Jocelyn's advice is correct - ask open ended questions. However, I might caution youagainst the one above. If it's brought up I'd ask about it, but I wouldn't ask outright. They might be mislead to thinking you only care about partying and what fraternities you'll be hanging with. Just my opinion!

Good luck Petals:)

Good luck Petals! I can't wait to hear how it goes!

:D :D :D

For heaven's sake, mention THON!!!! I can't think of one thing that PSU is more proud of (well, maybe their football coach)!

-Summer vacations are always great fodder for conversation, too. "Can you believe this weather? I could so handle being in the Outer Banks (Bahamas, etc) right now!"

-Ask about sisters studying abroad or doing an internship. Seems that there are using a few.

-Animals/Pets/Mascots: "Pandas are so cute! How did they become your mascot?" "Your lion reminds me of my cat - do you have any pets?"

-The Creamery: "What's your favorite flavor?"

Good suggestions, honeychile!

I especially like the suggestion about studying abroad. When I was at PSU, it was sort of a "sorority secret" - the program wasn't well-publicized, and the sororities passed it down, with the older girls sharing their amazing experiences and encouraging the younger girls to apply. One of my friends spent a term at University of Edinburgh, and she was one of the few non-Greeks in the whole group.

And you're right that everyone will have an anecdote about overnight trips to go canning for Thon, or of actually dancing or doing Morale -- always a sure-fire conversation starter.

As for vacations, we might not go to the Outer Banks up here in Yankee country, but a lot of us have a good story from Avalon or Stone Harbor (hmmm, remembering my own Avalon days, maybe we're venturing into risk management territory there......)

Anyway, we're all waiting to hear how things are going -- Good luck, Petals!

Thank you so very much! Actually, a fellow alumna once told me that she just knew that she hated her legacy house because they all talked about going to trunk shows in Paris and Milan over the summer, and that was just not her thing! Since then, I've come to realize what a great tool that is.

And don't get me started about the Creamery! Two of my daddy's aunts were professors at PSU, so we were raised with the stuff. I'm just glad I was swimming at least a mile a day at the time, or I'd have NO arteries left!

Thanks for all of the help so far, I'll definitely run with it. Especially about THON-- didn't even think of that one (durrr...)! Recruitment starts on Sunday where we meet our Rho Chis and recruitment groups. AHH!

Have a great time, Petals! I really hope you find your fit and meet some great people along the way!! ;)

have fun tomorrow (technically later today)..i know ill be happy considering im being initiated tomorrow :) i cant wait to hear about ur first day..good luck girl!!

best of luck!

My DZ daughter at Alabama is being initiated today. She is tremendously excited! Let me say she is absolutely in love with the DZ chapter at Bama, her DZ sisters and Greek life in general.

God bless all you sorority sisters out there! And to all of those being initiated this Fall, I wish you the very best of luck!

Still hanging around.....BamaDad DZ

Wow...it just doesn't seem time for Initiation to come around for our new PNMs, now NMs that joined us for GC for their FR stories! Hope she has a great time!!

/end hijak


PETALS--How is is going for you?? Hope that all is well!!

Petals, I can't wait to hear how the day went for you.

Since no one appears to have posted it yet, here's Penn State's schedule:

October 22: Panhellenic Orientation (100 Thomast from 2-5)

October 24: Open Houses (5:30-9:20)

October 25: Open Houses (5:30-9:50)

October 26: Open Houses (5:30-9:20)

October 27: First Rounds (6:00-9:30)

October 28: First Rounds (3:00-10:15)

October 29: Second Rounds (3:00-8:40)

October 30: Second Rounds (6:00-8:40)

November 1: Preference Night (6:30-10:10)

November 2: Bid Day (5:00)


It's five on the nose right now, which means Petals should be getting out of orientation, excited to be starting recruitment!

... And all of this is going on... during classes. Are midterms happening now as well??

It sounds like Petals and her fellow PNMs will be choosing between study and sleep for the next couple of weeks. Not to mention the sisters - consider the party schedule + setup + cleanup + membership selection. A good argument for immediate fall formal recruitment before classes start, if ever I heard one. Heaven help the engineering majors...

