A Fall 2009 Rush Story To Hold Us Over!
 

Alright, I'm a member here currently, but my username has my sorority affiliation in it, so I created a new name so that no surprises will be revealed too soon ;)

So, as a little bit of background about me...

I go to a smaller university, and although only 20 percent (roughly) of students are greek, it seems like many more are, due to the amount of letters that are seen in class and on campus. I transferred in here in 2008-2009 from junior college, and spent my first year getting acclimated to the bigger school, etc.

When my roommates suddenly turned their back on me at the end of my first year here, I chose to go through rush, in order to get involved on campus and get to know people. I knew that it would be hard to get a bid at my age (I was 21 when I rushed), but I went through with it, just hoping to find a chapter that I had something in common with.

My school has 9 sororities, and I have decided to name them after my favorite shades of MAC eyeshadow.

During the first round, we saw 5 sororities, and here is what I remember about that day.

1. The first sorority we visited, Motif, was known for being one of the more popular sororities on campus, and I always had one or two girls from this sorority in my classes. It was an instant shock for me to walk into that house and see all of these women wearing the same clothes, with their hair styled the same way, and even wearing similar makeup. They were dressed very stylishly, and I felt incredibly short (I'm 5'6") when standing in the middle of all of them. Having no prior knowledge of what happens during rush, I found myself thrown into conversations with girls that gave me polite smiles and stared myself up and down, which made the round slightly awkward, since I quickly realized that this just wasn't the place for me. I would ask about their philanthropy or what they're involved in on campus, and the topic was quickly changed from that to makeup, or clothes. The girls were polite, but I wanted to hear about your sorority, not your favorite designer! I left the house feeling slightly discouraged and wondering if rushing was such a great idea after all.

2. The next house I visited, Deep Truth, went by quickly, and while I had a great time there, I quickly realized that my age was going to be an important issue during rush. Every single girl that rushed me here asked me how old I was, and when I replied, they would just smile and nod their heads, before asking what class I was in. Whenever I replied that I was technically a senior, but I had 2 years after this year left, they had the same reaction. Once again, the girls were polite, but I could just tell that my chances of getting a bid to this house were very slim.

3. The third house of the day, Woodwinked, was one of my favorites going in, based on their slideshow and their website. The girls that I had met from this house had seemed very nice during the slideshows, and I had even taken dance classes with one of the members a few years ago. I walked into the house and was taken back to a member's room. In this room were two sisters and two PNMs, and I quickly found that both sisters were interested in the other PNM. One of the girls rushing me did start a conversation, but it quickly turned into a bizarre story about how she fried a cat on her car's engine, and then discussing how she was such a redneck. I wasn't particularly impressed about the story, considering that I do love animals, and I didn't really know her, so it would be awkward to discuss how much of a redneck she was, so I more or less gave polite replies and nods, hoping that the night was just an off night, since I originally loved this chapter, and hoped that I would be invited back.

4. Black Tied was the fourth sorority, and I didn't have any prior knowledge of them, nor did I know anyone in there, really. The girls were all enthusiastic about their sorority, and discussed things like their philanthropy, Greek Week and some famous alum members. To be honest, this round went by fast, and I was actually having a pretty good time! I felt more confident about my decision to "go greek", and by the time that I left, I honestly believed that there was a possibility that I could get a bid back.

5. The final sorority of the day was Stars 'N Rockets, and since I knew a couple of girls in this sorority, I was fairly excited about getting to visit and meet some of the girls. The first thing that happened when I met with the member that was rushing me was that they handed me a plate with a brownie on it and a glass of water, I believe. Since I hadn't eaten at all that day, I was grateful, but then...I found a problem. I discovered that I couldn't eat the brownie with the cup in my hand. The member quickly took the cup for me, and I felt like I could not apologize enough. The brownie wasn't terribly large, and it didn't take me long to eat it, but I still felt horrible for making her hold on to my cup. As soon as I was finished, though, I took it back, and apologized for what must have been the 5000th time. That round was over before I knew it, and I left the house feeling horrible about what had happened, but hoping that they would invite me back, since I had really loved what I had seen and talked about with the girls.

Day two (the final four houses from round one) will continue soon!

And, since I'm feeling slightly generous, here is my second day!

