<p>My D is a 14 and is going to a France next WINTER TERM, so she will miss the coldest part next year. She can’t wait!</p>
<p>^ My S plans on traveling for at least one of the winter terms if not two! </p>
<p>Vienna…WOW!</p>
<p>MyCollegeKid, where in France is she going? S went to Paris fall term of sophomore year on the FSP and loved it.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the warm welcome!</p>
<p>We are truly excited about our D decision to join Dartmouth this coming fall!<br>
Awaiting on housing information, etc.<br>
D is looking at E. Wheelock Cluster and/or sub free. Any insight would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Many thanks…</p>
<p>Son is in Substance Free in the Choates. Absolutely loves it and made a ton of new friends. Highly recommend it. We’ve met many of his floormates and some of their parents.</p>
<p>Almost all freshmen love their dorm and floor mates. There is no wrong answer. Don’t worry about a thing!</p>
<p>Hey Consolation!</p>
<p>Things are good…counting down the days to middle S wedding in early July on the beach in St. Thomas. We are all taking a cruise, and while originally didnt think I would like cruises, they are quite fun, as it turns out.</p>
<p>S '13 has adjusted quite well to the rigors of NH and will be President of his Frat this summer…hard to believe that his college experience is 1/2 way over…it does whip by.</p>
<p>How have you been?</p>
<p>15 Dartmouth- housing turned out okay. D wanted E.Wheelock but ended up in substance free (w/own room). It turned out that some got E.Wheelock that didn’t want it, while others that wanted it didn’t get it. In the end, they could try to switch next term, but ended up making other freinds by then and stayed where she was. She still would have preferred E.Wheelock. Things happen for a reason… so in the end you have to make the best of it. Her building is quite old, but she is almost done freshman year. They did become quite a group that did things together.</p>
<p>By sophomore year, some go off term and some go to sororities, etc. It does go by so fast!
Good luck with housing!</p>
<p>So I’m unhappily reporting another theft. My '14 D and her visiting friend knotted their raincoats to a railing at a frat party this weekend…both were taken/stolen, both with phones in the pockets, and my D’s Dartmouth ID in hers. She was so disappointed as this was her first theft this year. She was most sad about the rain coat, actually. She was trying to be optimistic, hoping that the jackets were taken because it was raining outside and that since hers had her ID in it, she might see it again. I don’t hold such optimism! She usually brings a ratty coat to the frats just in case. Yes, we’ve had the discussion about keeping her phone and id on her, but I think she’s just too trusting. Just another warning to post!</p>
<p>Garnets, sorry to hear about the theft. We all feel so violated when our property is stolen. I hope she gets it back. My D had her brand new Mountain Hardwear coat stolen earlier this year at a frat party. Same story…they were tied together, etc. She usually wears an old ski jacket to the frats, but her coat was in her closet, and she didn’t want to wake her roommate up (closet is in inside room mclaughlin set up). Lesson learned. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for both you and Magnum that these items were “borrowed”.</p>
<p>On another note, can’t believe this year is winding to an end. I’m flying up weekend after next to help D pack up and put everything in storage until the fall. She doesn’t want this year to end. The freshman floor bonding was really strong this year. D went to pre rush meeting last night. It sounds like they are reducing the pledge class sizes overall, so rush might get a bit more competitive. She doesn’t seem worried, so hopefully all works out. Any one else’s kids rushing in the fall? She did really like that they have moved rush up to the beginning of the year.</p>
<p>^^My daughter, a '13, did not rush at all. She was on the fence - considering whether to join a sorority. But after she watched her friends go through the rush process she decided to stay out of it. She said the boys and their frats had a better system, but for girls they have a strange scoring/ranking sytem that can result in you not getting into your top choice house even though that house wanted you. </p>
<p>So many of her friends were disappointed in where they ended up, and she was so put off by the rush process itself (“A long series of social events, each one dressier than the last”) that she decided to forgo the whole thing.</p>
<p>Yes, my D said that getting your coat “borrowered” like Denali’s etc. at Frat parties is pretty bad (they all seem to wear old coats and shoes). Overall, still much better than the city though.</p>
