Don't worry, susan314, you can always AI. ;)

Seriously, I agree with the others that it's nice to know there is a happy ending... I, for one, am hoping that you'll be hearing from Mayor Quimby again...

When I went through at MSU things were still pretty jam packed schedule wise with Phase A on Thursday (at the IM West-see note below), Phase B on Friday and Sat were the Philanthropy Days (that's when house tours were given), and Pref on Sunday. Bids were handed out on Monday. I don't remember having a Phase C.

Starting with the Fall 2003, things spread out a little bit. Phase A was held in the IM West Gym on a Saturday or Sunday (all 13 sororities have a designated area in the gym and the PNM's move around the gym meeting all the houses). Then starting Thursday, Phase B was held at the repective houses. Those are the days that videos each chapter makes are shown to the PNM's. Phase B is Thursday and Friday and was still the Philanthropy Days (if I remember correctly). Phase C is held on Saturday and that's the day that house tours were given. Pref is still on a Sunday with bids being handed out on Monday. Basically we started earlier but added a day.

I think it's pretty similar to that now, but I haven't been to a recruitment in a few years, so I have no clue.

I'm dying....tell us what happened!

I bumped into Steph in the dorm during the time Phase C parties were supposed to be happening. She shoots me a look, then smiles and says "so, you decided to drop out of rush?" She's the last person I feel like talking to at this point, so I just nod and try to finish going about my business. She tells me that I'm better off that way - I can re-rush as a sophomore after I've learned more about all of the sororities, and I shouldn't have any problem getting into one of the "right" houses. She does give me a thinly veiled "I told you so" about my decision to cut Waylon Smithers after Phase A. I fake a smile (though it feels like more of a grimace), tell her that we'll see what happens, and walk away.

It's funny that this "expert" never pledged herself! I love people who think they know everything by watching from the outside. What happened next?

Don't you listen to that mean nasty Steph, Susan! You didn't come all this way to MSU to let somebody tell you what to do! I'm secretly hoping her dorm room is infested by bedbugs. ;)

The girls in my rush group start trickling back in from Phase C. I bump into Suzy and ask how it went. She said it was going well - I think she's really hoping to join the house her roommate is in (Carl Carlson). She seemed surprised that I didn't go - I told her I was just a little overwhelmed by everything. She's pretty nice about the whole thing - said that she might have been overwhelmed too if she had tried rushing as a freshman. I wish her luck and head down to dinner.

On my way back from dinner, I bump into Bethany near her rom. She asks how rush is going - I tell her that as of this morning I've dropped out. She asks if I want to talk about it...I tell her the gist of it. That I'm confused about the whole thing - don't really know what sorority life is supposed to be about. I was joining to meet new people and make friends, but some people have been pressuring me to be concerned about "status" and other things that just don't really seem important to me. If that's what sorority life is actually about, I'm not sure whether I want to be a part of it.

(At this point, I also tell her that Gina, my good friend from home who is the one who talked me into rushing in the first place, is one of Bethany's new sisters - she pledged Tri-Delts, her first choice!)

Bethany shares her words of wisdom with me - you need to know what it is you're looking to get out of the sorority experience before you can decide which house is best for you. She tells me that some girls join primarily b/c of the parties they'll attend and the status the name will give them. Other girls join to make friends and experience new things. They might end up in the same house, but they'll end up with totally different experiences. She also told me not to put too much pressure on myself based on other people's opinions (like Steph's :rolleyes: )...the important thing is that the sorority is able to give you what it is that you're looking for based on what's important to you. Not what everyone else thinks of it - unless, of course, impressing other people is one of your priorities.

It all starts to make a little more sense after talking to Bethany, and I begin to wonder how things would have went if I'd decided to attend Phase C today.

Well Bethany just made me proud to be a sorority woman!

I imagine you had a hard time sleeping that night, wondering if you did the right thing.

I remember my suitemate getting the "visit" about not matching when I was waiting for my hot rollers (late 70's, nothing but hot rollers in a ponytail on TOP of my head - then you take them out when they are cool and you have VOLUME - and a few funny bumps but that's what we did then as Nebraska hicks)

She then adopted a Steph Attitude - obviously to hide how she really felt :mad: but it was definately a Steph.

Now, don't do this a one day at a time story!!! We all want to KNOW! Can you Tivo?

Its Preference day. For the girls who are still in rush, post office was at 7 am this morning. The first preference party is at 5 pm tonight.

I bump into Suzy on my way back from lunch and ask her if she's excited for Preference tonight. Apparently she's not - her roommate's house (Carl Carlson) dropped her after Phase C. She seems pretty bummed out. I ask her what houses she'll be attending for Preference tonight...she says Artie Ziff, Ned Flanders, and Milhouse VanHouten. I try to tell her she should be excited - she has 3 fun houses to go to for Preference (personally, I liked those 3 at least as much if not a little more than Carl Carlson anyhow).