The next day, we gathered to tour the final four houses left, and I was still feeling pretty good about the previous day, even though there had been some little goofs during the day.

6. The sixth house I visited, the first this day, was Digit, one of my other favorite houses from before rush. Their philanthropy was right in line with my major, the girls that I had met were really nice, and I had liked everything that I saw on their website, etc. I know that websites and things like that aren't great indicators of what a chapter is truly like, but I really felt hopeful about this house. When I was in the house, I fell in love quickly. All of the girls were really sweet, and I even met a girl that lived in a nearby town, which was sort of rare where I come from. They were very enthusiastic about what they did for their philanthropy, and about their chapter as a whole, and I really felt like I had a lot in common with these girls. I left with this house as my number one so far.

7. After that, I visited Freshwater, and I was definitely excited to meet these girls. I had known a couple of them from my classes, and I knew that they were really sweet girls, if not a little shy. While in there, they discussed what goes on in their chapter as a member, such as the work that they do with various community agencies, and other campus activities they were involved in. While I didn't feel as at home as I did in the last house, I felt very welcome, and I was looking forward to getting to know more about their house in the future.

8. The next to last house I visited was Parfait Amour, and once again, I knew a couple of the girls from the house, and I knew that they were a fairly popular house. Their letters could always be seen around campus. I only spoke to one girl this time, and I was very relieved to hear that she was literally into all of the same things that I was. We had a great conversation, discussing gossip magazines, makeup, their philanthropy and pretty much anything else that happened to be brought up. They were very open about their house, without shoving everything in my face, which was nice. I left this house knowing that they were my new favorite.

9. The final house that I went to was Carbon, and was one of the houses that I thought I had no chance of getting into prior to rush. Everything that I had heard about this house was wonderful, even if they're not the most popular house on campus. All of the girls were very energetic and eager to discuss their house and philanthropy, which they were very passionate about. We were also allowed to sit down once in their chapter room, which felt incredibly nice at the end of a very long day! This chapter wasn't my favorite, but it was definitely in my top three, but I didn't want to get my hopes up.

When we got back to the union to rank our houses, I ranked mine as is:

1. Parfait Amour
2. Digit
3. Carbon
4. Freshwater
5. Black Tied
6. Stars 'N Rockets
7. Motif
8. Deep Truth
9. Woodwinked

And, since I forgot to include the chapters in my above post, my school has:

Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Phi
Alpha Sigma Alpha
Alpha Sigma Tau
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Zeta
Kappa Delta
Sigma Kappa
Sigma Sigma Sigma

Rooting for Sigma Kappa!

More please!

Pardon me for asking, but why would you rank Woodwinked last if you wanted to be asked back?

Because I didn't particularly feel at home there, and because I was appalled at how rude the girl was when discussing how she killed a cat...it was just a little too much. I liked all of the sororities, but that one just happened to fall in last place.

I'm hooked. Please keep going! :D

The next day was Philanthropy Round, and we could be invited back to a total of 6 houses. My gamma chi said that it would be fairly rare to not be invited back to at least five houses, so I walked into our convocation that day hopeful that I would be invited back to some of my favorite houses.

However, when I walked inside, I was met with literally hundreds of crying girls, and gamma chis working hard to console them. In my group of fifteen girls, only two had been asked back to all six houses, and there were two that had been asked back to only one. Several girls got asked back to only two or three, and I honestly couldn't believe it, considering that these girls were gorgeous, nice, and really involved on campus from what I had seen. Since I didn't get a call the night before, I knew that I had been invited back to at least one house, and my hopes were still high, hoping that I would get invited back to at least four or five houses.

My gamma chi handed me a slip of paper that contained my parties for that day, and my heart immediately sank when I saw who had invited me back.

1. Carbon
2. Digit

While I was completely surprised (and thrilled) that I was asked back to Carbon and excited that I had also been asked back to Digit, I was crushed by the fact that I had only been asked back to two out of six sororities. I knew that after today, I still had Preference round to go through, and it made me nervous, knowing that there was a big possibility that I would only get asked back to one sorority...or even none. It was a tough pill to swallow.

