Small School Rush

[spaceykatie]

Hey girls, I'm really excited to rush in a couple weeks but I have a question about what it will be like to rush at a school with a small greek system.

My school only has four sororities. My question is, how will cuts happen with so few sororities to pick from? Could someone end up getting cut from all sororities on one day, or end up with only one sorority to visit on pref night? My college is a small (2,400 kids) liberal arts school, and while I know the competition will probably be different than it is at big schools, do you think it's even more important to have recs with so few sororities?

Thanks for your help

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by spaceykatie

Hey girls, I'm really excited to rush in a couple weeks but I have a question about what it will be like to rush at a school with a small greek system.

My school only has four sororities. My question is, how will cuts happen with so few sororities to pick from? Could someone end up getting cut from all sororities on one day, or end up with only one sorority to visit on pref night? My college is a small (2,400 kids) liberal arts school, and while I know the competition will probably be different than it is at big schools, do you think it's even more important to have recs with so few sororities?

Thanks for your help

Every school tends to have a different schedule (eg. how many you will visit everyday).

That's a good question for your Greek Life Office.

Yes, it is always possible to be cut from all chapters or end up with one chapter at Pref (even with 4 chapters total).

[violetpretty]

Some small schools don't do cuts for round 2, essentially two open house rounds. Others have only 3 rounds as opposed to 4. It's entirely possible that a PNM could have only one chapter (or none) to visit preference night. Panhellenic can't force chapters to invite PNMs.

[33girl]

The first round or two might be a little more laid back - there might not be the degree of cutting that goes on fairly early in the SEC schools - but it is absolutely, positively possible to be cut from all the groups.

It's harder to "slip through the cracks" at a small school - to your advantage OR your disadvantage.

[IrishLake]

hi spaceykatie. I went to a school that sounds similar to yours (3200 undergrads, 4 NPC groups). As a disclaimer, what I'm about to post is my personal experience ONLY, your school may very well be very VERY different.

While our recruitment was competative between sororities, it was NOT cutthroat among PNMs. We had 4 groups on campus, and visited all 4 for Open House night and First Round. We then went down to 3 for Skit night (2nd round), then 2 for Pref (3rd round). MOST girls ended up exactly where they wanted to be (provided the feeling was mutual). I cannot think of an instance where someone was dropped from all 4 groups right away, though theoretically, it can happen. However, there WERE always a small percentage of girls who only had one pref party to go to, or none at all, or who went to 2 and still did not receive a bid. It happens. We only saw a handful of recs my entire 3 years of being an active on the recruiting side. I never even heard of them until sometime during my first year as a member. HOWEVER, if you can secure recs for all 4 sororities on your campus, it can't hurt, so do it! It's better to do too much than not do enough. Best of luck!

[littleowl33]

At the other posters said, it's different at every school. However, I went through a rush with four sororities and the maximum number of invites for each of the four parties was 4-4-3-2 (no cuts were made after the first round). This year they've eliminated a round so it will be 4-3-2. It is certainly possible to have fewer parties for the last two rounds, though.

[sigmahn173]

My school is similar to yours, although slightly bigger, but we do have four NPC sororities. Similar to the previously mentioned liberal arts schools, our formal recruitment goes 4-4-3-2. However, we're different than the other schools, because our only invite only party is pref. The girls have to go to all four the first and second nights, and then THEY drop one on the third night. Then WE issue pref invites on the fourth night, and bids are matched from there. Most girls end up with 1 or 2 pref invites (about half get one and the other half get two), however, some girls don't get any prefs at all.

Now this part WILL depend on your school, this is simply my experience from my small school. My school did not require recs at all and no one had them (in fact, I've never even heard of them before GC). But my school is in the north, and greek life is not as big as it is in the south, or anywhere nearly as competitive. So I'd ask your school or just get them anyway to be sure, as I'm not sure how it works at your school.

[angels&angles]

My small school had 5 sororities and is fairly competitive. I was down to one sorority after the first night (luckily, it was my favorite and everything worked out).

Our nights went 5-4-3-2. There were a significant number of girls with less than full parties, and usually one or two who got cut completely after the first few nights. More often, though, were girls who didn't like their schedules, dropped out, and claimed they got cut from everywhere.

Basically, small schools are like any other schools. Some people will get what they want, some won't, some will drop out, some will find their home, some will get cut completely.

[Alumiyum]

My school is around 3,000 students I believe and is liberal arts as well. We have five NPC sororities, and recruitment isn't competitive, but it IS possible to end up with one Pref party or none. But that doesn't mean you need to worry about that possibility the whole time. It could turn into a self fulfilling prophecy. Instead just be yourself and enjoy the ride. Show interest in all the chapters, be friendly, and be genuine.

As for recs, call the Greek Life office.

Good luck, and have fun!

