will being overweight hurt my chances?

There's a few heavier girls in every sorority, even in the top ones but you pretty much have to have everything else going for you in terms of looks and personality

Are you okay with being in a lower tier sorority? Even then, you probably need to have a pretty face and/or amazing social skills and charisma.

honestly speaking from someone in a top sorority, there are maybe a tiny handful of bigger girls but even then u have to have a really good face and awesome personality and good wardrobe

as the tiers go down the amount of bigger girls go up but don't let that discourage you from rushing
anything can happen :)

I agree with the previous reply. I'm in an "upper-mid" and have only been told to look for genuine, girls of character. I have never been told to turn away someone that is overweight and I personally would never think you could not be in my house because of body size. If anyone is saying you don't deserve to be in a house because of weight, f them. Also, people at UCLA are more genuine than other universities and should really be above crap like that imo

It's true that as you go towards the lower tiers there are more overweight girls...judging girls' bodies is one of my least favorite things about sorority rush but that being said, some of the middle-lower tier houses are super down to earth and will look past weight at other characteristics. But yes, it's also true that you definitely need to have a pretty face, good wardrobe and good personality in order to get a good bid.

It's not that it will HURT you, per se. In a top house and we've never said being skinny is a goal, nor have we cut a girl because she is explicitly overweight.

However, you have to understand the way rush works. It's superficial on both ends. Almost all PNMs want the top chapters, even if they're a better fit somewhere else, because they tend to be put together and outgoing. And thus the top chapters more or less have their pick of the litter out of the hundreds, if not thousands, of available girls, and five minutes to make a decision. Not geared toward depth, if we're being honest.

Certain spots have to go to legacies, and then of course everybody knows some girl from high school they were friends with so those slots are full too.

So when you see the pledge classes, maybe half those slots were actually open.

And so when you see the hundreds of girls fighting for those very few slots, the ones that are "complete package" tend to make it through, and the rest get cut NOT because we don't like them, but because we are told we only have 200 invites, 100 have to go to legacies/rec letters/high school friends, so you have to be pretty damn perfect.

So yes, being shy, overweight, unstylish, bad grades, etc can hurt you in that it's one thing away from being that "perfect" PNM. But it's not necessarily insurmountable, nor is it that we "hate you". It's that everybody is fighting for the same chapters and we're given a huge # we HAVE to cut by Panhel

Get letters of rec

They don't take legacies, disabled,or heavy unattractive girls. Get ready for some disappointment!

don't be nervous!!! just be confident and have fun with the process. being overweight is something that people should not judge you for, but if they do then that probably isn't something you should want to be apart of. being happy, personable, talkative, and making the best first impression possible should be enough.