Yes! With a caveat...

If fall will be formal recruitment, you should go through sort of as though you were a freshman PNM-- look at each and every sorority, and give them *full* consideration in the first round or two. You may find that your third choice from last year has done a lot of restructuring without you knowing it, and might even be a better fit than last year's second choice! While you think you're a great fit for your second choice, they may see things differently and cut you in the second round. As with freshmen, if you look only at your "dream group", you may not see the other orgs that may be a good fit for you this year.

You'll have some stereotypes and knowledge about each group that can color your feelings about them, good and bad. Keep that in the back of your mind when you rush again. That said, if you know there's a group that just does *not* fit, like AB1 from last year, then politely decline their invitation to a further round.

OTOH, if fall is informal recruitment or COR/COB, then I don't see why you shouldn't keep your eyes out for XY2 events and try to mostly focus on them. Don't totally stalk them, but chat with the friends you have in the org and do normal stuff with them as often as possible (studying, movies, dinner, etc.). Being over-eager can turn some people off, but be genuine. If it doesn't work out, then go through formal in spring with the same advice as listed above.

Best wishes to you, whatever the outcome may be!

Go for it! :) If you don't, you'll always wonder "what if".

If you're shy and quiet, you can try to overcome that by practicing your conversation skills with friends and family and even strangers. And smile! :) Good luck!

Go through with it!

If anything just have fun with recruitment.

From personal experience, I do have a little advice--it might help and it might not, but see if you would like to use any of these.

If you decide to rush, make a small mini goal--someone you would like to meet by going through rush. Something like "I would like to meet a girl who shares a hobby with me" or "I would like to meet someone who educates me on something I have never experienced before" or even "I want to meet someone outside my dorm." It doesn't matter if you end up pledging or not, if you go into recruitment with the mindset of trying to meet diverse personalities, then you win all-around. You meet so many girls--your horizons really broaden.

Don't get swayed by the wealth of opinions and information you will be bombarded with. Think about what you are looking for if you pledge a house--every house will emphasize philanthropy, academics, etc. Figure out what you want in a house and give all houses the chance display its strengths then decide accordingly. You are rushing for yourself and only yourself, so use your own judgement and make the choices you make in rush will make YOU happy.

This might be risky but use your nervousness as an icebreaker if you can. I remember telling my rusher about how nervous I was before the first night and I mentioned how I played 80's Madonna songs in my dorm and sang into my hairbrush before I met with my Rho Chi (they still call them that at my campus)--that got us into a conversation about their tacky 80's prom mixer and "I love the '80's" and other gems from that awesome decade. Maybe mention to your rusher that this is a new experience because you are usually reserved, etc...If I were the rusher and a rushee told me this, I would emphasize and try to make her more comfortable--and I would think the rushee is down-to-earth because she is being real and not Ms.Outgoing when she is not. Don't be afraid to be yourself and to put yourself out there.

I hope this all helped. Whatever you decide to do, good luck with it and post a rush thread!

gatorgirl04...give it a try or else you will never know. i don't know anything about uf's greek life, but give all of the houses the same chance. if you don't get invited to the top house, don't be upset, just keep an open mind about the others. good luck!

Go for it! Just as everyone else as said...its worth it. I was in a similar situation. I grew up in a very small town and none of my friends were attending Texas Tech. I knew literally NO ONE at Tech. I went from a town with a population of 900, to Texas Tech w/a student body of 25,000. It was quite an adjustment, but being in a sorority and having the sisterhood helped me to adjust to the extreme change.

My mom was greek and she is the one that encouraged me to just give it a try. I went into it with an open mind. I knew absolutely NOTHING about any of the sororities except for KD (my mom was a KD). Recruitment was quite an experience and I wasn't for sure if it was for me. I kept an open mind throughout the week and I found my home. It was a perfect match.

I encourage you to continue on and go through recruitment. You don't want to look back 3 years from now when you are a jr. and when that you would've gone through. I had friends that were that way. You will find somewhere that you feel comfortable.

Keep your chin up! SMILE :)!!! and Keep an open mind!!!!

Honey all I can say is go for it!! I'm the type of person that if you told people I graduated with that I joined a sorority last year they would laugh in your face. But I have to say that my decision to rush and initiate have been some of the best decisions I've made. If you go through rush and feel uncomfortable joining a sorority at the end then you don't have to accept a bid but I would recommend tha you go through because you will make friends that will last regardless of whether or not you choose to join. Good Luck and I hope you find yourself a home away from home.

