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I have a second hand experience at University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. My CA niece went thru rush as a Freshman in Fall 2012. She had a 3.0 GPA. She was told she needed a 3.0 to be successful in recruitment but this info was very misleading. No one cared that she had a diagnosed learning disability or that her Jr./Sr. years GPA was 3.8. She knew that it was going to be difficult from the get-go, especially for out-of-state girls. She had 1-2 recs for all but 2 houses. She had 6 years of community service, earning several awards for her work. She also had a 20 hour a week job for her Jr. and Sr. years. She was dropped by 13 of 18 houses the first day and retained only 1 house after the third day. She was assured that she would receive a bid to her sole remaining house had she remained in the process but she chose to drop out. After rush was over, she was told by several girls that they wanted to extend a bid to her but that the choice was not theirs (come to find out that is true after hearing about the AL sorority rush race scandal). She decided to meet and get to know as many Greeks as she could and to work hard on her GPA. This paid off. Not only did she improve her GPA (3.5 her first semester) but she changed her mind on her preferred sorority and received a bid during COB (continuous open bidding for those who find acronyms so annoying!) during Spring, 2013 semester. She is a very happy camper and her mother was happy she avoided the continuous partying subjected to Fall pledges (4 parties a week, rather hypocritical to ask an exhausted brand new freshman to retain their good GPAs under those circumstances). Her GPA did suffer but she has resolved to study in the library rather than the sorority "study room". There is hope after an unsuccessful rush, even at AL. She was planning on going thru Fall, 2013 rush until she received her bid in Spring, 2012. It would've been a nerve wracking experience but a strong girl is capable. Improving GPA, joining campus clubs, volunteering off-campus...any or all of these can help a previously unsuccessful rushee. Work hard, keep an open mind and meet new people. And good luck!
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