OMG I was also a C. O. B new member (we aren't allowed to say pledge). I think it is way better than formal rush or regular rush because those can be nerve racking. Anyway, my best friend Megan was already a Phi Sigma Sigma but I refused to have anything to do with Greeks. In fact I was shocked when she joined because we had always made fun of Greeks together. Anyway, she lived at the house so when I hung out with her, I also saw and hung out with a lot of the sisters. I was always visiting her so they all got to know me very well too. They liked me and wanted me to rush. They asked Megan to try to convince me, but she knew I wouldn't budge. But they wouldn't take no for an answer (gotta love phi sig gamma nu girls!). Around me they always tried and tried and tried again. I would make excuses like, no money, no time, etc. But they always seem to have a simple solution to everything. Finally, one day one of the sisters and a good friend of mine, Jen (whose alum now), said come on what have you got to lose and you shouldn't say anything until you have at least tried it. Since I usually try to be open minded and fair about things I realized she was right and at worst I could always back out before I got too involved. Well, they got me to a C. O. B and while I wasn't the only one there, I was the only rushee that ALL the sisters knew. It was kewl because it was like hanging out with friends, not having to get to know a bunch of strangers. Of course, I received a bid and I went through with it. And after it was all said and done I totally don't regret it. Megan was shocked that I did it though, but glad and now she's my big sister and we get to live in the house together this coming fall. I love all my sisters and have had so much fun with them and hope to have even more. I am even the Phi Sig webmaster for this semester. Who would have known that such an anti-Greek like me could turn into a good new member and a very actively involved sister? Hope you liked my story!

Before school, I was really anti-greek... 'oh, it's not for me' I dont' know if I'll enjoy it... blah blah blah. When I moved into my dorm, my suitemate had a couple people staying in our suite before they went overseas. One girl, Michelle randomly brought up the subject of rushing while the two of us were just talking, and I gave her all my reasons, and she said "you know, I was like you last year... give it a try, you might find yourself liking it." I went through formal recruitment last fall, and decided to drop out of it on pref day because I still didn't feel that I was ready for it and I wanted to get settled before I overwhelmed myself with activities. After rush, I got to know some of the Alpha Phi girls really well (my suitemate had just joined it, so she was ALWAYS talking about it) and I also had a few close friends who were also in other sororities and telling me how they did this with their sisters last night, and how it was so much fun. So I decided that if I was invited to any informal recruitment events (COB) in the spring, that I would give it another go.
Alpha phi was the first one to invite me. I received a nice invitation card in my mailbox with a list of events that I could go to. I ended up gong to a couple events, one of which involved all of us out in the freezing cold trying to paint a HUGE rock on the quad... my sisters still tease me about how I was "such a trooper" and stuck it out in the cold with them. After I had attended a couple events, I was walking around campus and realized how many people who were my friends are in Alpha Phi (including the only other girl in my calc class...)
On a monday night, I was sitting on the bottom bunk in my PJs, surrounded by music staff paper, headphones plugged into my computer (which was sitting on my desk) and my music theory books all around me, and there was a knock on the door. My room mate and I always leave the door unlocked whenever we're in the room, so I yelled "come in" and seriously my room FILLED up with Alpha phis just screaming and clapping, and my suitemate was jumping up and down and yelling. I just kind of sat there stunned (plus I couldn't move from all the music everywhere), and they read me a note, gave me a bag and asked me (play begged) if I would accept their bid and join their sisterhood. They didn't need to ask me twice! I shoved all my stuff aside, got out of bed and signed my bid and hugged all the girls who were in my room.
The other girl in my calc class (which I ended up dropping) became my big sis, and we're best friends. I'm so glad I did COB!!

I gotta thank you girls for all these positive stories, since I'm so nervous about doing informal in the fall! It seems like many of us who went though/are going though C.O.B. were once so dead set against being greek! I was that way all the way though my freshman year and halfway though my sophomore... then I found out it's not all about "partying and paddling" (as the GDI's say on my campus). Many people are pressuring me to wait and go though formal in the spring because it's such a "good experiance," but it seems like C.O.B. can be just as wonderful! Thanx for the stories, girls! :D

bumpity bump bump...one more time, thats all :)

Hope all you girls don't mind an informal fraternity rush story, so here goes:


When I first got to school as a freshman in the fall of 2000, I had thought that I would never be the "fraternity type", I was the geeky, nerdy, outcast type kid :) and I just figured that it wasn't for me. However, there were a few guys on my floor who rushed, and the idea kind of stuck in my head, and all the parties and fun stuff didn't hurt!