I think I understand a little how she feels though - must have been a blow to the ego to get dropped from a house where you know a ton of people and thought you really fit in. Your own roommate's house! But I hope she doesn't let the ego thing get in her way from enjoying Preference. I'm sure she'll be happy in one of those 3 houses.

I also realize that the 3 houses she's attending for Preference were 3 of the 6 that I was scheduled to attend for Phase C. If I had stuck with rush, that potentially could have been my Preference schedule. Guess I'll never know what houses I would have Preferenced at if I didn't drop out. :(

I would be totally curious to see your guesses as to who's who - since you rushed at the same school 10 years after me, would be interesting to see if the descriptions I gave held up enough for you to recognize some of the houses.

You should totally write them down - even if you don't want to mislead anyone else, you could always PM me before I do my reveal at the end. :)

just as i thought the happy ending was right around the corner you dropped a bombshell! though i guess this means that the manna will be more spread out until we arrive at the moment where you get your bid (because it has to happen sometime!) but update again soon please!!!

Bid Day (for everyone who stayed in rush)

Today was bid day. The Rho Chis delivered bids to everyone's room. I passed Jen and Kasey (my Rho Chis) on my way back from dinner while they were on my floor. I briefly wonder what sort of news would be delivered to me right now if I had stuck with it, but I guess I'll never know. :(

There's a knock on my door a few minutes later - Rho Chi Jen said she just wanted to say hi and see how I was doing. I smile and tell her I'm fine. She asks if I'm willing to be on the COB list. I look at her somewhat confused :confused:. She says that there's a list of girls who might still be interested in joining, and if any of the sororities are interested in you, you might still be able to join. I still don't understand exactly what that means - I thought you had to go through rush to join a sorority? :confused: But, I tell her if she wants to have my name put on that list, that's fine. What have I got to lose, right? Kasey comes over at that point (I think she was using the restroom across from my room while Jen was talking to me), and says they have to hurry up and finish delivering bids. They say good bye, and as Jen is walking away she says "you really should expect a bid."

A little while later, all the sorority women start showing up to get their new pledges. They sing songs and hang elaborate "Welcome to XYZ" signs on the girl's door, and everyone runs out of the dorm giggling and laughing to go over to their new house. They were all so excited - made me feel sad and left out to see them. :( But, I was happy for them.

Saw Suzy leaving with her new sisters - she ended up in Milhouse VanHouten, and looks happy about it! I'm glad to see that she got over being dropped by her roommate's house.

While everyone else was at their new house for Bid Day, I hung out with a couple of girls from the floor (including Laura and Steph). Once when Steph wasn't around, I asked Laura if she felt sad that she wasn't at her house for Bid Day. She said she didn't necessarily miss it during rush, because she didn't really see rush (other than the rush group leaving the dorm). She was a little sad though when all the sorority women came on Bid Day to pick up their excited pledges. At least no one in our dorm seemed to have ended up in Sideshow Bob, so she didn't have to see her sisters come pick up new pledges. That would have made it worse.

I still think its a shame that she went through rush last year and isn't over at her house now. Maybe I did do the right thing by waiting to join until I was sure it was what I wanted to do. :confused: But I still feel left out after seeing all the Bid Day excitement.

AND......

ok im confused... Laura is again? (im going back to read your posts from the beginning, cause i dont see how she fits in the story)

ETA: ok went back - shes the chick who decided not to be active with her chapter. im still shaking my head on people who join their org and then decide not to be active later on (especially after you were JUST initiated)

I was confused too, read the cast of characters in the beginning. Although I'm not sure why Laura would have been upset to see her sisters since she seems to have chosen to be inactive. But who knows what the real story was.

I didn't really get it either. Her brother was a freshman at State like me that year...he did fraternity rush and ended up joining SAE. Maybe seeing all the sorority women in the dorms for Bid Day and having her brother end up joining the Greek system made her have some doubts about whether she made a mistake by skipping out on her sorority? :confused:

yeah yeah yeah... come on and tell what happens next! get to the COB!

I'm one of those. Towards the end of my new member period I started having some medical issues. I attempted to resolve them over the summer (pledged in the spring) but as fall rolled around I was still on crutches and pain meds. I tried really hard to be active in my chapter and make it to events but ultimately I had to drop and go inactive. I never did get to go active again because it took a year and a half before a doctor finally figured out what was wrong and did surgery to correct it.
Laura may have been like me-or maybe she's just one of those that you speak of. I didn't have a choice but others do. Just being on GC makes me really miss my sisters and my chapter and the experience I never got to have.

So...its the day after Bid Day. I go to classes and go about my normal routine for the day. (Don't give a whole lot of thought to the whole COB list thing - I don't exactly understand what it is or what it means.)