My gamma chi asked me if I was alright, and I told her that I was, that I knew there was a good possibility that I wouldn't get asked back to all the sororities that I loved because I was older, but I certainly didn't expect this. I didn't cry, and instead, I tried to console one of my friends in my gamma chi group, who had been asked back to only one sorority, Digit.

So, I sucked it up and went to that day's parties, which started with Carbon. Their chapter house was decorated so cutely, with little tablecloths that had colored handprints, posters for their philanthropy, and all kinds of other cute little decorations all over the room. We sat at the tables that had been set up for our craft and watched a video, which admittedly, made myself (and several of the sisters) cry. They spoke about how much work they do for their philanthropy, and were very genuine about it, which really touched me. The craft was simple and could actually be used by their philanthropy, and I really had a wonderful time there, getting to know the sisters and learning about how their sisterhood works. I had fallen head over heels for this house, but chose to stay guarded, considering my number one choice had cut me last round, and since I thought that there was no way I would be invited back again, considering how well the conversations went during that party.

After a short break, I visited Digit's party, excited about their philanthropy from the beginning, since I had already done some work with it through my major. However, it was like stepping into a completely different world when I walked into this house. There were no decorations, only a banner that had the organization's name on it, and we stood in the chapter room and waited for someone to tell us what we were doing. A sister of this group stood in front of us, and to my surprise, she merely said that we were making bracelets for this organization, and that our assigned sister could take us back to their room, where we were going to make our craft. That was it. No, "this is what we do for our organization", or anything. I was taken back into a sister's room with another PNM and another sister, so there were two of each of us in there. We started to make beaded bracelets, and the sisters were chatting about what they liked to do outside of class time with the other PNM. Every time I tried to get a word in about the topic, or tried to ask a question about their philanthropy, I got a short, curt answer, and then they quickly went back to talking to the other PNM. I still loved this house as well, and just hoped that it was an off day, simply because I still could see myself joining their house.

Still feeling slightly discouraged, I headed back to our meeting place to rank the sororities, hoping that I wouldn't get the call that I had been dreading later that night. I ranked as follows:

1. Carbon
2. Digit

My heart always sinks a bit when I hear of girls getting cut from houses which they connected so well with. I'm really glad you stuck it out though and continued on even though your first choice wasn't there.

Keep going!

Ok so I had to remind myself that in your first post you said u belonged to an org :) but keep going I'm hooked.

More! :)

Wow-- if it was so 'common' to get back 5/6 on the second day, why do you think so many girls ended up with 3 or less invites? Do you think the RC's just made up that 5/6 number to try and get your hopes up?

That's what I had been thinking, although there were plenty of girls that did get the full 5/6 back as well, but they just weren't in my group. I think it was also due to the number of girls that were rushing, because I was told that we had the largest number of girls rushing in a long time that year.

Oh, the numbers game. I don't know if I will ever understand exactly how that works :confused: but it does make sense. Good to know you ended up at a good place in the end-- I'm rooting for Carbon at this point...

Loving this thread... keep it going!

I'm loving the MAC-themed names, and I can't wait to hear what happened next!

It sounds like this may have been the first year the campus used RFM and there were still some kinks to work out - for the sororities and for the Gamma Chis' understanding of them.

/swerve: am I the only GCer who went to the MAC website to look up the eyeshadow colors?

After a short break, I visited Digit's[COLOR=Plum][COLOR=Black] party, excited about their philanthropy from the beginning, since I had already done some work with it through my major. However, it was like stepping into a completely different world when I walked into this house. There were no decorations, only a banner that had the organization's name on it, and we stood in the chapter room and waited for someone to tell us what we were doing. A sister of this group stood in front of us, and to my surprise, she merely said that we were making bracelets for this organization, and that our assigned sister could take us back to their room, where we were going to make our craft. That was it. No, "this is what we do for our organization", or anything. I was taken back into a sister's room with another PNM and another sister, so there were two of each of us in there. We started to make beaded bracelets, and the sisters were chatting about what they liked to do outside of class time with the other PNM. Every time I tried to get a word in about the topic, or tried to ask a question about their philanthropy, I got a short, curt answer, and then they quickly went back to talking to the other PNM. I still loved this house as well, and just hoped that it was an off day, simply because I still could see myself joining their house.


