No frills? Yikes.

SuzieQ, I just wanted to send my well wishes to you for a great recruitment!! I can't wait for your September Recruitment to start, either, as I need some diversion, and my drug of choice is the recruitment thread on GC. And just so you know, I'm pulling for none of the ones you've already seen. My fave has got to be the lily... a calla lily. ;)
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...a-Lilly1sm.jpg

Hi there S.Q.!! I wanted to wish you the best of luck with your upcoming recruitment!! I am also a Washington state Greek Chatter transplanted from another Pacific Northwest state. Though I usually root for the Cougs when they play the Dawgs, I will root for you as you go through your Recruitment! Have a great time and don't be afraid to go with how you are really feeling throughout the week!!

Update: I'm currently living in the dorms with about 300 other incoming freshmen. If I don't end up in a sorority I will be staying in my dorm room for the academic year. I'm really excited for recruitment (12 more days!!!) but on the other hand I'm having a blast in the dorm. I already love my friends and it will be hard to choose to leave the dorms... but I'm sure I would be happy in either the dorms or in a sorority.

**hug** you have such a great attitude! It makes me so happy to hear people coming to college and being excited about new beginnings. Good luck w/ whatever happens! :D

I'm so glad that you're having a blast at college thus far! Keep that positive attitude and don't worry about "leaving" anyone. You'll still be at the same school, right? :)

It's Friday! Tomorrow I'm getting a haircut and a manicure and going shopping for a dress for preference. I have day dresses and formal gowns but nothing really good for in between. Then on Sunday I have orientation at 1!

Next week is going to be exhausting. I'm doing a program called "Early Fall Start" where freshmen live in the dorms and take one class mon-thur for a month before actual school starts. It's a really cool program because it lets freshmen have the campus to themselves before the thousands of other students get here. However, it means that next week is my finals week. I'm trying to get as much done as I can ahead of time (I've done my reading already for next week) but it's still going to be stressful to have class from 9:30-12 and then be at recruitment events all day after that!

Here's the schedule for next week:

Monday

12:00 PNMs meet in sections
12:45 - 8:40 Open House Events 1-8

Tuesday

12:30 - 8:30 Open House Events 9-16
8:40 Rank chapters

Wednesday

1:00 PNMs receive schedules
1:30 - 5:30 House Tour Events 1-5

Thursday

1:00 - 5:00 House Tour Events 6-10
5:10 Rank chapters

Friday

1:00 PNMs receive schedules
1:30 - 8:50 Philanthropy Events 1-6

Saturday

12:45 PNMs receive schedules
1:30 - 5:00 Preference Events 1-3

Sunday

10:00 PNMs receive Bid cards!

Good luck this week!!!:)

yay another rush thread! these are so much fun!! best of luck girl!

Ok, I am trying to understand how this works. 16 sororities at your school, yet a long time before rush starts, you visit 4 houses and spend an entire day and overnight with one of the sororities? Since we never did anything like this at my undergrad, I am just wondering how exactly this process is done fairly. How are the PNMs divided into groups for which sororities they will visit? It seems to me like the PNMs will have a lot of extra time with just one of the groups [the one they spend a day and a night with], and thus gravitate toward them during formal. Perhaps I am just misunderstanding - can anyone explain why it's done this way and how it evens out?

Either way, good luck SuzieQ :)

Greek Weekend at the UW (in the spring) isn't about selling high school seniors on your particular sorority, it's about selling them on going through formal fall recruitment to join a sorority. Each house hosts about the same number of girls. While this might give girls ideas about where they'd like to go and get asked back to during formal recruitment, it doesn't seem to be a big problem. My sorority little sis stayed at Alpha Phi during Greek Weekend, and while she initially liked them a lot during recruitment, she found her home with at the Xi... Remember, recruitment is all about mutual selection, and Greek Weekend only gives PNMs a very small taste of sorority life.

Good luck on your journey...look forward to reading the updates...

Hey.. what is the difference between open house and house tours?

Open house events are the shortest and PNMs visit all 16 houses; it usually just includes sitting in the formal living rooms chatting with two or three sorority members in a row. House tours are invite only rounds (PNMs can go to maximum of 10) and include a tour of the house.

Denim Mini for House Tours?
 

I LOVE my preference dress. Fingers crossed that I'll get to wear it on Saturday!

I know what I'm going to wear now for the open house days (jeans and the t-shirts they gave us), philanthropy (day dress), and preference.

For the house tours, I have my tops picked out and am deciding on the bottoms. The description for this day is "a casual skirt or nice pants with a blouse." Do you think a miniskirt would be okay? I have a denim miniskirt that I'm not sure about, and another miniskirt that I think would be fine. I'm afraid that the denim skirt is too casual. The alternative would be jeans, a longer demin skirt, or a corduroy skirt. All would go well with my top. What do you think? Or I suppose I could use this as an excuse to go shopping again. :) That actually sounds very appealing.

Tomorrow is going to be a very long day!

