Sister going to Texas Tech

DeltaSig · #1 03-27-2003, 12:32 PM

Hey everyone,
My sister just got accepted to go to Texas Tech University. I told her to go to UNT, but she likes the high profile schools. She is going to go greek, and for some reason she wants to join Zeta and has told me she already has a rec. My question for any sisters out there would be how many recs would be sufficient for RUSH. What is the system like ? etc. She is younger sis, and I love her and I want to make sure she lands on her feet. Any tech greeks that are out there could u give me some insight please. I know little about greek life at tech except for the large # of greeks there.

dzandiloo · #2 03-27-2003, 01:05 PM

Congrats to your sister! How exciting for her--she will definitely not regret her decision to go Greek here...Tech Greeks are among the most active/dedicated I've encountered.

I am not a sister at Tech, but am a law student here & have become fairly familiar with the system. I was involved last year with a local sorority that wanted to go national, but they dissolved when it didn't look like panhellenic was ready for expansion.

Having said that, Tech has a very good NPC w/strong organizations that all have something special to offer to PNMs. I hear they will be changing some things up in the Fall, so that formal recruitment won't be so brutal, but I don't know the details. I'll be honest...rush can be completely demoralizing here b/c it is extremely competitive--there are a ton of high quality women rushing here, and they tend to vy for the same houses very early in the week, before they have really had a chance to evaluate the chapters well (this is my opinion...based on conversations I've had with people who have rushed here), so lots of people drop out or don't get bids. 250 of 750 rushees last year did not get bids (I don't know how many of those were by choice drop-outs & how many were not matched during bid-matching).

Please make sure your sister is aware of that so she will go in with open eyes & realistic expectations. Does she already know someone in ZTA at Tech? I hear that ZTA is one of the top choices of a good majority of girls who rush at Tech. I don't know how important references are here, but I assume stellar grades, activities and references are probably a must--for EVERY sorority.

Please try to help your sister approach rush with an open mind, and consider all of the great sororities Tech has to offer, or she could very easily be hurt. (BTW-my comments here are not intended to be self-serving...there is no DZ at Tech, so I'm not trying to steer her away from ZTA...that may very well be the best place for her.)

What area of the state does your sister live in? Tell her to contact the local Panhellenic Alumnae to see about attending their "rush teas" or some other opportunity to get to know some alums. She should be able to get that from Tech's Greek Affairs office...also, I think A&M'sPanhellenic web-site has that info as well.

I wish your sister the best & hope she finds her home! Her Tech experience will be enormously enhanced by Greek affiliation.

LeslieAGD · #3 03-27-2003, 06:52 PM

Best of Luck to your sister!

TechAPhi · #4 03-27-2003, 10:07 PM

Your sister should get references from all chapters on campus if at all possible. Texas Tech is extremely competitive (sometimes 1,000+ potential members and not nearly that many membership opportunities). References will help the chapters to know her before she arrives AND it will help her learn about each chapter, for all chapters at Texas Tech are worth her consideration.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about Texas Tech recruitment.

Geneen

TechAPhi · #5 03-27-2003, 10:54 PM

I'd also recommend checking out the websites of the 11 National Panhellenic Conference sororities on the Texas Tech campus, as well as their chapter sites (if they exist).

For your convenience, I've listed them below.

In Greek alphabetical order:

Alpha Delta Pi

Alpha Phi

Alpha Chi Omega

Alpha Chi Omega national site

Delta Gamma

Delta Delta Delta

Delta Delta Delta International site

Zeta Tau Alpha

Kappa Alpha Theta

Kappa Delta

Kappa Kappa Gamma

Pi Beta Phi

Pi Beta Phi International site

Chi Omega

DeltaSig · #6 03-31-2003, 12:52 AM

Thanks a lot ladies, much obliged.
Yeah I've been telling my sis lately to keep an open mind when rushing. A really good friend of hers is a Zeta so she's had a little influential treatment. We're from San Antonio, she is very active in school and is a sweetheart, gets along with everyone. I just keep telling her to be herself when rushing and she'll find the group the best fits her. Anyone know any Zetas from tech I want to inquire about a friend of mine???

heaz · #7 03-31-2003, 05:15 PM

Im in a sorority here in Lubbock at Tech, and we have a VERY strong Greek system..There are 11 stron sororities and im sure your sister will find one she fits into perfectly. I always thought I would go Kappa as both my grandmothers are and both my roomates, but I ended up in a different one that i love and couldnt be happier with my decision! Its important to look at all of them. Recs for all of them would be the most desirable. Grades and activities are important but attitude and personality is key. It is a must to be polite to every group because lots of actives live with other sorority actives and things are passed on.I ve heard of girls that have gone through and told the people at xyz house that theyre going to be a yy and that ends up being the house where the xyz girl's roomate is yy rush chair. Rush is not a fun filled week for everyone but it does allow the girls going through to make new friends, even if they end up not pledging. I hope some of this is useful and feel free to ask any other questions you might come up with!!

TxTechCutie · #8 04-01-2003, 04:16 AM

deltasig,
if you don't mind me asking, what high school does your sister go to in San Antonio?

DeltaSig · #9 04-01-2003, 11:59 AM

She's going to East Central High School. And she is also going to a community college half-day to complete some basic courses for college. I think she already has like 20 credits. I was trying to see if anyone knew a Lauren in Zeta she should be a sophmore by now.

DeltaSig · #10 04-01-2003, 12:01 PM

Would it be cool if I could have her PM one of y'all if she had any questions I probably couldn't answer. Her friend is leaving in a month back to SFA so I'm sure she'll have plenty of them. She has a lot of them now but I don't know too much about the rush there.

TechAPhi · #11 04-02-2003, 01:38 AM

Feel free to message me with any questions. I think many of them could be answered by Texas Tech's Panhellenic office. Once she requests information from them, they will send her a CD ROM full of good stuff. The sooner she begins the process the better.

justamom · #12 04-04-2003, 09:07 AM

Delta Sig-What a sweetheart of a brother you are!

ZetaMelOU · #13 04-09-2003, 04:34 AM

Hey!

Well, being biased cause I am a Zeta :-D I think it's awesome that your sister wants to go greek at Tech (and even better that she wants to be a Zeta teehee). I go to the University of Oklahoma, and so I've met quite a few greeks at Texas Tech (I love the Tech Zetas so much!!). What they do here at the University of Oklahoma was that NPC has changed their rules so that it is the sorority's responsibility to obtain the recommendation and not the girl's. What happens is that alumni from your sister's hometown (or close to it) for each sorority volunteer to write recommendations for girls, and they are given a list of names with basic information about each girl (your sister will probably have to submit a resume when she signs up for rush with basic info, and the writer will go off of that). Then the alumnae writes the recommendation and sends it off to the chapter. Of course, it always helps when you can get a recommendation written by someone you know personally cause they can brag on you more :-D. I don't know if it is exactly the same at Tech, but I imagine that it is structured the same cause their Greek system is huge like ours and it makes things easier to do it that way. Well, I hope that I was some help. If your sister has any questions about rush (or Zeta), tell her to E-mail me and I'll be happy to talk to her. I'll catch you later!!