If you dont go through with it you will want to shoot yourself in your foot later bc you never know what could have been!!! Good luck girl :)

You sound just like me. If you saw me in high school you would have never thought I would be in a sorority. I am very shy and I wasn't popular. Ever since I joined a sorority I have changed a lot, in good ways. I am more outgoing and have a lot more friends. I would never change my decision to join a sorority. I say you should go ahead and go through recruitment. If you feel like it isn't you then that is ok, atleast you tried. But if you don't go through with it you will never know and you might always regret it. Good luck with what you decide. I hope you find a great house!

For those who are undecided....

Just go through recruitment. YES, you will be cut from houses. YES, there will be some feelings of rejection. But ultimately, recruitment is one week out of your life, and it is an opportunity to learn how to network and "sell" yourself-- something you will be doing constantly in the real world.

If you're not someone who enjoys large groups or being around lots of girls, then I advise against actually joining a sorority. However, I'm sure those of you undecided's out there have given at least some thought as to why you want to join.

Give it a shot. Don't ever go through life wondering, "Well, what if?" about ANYTHING.

A word of caution, however. You are not going into a sorority to pay for your friends. You do need to make an effort to go out, smile and laugh, have fun and engage people.

Going through recruitment in no way obligates you to join a sorority. This is a time to test the waters and determine if the ladies you meet are people who you would consider being friends with.

Remember, college is teeming with wonderful activities for the students in a wide range of areas! Greek Life, Student Gov't, campus ministries, sports, honors societies, service clubs, special interest groups (UCF has a Chocolate Club!!!)! Get involved!

Has anyone ever heard of anything like this before? I am an alum now and don't remember this situation coming up while I was in school, but that sounds kind of strange! If a PNM went through formal recruitment, would she have to sit outside the house of all groups with this policy during first rounds?

I think what she means is that she can't come to any parties that are invite only. There's no way Panhel is going to make a rushee "sit out" a party, no matter what the sorority's particular policy may be.

If anyone from the sorority in question wants to clear this up (if you are able to without spilling important beans of course) it would be faboo.

I've heard that some sororities (or individual chapters) have a "cut once, cut always" policy. Maybe this is one of them? A PNM might be reconsidered under certain circumstances, e.g. if she had been cut for grades but has since brought her GPA up. Otherwise, you'd go to them during round 1 like everyone else, then be cut.

I don't like "cut once, cut always" policies, especially if the only reason you cut Susie PNM was because of release numbers. We did cut people during FR who later came to IR, and some of them were offered bids. So you never know... :)

Thanks, 33girl! That makes WAY more sense than what I was envisioning!

I'm actually quite surprised that the girls told you that over MSN Messenger... that comes a little close to need-to-know members-only Membership Selection information. I will say that such a policy makes sense within the grounds of one year of formal recruitment, but given release figures from year to year I do not know how hard-and-fast such a rule is after each year's formal recruitment sessions.

If that sorority is #1 on your list, I would try to contact an advisor for the organization. Don't necessarily name names, but tell her that you heard some information through the grapevine, and ask her if can she realistically tell you whether you have any chance to be invited back during formal or informal recruitment. She may say that she can't tell you, she may say that you'll have to go through for yourself, she may tell you exactly what the national policy is. If the sisters wanted to make an exception and go through council, an advisor would probably need to be involved anyway...

Other sisters on this board may be willing and able to give further information on this topic, but I'm uncomfortable delving in any further, especially since I am not an expert on such things. I would definitely take the word of national and regional advisors over anything that I would suggest.

That said, I'd still rush again. There may be other groups that would be a good fit for you. It may be your destiny not to belong to a social GLO. -shrug- But you won't know unless you give yourself, and the other sororities, a full chance.

If a PNM goes to pref parties, she is on the bid list, it's just a matter of where--she hasn't been cut. Now, it's possible that she may get closed out of all of her choices because quotas were full by the time they get to her on the list, and if that particular school doesn't take quota additions, she wouldn't get placed.

Depending on the organization and how their membership selection works, the same could apply to other rounds depending upon release figures--it's not that a group "cut" her, it's that there were other women they were more interested in and had to cut the rest at a certain point due to release figures.