I have dinner in my dorm's cafeteria and then head back to my room. As I turn the corner, I see 3 people camped out near my door. I figure maybe they are some of my roommate's friends waiting for her.

As I get closer, I recognize my Rho Chi Jen and a girl I talked with during Phase A (the fellow redhead who witnessed my choking incident at Sideshow Bob)...they had one other girl with them who looked vaguely familiar, but I didn't specifically recognize her. My Rho Chi Jen tells me that she is a member of Sideshow Bob, and that they would like to extend me a bid to join their chapter. If I am interested or have any questions, I can call the house at the number inside the bid card. I'm a little shocked by the whole thing...even though she told me to "expect a bid," I didn't realize that she would actually be delivering one to me the next day. I tell them thank you, they leave, and I enter my room.

When I open the door, I see 4 more envelopes on the floor under my door with my name on them. I'm extremely surprised and confused at this point...as I open the 4 envelopes, I realize that each of them contains a bid card to a sorority.

I'm totally shocked. I went from thinking that I might not join a sorority at all (or at least have to wait until next Fall's rush), to having 5 bid cards in hand. :eek::eek: Ironically, if I had stayed in rush, I would have ultimately ended up with only 1 bid...now I have 5 to pick and choose from. The 5 bids are from the following chapters:

Sideshow Bob
Ned Flanders
Moe Szyslak
Disco Stu
Milhouse VanHouten

5 of the 6 chapters I would have attended for Phase C, if I would have stuck with it. If I accept a bid, it could very well be the group I would have ended up in anyhow. It occurs to me that it might have been easier to end up with just one bid after going through Preference - at least they would have been narrowed down gradually, instead of having the pressure of picking one myself. Not to mention that I would have had more opportunity to get to know the sororities better...give me a little more to go on when making my decision!

I'm not sure what to do...which one do I choose? Or do I not choose one at all?

Wow, now that I have sent my email about my guesses, I see that my very last comment was way off seeing as you didn't get a bid to that house... lol :)

Either way, I will find out how off I was on my guesses when you post the list :) This is fun and brain-racking (sp?)

:eek:

umm WTH? how can you get a bid if you dropped out of rush? you didnt go through Phase C either...

that was kinda creppy how yor Rho Chi waited for you by your door to give you a bid - very stalker-like. complete with the "call us if you have questions" deal.

help me make sense of this.

:eek::D:eek::) omg this thread just got REALLY fascinating! this totally tops ANY rush thread i've ever read here because of the plot twists. you are obviously an extremely special and in demand person! 5/6, i mean wow!

could someone tell me how likely something like this would be today (like getting that many bids for COB just after recruitment ends?)

This is definitely one of the strangest rush threads I've ever read but also somewhat fascinating at how it all happened for you.

I agree. It would have been really different reading it as it happened too!

In an homage to 'The Simspons', please allow me to paraphrase Comic Book Guy and simply say: "Best Rush Thread Ever!"

Yes but finish please.....:D

I'm still guessing Alpha Gam....

Okay, I'll get to the end of it all, so that the next in line with the retro rush thread can begin. (I'll make a separate post with the identities of all the chapters and also a post-script on some of the other ladies from the Cast of Characters for you...)

I'm standing in my room with 5 bids in my hand. Not sure what to do at this point. (Funny how it didn't occur to me at the time to ask the chapters if I could come over and visit a little more before I decided. I did have somewhat of a gut feeling at that point, but I'm still surprised that I didn't realize that I could visit houses first!)



I really liked Ned Flanders during rush. They were also located on MSU's unofficial "Sorority Row." (Which some people tried to tell me it was important to be on.)



I also thought about how some of the bids were just slipped under my door while I was gone - I never got a chance to see/interact with the girls from those chapters. Made me wonder how much they really wanted me as a member, if they couldn't even personally deliver my bids.



I also thought about the fact that my Rho Chi was in one of the houses. As most of you know, your Rho Chis are the sorority women you have the most interaction with during rush. (Even if you don't know what chapters they happen to be in at the time.)



I also thought about the fact that I had a somewhat embarassing incident at one of the houses during Phase A, yet they made me feel as comfortable as possible about it and didn't hold it against me.



So, with all that in mind, I decided to go with my gut feeling. The whole thought process actually didn't take that long - I was on the phone accepting a bid within about 15 minutes of walking in the door and realizing I had all those bids to choose from. It surprised me that I had such a strong gut feeling at that immediate moment...especially since I didn't have a super-strong feeling about any house (except Mayor Quimby) during rush. But, I trusted my instincts, and it ended up working out pretty well...


