"In Birmingham, Alabama, a mere $100 buys a prospective rushee and her mother the wisdom of Rushbiddies, a rushee consulting firm that offers two-day workshops designed to prep these young ladies get into the best sisterhood friendship club"

Something about this bothers me. If you have to go to these great lengths to have your daughter go through Rush, I see a problem. If you've taught your daughter manners and basic social etiquette, why would you need this?

And unless she's a legacy, why would you care what group she ended up in (and even if she is a legacy, it shouldn't matter)?

Granted, I'm in Texas and not the SEC so maybe I don't understand how Recruitment works there?

No, a PNM at Bama doesn't need to engage the Rushbiddies.

This article was written/posted 7/17/12 (last year).

Chi Omega performs initiation at convention, which is on even years, but don't think the person who posted about the catsuit is a sister of mine. 1) Our convention was the week before this was posted AND 2) I have NO IDEA about the catsuit thing. It's not a requirement for Chi O.

Now, last year, it was mentioned on GMA that recruitment coaching company was supposed to have a reality series (not mentioning the name so this won't end up on a google search). I wouldn't want to watch it, but the train-wreck aspect would be compelling.

Hmmmm... methinks the lady doth protest too much. ;)

I, too, would have ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE about cat suits as pertaining to Pi Phi initiation. There would DEFINITELY NOT be a silver catsuit with a halo attachment hanging in my closet right now. That would be UNPOSSIBLE.

But obviously some do!

And ADPiEE, A & M is now in the SEC. And Texas recruitment is about as bad as Alabama, Ole Miss, etc!

This is true but I didn't go to UT or A&M so I feel out of the loop with really competitive recruitments ;)

I agree that if you were raised with proper social etiquette and generally good manners that you will do fine in any recruitment process without the aid of a rushbiddy or counselor. I think the issue here is that many, many girls that go through recruitment today are remarkably unrefined and maybe it is that group of women that need these "experts" the most. I think the people that hire them that are striving to only increase their odds of a "top" house are wasting their money. Top house selection does not come in the form of a stamp of approval from a rushbiddy. It typically comes from deep and well established family connections, camp connections and the list goes on. It is not something that can be bought.

If you click on the poster's display name, you find out her handle is "lovessquirrels." Based on that, I'm guessing an AGD. :D

I agree! I think that the PNMs who resort to these kinds of things because they or their mommas think it will get them into a certain chapter almost always end up seeming unauthentic and stiff. Even if they are a perfect rushbiddy student and do everything they say perfectly, it won't ever get them the kinds of connections that will get them in. I think it's much smarter to be the most polished version of your true self that you can be and end up where you will be comfortable and happy for the next four years.

For the same reason that parents send their daughters to expensive private schools/dancing lessons/deb balls/summer camp etc etc etc. Yes, many of the daughters would probably be fine on their own but some parents feel like they have to give every advantage....although I don't think the biddies are. They seem more like something a "nouveau Southerner" (as in nouveau riche) would use.

And again...this article is in Jezebel, people. I put it on the same level as Alexandra Robbins and Pledged, quite frankly.

I didn't read all of the comments, but for those wondering about the catsuit reference, it's from an old thread started by none other than KillarneyRose. Enjoy!

If I had a high school daughter, especially if she was going to one of these crazy rush schools, I would want her to attend a workshop just so she understood what was going to be happening. A real, and dare I say accurate explanation of RFM, what's happening behind the closed doors between parties, what is expected of her as a rushee and what a probable outcome will look like would be great. And having someone tell that 17 or 18 year old what types of questions will likely be asked and how she should answer those questions can alleviate a lot of stress. Just like interview prep. Or just like what we say over and over again here on GC. But spending a weekend in real life with real girls I think is healthy IF it's done with a sense of bonding and support and not nuclear level competition and stress.

If the point of the rushbiddies type consultants is to teach the social graces, the summer before rush is WAY too late. You either don't need it because your parents did their job or you do need it and a couple sessions before rush isn't gonna cover it.

Exactly. I don't know what rushbiddies advertise but IF they advertise that they can increase someone's chances of getting into a particular house, I feel like that would be taking advantage of people who don't know how the process works.

I looked at the Rushbiddies site, and you are right. The viewable guestbook is apparently used for workshop sign-up, and I recognized several names there of girls whose moms are chapter alums from Bama. These are also girls who attended high schools that would be considered rush-savvy.

I figured these workshops would be more appealing to girls and moms who are not familiar with recruitment at Bama, but I guess these may have a wider appeal. I couldn't determine the cost of the general workshops. I didn't see any advertisement pertaining to increasing one's chances in any category or "tier" of chapters (thankfully).

I don't think signing up on the viewable guestbook with your name, location, and email is an especially good idea.

That's exactly what a lot of alumnae panhellenics do, and many of us have done informally, for FREE, and for YEARs.
These people who are paid usually wind up spending most of the time on wardrobe analysis and "helping" you pick out the right outfits. Which any teen-ager worth her salt would rather die than have somebody her mother's age picking out her clothes.