What an odd way to conduct a party! (I hope that house was not Alpha Gam.)

Alright, I'm fairly eager to get this story finished, so there's this part, and then I will reveal what happened on Bid Day! Would anyone want me to reveal the house code after I'm finished with this story? I will say that I have no hard feelings toward any of the houses at all, and the reason why many of them were cut were simply because I was either too old for them, or I just didn't feel like that house was my home :)

So, after a sleepless night hoping that my phone didn't ring, I woke up the morning of preference round more nervous than I ever had been. I knew that I had been asked back to at least one house, so I was very excited to get to the union and find out which house I was heading back to.

When I arrived there, my gamma chi pulled me aside and let me know that my friend, the girl that had only gotten one bid back the day before, had been dropped by all houses. She told me that she wanted her to pass along her phone number to me, and to keep in touch. I felt horrible, but I added her number to my phone and made a reminder to call her later and make sure she was doing okay. Then, she handed me the little slip of paper that had that day's parties on it, and I was overjoyed to read:

1. Carbon
2. Digit

Even though I didn't have a great party at Digit the night before, I had been invited back, thankfully! I was just glad that I had another chance there, to be honest. While we waited outside my first party, I remember my gamma chi telling us that when we left our parties, we should immediately know which house was our home. Remembering that, I entered Carbon's house, thrilled to be invited back for their preference night.

I walked in there, and literally gasped. Everything was decorated beautifully in their colors, with tables covered in tablecloths and tulle, covered chairs, and it was dark and the only light in the room was from white Christmas lights hidden beneath tulle on the table. I was seated next to the girl who had rushed me the day before, and I was really excited to see her again, because we seemed to have a lot in common during the last party. Everything was perfect, down to the sparkling water with small slices of strawberry on the side of the glass. I could tell that they really put a lot of time and effort into their party, and it showed! The ceremony was absolutely beautiful, with girls talking about what their sisterhood meant to them, songs, and short passages about sisterhood being read as well. Several girls cried, and I had to admit that I teared up as well, just because I realized that I would love to be a part of such a strong sisterhood. My biggest fear at that point was that I would be cut from this house after tonight, just because I never thought that I would be invited back to this house from day one, but somehow, I had been, and I had fallen in love with it. I left the house practically glowing, feeling the exact same way I had felt when I left my former favorite house, Parfait Amour.

My last party of that day was at Digit, and I was still very excited to visit this house, simply because they had been one of my favorites all week, and I was still very much wanting to get a bid from them as well. Their chapter house wasn't decorated nearly as elaborately, aside from a couple of tables to stand at, and a fondue fountain on the counter that separated their kitchen from the chapter room. However, when they performed their open ritual, I felt very conflicted. I still loved this house, and the girls had all been very sweet for the most part, so I felt like it wasn't going to be as easy of a choice as I had thought. The ritual was beautiful, and I knew that I could see myself becoming a member of their sorority as well, so when it ended and we were left to eat with the girls that were rushing us, I had to take some time to think. The same girl that had rushed me the day before was rushing me on this day, and her friend, the one that had been in the room with us the day before as well was standing next to us with her PNM. I thought the conversation had been going well, and we had seemed to actually get along...until my rusher's friend walked away with her PNM. When that happened, I was in the middle of a sentence, and I quickly realized that the girl that had been rushing me was now following her friend and the other PNM, leaving me behind. I followed after her, only to get a dirty look that clearly meant that she was no longer interested in talking to me. From then on, I spent the last fifteen minutes of the party bouncing around from group to group, hoping to talk to someone. To say that it was awkward was an understatement. Thankfully, the party ended quickly, and I walked out of there still feeling conflicted for some odd reason.

When I got back to the union to rank my preferences, I sat there for the longest time, not even able to move. I loved both sororities, even though my experiences at Digit hadn't been the greatest, and I really believed that I would be happy with either house. However, taking all things into consideration, I really felt like I had to rank Carbon as my favorite, simply because of how much effort they put into their parties, and how much love they had for their sisters and their philanthropy. These girls had even visited their philanthropy's headquarters, just to see what their money goes toward! However, I felt awkward putting them number one on my bid card, simply because I had been told that so few girls get their number one choice. I didn't want to list them as my first choice, and then get my second choice, or vice versa. Finally, I had to take a deep breath, and just write my choices down where I felt they belonged. I handed in my final bid card with the sororities ranked:

1. Carbon
2. Digit

I hope you get Carbon!