I personally would not wear a miniskirt because you may be sitting down, and you don't want to be uncomfortable or weird for that.

Or sitting on the floor, bending over, etc. Better not to risk a peep show and save the mini-skirt for a party.

True...an accident in that skirt could make you a memorable PNM for not the so right reason...stick to spilling punch or tripping as you go into your MOST FAVORITE house for that--I AM JUST KIDDING :)!!

Go shopping...and post to us what you wear. The fashion play by plays are the best :)!!

HAVE A GREAT TIME!!

Agreed, the longer one might be better. Or just wear pants. Easier to sit in and get up and down in.

AMEN!:D

Day 1 of Open House Events!
 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today was so much fun.

I started out in the Primrose house. They were cool and super laid-back. However, I didn't talk to anyone actually in the sorority! Since there are like a record-number of women rushing (630?!) not all of the houses have enough women for the parties. So some have women from other chapters of their sororities and others just have a 1 sorority woman to 2 rushees ratio. It was okay here, though. :) The girls were really nice even though they weren't in that chapter!

Next I went to the Daisy house. I've heard really good things and the girls are gorgeous but I didn't really particularly click with this house. It would be nice to go back again but I won't be (too) heartbroken if I don't get an invite.

Next I went to the Holly house! Wow. All of the conversation I had with the women were really really good. My notes say "Amazing!" and there's a big smiley face and I listed the names of my rushers with exclamation points afterwards. :)

The order is a little fuzzy in my head, but next I think I went to the Lilac house. My notes say "Did not click." It's not that I didn't like it, it's just that it wasn't memorable enough, and it didn't leave me happy, you know? Like after a few of the houses I just felt really, really, good. This wasn't one of them but there's nothing wrong with it at all and I would love to get back an invite (this goes with all the houses, really).

Then I went to the Peony house! This was sooo much fun. I had great conversation with new people and the people that hosted me for Greek Weekend stopped by and said "hi." This is still one of my favorite houses. :) This was definately a happy feeling house.

And last before dinner was the Carnation house. It was nice to have a house of girls who weren't all business majors! :P I know they weren't all business majors at the other houses, but the vast majority of people I met today were either in or applying to the business school. That's totally cool, I mean the UW has an amazing business school... Anyway, this house made a really good impression on me. It has a big smiley face and says "3rd favorite?" Another happy feeling house... although sadly I can't really remember this house that well! I trust my notes though.

Then I had dinner which was good because I was really hungry and really needed to go to the bathroom by then!

After dinner I went to the Tulip house! This was the first house where I met someone who was interested in what I am. I felt really comfortable at this house.

And last was Rose house! It was sooo loud but fun. I really liked these girls as well even though I came into rush thinking I wouldn't fit in here.

Sorry the descriptions got shorter and shorter! Even though I still have 8 more houses to see I think I'll try to rank them just so I don't forget. :)

Holly & Peony
Carnation
Rose & Tulip
Daisy & Lilac
Primrose

It's weird though because after Holly & Peony and maybe Carnation there is a big gap in ranking. For the rest I really feel like I don't know... like I don't have enough information. There's no house I didn't like, you know? The other one's just didn't get me all excited and leave me smiling like an idiot for five minutes afterwards.

Tomorrow I see the other 8 and then rank them for real! That will probably take a while so don't expect an update before 10. :)

Rush
 

SuzieQ .. my daughter is rushing too at UW. I just got off the phone with her. She knew nothing about the houses ahead of time, but had an absolute blast today. She is so hoarse...from talking so much...8 houses in 8 hours is a lot. She only had positive things to say about all of them. She also said the houses were very beautiful. She finished the conversation by saying ,"I'm so tired, and so happy I'm doing this." What a compliment to the UDub Greek system.

Good luck with your rush...I mean recruitment! Have a wonderful time and I hope you find your home.

suzieQ, great descriptions!!i hope today goes as well for you.

mom(mythredd) best wishes for your daughter-please keep us updated. how about a thread just for her?(we loooooove our rush threads!)

Best of luck to your daughter! Until last month, I lived in Washington (whatcom county)

SuzieQ, I'm glad you're having fun! I can't wait to hear how tomorrow goes!

It was a beautiful day today in Seattle - I can imagine that you had so much fun walking between all of those gorgeous houses! I'm delighted to FINALLY see stories close to home - good luck to you and have fun visiting all of the amazing chapters at UDub! Can't wait to hear more!

Yay! Another rush thread. Good luck and have fun.

Can I beg and ask a huge favor please?

I know discretion is important, you don't want to be unpanhellenic, etc but could you PLEASE with a cherry on top after you get a bid, and tell us how great greek life is with your new sisters, can you PLEASE go back and tell us what houses are what?

I LOVE going back and reading what houses were what.

Thanks a lot!

POssibly not the smartest. THere are a lot of people with UW connections here and I don't know that naming names will be the best idea as people will be able to find out who she is pretty easy. I don't care if she gets into her 1st choice, people still may be offended that she didn't like their home.

