GreekChat.com Forums - NWgirl's Fall '07 Recruitment at University of Washington!

Today was a whirlwind...and VERY hot. It felt like a rollercoaster, but overall as I left my last chapter, I felt like I had made the right choice in going through with recruitment and felt proud of how I represented myself through out the day. Here is a little bit about the chapters I saw today:

J- Crew : A personal favorite of mine from Greek Weekend, the conversation was effortless. I had met a lot of girls with similar friends, interests or hobbies. But overall, I loved the diversity of the house. Of course, I brought up topics that were important to me. So we discussed how they ranked in overall chapter grades, the amount of community service opportunities they were involved with and so on. All of their answers just made me feel more like this is were I belong. I guess in short it just clicked. I adore this house; I really hope I get the chance to visit them again.
Kiehl’s: Although I try to steer clear of stereotypes. I admit, I had heard some unflattering things about this chapter. However, I am thrilled to report that these girls were great. A lot of the women were from where I’m from, so we talked about our favorite places and activities. I met a girl with a really large family that she’s really close with and we really connected about that. I was overall very impressed with this house; I would love to come back.
Sephora: OK, so I really wanted to like this house. I don’t know why; I just had a really good impression of them during Greek Weekend and was really excited to see them again. Let’s just say it didn’t quite click. One of the girls in particular seemed not to have any interest in talking to me about her chapter activities. We spent our time talking about material things, which really annoyed me. Sorry, but I’m going through recruitment to find out where I’m living; not what destination I should head to next Spring Break. The other girls were sweet and I had okay conversations with them, but I almost felt my self feeling pressured to act like someone else to make the conversation flow, a big red flag if you ask me. I would be willing to go back again, maybe when it’s not one of the last chapters we visited, but overall…I don’t see myself here.
Victoria’s Secret: This was a good chapter for me. The girls all seemed really genuine and again, we had many things in common, and the conversation seemed to flow very easily. We discussed leadership opportunities and it seemed like they were interested in what I had to say, and of course that made it just overall more inviting. All the girls that I talked to said goodbye to me on my way out and said that they hoped to see me soon, which made me happy! I would be happy to come back.
Lucy: I really really really liked this house. The initial girl that I was paired with and I had a great conversation. Again, we didn’t really have to go back to the “what’s your favorite movie” back up question and I don’t even think we talked about majors…it just seemed like we were catching up. I really great energy was at this house, the girls seemed really close and very proud to be members of their sorority. I would love to come back.
Mercer: This house was good. The impression that I got, although I felt like I didn’t hit it off right away with anyone, was a solid, positive one. I really like their philanthropy and cause and the girls were great at keeping the conversation new and not just the standard 5 or so questions were asked. I was comfortable and relaxed at this house; I would love to come back.
Anthropology: Great conversations. I felt really great at this house and I really felt like I could relax and just get to know the girls. In my notes I have a giant YES. The girls weren’t afraid to just let the conversation flow and I found my self laughing and smiling the entire time. There was no awkward moments or comments. Again…effortless. I know it’s a favorite though, my entire group was still glowing as we were walking to the next house. Fabulous, I would love the opportunity to come back. One of the girls that I talked to did make of the mistake of talking about “when” I came back for the philanthropy night, like it was a done deal. I know it was a slip up, but I would love it if that if it happened!
Seattle Sun: Alright. So I am not one to discredit the amazing organization that this chapter represents. But really, I could never see myself here. In by booklet all I have is “I don’t think so”. I don’t really know what to say. They were very quick to point out how they were greater than every other sorority in any topic that I brought up. It seemed like they viewed this time as an opportunity to see if I was right for them, with no thought of how the girls going through recruitment felt. Of course I know this is a first impression, but honestly, it was NOT a good one. I don’t know if I would like to come back.

Now an opportunity to vent, let’s just say I can not agree more with the advice NOT to talk to ANYONE about your personal opinions of the chapters you visit. Two of my friends felt like sharing their every opinion about every moment of their day was suddenly a grand idea. And on the ride home with them I almost wanted to cry about how quick they were to judge women on their physical attributes or what clothes they were wearing. They rely so much on the stereotypes to determine their favorites. No matter what their opinions, even if they were mutual, disrespecting someone or something they love should never be an option. On our ride there tomorrow, I plan on reminding them our deal not the talk…I hope that they listen.

Please know that I am very tired, and there might be numerous typos and perhaps some unfinished thoughts, but it’s the best I could do.

Yay for day three tomorrow…only eight more to go!