Yes! Exactly my point.

But at Ole Miss or Bama I don't think it makes a dent.

good luck petals!! try to stay sane and load up on redbull ;)

My older daughter went through rush at Bama the first of the only 2 years that they had a delayed rush--and it was only delayed 2 weeks. Bids went out at 4pm and she had a test in her 5pm class, even though the university had said that no tests would be given that day, so she missed a good bit of her bid day activities. The next year rush was delayed 2 weeks again and trying to balance rush with classes nearly killed her. She is a huge proponent of rushing before classes start.

My younger one just went through rush at Ole Miss, and she says that she wouldn't take anything for the 7 weeks she had at school without being in a sorority. She loves the fact that she had an opportunity to bond with so many girls without them being members of different groups, plus she was able to get her academic feet under her without having a lot of pledge activities to go to. She was fortunate that rush was the week after midterm, and since their rush is fairly short (3 parties) the most intense part was on the weekend. She is a huge proponent of delayed rush......but her sister just rolls her eyes and says: "wait till next year!"

I rushed at Auburn in the 70s and can't imagine juggling all that with classes. I have a feeling that Baby Bird will go through once as an active and then do everything in her power to become a Gamma Chi.....that is what I did:)

Delayed rush gives you a sense of how to manage work with greek life, too. Not that you will be spending 4 hours each day doing sorority stuff ( for the most part... ;)) but it can give you an idea of how to balance, and plan ahead-as it seems Petals is doing.

Good luck Petals, I'm looking forward to hearing how this goes with soooo many choices!

Yep! Rock on petals!
 

Petals, I hope it's going well. Good luck with everything.

I'm really exciting to hear what happens in this thread!!

Good to see recruitment numbers are going up. Several of my friends (sk and various other glo's at psu) were thinking panhellenic is taking crazy pills by having recruitment so late. The new members didn't get to really take part in homecoming which is one of the MOST fun parts of greeklife.


oh well. . .good luck petals!!!! psu greeklife is great and you'll have fun no matter where you end up!

pm if you need to.

All I have to say is WOW.

I was so nervous going into the first party, but it ended up being WAY more fun and much easier than I ever thought it’d be. I remember walking by suites during recruitment last year and hearing how loud they were, but I totally forgot about it… I really hope I don’t lose my voice this week from literally SCREAMING all night! But anyway, the first night went incredibly well, and though I don’t want to assign code-names to anyone yet, I’ll try and give you a little update :)

The first suite we went to was beautiful… I’d never really been inside of a suite before, I’d just caught glimpses here and there. I had really really great conversation with a few of the girls there and felt totally at ease. Totally feeling this one!

The second suite had great energy, you could tell they were totally down to earth and able to make fun of themselves, and I loved it. It was video night, and though about half of the sororities decided not to use a one, their video really gave me a look at what their sisterhood’s about (and I liked what I saw!)

Suite number three was kind of a let down… they were the group I was most excited to meet, and although I had fun, I didn’t really connect with any of the girls that rushed me. Definitely want to check them out a little more before I make any judgements… although one girl talked to me a lot about fraternities and drinking and that sort of stuff, which, though it wasn’t really akward and I didn’t necessarily feel bad telling her about it, kind of raised a red flag for me.

The fourth sorority was my least favorite. I’d met several of the girls last year at various events and didn’t get a great impression of them back then, and tonight didn’t really change that. It was the only place that ever really had lulls in the conversation… I just wasn’t feeling it, though I’ll keep an open mind.

Sorority five was MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE, a total pick-me-up from number four! I honestly didn’t know anything about their chapter here at PSU until tonight, and I’m SO giddy and excited to see more of them! Even though we were there for 20 minutes, it felt like 30 seconds. Unlike #3, when they brought up fraternities and social stuff, it was really taseful and I felt comfortable the whole time. I’m really excited because I got to meet a good three or four girls here, including the president, who was SO laid back and made me feel really really good about doing recruitment regardless of where I end up.

Number six was fun, they definitely had the most energetic video and looked like they had an incredibly strong sisterhood, but the girls I talked to just weren’t really into it. I still want to see more of this group though, I’m thinking that maybe the sorority members were just getting tired, or maybe I just didn’t have much in common with those particular girls.

Finally we went to sorority seven, one of the most beautiful suites of the day with some of the most well-spoken women. I love their philanthropy and can tell that they’re definitely very service oriented, although I didn’t feel much of a connection with anyone I talked to. Then again, it was the last (and definitely the LOUDEST) party, so I’m still keeping an open mind!

I’m just so psyched for this whole process after tonight… while I was super nervous before the first party today, I’m nothing but excited for tomorrow! I’m feeling pretty confident too… when someone would rush another girl and me at the same time, I was REALLY surprised that a lot of the time, the other PNM would act totally bored or put off by the rusher! Especially with predictable questions-- “Why do you want to join a sorority?” “Eh…. Dunno… looked fun.”

HUH!?

Again, thanks for all of the support and advice! If I had any last minute doubts about going through with this, I think they’re pretty dead after today :)

(edited with some more thoughts)

It's wonderful that you're having fun and keeping such an open mind. Good luck!!!

Petals, I have to say that I'm quite impressed with your intuitions! You seem to have a great handle on the process - good luck!

Yes, I must echo Honey here! It sounds like you are having such a great time! I just can't imagine having mid terms piled on along with FR, but it sounds like you are keeping everything held together just fine!!

Have a wonderful time with your next round!! Thanks for taking the time out of your FR schedule and your classes (most important) to satiate a bunch of rush thread addicts!!

GO PETALS!!

Glad to hear things went so well, and that you're open to having your mind changed! It's all about where you're most comfortable. Also glad to hear the suites have improved - they were kind of cold and utilitarian when I was there, with ugly carpets, and that same old outdated 1960s look that the dorms still have.

Other people are worried about your studies - what I can't figure out is how anyone keeps from getting sick! It's cold and windy in Happy Valley now, and those suites can get overheated with all those people in them. Hot, cold, hot, cold, hot, cold all night, then staying up late on adrenaline, then do the whole thing over again.

But then again, if you can sit in rain and snow at football games for 3 hours, I guess surviving sorority rush should be easy.

Hope it all continues to be fun. Thanks for the update!

It's great to hear that you enjoyed the first night of Round 1. Continue to keep an open mind to all of the chapters, as you are doing, and remember that while you may not click with a few members at one event, you may completely change your mind the next time you set foot in their house! Keep an eye on several chapters you could see yourself enjoying, rather than fixating on just one or two, and continue to keep that great sense of confidence and self that you have about you! Good luck.

I'm excited for you! It sounds like you are having a good time. Can't wait to hear the rest of your story:)