Best of luck, Petals. Relax and have fun! :)

Haha, amen to aephi alum… thank goodness recruitment didn’t start a week earlier, as I’ve got more papers than I have classes due (for the midterm) this week alone (luckily I wrote most of them last week… but still!) It’s definitely going to be ten days of adrenaline and caffiene.

I didn’t realize how nervous I was about all of this until I was sitting with the 800 other girls at orientation today. It’s kind of intimidating for me, at least, since I’m a sophomore and not going through with any friends (at least from looking around, it seems that most of the girls are freshmen doing this with 3 or 4 floormates). Luckily there are some other sophomores in my Pi Chi group, and even overall, my group seems pretty diverse and fun.

I’ve heard that the open house rounds are the most hectic (they start on Tuesday), so tomorrow’s going to be non-stop work to get ahead in classes before the madness starts. Thanks again for all of the kind words and advice! Like I said, I’m going through this crazy process alone, so having a place like this to come back to feels really good :)

I'm glad your Pi Chi group seems like fun. I'm sure you aren't the only one going through recruitment solo. :) Good luck on Tuesday and for the rest of the week!

I was supposed to have a friend going through recruitment with me (and since the groups were done alphabetically, she would've been in my group as well) but at the last minute she decided not to rush so I was alone. They'd line us all up in alphabetical order everytime we went to a party so I got to know the girl who stood behind me pretty well (not to mention I memorized what the back of the girl in front of me's head looked like) and as it turned out, she ended up pledging Zeta with me. Not only that, but a month later she was my cousin in our family! You'll definitely get to know some people really fast, I have faith!

Sounds like these girls are going to REALLY be put to the time management test. Time management is one big challenge in sorority life. I agree with the above post, I feel for the sisters!

I personally think that 4 days of nothing but 12 hours a day rushing 20 groups before classes begin would be even worse. At least this way they have some time to process everything. Necessary, in my opinion, with that many groups.

I wonder. . .
 

I tend to think that doing rush while school is going on gives the pnms more perspective than doing only rush for a week before school starts. When all you are doing is rushing, you tend to get a little crazy and think your life will be determined completely by the outcome of rush, which just isn't quite so.

But I wonder if moving rush into the school year helps with this or not at places where greek life is a huge deal. For instance at Ole Miss, did moving it back help make it more sane or did the insanity continue as always but now everyone has to juggle class too?

Yes! Exactly my point.

But at Ole Miss or Bama I don't think it makes a dent.

good luck petals!! try to stay sane and load up on redbull ;)

My older daughter went through rush at Bama the first of the only 2 years that they had a delayed rush--and it was only delayed 2 weeks. Bids went out at 4pm and she had a test in her 5pm class, even though the university had said that no tests would be given that day, so she missed a good bit of her bid day activities. The next year rush was delayed 2 weeks again and trying to balance rush with classes nearly killed her. She is a huge proponent of rushing before classes start.

My younger one just went through rush at Ole Miss, and she says that she wouldn't take anything for the 7 weeks she had at school without being in a sorority. She loves the fact that she had an opportunity to bond with so many girls without them being members of different groups, plus she was able to get her academic feet under her without having a lot of pledge activities to go to. She was fortunate that rush was the week after midterm, and since their rush is fairly short (3 parties) the most intense part was on the weekend. She is a huge proponent of delayed rush......but her sister just rolls her eyes and says: "wait till next year!"

I rushed at Auburn in the 70s and can't imagine juggling all that with classes. I have a feeling that Baby Bird will go through once as an active and then do everything in her power to become a Gamma Chi.....that is what I did:)

Delayed rush gives you a sense of how to manage work with greek life, too. Not that you will be spending 4 hours each day doing sorority stuff ( for the most part... ;)) but it can give you an idea of how to balance, and plan ahead-as it seems Petals is doing.

Good luck Petals, I'm looking forward to hearing how this goes with soooo many choices!

Yep! Rock on petals!
 

Petals, I hope it's going well. Good luck with everything.

I'm really exciting to hear what happens in this thread!!

Good to see recruitment numbers are going up. Several of my friends (sk and various other glo's at psu) were thinking panhellenic is taking crazy pills by having recruitment so late. The new members didn't get to really take part in homecoming which is one of the MOST fun parts of greeklife.


oh well. . .good luck petals!!!! psu greeklife is great and you'll have fun no matter where you end up!

pm if you need to.

