Should I rush?

[Iao_2012]

Hi everyone!

Okay, I'm new here so I'm going to explain my situation, and from seeing other posts I'm going to use OTHER letters as to keep anonymous!

So I went away to school, and I although I knew what a sorority was, I did not know how big they were until I arrived at school, (no one I knew was in one!). I thought that it was just a "club" and you could join whenever. I should have done my research .

Anyways I after seeing how much of an impact they had on campus, and just the general friendship and "sisterhood" that girls shared, I was hooked! I totally wanted to rush and be a part of this! Well after my first year of school I decided that I was going to transfer (a mix of homesickness, and change of major, and fortunatley a college close to home has one of the best programs in the state for my new major!) So I transferred and entered my new school in the winter. (I didn't rush the beginning of my sophomore year because I knew I was going to transfer after the semester was over, I just needed my hours!)

So I get to my new school, and formal rush is during the fall, I knew about some COB events during the winter but they were invite only and I didn't really know any of the girls, and like I said earlier, I don't have any close friends that are greek, so no connections. So I would have to wait until I was entering fall of my junior year (YIKES!). Well I ended up not going through rush (regretfully!) because at the time I was going through some financial difficulties, and I knew I would not be able to afford the dues. Plus if I were to rush, I knew that I would have to work extra hours to come up with the money, so I really wouldn't have the time to even be involved! So I didn't even want to go through with it, then not being involved at all.

Well I got to know a girl, lets call her April. Well April was a part of GGY and asked me to attend their Fall COB event, I explained to her my situation briefly, and she asked me to please come by anyways. So I did, and I ended up being offered a bid. I thought I could be supergirl and do it all so I did VERBALLY accept, but after about 2 weeks of going between work and school and attending a few events I decided that I could not simply keep up with the time commitments, and I felt it was not fair to continue the sorority if I could not give it my all.

Fast-forward to now, I am out of that finanial yuckiness, and I have a new job to where I can afford the dues and have the time to commit myself. Problem is...I'm about to be a SENIOR! BUT I will be a 5th year senior (due to taking a semester of classes for my previous major, and having to take prereqs)...so I won't graduate until 2012. So that means I still have 2 more years at school. Should I rush in the fall? There are a few things that bother me about this decision...

1. Since I verbally committed a bid, would I even be allowed to rush in the first place? I was supposed to go sign my bid, but between time conflicts with class and work I could never make it to the Greek Life office in time before they closed, so I never signed it. Is the verbal acceptment still binding?
2. I feel like I would be a bit too old to be rushing with incoming freshman.
3. I feel like I wouldn't even be offerred a bid because of my class rank.
4. The girls my age would probably be like, "WHY is this girl here?!" Shes a SENIOR!
5. And the biggest thing is that I feel like I would be betraying the girls of GGY, they were awesome and I do regret dropping but I just could not handle everything on my plate (I know, I know, excuses excuses, but please be open-minded...I really did have alot going on!)
6. This girl, April, is now the membership chair of GGY. Should I talk to her and NOT rush, but see if I could try again at maybe a COB event in the fall. But then I don't want to seem like a flip-flop! Maybe the girls will think I will do the same thing again

I really like what the whole sorority life represents and I would love to be a part of it. And I understand all viewpoints because I have been reading different posts on this board. So I'm welcome to all advice. Thanks for reading my novel!

<3 IAO

[33girl]

You say you never signed a bid but you "attended a few events." By events, do you mean pledge education meetings, or social affairs?

Do you not want to be a member of GGY anymore? If not, why not? Did you leave them on good terms?

Quite frankly, if they were the only group COBing, they would probably be your only option for a bid this time around.

[Iao_2012]

I only attended social events, just a social and a dinner outing. No education meetings! I couldn't handle everything that was on my plate. I would love to be a member, so would be be better just to skip the whole rush and go for the COB? I did leave on good terms and I still talk to some of the girls that I got to know a little bit.

[FSUZeta]

when you resigned your pledgeship, did you have a heart to heart with any of the GGY members, so that they would know what your situation was? if no, i would contact your friend april and have that heart to heart with her now.

is GGY at total now, so that they could not COB in the spring? maybe they would be able to reconsider you for membership right now.

no matter if you verbally gave your acceptance or signed a bid card, you should be eligible to rush in the fall, because you joined in the previous fall.

there would be no harm in going thru formal recruitment. i would hate for you to count on GGY not being at total or pledging to quota after formal recruitment and being eligible to COB, when that might not happen.

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by Iao_2012

Hi everyone!

Okay, I'm new here so I'm going to explain my situation, and from seeing other posts I'm going to use OTHER letters as to keep anonymous!

So I went away to school, and I although I knew what a sorority was, I did not know how big they were until I arrived at school, (no one I knew was in one!). I thought that it was just a "club" and you could join whenever. I should have done my research .

