four-year. It's usually not that much extra effort and it's nice to have on a resume.



And it's not unheard of for people who already have a Bachelor's degree to enroll as a fulltime student in a second undergraduate degree program. One of my sisters already had a BA, decided to retrain, and enrolled as a freshman in a different four-year undergrad program at Berkeley. AOII had no issues rushing her back then. Do other NPCs have rules against extending bids to people who already have BA/S degrees or something? Seems like the question of who's an undergrad for the purposes of formal recruitment would be more of an institutional call, but I dunno.



I remember someone saying awhile back that their NPC organization allowed graduate students to join, too. Is that common?

The Unanimous Agreements of NPC require that all women who go through rush be undergraduates, enrolled as full time students.

"To be eligible to participate in Panhellenic recruitment and pledge an NPC sorority as a collegiate member, a woman must:
• Not be simultaneously enrolled in high school and attending college.
• Be an undergraduate regularly matriculated according to the definition of matriculation established by that institution."

Yeah, I'd always thought that if you were in a graduate-level degree program and a sorority wanted to make you a member, they'd just initiate you as an alum. I assume the unanimous agreement covers informal rush activities too, not just formal rush.

Re the other issue, the UA indicates that if your college considers you a current, full-time student in a bachelor's degree program, you can rush regardless of previous degrees earned (and that is supported by my sister's experience). But just as there are some undergraduate programs that don't admit students who already have Bachelors degrees, it doesn't seem uber-far-fetched that some sororities might officially seek college-first-timers only.