All I have to say is WOW.

I was so nervous going into the first party, but it ended up being WAY more fun and much easier than I ever thought it’d be. I remember walking by suites during recruitment last year and hearing how loud they were, but I totally forgot about it… I really hope I don’t lose my voice this week from literally SCREAMING all night! But anyway, the first night went incredibly well, and though I don’t want to assign code-names to anyone yet, I’ll try and give you a little update :)

The first suite we went to was beautiful… I’d never really been inside of a suite before, I’d just caught glimpses here and there. I had really really great conversation with a few of the girls there and felt totally at ease. Totally feeling this one!

The second suite had great energy, you could tell they were totally down to earth and able to make fun of themselves, and I loved it. It was video night, and though about half of the sororities decided not to use a one, their video really gave me a look at what their sisterhood’s about (and I liked what I saw!)

Suite number three was kind of a let down… they were the group I was most excited to meet, and although I had fun, I didn’t really connect with any of the girls that rushed me. Definitely want to check them out a little more before I make any judgements… although one girl talked to me a lot about fraternities and drinking and that sort of stuff, which, though it wasn’t really akward and I didn’t necessarily feel bad telling her about it, kind of raised a red flag for me.

The fourth sorority was my least favorite. I’d met several of the girls last year at various events and didn’t get a great impression of them back then, and tonight didn’t really change that. It was the only place that ever really had lulls in the conversation… I just wasn’t feeling it, though I’ll keep an open mind.

Sorority five was MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE, a total pick-me-up from number four! I honestly didn’t know anything about their chapter here at PSU until tonight, and I’m SO giddy and excited to see more of them! Even though we were there for 20 minutes, it felt like 30 seconds. Unlike #3, when they brought up fraternities and social stuff, it was really taseful and I felt comfortable the whole time. I’m really excited because I got to meet a good three or four girls here, including the president, who was SO laid back and made me feel really really good about doing recruitment regardless of where I end up.

Number six was fun, they definitely had the most energetic video and looked like they had an incredibly strong sisterhood, but the girls I talked to just weren’t really into it. I still want to see more of this group though, I’m thinking that maybe the sorority members were just getting tired, or maybe I just didn’t have much in common with those particular girls.

Finally we went to sorority seven, one of the most beautiful suites of the day with some of the most well-spoken women. I love their philanthropy and can tell that they’re definitely very service oriented, although I didn’t feel much of a connection with anyone I talked to. Then again, it was the last (and definitely the LOUDEST) party, so I’m still keeping an open mind!

I’m just so psyched for this whole process after tonight… while I was super nervous before the first party today, I’m nothing but excited for tomorrow! I’m feeling pretty confident too… when someone would rush another girl and me at the same time, I was REALLY surprised that a lot of the time, the other PNM would act totally bored or put off by the rusher! Especially with predictable questions-- “Why do you want to join a sorority?” “Eh…. Dunno… looked fun.”

HUH!?

Again, thanks for all of the support and advice! If I had any last minute doubts about going through with this, I think they’re pretty dead after today :)

(edited with some more thoughts)

It's wonderful that you're having fun and keeping such an open mind. Good luck!!!

Petals, I have to say that I'm quite impressed with your intuitions! You seem to have a great handle on the process - good luck!

Yes, I must echo Honey here! It sounds like you are having such a great time! I just can't imagine having mid terms piled on along with FR, but it sounds like you are keeping everything held together just fine!!

Have a wonderful time with your next round!! Thanks for taking the time out of your FR schedule and your classes (most important) to satiate a bunch of rush thread addicts!!

GO PETALS!!

Glad to hear things went so well, and that you're open to having your mind changed! It's all about where you're most comfortable. Also glad to hear the suites have improved - they were kind of cold and utilitarian when I was there, with ugly carpets, and that same old outdated 1960s look that the dorms still have.

Other people are worried about your studies - what I can't figure out is how anyone keeps from getting sick! It's cold and windy in Happy Valley now, and those suites can get overheated with all those people in them. Hot, cold, hot, cold, hot, cold all night, then staying up late on adrenaline, then do the whole thing over again.

