A Colorful, Dramatic Recruitment!

sugarberry · #1 09-20-2012, 10:03 PM

I have debated posting my recruitment story here for several months, but I finally decided to do it. I attend a private school where Greek life is surprisingly big. Approximately 700 PNMs went through formal recruitment, and approximately 440 received bids. Lots of people go through recruitment on a whim, and recs aren’t a big deal, though I had one for every house. Recruitment happened in January, so I had already gotten to know girls in most of the houses. Between the start of the school year and recruitment, I deliberately tried to NOT listen to gossip about “top houses” because I wanted to base my choices on where I felt I fit in.

Round 1:
Round 1 was spread out over 2 days. We visited 6 houses the first day and 6 houses the second day. There are a total of 12 houses at my college. I’ll name them after colors because I always have trouble keeping track of the creative names in some of these threads! Note that the colors I pick don’t correspond to the official colors of the sorority. Here are the 12 houses and my opinions during Round 1. We only spent 20 minutes at each house, so the day went by very fast and I don’t remember much!

Purple: I liked purple and I talked to some great girls there.
Brown: The girls I spoke to at this house were very sweet and pretty. The house mom welcomed us into the house, and she reminded me of Mrs. Claus! I thought that was nice that she participated in recruitment like that.
Yellow: I knew several girls in this house both from my high school and at college. I spoke to other girls that I didn’t know during Round 1, and they seemed sweet.
Orange: I got matched with a girl I already knew, so we had a fun conversation. She and I both knew that this wasn’t the house for me, though. This house is known for having very outspoken, outgoing girls, and I am neither.
Red: I did not feel welcome at Red. The girl I spoke to was looking around as I talked to her, as though she was not interested in what I had to say. It was a little awkward.
Blue: I really liked this house. The girls reminded me of my friends from high school. They were sweet yet had sarcastic senses of humor.
Turquoise: This house did not stick out to me. The girls were nice but a bit unmemorable.
Pink: The girls here were nice, but a little bit awkward. They seemed nervous, which I thought was odd because I was the one who was supposed to be nervous!
Green: One of my good childhood friends is in this chapter, and though we weren’t matched together I really liked the girls I talked to here.
Lime green: I knew several members of this house, and the girl I talked to had a lot in common with me. She was very fun and smiley.
Black: I actually don’t remember a thing about this house, except for the fact that one girl I spoke to had really pretty curly hair.
Crimson: This house was decorated beautifully with a French country theme. I told the girl I was talking to how much I liked it, and we got into a great discussion about interior design. She was someone I could really see myself being friends with.

For Round 2, philanthropy round, we would be attending up to 9 houses. There was only one house, Red, that I really did not want to go back to. My favorites after Round 1 were Brown, Blue, and Crimson. After the first night, I ranked these three houses as the ones I would prefer not to go to:
Turquoise
Pink
Red

After Round 1, I promptly did my homework (classes were in session during recruitment!!) and went to bed. The guys in my dorm were all confused as to where all the girls had gone!

ErinHope · #2 09-20-2012, 10:20 PM

As a Tennessee girl, I've really got to root for Orange (and not Crimson!

) but I think I'll choose to root for Lime Green.

Can't wait to see where you end up!

APhi4Ever · #3 09-20-2012, 10:21 PM

I'm rooting for crimson!

sugarberry · #4 09-20-2012, 10:50 PM

Round 2:
My rho chi was super sweet and friendly, and she pulled each member of my group aside individually to hand us our schedules and console us if need be. I was nervous – I hoped I had a good schedule! When she finally called my name and handed me my slip of paper, I saw that I got asked back to 8 out of 9 possible houses – almost a full schedule!

I was very happy with this because I still had plenty of choices. I had been asked back to 2 houses from my “alternate” list but it was fine because I didn’t know a lot about the houses anyway. I was a bit upset to not be invited back to Brown, but it just wasn’t meant to be. I was happy with my schedule and ready to go!

Here is my schedule and my opinions on the houses:
Purple: Again, I liked purple. The girl I spoke to and I laughed because the people next to us were talking VERY loudly – it was a little obnoxious but thankfully we both acknowledged it!
Yellow: I liked this house, and one girl I spoke to was very energetic and friendly. We talked about our favorite Youtube videos!
Blue: Again, I liked this house a lot. The girls were a lot of fun and their philanthropy really struck a chord with me. I spoke to this one girl who was a lot like me and we had a great conversation.
Turquoise: I spoke to several nice girls here. One of them talked about her job at a cupcake shop, and I thought that was really cool!
Pink: Again, the girls here were nice, but awkward. This one girl showed me a tattoo on her foot, and it was pretty cool. I liked that she felt comfortable enough with me to do that.
Green: I had some good conversations at this house, and I felt very welcomed there. They had cucumber water, and the cucumbers were shaped like this sorority’s symbol. I thought that was awesome!
Black: This house was nice, but I only remember one girl mentioning that they didn’t emphasize sisterhood in the house. I did NOT like that!
Crimson: This house was known for having a pastry chef as their house cook. I ate a brownie square there and YUM it was divine! The girl I talked to here was very friendly and sweet; again someone I could see myself being friends with.

I loved Blue and Crimson, and as my three bottom houses, I ranked
Turquoise
Pink
Black

APhi4Ever · #5 09-20-2012, 11:06 PM

Crimson is still in the running, yay! More please!

WCsweet<3 · #6 09-20-2012, 11:28 PM

First, go purple/green.
Second, trying to figure out which symbol could be carved into a cucumber slice (not many and I many need you to PM which chapter this is if you end up pledging elsewhere)
Third, who would say they don't emphasize sisterhood. I mean even if it's true, and that would be very sad, why would you say that?

IndianaSigKap · #7 09-20-2012, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WCsweet<3

First, go purple/green.
Second, trying to figure out which symbol could be carved into a cucumber slice (not many and I many need you to PM which chapter this is if you end up pledging elsewhere)
Third, who would say they don't emphasize sisterhood. I mean even if it's true, and that would be very sad, why would you say that?

ADPi's diamond, SK's heart, Phi Mu's quatrefoil (saw a cookie cutter shaped like one). Those came to mind when I read the post, I am sure there are others.

AGDee · #8 09-20-2012, 11:42 PM

I thought of an arrow in addition to the above.

WCsweet<3 · #9 09-20-2012, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AGDee

I thought of an arrow in addition to the above.

I suppose it could work in addition to the others posted. I was picturing a round cucumber with the seeds in the middle which made me cancel out an arrow. It doesn't necessarily have to have the seeds.