Too late?
 

Hi all.

Finally found time in my college life to think about going greek, but I'm afraid it's too late for me! I graduate this spring ('19), and there's some wonderful chapters on my campus. I've spent the last few years in other social clubs (sadly membership has all decreased due to interest/funds), keeping my grades up and making friends in the greek community at my school.

I didn't try sooner in college because I wanted to put my academics and health first, but now that I've got a steady grip on both of those I want to try finally.

I'm participating in formal recruitment in fall and some chapters are on a different council and these have a different recruitment schedules so I'm going to attend everything for every group that I can, knowing I'll probably be dropped by every chapter due to my status of being an older student.

As far as I know, some chapters on campus have accepted older students (graduating same year or the year after) and I think if there's a mutual fit I would love to become a part of the greek community on my campus.

Would anyone be willing to give me advice as I head into these events?

Thanks in advance, HH.

What sort of sorority are you looking to join? NPC, NPHC, Multicultural?

Another question: how did informal recruitment go for you this past Spring 2018 semester?

I decided not to participate last minute for informal in spring because I wanted to make friends with people in the Greek community before going through recruitment, and also my school job at the time was taking up most of my time and stressing me out. I thought informal might only make things worse. The one NPC chapter I was looking at for informal only gave bids to four girls, so I knew my chances would have been very low because I'd seen via Facebook that there were more than twentyfive girls going to the events.

I'm looking primarily for a NPC or multicultural sorority, leaning more towards multicultural due to having a lot of exposure to different cultures and walks of life in highschool/college thus far, and just feeling like I get along where there's a higher percentage of diversity.

I should mention in particular we had a few new chapters come to campus in spring so I wanted to talk to some of the members/attend the fundraisers/public events they hosted and see how the organizations acted before just jumping into recruitment for them blind, which is part of the reason I'm choosing to wait until fall.

I know that sounds stupid, but if I'm joining something I want to be able to appreciate it as an outsider first.

Disclaimer: It is difficult to give good advice when we don't know your campus, because it can make a difference-but I am not asking you to divulge that information. Therefore, I cannot give you any advice other than general.

Typically with NPC recruitment, the sooner you rush, the better your chances. In other words, freshmen have the best chance of receiving a bid, all things being equal. The chances of receiving a bid decrease as the student's class standing rises. Rushing as a senior is not in your favor.

Seniors have their best chance with a new colonization because the colony wants a mix of classes. Still, the number of seniors taken in a colony is the smallest percentage in the colony.

Your reasons for delaying rush until your senior year sends up red flags with me because it sounds like you aren't truly committed, or you are afraid of possible rejection-you are just going through the motions. Sorority membership within any council is a commitment to that organization. Are you truly ready for that kind of commitment?

And with a multicultural sorority, on the other hand, class standing would be important but might not matter as much as an NPC.

(Unless it's one of the multicultural orgs which is more similar in function to an NPC)

That's too bad. That's the type of organization that would be actively looking for members in all classes.
I'm afraid it's going to be very difficult for you since you are getting ready to graduate. Another aspect is that it has not been high in your priorities. Academics does, of course, come first, but plenty of sorority women are members for 4 to 5 years and combine sorority with making high grades.
However....
You won't know unless you try.