Best of luck! Sounds like your chapter is prepared to have a successful recruitment!

Good luck !!! I hope things go well.

RECRUITMENT STARTS TOMORROW!!!

I am beyond excited. I also can't wait to get the list of who signed up for Recruitment. A few girls I really love didn't seem sure if they were going to do it or not, so I'm crossing my fingers that they at least come to the first round to check it out! And if they drop out... well, there are always snap bidding ;)

The last I heard about 150 women had signed up, compared to 200 last year... eek. Hopefully there's a last-minute surge.

I'm a little worried about some of our newer sisters screwing up the bumping. Some of them missed Polish (like finishing touches, not like Poland!) week and have never bumped before. We're having a short "catch-up" right before the first party, but I can see disaster on the horizon... at least for the first party. As long as no PNMs get left alone, it'll be ok! At least bumping isn't rocket science - I'm sure they'll pick it up pretty quickly. They're smart ladies!

I'm also a little apprehensive about the online world - yes, our old friend JuicyCampus. In the last week there have been a lot of threads about different sororities and nasty rumors about each one are getting aired out again, presumably (and sadly) from sororities trying to besmirch each other before Recruitment begins. Luckily for us, we haven't gotten too much bad press. I really wish our campus had some Panhellenic sprit :(

Ok, well, I have to run to class! I'm super excited for tomorrow, and I'll be back to let you all know how it went! For now, I'm stuck with a head full of Recruitment chants :D

Don't worry too much about bumping. There should be a few sisters watching for problems so they can jump in and fill any gaps or move things along.
As for JC, I hope that PNMs are stupid enough to let that trash effect their decisions.

Just heard the numbers - there are 200+ PNMs registered, and registration goes until tomorrow morning!! We're expecting about 225 total!! The bad news is, we're going to be triple-rushing girls because our chapter is smaller.... the good news is that we have tons of girls to choose from! In the words of "I Heart Recruitment": quantity (of PNMs) drives quality (of NMs)!

Yayyy we're all rooting for you!

I'm really hooked on reading this...

I hardly ever say anything on boards but this is such a great story. I can't wait to hear how everything goes!!!

GOOD LUCK with recruitment! I'm sure your girls will shine!!

RECRUITMENT STARTS TONIGHT! I am so, so excited and nervous!! I've been having Recruitment nightmares... last night I dreamt that half of our new member class was guys. Ridiculous, I know, but I think my nerves are manifesting as crazy dreams.

I'll be back late tonight to let you know how it went!!

Thanks everybody for your kind thoughts!

First Round!
 

Oh. My. GOSH! I am on such a Recruitment high! Tonight was absolutely incredible. Our sisters were fabulous - we all looked hot (if I may say so myself) and the PNMs were so sweet and interested. My bump group loved every single girl we met, and we met about 20-30. There are about 215 PNMs total!! Luckily the parties were divided up such that we only had to double-rush about half the time, and the rest of the time we only took one each. A few of the PNMs were a little surprised that we were double-rushing them (we're the only group that needs to) but they went with it and did well. It turns out we have four legacies going through and they are all fantastic girls. I got to talk to one of them and she was so sweet!

A lot of girls commented on our size compared to the other groups, but it was pretty much all favorable. One girl flat-out told me that she was really turned off by the fact that at one of the top-tier groups she went to the sisters didn't know each other's names and it made bumping really awkward since sisters were pretty much introducing themselves to each other! She loved how we were smaller and seemed so close.

Ok, so, a little about the PNMs I talked about earlier...

I got a chance to talk to Kelly for few minutes, which was great! We haven't been allowed to talk for a long time, so we had a lot to catch up on. We just chatted and acted silly, which I missed. She told me that at Minerva she was really turned off by a very inappropriate question a sister had asked her.

I only got to talk to Lily for a second, but she seemed like she was having a great time. I heard from another sister that she ONLY wants Venus, so that was great news!

I picked up Danielle at the door and she seemed like she was having great time. My whole bump group loved her! I'm glad she wasn't too intimidated by the chanting and the sisters and that she was holding her own despite being a little shy.

I saw Ashley across the room and she seemed happy. I didn't get to talk to her.

My sisters loved Elizabeth! One of them told me she HAS to have her as her Little if she joins, so I take it they had a pretty good conversation!

I saw Sasha & Tasha briefly but didn't get to talk to them. I heard Sasha is still very interested in Venus, but Tasha is thinking Minerva... we'll see.

Zoe wasn't there tonight because she wasn't feeling well, but hopefully she'll be there later in the week. She's apparently still very excited to go Venus!

And I'm going to add a few more...

Jenny is a legacy from our chapter who's very sweet! She seemed a little shy, but was loving Recruitment and seemed very interested in Venus. She didn't sign up until the last minute, so that's why I didn't mention her before.

Vicky is a girl I met earlier in the semester who didn't want to go Greek at all, but decided to sign up at the last minute. We had a GREAT conversation - I wish it could have lasted longer! She was a little apprehensive because she was rushing alone, and didn't want to lose her non-affiliated friends after joining a sorority. I was in her shoes as a freshmen and I think (I hope!) that I was able to reassure her a bit. I really, really want her to go Venus and she seemed very interested.

Well, that's all for now! It was an amazing round and our sisters did really well. I'm so proud of them and I'm so optimistic for Recruitment now.


**I know "rush" is an outdated term, so I apologize for using it so much... I just find it easier to say :p

I'm so glad the first night went so well for your chapter! It sounds like the women are making great connections, which is essential. Best of luck as Recruitment continues!

Wow sounds like a great first night! Fingers crossed for some HUGE returns!

As one of those who still likes the old term better, feel free to use it liberally! :D

Reading your story really brings back a lot of memories. I hope things go very well for your chapter in the days ahead. :)

Yay! so excited for you!

There are a few threads on JC about last night, and so far no one has said a single bad thing about Venus! Yay!! It really reaffirms my belief that the stereotypes that my sisters are "ugly, fat, awkward losers" are completely unfounded and that it really shows in the rush room. Ironically, it's the top chapters that are getting a lot of bad press... basically, I think girls go in there with unrealistic expectations that every single sister is going to be some sort of greek goddess (pun intended!) and are kind of upset to see that they're just normal girls, the same as all the other chapters. Odd.

One thing I was struck by last night is how many PNMs have friends that are already greek at other schools. A lot of their friends went through last fall, and now our PNMs are really excited to get started after having to wait a whole semester. A lot of girls I talked to had friends that are Venuses at other schools, so that was exciting! And hopefully their Venus friends will convince them to give us a shot ;)

Tonight we're working on finishing up the last of the decorations and preparing food for the parties tomorrow. It'll be good to get everything done - or at least mostly done!