Spring Recruitment--Sophomore

[UMD1022]

Hi--
I'm a sophomore at the University of Maryland and I want to rush in the spring. I tried to go through fall rush, but because it is very informal, I wound up visiting houses that only took 7 or 8 girls (mostly transfers and legacies) as opposed to the ones that took upwards of 15 or 20 and consequently did not get a bid. For those unfamiliar with Maryland rush, it is VERY informal in the fall (you can choose the houses you go to and there is no Rho Gamma or rush groups or any of that) and very formal in the spring. Not many freshmen rush in the fall, because you need 12 credits to pledge and a lot of freshmen don't have that.

That being said, obviously an overwhelming amount of freshmen rush in the spring. There are a good number of sophomores who do, as well (if I can recall correctly, almost half of AXO's pledge class last spring was sophomores). My question is--how hindered am I in this situation by being a sophomore? My GPA will be high enough for all of the chapters (above a 3.0--most require a 2.8 to get a bid), so that's not a problem. My worry is this--will the chapters I visited in the fall remember me and write me off as being too desperate for rushing again? I only went to 5 of the 14 houses this fall. Also, because I'm a sophomore and I know people in almost every house, I've got a decent idea of which sororities are in my top 6 (I wouldn't narrow it to top 3 yet, because recruitment may change my mind completely--during fall I think I changed my mind about four times because I wound up spending two hours at a house I thought I would hate and wound up loving), so would the rush process seem more tedious than usual for me?

And here's another note: While our spring rush is very formal, we don't need recs or any of that. The only thing that is looked at is our GPA and the overall impression the girls in the sorority get of us.

Any advice (from people familiar with Maryland Greek life and those who are not) would be great!

Paging violetpretty!

[violetpretty]

My first GC page! (and my 2,000th post!)

I graduated from UMD in 2007 and I currently advise the Sigma Kappa chapter. I was a Rho Gamma in 2007 and I served on an extension committee too. So I know a lot about UMD Recruitment.

Rerushing is common at Maryland. Sophomores going through and getting bids in the spring is common. Suiciding/dropping out is common because PNMs know that all chapters participate in fall. What they don't know of course, is that their chances may not be any better. Because every PNM has 3 (4 if they come with 12 credits) solid chances to join, they don't see freshman year spring recruitment as "now or never". So don't worry about being "that girl who came through last semester" unless you did something to make yourself memorable in a bad way.

Particularly in the fall, if you only visited a few chapters that had <10 spots to fill, the women you met may have actually liked you even though you were not offered a bid. Some chapters have an idea of who they want, often friends of current members. They fill their pledge classes on the first day that chapters are allowed to extend bids, making the parties mere formalities.

Re: tedious. Such is formal recruitment. Fortunately, it gets better each round, because you will return to fewer chapters, ones that are interested in you and hopefully you are interested in them. It's ok to have favorites, but what would you do if you were cut by your top 6 after the first round? Your mind can change and has changed. There are still 9 chapters you didn't see.

If you have any more specific questions, shoot. If you want to PM me, that's fine too.

For some light reading:
My Spring 04 Recruitment
Leslie Anne's Recruitment Story (from the 80s, one of the best recruitment stories ever)
My Rho Gam thread

[ZetaGirl22]

^^^^^^^^

What she said. It really isn't a hinderance being a sophomore at UMD, unless like violetpretty said, you've done something to make yourself stand out in a bad light.

Another thing to keep in mind is this: you said you have your top 6 already. I know being a sophomore, you might already know people in chapters, or heard things on campus, but its REALLY important to keep an open mind. There are 14 chapters at Maryland, and each one is wonderful in its own right. I can attest to that because I am an alumna of ZTA at Maryland, graduated in May '02 and also served as a Rho Chi (we werent called Rho Gammas yet back then) so yeah. Your mind can DEFINITELY change a LOT in recruitment. I know mine did, at least 6 or 7 times LOL!

[LttleMsPrEp]

I went through informal this past fall at UMD and didn't receive a bid either but informal is pretty tough as you know since chapters aren't able to take but so many girls.. I'm going through rush in the spring and I'll be a sophmore and I'm pretty sure that it won't count against you like violetpretty and ZetaGirl said as long as you didnt do anything that would have left you with a bad rep.

Like you I visited houses who had less than 10 and in some cases less than 5 spots open as opposed to other ones that had more spots and since you only visied 5 houses I def say keep on open mind. One of my friends gave me some really good advice when they told me that you don't know what you don't know so try to keep that in mind? I only visited 7 so I"m more than excited to visit all 14 so I can really see what everyone has to offer.. good luck in the spring if you do go through rush!!!

[UMD1022]

Thanks everyone! Today was the first day you could register for formal recruitment so I just did!