| bomchikawawa:
I can tell you a little bit about the Greek system at UM. My D graduated in '06 with her BFA in MT, and as a freshman wanted an outlet to meet others outside of the conservatory. I had been in a sorority in college (which is not on campus at UM) so I encouraged her to go through rush. At that time it was very laid back. You did not need recommendation letters from alums; in fact they discouraged that. Where we are from you would not have a chance of pledging if you didn't have recs on file with each sorority. My D was also told that the conservatory frowned on participation in the greek system. Rush was held about 2-3 weeks after school started. My D missed a whole day of parties, because she had a mandatory MT commitment, but she still got her first choice sorority and did get initiated. By her sophomore year she decided to drop out though because she just didn't have the time to give to it and didn't feel like it was worth paying the dues when she could never participate. There were a couple of girls ahead of her that were able to make it work though, so I guess this can be done.
Hope this is helpful. | 
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