[thetygerlily]

Mine was 1300 students with three sororities, also liberal arts. No cuts were mandated at any time so you could attend all three for pref, if you were invited back to all three and weren't as stupid as I was to cut a group after first round for no good reason (luckily you are already on GC so you won't make that mistake!). Cuts did happen, usually before Pref if they group really didn't think the person was right for them. Women certainly didn't always get their first choice, but the chapters all had very different personalities so people usually wound up in the best place for them- even if they didn't realize it at the time. We had deferred recruitment in January.

In my school, we got I believe 2 recs in the four years I was there. It was definitely a novelty. However, recruitment was not overly competitive and with such a small group going through (~25-30 PNMs went to Pref each year) it wasn't an issue for us to get them recs.

Check with your Greek Life office as many have mentioned here (or Student Activities if there's no specific GL office), and see their website as well. Worst case is that you'll find out at an info session they'll hold before recruitment starts. And if you haven't already, there are a number of small school threads in the Recruitment Stories forum so poke around. Maybe you'll find one from your school, but if not you can at least get an idea for how the process works with fewer chapters to choose from. Best of luck to you! And if you are up for it, we'd love to add more small school recruitment stories

[Miriverite]

Mine is about 1000 with 6 sororities, our cuts went 6-6-4-2. As with the others, recruitment wasn't competitive amongst PNMs for staying in the running (that is, no one was cut from all their choices), although some only ended up with 1 sorority for pref (which may have been their last choice). I managed to get the max amount every time, but my first choice sorority (at the time) cut me first. It wasn't that bad though, because everyone PNM knew that in the end they would be offered a bid -somewhere-.

With small-school recruitment, you don't need to worry so much about being cut or staying in the running; focus on finding the right place for you and showing off your best side to your top sororities =)

EDIT: Oh I'm sorry, I should have read more carefully before replying. I thought we were talking about incoming freshmen, not total numbers. My school has about 4000 undergraduates and 1000 freshmen. Overall, we have about 1500 undergraduate females.

[chiogirl05]

I went to the exact same type of school in Indiana, a liberal arts school with 2400 students and 4 sororities...maybe you are attending my alma mater!! At my school, recruitment was competitive in a sense, but nowhere near the level of bigger schools. I know we very rarely received a rec, it was kind of a big deal when we did, so if you have willing writers, it would definitely help you stand out, but do not stress at all if you don't! We always had a decent number of PNM's considering the size of the campus and the perception that only about a quarter of campus is greek. The rounds went 4,4,3, and 2. Very few girls were dropped entirely from recruitment; on the other hand, those that did not receive a bid mostly dropped due to the choices they had left at the end of the week. I remember it never being a big deal if a girl only had 1 pref party...our gamma chi's are great and being greek at a small school is a great way to get involved! Good luck!

[joliebelle]

Originally Posted by spaceykatie

Hey girls, I'm really excited to rush in a couple weeks but I have a question about what it will be like to rush at a school with a small greek system.

My school only has four sororities. My question is, how will cuts happen with so few sororities to pick from? Could someone end up getting cut from all sororities on one day, or end up with only one sorority to visit on pref night? My college is a small (2,400 kids) liberal arts school, and while I know the competition will probably be different than it is at big schools, do you think it's even more important to have recs with so few sororities?

Thanks for your help

My school's demographics sound similar to yours (slightly above 2k, liberal arts, 4 NPC sororities). I think that rushing at a smaller school gives you more of an advantage because the chapters often get a chance to know you better.Regarding recs, it would depend on the school itself and campus culture. During the 3 years that I was on the other side of recruitment, I saw one rec letter, and it came from a grandmother who wanted her legacy to go Greek. Best of luck to you!

[FloridaTish]

I know at my alma mater where I am currently an advisor, we have 3 NPC sororities and the way in which recruitment is being done is 3 days of parties and then bid day. First night informational night, next night philanthropy and then pref night. We have a very small, non-competitive recruitment and in my 5 years of advising, I've never seen a rec. Just remember to be yourself like others have said, with a smaller school it may give you a better opportunity to meet more of the girls during recruitment and recs may not even be needed. If you want, contact the office of Greek Life and ask the Greek Advisor about the necessity of recs as it relates to your campus, since it varies from college to college.

Good luck to you and just keep and open mind and let your personality shine!

[TriDeltaPearl]

I go to a small school with 4 sororities too. Like many of the people here, we went to 4 for open house, 4 for philanthropy, 3 for theme, and 2 for pref. I doubt someone would be cut from all of them after the first round of cuts, but it is DEFINITELY possible to be cut from all but one after the first round (happened to me). So yes, some people only pref 1 sorority. Most people end up getting placed, though--if they don't, it's usually because they dropped out after getting cut from their favorite.

As far as recs, no one has them at my school, but you'll have to check with your school about that. It couldn't hurt to get them.