Montclair State Rush?

[alexandrapaige]

After hearing me go on and on about it for the past few months, one of my best friends from home has decided to go greek! She has an interesting situation, though. This year, she'll be graduating from a community college in New Jersey and then filtering into Montclair State University next fall as a junior, though it will be her first year there.

I know nothing about Montclair (except that they have a tri sigma! I'm hoping that she loves them as much as I do [and that they love her as much as I do]) and their website doesn't offer much information either, as most of the links are broken and their color scheme is messed up enough to be unreadable.

We're planning on calling the panhellenic office once their break is over, but I thought I could get some faster and more truthful answers here. Does anyone know whether Montclair has deffered rush? Yeah, this surprisingly wasn't on the website. Also, how competitive is rush? They only have four NPC sororities and the website offered no statistics on how many girls rush every year. Does she have a chance on scoring a bid as a junior?

Also, because of financial reasons, she may be living at home and commuting to school, which is about an hour away. I told her that that may make it difficult to really become close with the girls, but she's sure she can work it out. Opinions?

And lastly, she mentioned it to her father and he said no. He didn't give a reason, so she's planning on going through with it anyway, but what would you tell a parent who is against greek life?

Thank you for any help.

[tunatartare]

While I can't speak for Montclair, I know of girls who have rushed as juniors at similar schools in the area and have gotten bids. It shouldn't affect her too much.

[Senusret I]

All I know about Montclair is that they have a buttload of NPHC, Latino/a, and Multicultural orgs.

[DolphinChicaDDD]

I went to Montclair for grad school, so I have limited information about recruitment. There are 4 nationals and I think about 4 locals. Transferring into college from a community college is pretty common in NJ, so being a junior should not hurt too much. If I had to guess, I would actually guess they have formal recruitment in the Fall. Fall was the only time I ever saw flyers or information about recruitment. She's going to have to look hard, because besides the boards outside the convience store in the student center and the few random flyers on the bulliten boards, I didn't see much about recruitment.
Personally, I think the sororities do a poor job of advertising for recruitment. I hope they target the oncampus resisidents more, because as a commuter I saw nothing. I offered to help the Panhellenic Council out, and never even got a call back from the Greek Adviser. Like I said, I don't know much about the system so take all this with a grain of salt.

[Denise_DPhiE]

I believe Montclair takes new member classes in both fall and spring. I don't know how formalized it is. Total is 45.

I suggest she check all the groups out. It is not competitive and if she has good grades and a great personality, being a junior should not hurt her.

Have her fill out this form...

http://www.montclair.edu/pages/GreekAffairs/Join.htm

Your friend will have no problem rushing as a junior. MSU is a commuter school, and a LOT of the students are older. I know girls who rushed during their junior year after going to Community College. There were also seniors and fifth years. One of my friends actually pledged while living at home. She had a cerfew of 12:00am, and she was always allowed to go home on time.

Formal rush is in the fall and informal is during the spring. Most girls rush in the fall. PM me about this if you want to know why.

MSU has 4 NPCs: Tri Sigma, SDT, Phi Sigma Sigma, and Delta Phi Epsilon. I remember 3 locals... Sigma Delta Phi, Theta Kappa Chi, and Delta Xi Delta (?). There may be a 4th. There are no houses, but there are floors reserved for Greeks.

Personally, I definately reccomend going greek at MSU. As I said, it's super commuter oriented, and (in my opnion) the best way to really make college a great experience there is to go Greek. I don't usually say that, but I think it's true.

Please PM me if you have any other questions about Montclair, and I'll be happy to answer them

Originally Posted by Senusret I

All I know about Montclair is that they have a buttload of NPHC, Latino/a, and Multicultural orgs.

Yes they do! There are also locals and professionals. Very Greek school!

[lisaxmarie]

I'm In d phi e at montclair and greek life is the way to go on campus. If you're not involved on campus, its really boring. As for your friend who is a junior, she will most definetly get a bid. There is no set age limit on new members. Most people who are interested in being greek are sophomores and juniors at Montclair. Freshmen still can recieve bids, but most dont come out to rush until spring when they are settled into college. If your friend has any questions just let me know!

Originally Posted by lisaxmarie

As for your friend who is a junior, she will most definetly get a bid.

Please don't ever tell any of the PNMs they're most definitely getting a bid.

I think what you're trying to say is that class standing doesn't affect a PNM's chances of receiving a bid.

[lisaxmarie]

what i was trying to say was that if someone is looking to get a bid, there are so many different organizations on campus, they are most likely to get a bid. Some organizations just recieve bids instead of giving them out as well. Most likely she will get a bid.

[Denise_DPhiE]

Originally Posted by lisaxmarie

what i was trying to say was that if someone is looking to get a bid, there are so many different organizations on campus, they are most likely to get a bid. Some organizations just recieve bids instead of giving them out as well. Most likely she will get a bid.

What OTW was warning you of is "promising a bid" which is against NPC rules. You clarified it mostly but the truth of the matter is, if the girl has low grads, say a 2.0 as a junior, has no personality and is rude, she isn't going to get a bid to any group.

If she is friendly has above the minimum GPA requirements for a group, she had a very good chance of finding the perfect home in some group. We are very careful not to lead on a PNM (potential new member) as you will see (since you only have 2 posts on GC) that there are many, many broken hearts during recruitment and many show up here on GC. I know Montclair isn't a likely place for broken hearts, but it could happen.

I am in Wayne every Sunday for Karate - saw some MSU DPhiEs recently in the bagel store - in black sweatshirts with fuschia letters.

My 4 year old, said, "Mommy, isn't that your sorority?"

[lisaxmarie]

Aww thats so cute. I'm impressed that your four year old recognized the letters! Smart kid! haha. Next time say hi, i'm sure the girls would love to talk with you!