What about and how much time for sororities?

NUgraduate
Sat, 06 Dec 2008 01:37:52 +0000

per lje62’s comment about sorority rush getting in the way of other committments… with the exception of the week-long rushing period, there are few sorority activities that cannot be missed with a good excuse. The issue with your daughter may be that she prefers the sorority activity to the family one.

As for Wash U, the part that cannot be missed is the first week. The fresman rushees go to different rounds of parties. The first round/set - every girl goes to every sorority - 5 at the time my daughter rushed. Then, the girls rank the sororities they like in order, as do the sororities - and “matches” are made. The girls then go to (if I remember correctly) to 3 houses for second set. These may or may not be the girl’s top three picks, and it is possible that some girls may go to less than 3 houses. I think (and could be confusing this with my own rush experience MANY years ago) that there are one or two more sets. Some girls may go to three houses for the final sets, some may go to fewer because cuts are made after every set and fewer girls are invited back to each subsequent set. The final is a preference party, tends to be “formal”, and this is where there are more one on one discussions, the parties are longer, and the girls and sororities make their final rankings. A “quota” is established based on the number of girls who are rushing, let’s assume it is “25” - which means that each sorority will end up (ideally) with 25 girls who are invited to pledge, and this goes on until every sorority has filled their 25 slots.

The sorority lists are reviewed - if Sorority A’s #1 pick has chosen them first, that girl will be invited to pledge that sorority. If #1 pick freshman girl has another sorority as her first choice - Sorority B, and falls within the correct portion of B’s bid list, she will be matched with Sorority B - and her match is done, and Sorority B will have only 24 more girls they can invite to pledge. Then Sorority A’s #2 pick will be reviewed. If #2 freshman girl has prefed “A”, they will be matched, and Sorority A will have 24 more slots to fill. Then the #3 pick is revied - matched with the sorority of her choice if the slots aren’t filled, and so on, and so on.

It is possible that a girl might not be invited to join a sorority if she is low on the list of the sorority she wished to pledge. I am not sure how often that happens though - that a girl isn’t placed anywhere. Assuming she has gone back to more than one house at the end, I would think it is uncommon. It is also possible that a sorority may not fill it’s quota because they weren’t first choice for enough girls on their bid list.

Freshman girls cannot miss any of these upfront rush parties - because so many eliminations and matchups are happening, and how can choices be made if the girl isn’t present?

Once the girls pledge, there are chapter meetings, and fun events, and bonding events, and all sorts of activities - but if there are good excuses, you can miss some of them. It is preferred that you don’t, but there’s more to life than a sorority.