Anyways I after seeing how much of an impact they had on campus, and just the general friendship and "sisterhood" that girls shared, I was hooked! I totally wanted to rush and be a part of this! Well after my first year of school I decided that I was going to transfer (a mix of homesickness, and change of major, and fortunatley a college close to home has one of the best programs in the state for my new major!) So I transferred and entered my new school in the winter. (I didn't rush the beginning of my sophomore year because I knew I was going to transfer after the semester was over, I just needed my hours!)

So I get to my new school, and formal rush is during the fall, I knew about some COB events during the winter but they were invite only and I didn't really know any of the girls, and like I said earlier, I don't have any close friends that are greek, so no connections. So I would have to wait until I was entering fall of my junior year (YIKES!). Well I ended up not going through rush (regretfully!) because at the time I was going through some financial difficulties, and I knew I would not be able to afford the dues. Plus if I were to rush, I knew that I would have to work extra hours to come up with the money, so I really wouldn't have the time to even be involved! So I didn't even want to go through with it, then not being involved at all.

Well I got to know a girl, lets call her April. Well April was a part of GGY and asked me to attend their Fall COB event, I explained to her my situation briefly, and she asked me to please come by anyways. So I did, and I ended up being offered a bid. I thought I could be supergirl and do it all so I did VERBALLY accept, but after about 2 weeks of going between work and school and attending a few events I decided that I could not simply keep up with the time commitments, and I felt it was not fair to continue the sorority if I could not give it my all.

Fast-forward to now, I am out of that finanial yuckiness, and I have a new job to where I can afford the dues and have the time to commit myself. Problem is...I'm about to be a SENIOR! BUT I will be a 5th year senior (due to taking a semester of classes for my previous major, and having to take prereqs)...so I won't graduate until 2012. So that means I still have 2 more years at school. Should I rush in the fall? There are a few things that bother me about this decision...

1. Since I verbally committed a bid, would I even be allowed to rush in the first place? I was supposed to go sign my bid, but between time conflicts with class and work I could never make it to the Greek Life office in time before they closed, so I never signed it. Is the verbal acceptment still binding?
2. I feel like I would be a bit too old to be rushing with incoming freshman.
3. I feel like I wouldn't even be offerred a bid because of my class rank.
4. The girls my age would probably be like, "WHY is this girl here?!" Shes a SENIOR!
5. And the biggest thing is that I feel like I would be betraying the girls of GGY, they were awesome and I do regret dropping but I just could not handle everything on my plate (I know, I know, excuses excuses, but please be open-minded...I really did have alot going on!)
6. This girl, April, is now the membership chair of GGY. Should I talk to her and NOT rush, but see if I could try again at maybe a COB event in the fall. But then I don't want to seem like a flip-flop! Maybe the girls will think I will do the same thing again

I really like what the whole sorority life represents and I would love to be a part of it. And I understand all viewpoints because I have been reading different posts on this board. So I'm welcome to all advice. Thanks for reading my novel!

<3 IAO

QFP

[AlphaXiDelta169]

Like FSUZeta said you should talk to GGY. If you really want to be a part of them and they are not a numbers now they may be able to give you a bid if it works for everyone. If they are at numbers then this is my advice.
I always recommend going through formal recruitment because it gives you a chance to see all the houses that are on that campus. No one is going to think you are "to old" to be going through formal. Everyone decides to go Greek at different times and it has to be able to fit into your life, as you discovered. So I would not worry about that at all. Usually when going through formal most girls find a house that fits them.
So if you decide to go through formal you have nothing to lose... just look at it that way. If your meant to be somewhere you will be there in the end.
Hope this helps.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by AlphaXiDelta169

Like FSUZeta said you should talk to GGY. If you really want to be a part of them and they are not a numbers now they may be able to give you a bid if it works for everyone. If they are at numbers then this is my advice.
I always recommend going through formal recruitment because it gives you a chance to see all the houses that are on that campus. No one is going to think you are "to old" to be going through formal. Everyone decides to go Greek at different times and it has to be able to fit into your life, as you discovered. So I would not worry about that at all. Usually when going through formal most girls find a house that fits them.
So if you decide to go through formal you have nothing to lose... just look at it that way. If your meant to be somewhere you will be there in the end.
Hope this helps.

FYI: This may be the case for your school, but it isn't the case everywhere.

There are some schools where a senior has a much lower chance at getting a bid than say, a freshman or soph.

People very well MAY think she is too old. It happens.

I wouldn't say that no one is going to think that.

I went to a pretty uncompetitive school and I still don't recall many seniors getting bids.

[Iao_2012]

Thanks for all your advice everyone. But what does QFP mean?

[FSUZeta]

quoted for posterity