<p>She too is interested in the Rush for sophomore year and hopes it all works out. They had some sign up event maybe last night and she has been going to some parties. wondered why I had to go out and get her some dresses when I visited (to Burlington). I was in South Beach (Miami) last weekend and she asked me to buy her more. Don’t want to get too carried away. I guess girls can’t wear the same dress too often and only so many stores in Hanover. Not sure if all these dresses are worth it. (I don’t think Frats require so many outfits.</p>
<p>I thought about flying up this long weekend to help her start packing (way too much clothes), but they are almost at final times and don’t want to distract.</p>
<p>wellwadayaknow, S’ friend spotted his bike at another dorm, unlocked and a little messed up. So he recovered it and bought a new lock. Happy that he found it, sad that another DC student probably took it. </p>
<p>I hear that frat parties are notorious for losing jackets, especially black north face fleeces, there must be a million on campus. Heard you need to take and wear stuff that you don’t really care about. Especially shoes. Once you wear them to the basement, they become trashed, and become your frat shoes…</p>
<p>Magnum, congrats on your son finding his bike. Sounds like some good sleuthing!</p>
<p>My daughter also had her coat stolen at a frat party. Looks like it’s pretty common. The coat was a nice one that she really liked, so she learned to wear only an old, crummy coat to parties.</p>
<p>My son has “lost” about half a dozen phones, the most recent one being the Droid that was his Christmas present. I don’t know if they actually get lost or if they get – “borrowed” – and assigned a new number by the “borrower.”</p>
<p>Hey, great news Magnum. I’m glad the bike was found. Just in time to have to pay for storage for summer term :). Coureur, it does seem strange how DM does sorority rush. I don’t quite get it. I was in a sorority, and it was a simple match/rank process. My D has tried to explain, but I am not sure she even understands how it works. Question, does your D ever feel left out not being in a house? D says greek letters are prominent all over campus. D is not into the dress up thing, and she didn’t ask for any new clothes for the pre parties. She and her friends are all very excited about rush, so I am hoping it all works out for everyone that wants to rush. I know it can be brutal at other schools, and one of the things that made DM stand apart was their more inclusive approach. But now with smaller pledge classes, it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.</p>
<p>Yes, those Black Denali North Face jackets are so popular… they are taken by accident my daughter says. I can’t blame dresses on the Sorority scene…I guess once the weather changed, they all started wearing sun dresses and flip flops. Coming from Florida, I still thought it was cold/cool. (Then again, it’s been in the high 90’s here already). </p>
<p>My D thinks some of the sororities are more inclusive and thinks she will find one that works. </p>
<p>Glad they found the bike. My daughter needs one of those too (and maybe a summer car). I was told they can’t register them in NH. </p>
<p>Have a great night all…and Memorial Day Weekend.</p>
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<p>Apparently not. She has roommates she likes a lot and plenty of friends. She does social things with kids from her church, DSO, and the Outing Club. Not rushing was her choice based on what she saw around her. But there is no question that there is a big Greek presence on campus.</p>
<p>I wrote this post when my D went through rush</p>
<p>The good thing about the greek system at Dartmouth is that no one is allowed to rush/pledge freshman year. I think the year long wait does give them time to know other people and gives them more insight as to whether or not they want to go through the rush process.</p>
<p>Most parties on campus are open to all so there is really no big change in your social life should you decide to be an independent. I was a bit nervous about fact that over 250 young women, most from her class (so a large part of the female population from this class) did go through fall rush. </p>
<p>I think the down side is that when you attend a small school, a lot of things become an open book.</p>
<p>I remember when my daughter called me and told me that she was going to rush. In the end what could I do about it; drive 300 miles and drag her home? Not. I did repect her decision as for the most part she is a very level headed person and I did have to have confidence in the kid that I raised. </p>
<p>She did explain how the rush process works:</p>
<p>The rush process is 2 rounds of visits, pref night and bid night. the grils are broken down into groups and are assigned a Rho Chi, their Rush counselor and go to person for any questions or concerns that they have. This person does not take part in any of the deliberations, or events from her house (as a matter of fact, she is supposed to be neutral and cannot even tell the rushees which house she belongs to).
