honeychile,

That must have been a mess to live through -- my belated sympathy.

ttt

Re: did you ever consider....
 

UGH! This girl sounds like me, circa 1985.

All I can say is that I eventually grew up and quit being an obnoxious brat and hopefully she will too.

Reading this thread backwards makes for an interesting, yet slightly confusing read. This insomnia is killing me.

/tangent

I don't think there's any nice way that a sorority could cut you. It's not like they have the capacity to say something like, "We just knew you would mesh so much better with ABC," since that would be stereotypical as well.

Maybe they should make a cut with interest option. Something for the girls who fell through the cracks since they didn't stand out, so they would know they really need to be unique. But I don't know if that would get PNMs hopes up too much about being invited back later, or what other damage it could case.

I know that my school is pretty small and recruitment isn't that harsh but I don't see much of the judging people by their looks. My sorority is known as the diverse sorority. We have all kinds of girls. We have the "pretty girls", the "big girls" and everything in between. This is why I wanted to be a DZ so much. Yes on my campus we have the "beautiful" sororities and the not so popular sororities but all in all I think that most of the sororities are equal.
The only problem that we have with the superficialness (don't know if that is a word), is people that come in and help with recruitment. I know that we have great consultants but some of them that we have had in the past have been horrible. It just makes me mad when a person who doesn't know us or our greek system walks in and tells us that we need to be more beautiful for recruitment. I can understand that we need to make a good impression but we also need to act like ourselves. They have actually said to us that we need to wear more makeup and such. It might be a shock to them but not everyone wears makeup. I think it makes us look fake when we are one way during the year and when recruitment comes around we are all trying to be supermodels...:rolleyes:
Also it is a problem with these women coming in and only wanting the "cute girls". They aren't going to be in our chapter and they don't know what kinds of girls would mesh well with us. I hate to say it but a lot of the "pretty girls" that they pick for us have been worthless sisters and we never see them. I personally think that someone's personality is more important when I am looking at potential sisters but unfortunately not everyone feels this way.
Sorry I went on so long.

Not long, it needed to be said. It's great to have help from consultants and/or alumnae but there's a difference between wanting the chapter to be its best and wanting the chapter to conform to an image it doesn't want - especially when the chapter is thriving as it is. I agree that it's great to have beautiful women and superinvolved women but if they're never around, it really doesn't matter how wonderful someone thought they were at rush.

Sometimes you just have to live and learn. I rushed my sophomore year, and did not receive any bids. Rush is pretty competitive at my school, and even though I told people I was a sophomore I was really classified as a junior due to the numerous credits I gained from being a music ed major. So I was cut pretty hard. I didn't know how to "play the game" as someone said earlier, and I didn't even know that someone could write a rec for you until I came across GC. If it were any other reason besides those (such as my personality or what not) then I certainly don't know of any, but then again I don't need to know at this point.

But hey, a new sorority is colonizing this fall, and I'm very excited about it. Getting cut from rush is hard, but I've evaluated the situation and decided to take advantage of this opportunity to become a founding member of a wonderful organization. :)

Re: Why you didn't make it into a sorority.
 

Recruitment is a weeklong interview process. A sorority has a set number of spots to fill. Before you come into recruitment parties, they have taken a look at the recruitment applications and letters of recommendation. Think of that as your "resume." It gives them a chance to see who they might want "on paper."

Also consider that when you apply for a job, you're not always going to be invited to an interview. And if you are invited to an interview, you need to look your best, carry yourself well, be articulate and prepared with anecdotes about yourself and your experiences, as well as know something about the company you are interviewing with and be prepared for some questions about the "work" you would be doing and the environment surrounding that work.

So let's say your recruitment applications and recs are stellar. You're probably going to meet some key players-- the chapter president, recruitment chair, etc. If you can't hold your own in a conversation, you're not dressed appropriately, etc., there are still 100s of other girls to "interview" who will.

However, there are times, too, when you may be as prepared as anything, but you have a poor recruiter who doesn't ask you the right questions or does not have the ability to carry a conversation.

Or there is zero chemistry between you and your recruiter. Lack of rapport means you probably won't be invited back.

Similarly, you can't expect to enter a sorority house and just stand there like a mute. You need to be engaging and conversational.

Overall, aside from your wardrobe choices, recs and application, you need to research the sororities, pull together some anecdotes about yourself and do some personal assessment of why you want to belong to a women's organization.

Be prepared. You may still be cut, but at least you will have done your homework.

And as always, contact the office of Greek Life at your school with recruitment questions. Call them as often as you wish. And for Pete's Sake, although we all love our sororities and being sorority women, there are plenty of other things to do on campus if you don't join a sorority-- and you will still be able to make friends and enjoy college.

No offense, and not to sound like a b#$%^ but if you had the hours of a Junior, and you were telling people you were a sophomore, that's probably a reason why you got cut. Every school I know of atleast, when you sign and turn in your recruitment application/form they verifiy your GPA and your credit hours. So they know what your grades are and what your class status is before you even walk in the door the first day. Misleading a chapter(s) about your class status isnt a wise thing to do. Eventually you will be found out and the consequences there of will follow.

I think she meant that she was a sophomore in terms of her progression in her new program (it sounds like she switched programs) - and thus would be around for 3 years. I didn't read it as her attempting to mislead the chapters though the chapters could have seen it that way.

I wasn't intentionally misleading the sororities, because it was my second year at school, and I wasn't planning to graduate any earlier then 4 years. I just so happened to pick an insane major that required 18+ credit hours a semester, thus the early classification. I'm sure they felt they were misled, and I even talked to my recruitment counselor about it, but at that point it was too late. But you're absoutely right, and that's what exactly happened.

With respect to that, be as honest and clear as possible when talking about grades, activities and class status.

"I'm a senior, credit-hours wise, but I wanted to emphasize that I transferred schools and changed my major, and picked up a double minor, so I have another 3 years of undergrad. And with three more years of college to go, and being in a new place, I'd love to be a part of a sorority to make friends and get involved with my new school."


Spin it into something positive. Find a way to work those things in a couple of times in the same conversation so it sticks in your recruiter's head. When you leave the house and someone asks about Randi Rushee, the recruiter will say, "Oh she's a senior credits-wise, but she just transferred and will be here three more years!"

I just want to remind PNMs that nobody here is the supreme all knowing rush goddess. There's a lot of useful information here, but again, it DEPENDS ON YOUR SCHOOL, and many other factors. Please do not take anyone's words on here as absolute fact. Consider it all, form your own opinions, and do what's best for you.

I don't think anyone's claiming to be "the supreme all-knowing rush goddess," they're just offering their opinions. The women offering advice generally have a lot of experience with recruitment and just want to help PNMs. There is no need to belittle their advice.

That being said, PNMs should check out how things are run at their school, not just read GC.

It wasn't aimed at anyone in particular. There's just a lot of GCers that can make many very authoritative posts, and there's a lot of PNMs out there that do take GC as the greek gospel.

ETA: where did I belittle anyone's advice? I said that much of the advice is good.