I picked up the phone and called Sideshow Bob to tell them that I was accepting my bid. Cheers erupted at the other end of the phone, and a group of sisters came to my dorm to whisk me back to the house to meet everyone. I even got a fancy "Welcome to Alpha Gamma Delta" sign on my door, just like all the other new pledges in my dorm got from their new houses on Bid Day. :)

YAY for Sideshow Bob! Maybe it is an Alpha Gam thing because my chapter is also full of ginger kids. Some have been known to date other redheads. We also have the "dormer" though we call it the sleeping porch.

What I find amazing is that it wasn't mentioned on the Sideshow Bob house tour (or you didn't write it down) is that it was designed by one of our Founders who also happened to be the first woman architect in Michigan. I think that is an amazing feature and something to be proud of, and definitely mentionable.

perhaps that the architect tidbit would have given sideshow bob's identy away :)

yay for a happy ending!!!!

Here's the big list of who's who (sorry for the delay - this all took me awhile to type!):

Alpha Chi Omega - Clancy Wiggum
Alpha Gamma Delta - Sideshow Bob
Alpha Omicron Pi - Moe Szyslak
Alpha Phi - Lenny Leonard
Alpha Xi Delta - Disco Stu
Chi Omega - Groundskeeper Willie
Delta Gamma - Carl Carlson
Gamma Phi Beta - Milhouse VanHouten
Kappa Alpha Theta - Mayor Quimby
Kappa Delta - Troy McClure
Kappa Kappa Gamma - Waylon Smithers
Phi Mu - Barney Gumble
Pi Beta Phi - Artie Ziff
Sigma Delta Tau - Monty Burns
Sigma Kappa - Nelson Muntz
Zeta Tau Alpha - Ned Flanders


Additional info...

As you might recall, Laura (Steph's roommate, and one of my first friends on my floor) was a member of Sideshow Bob/Alpha Gamma Delta. I was having so much fun as a pledge that she really started to realize what she was missing out on. I encouraged her to reach out to the chapter, and she ended up getting involved with the house again. (She had never officially deactivated - just went home for the summer and never went over to the house once she came back to school in the Fall.) I'm sure she had to work hard and probably pay some fines for missing all of rush...I was a pledge so I wasn't privvy to that info. But she ended up being a great sister and was very involved with the chapter up until the day she graduated. (And she's still active as an alumnae member.) If I hadn't pledged Alpha Gam, I honestly don't think she ever would have gotten involved with the house again - she probably would have continued to live with/hang out with Steph instead, not realizing that her sisters would have given her a second chance. :(

Speaking of Steph...she never did go through rush or join any sorority. Seems kind of sad to me - she was a bright, attractive girl with a lot to offer. If she had kept an open mind and not developed such a bad attitude about sororities, she could have been a good, productive member of almost any sorority on campus! I don't think she really cared for the fact that Laura became an involved sister again because of me. Not that I cared too much about what she thought at that point - her negative attitude almost cost Laura her sorority experience, and it affected my own rush experience as well. If Steph didn't like it that Laura and I were both in the same house and...gasp...actually enjoyed it, too bad for her. :)

Suzy had been disappointed at being cut by her roommate's sorority right before Preference (Carl Carlson/Delta Gamma). But, she ended up loving her experience in Gamma Phi Beta/Milhouse VanHouten.

I think I mentioned in the thread that Gina - my friend from home who talked me into rushing to begin with - ended up pledging Delta Delta Delta at her school. Her first choice, and she loved it!

Regarding Mayor Quimby (Kappa Alpha Theta)...I began to realize after awhile that the connection I thought I felt with that house was actually a primarily a connection I felt with Debbie (the girl who rushed me there). She and I bumped into each other occasionally during college, and she did tell me that I was her rush crush...she was hoping to take me as a little sister. When she found out I dropped out of rush, she had hoped I'd go through again as a sophomore and still end up in her house. But, it all worked out for the best - although I still liked Theta, you can't join a sorority just for one person. As a group, I fit in better with my own chapter.

So....regardless of all the twists and turns along the way, I still ended up where I belonged. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had stuck with rush - which 3 houses would I have Preferenced? What is it like to go through Preference? Would I have still ended up an Alpha Gam? But, I have no complaints - 15 years later, I'm still an involved alumnae member, so obviously things worked out well enough. :)

YAY!!! Awesome recruitment story!!! Isn't it great how xx years later, there are some stories that are just as much fun (if not more!) than they were when they first took place? :) Hooray for Susan and AGD!!!

This was wonderful!!! And it's really crazy to think how different things could be if you had stayed out of your room another 15 minutes! haha, sounds like you made a great choice thought!

After seeing this list and re-reading your posts, I see the big circle you were talking about in your PM's. I had to think about where the houses that left campus were located. I can visualize everything that you are talking about with locations and such. Thanks for the fun glimpse into the past with your thread!! It's was fun!

And we're sure glad for that!