Hello! I'm on my dinner break. They give us over an hour, which is nice because I can go home to my dorm and have a few minutes of down time. I'm having a lot of fun but I'm sooo tired. I was falling asleep in my class today. I'll be back later to tell everyone about the other eight houses.

aabby757: Don't worry, after it's all over I'll say who is who. I think it will be okay because there honestly aren't any houses that I dislike... (well at least not in the first 14, I still have two after dinner!).

I'm worried about the ranking tonight. I think I can think of about five that I really want to see again and then the rest I want to see again but not any more than the other ones. So I guess I'm just hoping for the max of 10 invites so I can get to know as many houses as I can. I think the average people get is 8 and I know that it isn't uncommon to get 4 or 6. :( That makes me nervous. I know that the sorority women know better about who fits in, but it will still be sad to see my invites tomorrow if I'm cut severely or from favorites.

I was worried that rush would be harder this year since there are sooo many girls rushing, but I am told that the pledge classes will just be bigger.

Oohh and the weather is nice today but I think today is supposed to be the last day in the 70s. :'( And Thursday-Sunday it's supposed to rain!!!!

What, you moved??? I only got to meet you once :-(

Day 2 of Open House Events!
 

I am done ranking and I feel really good about it.

First I went to the Orchid house. It was another one of the houses that I liked, but it wasn't a favorite. I still want an invite from them, though! :) I talked to 4 or 5 girls. One person I talked to had done Early Fall Start like I am doing, so it was nice having someone to relate to that knows what it's like doing rush and having finals the same week.

Then I went to the Lily house. I loved it. Someone that I knew from high school was in it and I got to talk to her which was fun. A couple people I talked to were going into teaching, which was awesome because I have tutored kids before and felt like I could relate to them.

Next was the Sunflower house! I was so glad to be back here after Greek Weekend. The girls I had met remembered me and made a trip over to say hi! It felt so nice to be remembered... I mean during Greek Weekend I only stayed there for what, twenty minutes? Half an hour? We had a lot to talk about here because I talked to a lot of biology majors and pre-med people which is what I'm interested in at this point. These ladies impressed me so much again! This is a favorite house.

Then I went to the Daffodil house. I had a better experience this time around compared to Greek Weekend. I think a lot of the chapters try to match PNMs with sorority women with similar interests. So I got to talk to some science women again. It was great getting advice about classes and stuff. The women felt like people I could be friends with but I don't know. Something didn't feel right. I would not mind at all going back and getting to know the women better but at this point it doesn't feel like the house for me.

Next I went to the Forget-Me-Not house. Wow. They have a great GPA and seem to have a lot of girls in hard majors. I met one girl who was "very blond"... you know, a pretty girl that people might not think was very smart... and she was an engineering major!!!! That impressed me so much. They seem like amazing women. I also got some good academic advice from the women.

The last house before dinner was the Iris house. Now remember, I hadn't had lunch! Therefore it is amazing that I clicked with these girls on an empty stomach. We didn't talk about school but we still had tons to talk about... random things but it was fun to talk about something different at this point.

After dinner, I went to the Lavender house! I loved it. I got along great with the women. We were really different but we still had so much to talk about. I felt really really good about this house.

Last of the open houses was at the Violet house. I liked this one a lot too. I had easy conversations with everyone. Maybe it was just that the day was almost over. :)

Today I started ranking chapters. We ranked our top ten all as #1, then our eleventh as #2, twelfth as #3, etc. It was really easy to pick like the top five and then the rest were really hard to decide. Here's how it broke down though and I'm happy about it:

1.
Holly
Peony
Lavender
Sunflower
Iris
Lily

Violet
Carnation
Daisy
Forget-Me-Not

2. Orchid
3. Rose
4. Tulip
5. Lilac
6. Daffodil
7. Primrose

I put my #1 into two groups because it seems like there is a bit of a gap between them... and then it seems like there isn't a gap between the second part of the first group and my #2-7.

I'm so excited and nervous about invites tomorrow! :)

You're going into this with a really open mind, which can only serve to help you. Good luck tomorrow, I can't wait to hear.

Good luck! Now hurry up, pledge, initiate, graduate and them come join our South Sound APH! LOL!!

GOOD LUCK!! Keep posting the great updates! Love the Pacific Northwest thread!!

LOL I don't even know what I want to major in yet!!!

BUSINESS?

Early Fall Start is a program for freshman. We take one class (9:30 - 12:00 mon-thur) the month before school starts and live in the all-freshmen dorm. It has been really really fun... but is making recruitment more stressful! It's to get used to the campus and make friends before 30,000 people get here. :)

Thank you for all the encouragement everyone!

First, let me say, good for you for keeping an open mind and best wishes! I am hoping for Iris since that is DPhiE's flower and you are not on a campus with DPhiE.

I have decided Greek Chat need a new motto...
Breaking stereotypes, one PNM at a time

Anyone like it???

Enjoy the ride. We are all rooting for you!

Denise