I am going to pref, and my RC told me that if I sign a bid card, I am guaranteed a bid to AChiO, but I probably won't sign the bid card and will just participate in informal recruitment, unless AXO really blows me away. They're really great girls in Alpha Chi Omega, but I just can't see myself fitting in with them. I'm not sold enough yet, which is why I want to do informal recruitment and compare them with SDT (and maybe ADChi, though I'm not really that Christian).

From ADChi's National website, some of their membership requirements (full list linked--I have included ones that make them different from NPC sororities):

Personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
Active participation in Christian service.
Regular attendance or membership in an evangelical church or in some other church approved by the National Board.
Interest in leading others to Christ.
Willingness to avoid situations which would cause one’s sister or brother to stumble.
Willingness to abstain from sexual relations until marriage.
Willingness to abstain from smoking and illegal use of drugs.
Willingness to abstain from alcohol in circumstances where the Christian witness would be adversely affected.

haha yeah, I'm thinking that's not for me... thank you anyways!

You may feel differently after Preference. Another thing to keep in mind at Preference today is not just who the collegiate members are, but which other PNMs are also at that Pref. It sounds like AChiO at USC is in a phase of building its membership and what a lot of PNMs don't understand is that their new member class can completely change the dynamics of a chapter.

My own chapter, during the summer after I initiated, dropped in size drastically due to some strife among sisters who lived in our unofficial house. I never really knew what had gone on because I was so new. But I knew that we came back in the fall with 17 members when Total was 45 and we had been at 30 something when my class was Initiated. That fall, we took 19 new members and the chapter changed TOTALLY. Within a year, we were at Total and the chapter had done a complete turn around. I'm sure some of those 19 had reservations about joining our very small chapter, but they ended up essentially taking it over and making it into what they wanted it to be.

My point is, look around at the other PNMs and see if they are women you could develop sisterhood with as well.

kaeb,
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YES!! Totally agree with this post.

I am sending hugs somewhere across campus. I got cut from my favorite after thinking I really connected with the girl. But apparently something else was going on. I am sure you are an amazing girl and you will be happy whatever you do!

And remember, during recruitment you are comparing the houses to each other head to head. If you are invited and choose to pledge AChiO the comparisons to the other houses will pretty much cease. Go in as happy as you can, try to talk to the other PNMs and maybe you'll feel better about this. Good luck!

I also agree that a new member class can totally change a chapter, over the years I have seen chapters make drastic positive change with one new member class. Please give AXO a try, really look around at Pref.

There are many storied here on GC about women who were unsure that ended up LOVING their chapter. Just give it another chance.

Hugs to you

Thank you so much for all of your support. I really truly appreciate it.

I enjoyed A Chi O's pref, I really did, but I still didn't feel strongly enough about the house that I thought I could commit to it at this point in time. I talked to my rusher a little about it, and told her that I just wasn't sure enough about it, but I'm still interested, and she told me that they'd probably be doing COB. So I will definitely look into SDT and AXO (and any other chapters, if any exist, though I'm doubtful there will be very many) this coming week.


You may have thought you'd be done with this thread by tonight, but nooooooo sirree, there's still almost two weeks of informal recruitment left! I'm trusting that I'll ultimately end up where I belong, and hopefully I'll find my house (be it A Chi O or a new one) soon!

Again, thank you so much for all of your support, you have no clue how much it meant to me.

Oh, and the accident? When I was shaving on Friday, I guess it was, I don't know what happened, but my razorblade went crazy and I had a huge, bloody gash on my leg. It's since been Neosporin-ed and bandaged a few times, but I was thinking to myself, great, that's JUST the kind of impression I want to make on these women.

Hey, that makes you more memorable. There are so many girls going through, sometimes, all the names & faces run together. I still remember all the girls that were "different" (in a good way! :) )

Good luck with this upcoming week.

I'll let you know that I received a bid from AXO when it was the newest chapter on my campus. Was I hesitant? Sure. Being a part of something that wasn't established and had no reputation beyond being the "new" group was daunting. Was it hard? Very. We had to establish our own traditions and sometimes I feel like we put in a lot more work than other new members. In the end, though, I'm so glad I stuck it out. My sisters are the ones who have been constants in my life. I hope you are able to find that in whatever groups you look into this week, Alpha Chi or not :)

Thank you! :)

And I actually just randomly found out that my rusher from pref (and another day... house tours I think) is VP Continuous Recruitment. She mentioned something about someone being in charge of it when I told her, but it was so loud that I couldn't quite tell what she was saying, and then I was out the door. I'm definitely looking forward to this week. :) My Sig Delt friend at UT-Austin asked one of her alumna friends, and she's writing me a letter, too, which should be nice. :D I'm in a much better mood now than I was this morning.

I kind of hate recruitment for causing all of these crazy mood swings.

Do you mean a rec?

If it's only SDT, AXO and the Christian sorority participating (two of which you don't want), well, good luck with that. Do you know a lot of women in SDT to make you think that it would be a "better fit" than AXO? I'm just interested in your thought process.