5/8 is really good! I got cut by half the chapters on my first round of cuts and I was still ecstatic with my final result, so keep smiling!

Best of luck to you!! I rushed as a sophomore so I know how that can be.. just be sure to have fun. Its true what they say about ending up where you belong :) Anyway hope you had a great day!!

Okay, update time!

You GC-ers are going to smack me for this... but I only went to one of the five invitational parties today. I know, I know, I should have given the other four chapters a chance, but here's the lowdown.

I had a meeting for a club I'm in, and I couldn't get out of it. Saturn's party was during the meeting, so I decided that I wouldn't go to that one.

I left a few minutes early from the meeting and rushed over to the party for Mars, one of my favorite houses from last night. I had a BLAST! I got to meet a bunch of the girls, and both of the girls I talked to yesterday remembered me and said that they were glad to have me back. It was amazing how natural I felt around these girls--and when they played their slideshow for us, I fell in love with them even more! The party lasted 50 minutes, and it went by so quickly. On the way out I ran into a friend of mine who I didn't even know was rushing, but she was considering Mars as well, so we had a good chat about that.

Well, after that, I was done. I probably made too rash of a decision, but my gut feeling has never really failed me. I knew it was Mars or nothing. So, I went home, half being glad to be home early and half wondering if I had made the right choice--I mean, what if Mars didn't invite me back for tomorrow?

But it all ended well! I just received a call from Mars a few minutes ago, and I am ecstatic! Tomorrow will be my last chapter event, and then we'll see if I get a bid on Thursday.

I am way beyond excited... I wasn't even sure if I wanted to join a sorority before rush started, and here I am, in love with a house! I hope tomorrow goes well!

TO MARS OR BUST!

I really hope it works out for you!!! *fingers crossed*

Good Luck!! :D

If this is a formal rush, I would call your recruitment counselor immediately and make sure that your skipping the parties will not affect your eligibility to receive a bid.

Why are the sororities calling you to invite you to parties? Is this informal/COB?

That's what I was thinking. It doesn't sound like any formal process I've heard of.

Are those code names or is this really another planet?

It's pretty much an informal rush except for the fact that we went to 8 houses for half an hour each on Monday. The schedule's going like this:

Monday evening: Visit 8 houses

Monday night: Receive calls from chapters inviting you back to their house for an hour each, to show slideshows and meet more girls

Tuesday evening: Go to the parties that you were invited to

Tuesday night: Receive calls from chapters inviting you to a chapter event

Wednesday evening: Chapter events

Thursday afternoon: Go to the Greek life office to rank houses

Thursday evening: Receive bids!

So we interact directly with the chapters rather than our recruitment counselor (who I only saw on Monday and probably won't see again until tomorrow... if I receive a bid)

We were told that we could decline parties... it was recommended that we thank the houses and tell them that we were considering another chapter.

All in all (I know that was long, I tend to ramble), I'm good!

Well did you get a call?

This sounds like a recipe for lots of dirty rushing and recruitment infractions. WTF is going on at this school?

(Sundance - obviously not directed towards you, since you have no control over how they do recruitment.)

Sundance...thoughts on courtesy
 

Sundance,
Did you give any thought to common courtesy? The houses that you did not wish to visit had prepared for you and wanted to become better acquainted. You have snubbed them.
On your campus you will meet and interact with girls from those houses later. Perhaps these were not your "ideal", but I feel your actions were disrespectful. At least you should have contacted the Panhellenic organization at your college and sent regrets.
As one of the posters indicated you may have placed yourself in a difficult postition to obtain a bid, depending upon the rules of Panellenic at your campus.
I went to a private university with long established sororities and a strong Panhellenic organization. Frankly, even in an informal rush situation I cannot imagine a potential member ignoring an invitation and not appearing without some explanation. :(

Ziasha, yes I did get a call :)

And I did inform the chapters that I would not be attending; I didn't just not show up. It seemed that a lot of girls did the same since some of the parties were held at the same time, and even with the option of leaving halfway through a party to attend another one, many girls wanted to stay at a house that they loved.

At my school, informal rush usually consists of girls going to whichever houses they choose (parties are advertised in the school newspaper and whatnot), and then chapters call you back to invite you to further events. This year, Panhellenic just took it a bit further and added the first day where we went to 8 houses.

Now it's time to go to class, so I'll update when I get back from my chapter event tonight. Hopefully this will all end well and you guys can stop worrying! :)