But then again, if you can sit in rain and snow at football games for 3 hours, I guess surviving sorority rush should be easy.

Hope it all continues to be fun. Thanks for the update!

It's great to hear that you enjoyed the first night of Round 1. Continue to keep an open mind to all of the chapters, as you are doing, and remember that while you may not click with a few members at one event, you may completely change your mind the next time you set foot in their house! Keep an eye on several chapters you could see yourself enjoying, rather than fixating on just one or two, and continue to keep that great sense of confidence and self that you have about you! Good luck.

I'm excited for you! It sounds like you are having a good time. Can't wait to hear the rest of your story:)

I don't usually post on recruitment threads (though like many others I am addicted to them, lol). But I just have to say you've got such a fantastic outlook on the whole thing - and I'll bet it shows through to the sororities you're visiting. Best of luck and I hope you have another great day of parties. :D

Cheers,
ShyViolet

Not the voice! I lost my voice in rush, as in screamed through the first 4 of 7 parties the first day and started to lose it, sounded like a man the second day, and was silent by pref day. Thankfully the girl who rushed me in Zeta the first day (who ended up being my big!) saw me again the second day and just laughed histerically at the fact that I couldn't talk over then insanity of the party. I'm glad she found it amusing. :rolleyes: But seriously, hot green tea all the time - my rho chi ended up having to bring me some in between prefs! haha, glad you're having a blast!!!

I can definitely see what you all meant by sororities blending together and how important it is to take good notes! In some ways I was a lot more relaxed today, but at the same time, I can see exactly how exhausting this recruitment stuff can be. Still having a TON of fun, though! Tomorrow’s the third and final open house round, and Friday we find out who asked us back for first rounds (up to 14 sororities). Starting to get exciiiiiited!

I was really excited to go to the first sorority because a good friend is a member there and was actually one of the reasons I got interested in greek life. The party was okay, didn’t feel too much of a connection with the girls I talked to, but I know how much my friend loves her org, so I’m not opposed to giving it another shot.

Sorority two had the coziest suite ever… everyone was commenting about it after we left. Again, I have another good friend in this org that really pushed me to rush. Of all the conversations I had today, these girls were some of the funniest, most down-to-earth people I talked to. Definitely interested in going back!

The third sorority was WONDERFUL! I only got to talk to one girl the whole time, which I hope doesn’t hurt me with cuts, but she was SO real and easy to talk to, we could’ve gone on all night. When they flicked the lights to signal the end of the party, we were both surprised how fast the time went. This group also had a pretty cool door chant… which, though it’s nothing to base a decision on, really confirmed my thoughts that these girls are unique.

The fourth sorority’s party was so-so… I felt more like I was rushing the sisters I talked to than they were rushing me! They were all nice and a really diverse bunch, but I’m not sure I could see myself fitting in there. Being a sophomore, I’ve been able to hang out with quite a few of the girls in this group before recruitment, and based on those times as well, I’m not sure that I can really see myself as a member (but no hard feelings :)).

I was a little nervous going to number five because I was aquainted with a lot of the girls there and wasn’t sure if things would be awkward or easier because of that. Much to my relief, it turned out to be the latter and a really fun time! I had a lot in common with the girls that rushed me and feel pretty good about this place.

Sorority six was a lot of fun; again, I knew one of the members here from another club and ended up having great conversation with her and a few of her sisters. My favorite groups so far have been the ones that cheer and scream during their videos and show a ton of spirit, and this group was one of them. I’m just so enthusiastic about joining and being a part of a strong sisterhood that it makes me happy to see members of an org screaming that they love their big/little when her picture pops up on the screen, or clapping ridiculously loud when pictures of homecoming or THON come up. I’m a sucker for passionate people :)

Annnnnd last but not least was sorority seven. I didn’t really click with anyone here, but like last night, it was the last party and I was totally drained from walking all over campus and telling people what my major is and where I live a million times. Like number six, these girls were clapping and cheering for their whole video and seemed to really love each other, so I’m not totally discounting them yet.

It was definitely cool knowing so many people in the sororities I visited today, but at the same time, it’s kind of making it hard to figure out whether or not it’s the right organization for me. But I have faith :)

Keep going, Petals!! You've got a great outlook! Can't wait for the next installment!!