Cornell University

[Longhorn Mom]

Not much about Cornell on this site so I'm putting my daughter's experience here to provide recent info (PC 17).

The Cornell Panhellenic website was pretty basic. We had to email them to ask about rec letters and were told they weren't required. Just to be on the safe side, my daughter secured letters for chapters she was interested in and a few others that were easy to get from family & friends. She collected 7 recs.

There are 13 NPC chapters on campus, 6 of which are single-letter chapters. The sororities are all housed plus they have annexes in College Town where seniors live. 2017 Rush was a 7 day process that took place in January of freshman year. Upstate NY in January is extremely cold to say the least. My daughter was provided with a list of suggested attire and tips for staying warm while navigating the logistics of each round. The Cornell campus is huge and the sorority houses are really spread out. They had a shuttle system, thank goodness, otherwise there would have been no way to get to all of the chapter houses in a comfortable, timely manner.

During fall semester, it was obvious that actives were told not to engage in sorority talk with girls who would be rushing. This was confirmed when my daughter was told as a sophomore not to discuss sorority life with freshman girls. This policy seems to have changed in light of new diversity goals.

There were 800+ girls registered for rush that year.

She met actives who knew students attending Texas and some who knew her cousin who was in a Cornell fraternity. She had below the maximum # of houses on her lists for all rounds. I was pulling for her to pledge her legacy house (her sister was an active at the Texas chapter). During Philanthropy, the legacy chapter officers singled her out for a tour of the house, showing her all of the secret spots. Some girls dropped out as the rounds progressed. She ended up accepting a bid to a different sorority with a pledge class of 47 or 48 girls.

Looking back, we could see that connections played a role for certain chapters. One girl she met was part of a NYC friend group that all ended up pledging the same 4 chapters. A gorgeous, super smart girl from the south dropped out after 3 rounds because she had no “core 4" chapters left. I've met beautiful, terrific girls in many different chapters and they’re all enjoying themselves in their sororities, so I would encourage girls to see the process through.

On the fraternity side, there are many we southerners have not heard of, some at Cornell since the 1860's. Their houses are very cool. I took pictures while on a tour, so PM me if you want a look! Having a cousin who was a fraternity active gave my daughter a relevant greek connection and invites to closed events.

In general, lots of affluence and east coast kids with impressive backgrounds.

Most students adjust to school away from home & greek life with no problem, but for my youngish daughter, predisposed to anxiety, from a different socio-economic background, she lacked the confidence for all of it.

The quest to be at-ease in general continues. Happily, she absolutely loves her Big, met some of her closest friends through her sorority and participated in chapter activities that worked for her.

Hope this information helps anyone going through rush at Cornell.