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Old 09-07-2009, 11:49 AM
AXOrushadvisor AXOrushadvisor is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jamalter View Post
This is an interesting thread for a mom of a PNM at Alabama, who is trying very hard to understand the whole process. I've never been involved with greek life, and my daughter certainly was not "prepared" like I'm reading so many were. This leads me to my thoughts on why my daughter had such an easy time with the process as opposed to some very sad stories that I've read in GC, and may serve as advice to other PNMs trying to understand how to be successful.

My daughter really is "average" at least compared to some I've read about on here. She had a 3.3 GPA, was captain of her volleyball team, had a few minor clubs/organizations that she was involved in (no leadership roles however), and went to a small private school where her rank was right in the middle. She is cute, but not drop dead gorgeous. She didn't take recs seriously, and had recs for less than half the houses. In fact, up until about a week before rush, she was undecided if she was going to go through with it. But at Bama, if you rush, you move in a week early, and this sounded good to her, so she started the process. She had no idea about the different houses and therefore, had a completely open mind going in. I think this is what differentiated her. She pretty much enjoyed every house she visited, maximized all her options every step of the way, and in the end went to the max of 3 pref parties and loved them all.

Had I read GC prior to this process, I would have told her not to bother - she would never make the cut. Bama is too competitive and she wouldn't stand a chance. So why do I think she was sucessful? Because she was relaxed, open minded and never stressed about not making the cut at this house or the other. And that's what I would stress to all new PNMs.

Having said this, no offense, but I still think the process is bizarre.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oncegreek View Post
Waaay back in the day, at my west coast school which was purported to have a "laid-back" recruitment (it was anything but that!) many girls dropped out because they were not invited back to their first choices. The well-intentioned response of my alma mater was to add more chapters, one after another. As in, one in 1981, another in 1982, one more in 1983.....Two of those three chapters are gone, and two more closed as well. The Panhellenic website still says, in capital letters, that recs are not needed. I think that at many schools, girls want to join those chapters perceived as "top," or nor join at all. Unfortunately, at too many schools, as another poster stated, it is the "look" that determines who is invited back.
With 15 minute first rounds, I have to agree that looks do play a role on who the women want to invite back. It is first impressions and how well can you get to know someone in less then 15 minutes? I personally think our first round needs to get a little longer so that we can get to know our PNM's a little better and they can get to know us a little better.
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