Is it bid day yet??? :) I'm such a rush story addict lol

Me too, but I love your descriptions, and a great lesson for houses on Pref to pay attention to their PNM!

noo!! post more!! :]

I didn't even think about that! Be right back...


Seekrit...let's hear the end! And it wouldn't bother me to find out who's who.

Love these stories!

Nope :)

I'm so excited for Bid Day! What a wonderfully detailed and exciting recruitment story!!

Alright, I'm going to go ahead and finish this story up if you don't mind :) I will reveal which sorority was which as far as my code goes, as well!

So, the morning of Bid Day came, and to say that I was nervous was the understatement of the year. I checked my phone to see if I had gotten the dreaded phone call from my gamma chi literally every five minutes, and when noon passed, I figured that I was in the clear (and had succeeded in making all of my professors angry as well). So, I went about my day trying not to think about which bid I was going to get, or if there was some sort of mistake and I would be opening an envelope containing nothing in it.

Finally, I made it to our gymnasium, where the bids were to be handed out. They didn't let us inside automatically, and it was really difficult to talk to the other girls, just because we were all nervous and sort of short with each other. However, they let us inside the gym about fifteen minutes later, and we had to sit through presentations from various members of our Panhellenic Council and find out what which sororities our gamma chis belonged to. My gamma chi belonged to Black Tied, which I had actually guessed from the very first day that we met!


Finally, after what seemed to be a hundred years, we finally got our bid cards and were told not to open them. After a couple more minutes, on the count of three, we were told to open our bids. My hands were shaking as I carefully opened the envelope, not wanting to rip anything up. As I pulled the card out of the envelope, I looked down and saw the crest of...

















Carbon!

The one sorority that I never thought I would get a bid to actually gave me a bid. All I remember after that moment was that the girl sitting next to me, Katie, had also gotten her bid to Carbon, and we were both overjoyed, crying and hugging each other. In a blur, we both met up with the gamma chis from our new home, and headed off toward our bid day party.

That was a year ago, and I am now an initiated member of my sorority, and I could not be any more thrilled with my choice. During this past year, I have made so many friends, had so many fun nights, and even won my university's Greek Sing with my sisters. I would not trade any of this for the world :)

So, many of you are probably wondering what the actual name of this mythical Carbon actually is, and I am a proud member of...



































Delta Delta Delta!

And, I have decided not to reveal which house was which, due to the fact that some people will undoubtedly know where I go to school.

And, the house that had stuck with me through recruitment was...

Digit=Alpha Sigma Alpha

I have no hard feelings against any of these houses, and I do have some friends in these houses as well, so please don't think that I hate any of these houses based on what happened during my rush, because I don't :) Rush was definitely a learning experience, and I was just happy to make it through and accomplish my goal of finding my home.

/swerve: No. I love the theme and had to look up the colors too!

OK, back to the topic :)

Yay, a Tri Delta ending! I'm so glad you found a happy home. :)

What a wonderful story. I had a similar situation happen to me and I would have gladly joined either as well. Although I must admit I might have SIPped had the other group been so curt with me as they had with you. Congratulations on a great recruitment and keeping an open mind and finding a great home.

Woo hoo! A Tri Delta ending!
 

I have to say I suspected DDD when you mentioned the hand prints on the tablecloths. :)

So glad you are happy with the Tri Delta sisterhood. :D

I was worried that would give it away, but I decided to go ahead and take a chance on it anyway because it was such a cute detail! That whole party was really adorable, to be honest.

Thank you so much everyone, I'm really happy with my choice, and I'm so excited to be able to go through rush on the other side this year!

Also, yes, this is Seekrit Rusher, on my normal username :)

Girls being dropped
 

Hey, I know this is a weird bump but I used to go to EIU before I transferred to my new school. I know DeltaEmi personally actually. I just wanted to say the reason so many girls got dropped was because they were using a new computer matching system and due to some glitches some names ended up getting lost in the system with no way to recover them the women had to be dropped from recruitment.