So it's right around the end of the fall semester, and I'm killing another Saturday night in the campus rec center, unknown to me at the time was ran by (and still is) the Phi Sigs, and I start to chat up a guy in the house that went to high school with me, and the next week he invites me to go Christmas tree hunting with the house and attend their annual Christmas party. I had so much fun, and I was thinking about the idea of joining a fraternity all throughout christmas break.

So spring semester, I start hanging out at the house and come February, three of the guys come to my room and deliver me a bid to join. I was kind of shocked (though i shouldn't have been) and I said I would need a day or two to decide for sure. Sure enough, the next day I accepted and I was initiated near the end of the spring semester of my freshman year! The guy I went to high school didn't end up being my big brother, but another member from the same county as us did!

I was a COB too.

We have deferred rush until sophmore year at my school so all freshman year I debated whether or not to rush. There are four sororities on my campus but by the end of freshman year, I knew that I was only interested in Phi Mu. I finally decided not to rush. I was so afraid of rejection that I wasn't even willing to try. Right before rush, several of my friends in Phi Mu tried tp convince me to sign up for rush (not a rush violation cause they weren't promoting their own org and I wasn't signed up to rush) but I was so afraid they would reject me that I didn't sign up. As rush week progressed, some of my friends were being invited back to Phi Mu parties and I realized just how much I wanted to be a part of it. Bid day was the worst. My next door neighbor got a bid from Phi Mu and she came home with pink and white ballooons and her pledging ribbons. I was so jealous and really regreted not signing up for rush. The next day my friend Pam invited me to go to the Phi Mu chapter meeting with her to meet some of the sisters. I went and had a great time. During that week I hung out at the house and helped them build their homecoming float. That Friday night, I was helping with the float and the chapter advisor pulled me aside and told me she had to talk with me. At that point I was still scared of rejection and I thought she was going to tell me I didn't get a bid. Well she surprised me by giving me a bid! I was soo thrilled!

I COB'd!
 

last fall, I was invited to a COB event for Sigma Kappa... and then I couldn't make it to any of the other events, and I regreted it. Spring semester, I was talking to a good friend of mine who was in Sigma, and she invited me to dinner. I had a great time and all the girls were great. They extended me a bid that night! I accepted the next day and went on retreat with the girls the next day. It was an awesome bonding experience, I met my big, and all my favorite sisters that day!

Erin

you guys are the best!! all these stories are faaaaaaaaaaantastic :) ...reminds me that no matter that no matter the letter, we're all greek together :D

I also COB'd. :) Like so many of you, I always thought that sororities were scary and cult-like. We had sophomore rush, so I didn't really think about it too much freshman year, aside from watching General Hospital every day with a bunch of the sophomore DG's that lived on my floor :p. Even though they were all really sweet, I never wanted to join a sorority. Then I started hanging out a lot at Theta Chi second semester of my freshman year, and I met a few really cool girls that were friends with my friend's boyfriend. They never mentioned that they were AGD's or that they were in a sorority; they just hung out with us and were really fun. Over the summer, one of the girls lived with my friend's boyfriend, and she always mentioned to him that it would be so cool if my friend and I joined AGD. Of course, he mentioned it to us, and we told him to tell her sorry, but we wanted no part of it. Then sophomore year rolled around, and my friend and I were roommates. We saw everyone signing up for recruitment and made fun of them because we weren't going to join a sorority, and none of our friends were, either. Then, on bid day, we found out that the AGD's had only given out 2 bids after formal recruitment (the greek advisor was reeeeeally bad-I told the story in another thread). One of the 2 ended up dropping, leaving them with 1 new member. My roommate and I felt bad for them because we really liked them and we thought it was unfair that no one else was giving them a chance. So, when they invited us to the house a couple of days later for an ice cream social, we decided to go. They gave us our bids that night, and we accepted them the next day. We both figured, what the hell, if it turns out to be scary and cult-like, we can drop out. The sisters were soooo excited when we came down to the house to drop off our bids that we knew then that we had made the right choice. So, when the sisters asked us if we thought our friends might accept bids if they were given to them, we told them we'd take care of it. The three of us new members ended up convincing a few of our friends, and our new member class ended up having 9 girls. :) Accpeting my bid was the best choice I ever made, and if anyone is nervous about it, please give it a try because otherwise you will be missing out on a fantastic experience!

I went through informal rush in the fall of my sophomore year and was expecting to get a bid from at least one house (out of four). However, due to the Dean of Women's screwing things up she didn't tell me that i had a bid from Alpha Xi Delta so I missed my chance to get officially "picked up" after rush and got my COB bid a few days later.