D said that they could not wear jeans or flats to any of the rush events, and many of the girls were scrambling over the “what am I going to wear” thing.</p>
<p>Round 1
Each young lady is required to attend the parties with their Rho Chi at all six sororities, regardless of her own personal leanings or athletic affiliations. The parties are about 45 minutes where they make rounds in the house and try to connect with as many of the sisters as possible. Daughter told me at huge schools where there are a lot of houses, the parties are only about 15 minutes.</p>
<p>At the end of the evening the sisters vote on who to invite back everything is computerized so the next day they see their Rho Chi and find out where they have been invited back. It can get sketchy as some young women were only invited back to 1 or 2 houses. Some committed “suicide” by focusing all of their efforts into 1/2 houses and when those did not come through, the ended up not getting called back to anything. </p>
<p>Out of the 6 houses, D was invited back to 5 (one house she said she really did not like and made no effort, so it did not bother her not to be invited back). Of the 5 houses she has to choose 4 (Max) to visit for round 2 (she then felt hurt of the concept of “rejecting” someone who had accepted her). In a real classy act she told be the the rush chair of the house she did not selct for round 2 sent her a really nice e-mail telling her how much they liked her and was sorry that she had not chosen them but they still wished her all of the best in the rush process.</p>
<p>(I was able to correlate it to the college process where some people are focused on the HYP and don’t put the time and effort into showing love for the match and safety schools.)</p>
<p>Round 2</p>
<p>D said that some of her friends also got round 2 invitations to some of the same 5 sororities, so she feels a little less stressed because she is going through the process with her friends. There are some parts of the process that she does feel is a little shallow; you get evaluated on how you dress because each night you should be stepping it up a little more (this may be the longest period of time that they have gone without wearing flip flops). Rush activities took place in the afternoon and the forecast was for rainy/misty (joy -joy traisping around in heels).</p>
<p>The girls go to all of the houses which they have been invited back to (up to 4) selected to and the process starts all over again. End of round 2 , the rushees, select their 4 preferences of houses , the sisters vote, everything goes in to a computer and the results come out. Out of 4 houses she requested, she got “prefed” for 3. She call home in tears as even though the house was not her first choice, it was hard for her to think that someone was “rejecting” her. </p>
<p>We had a long talk, I asked her what was it about that particular house that she liked and she could not want to come up with any concrete answers. MY second question was did she get called back to the house which was first choice in her mind? She said yes.I asked her if she wanted to continue on and she said she would go through the entire process and then decide as to whether or not she wanted to pledge.</p>
<p>Pref night
She goes to visit the 3 houses (it happens over 2 days) and they spend an hour at each house. At the end of the second day they list their top 2 preferences. The sisters vote, everything is computerized.</p>
<p>I think they now have to wait until 5 pm the next day to get their bids. She goes to pick up her bid and got bids from both choices. In the end she went to her firs choice. She ended up with 5 other RA’s and many of her friends so it did all work out for her. </p>
<p>Their pledge process just ended (said she got a lot of baked goods from her big sister) so she is a full fledged sister. The pledges had a bake off as a fundraiser. She and one of her friends decided to make peach cobbler and they one a prize. Their pledge class seems to have really bonded and for the most part very happy.</p>
<p>At some level it is just like going through the college process. In the greek system just like on campus overall, they do tend to find a group of like minded friends. Daughter is not much of a drinker and has found a core group that isn’t really interested in getting drunk.</p>
<p>Fast forward</p>
<p>She had an amazing time in her sorority and also maintained close relationships with women who did not pledge. She ended up being in the same sorority with one of her roommates. The other roommate (and one of her best friends) was in a different sorority but they ended up being in the same senior society.</p>
<p>She is great friends with her core group of sisters, many who were her friends before they pledged, her big sister and her little. A bunch of them went on their last hurrah after graduation and before going on to the world of work/grad school. Although they have left Hanover, many of them are here in NYC so they see each other quite a bit when she is not in school. They will be getting together in June for the wedding of one of the sisters and in August for the wedding of one of her bff’s.</p>