FSU Recruitment 2012
 

In a little more than an hour and a half my daughter will begin recruitment at Florida State University. She met her Rho Gamma last night and says she likes her, so that is a good start.

She is a great kid and I believe that she has a lot to offer to the right group. What makes my wife and I a little nervous is that she tends to be quiet and reserved. She understands that if she is going to make it through this week successfully, that she will have to challenge herself to try to keep conversations flowing smoothly.

She told me that there are 1580 pnms this year! Does anyone know if this is correct? This appears to be almost 300 more than there were last year.

I'm not sure if this thread will be live or with a one day delay. I guess it will be depend on how things go and how much information she is willing to provide us.

Per FSU Panhellenic twitter, that number seems correct for this year but that doesn't mean all of the girls registered will show up. Some register for recruitment only to move into the dorms early. I think last year they had around 1500 PNMs as well (from the FSU Office of Greek Life twitter).

Good luck to your daughter! This rain is a pain but all of the PNMs are in the same boat so tell her to focus on her conversations and not the weather! All of the chapters at FSU are wonderful and I hope she finds her home.

FSUDad, be careful of keeping a live Rush thread. Collegians do read Greekchat, and an unintentional slip of extra information on your part could reveal her to readers who would otherwise not know whose recruitment thread you are posting.

Hooray for an FSU recruitment thread and GO NOLES!!!

Good luck to your daughter dad and pass on the advice from beachcomber and marypoppins.

Please keep us updated-the day delay idea is great!

Good luck and Best Wishes for your daughter. Yes she will need to get our of her comfort zone - very important to ask questions, be enthusiastic, be genuine, get to know the chapter women, and display enthusiasm about being a part of chapter life.

Do be cautious about what you post during recruitment - after recruitment tales are best and you can see from other stories on this board that generic names until the end are usually best as well.

We will be waiting to hear how it all turns out!!

Best of luck to her! I know someone on the Greek staff there and that number sounds correct, and it seems to be a national trend already this year (huge PNM groups).

Just finished talking to "Shannon" - not her real name of course! It sounded like she had a pretty good day despite the constant rain. Thank you for your words of caution Mary Poppins and PKTKKG. I'll be very cautious.

The PNM's all wore yellow t-shirts today which were provided by Panhellenic. Most of the girls wore shorts.

Apparently, even though the PNM's stayed dry when they were beneath the tents and could use umbrellas while walking between the houses, once the Rho Gamma group was called up to the house, each PNM had to leave her belongings with the Rho Gamma - which meant she had to stand uncovered until the door opened - the bottom line is you were going to get wet.

The girls in her group seemed to take it in stride.

I've decided to use the names of cities in Florida for the various groups at FSU (excluding Gainesville, of course, since this is an FSU thread!). So here goes:

Today she visited Ocala, Tampa, Venice, Naples, Jacksonville, Orlando, Daytona Beach, and Miami. At some of the parties it was very loud and difficult to hear conversations. Her conversations at Ocala seemed the most natural, and she had a common interest with her primary host at Tampa. Her host at Jacksonville talked with her all the way to the door, which she took as a good sign. The girls she talked to at Miami talked about some funny things which she liked and she described the girl she spoke with at Daytona Beach as "being very down to earth".

For lunch each Rho Gamma group went to Suwannee Hall for lunches provided by Panhellenic.

Overall she felt that the conversations went well and that she would be interested in returning to every single house.

They start over tomorrow with a Rho Gamma group meeting at 10:30 am followed by parties at the rest of the houses.

Go Tampa!

My daughter has lots of her high school buddies going through rush at FSU (and UF) Wishing them all good luck and that they each find a perfect home. Good luck to Shannon too!

How was her experience at Naples, Dad?

FSUZeta, you started off my day with a good chuckle! I don't have my notes with me at the office so I can't give you more particular info, but I can say that her visit with "Naples" went just fine.

BTW if any other Moms or Dads out there have daughters who are going through recruitment at FSU, please join in on this thread. Let's all go through this together.

The forecast is for a 100% chance of rain for this afternoon, so it looks like the weather today will be similar to yesterday :(.

When I went through recruitment a few years ago at FSU, it was constantly pouring thanks to a tropical storm. Good thing it was totally worth it! You're daughter will get through it, I promise!!

Looking forward to hearing more of her story!

Yay for Naples! My parents spend a month there every summer and we've gone with them a couple of times - beautiful town! Go Naples!

Hi! I have been lurking here since my daughter participated in recruitment at FSU last year. She did pledge a house and is currently on the other side of recruitment. I know it has been said a million times on this site, but I think some of the best advice for a PNM is to keep an open mind. Advise your daughter to avoid the tent talk and gossip about tiers, and reflect on the chapters that she feels must comfortable in and with young women most like her. Unfortunately most PNM's will be cut from chapters that they like at some point in recruitment, but in the end if she keeps an open mind and maximizes her options, she should find a great house. Best wishes to you and your daughter! I was more anxious than my daughter this time last year!

Yea! I love it when Dad's come on here and tell recruitment stories!!! I hope your daughter is having a great time!

Well, my daughter is also there and I have to say that she was the most excited after her visits yesterday than I've seen her about the school. She also said that it was very difficult to hear but thought that she kept the conversation going.

I hope it keeps going this way, and there is a long road ahead. I would think that when they get their list tomorrow of what houses they are going is when the excitement and hopefully not to much disappointment will begin. But they need to realize that a house you might have not been so crazy about yesterday could be a house that you are crazy about today.

Wishing all good luck.

Good luck to all the FSU PNMs and may they all stay dry. My son is there for graduate school orientation today and he texted that the rain is modulating between torrential downpour and sprinkle.

And Dad, got to root for Naples. It's where I live!

The Pnm's are up late tonight making their selections because one of computer rooms was not working properly, resulting in the process taking twice as long.

The rain let up and after drizzling early on, it actually started getting a little hot in the afternoon.

Shannon had a good second day and felt like the conversations went fairly well again. Today she visited Pensacola, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee, West Palm Beach, Bradenton, Clearwater, Ft. Lauderdale and Ft. Myers. She spoke to 2 girls at Pensacola and exchanged some funny stories. Her conversations at St. Petersburg were natural and at Tallahassee she and her host learned that each enjoyed the same type of TV shows. She also had some good conversations at Clearwater. At Ft. Lauderdale she and her primary host learned that they had participated in the same sport in high school and she had a very natural conversation there.

They can attend a maximum of twelve parties tomorrow and Thursday so we are anxiously waiting to see how the first round of cuts go.

Aw I love that you're writing your daughter's story! I wish my dad had any idea what a PNM was haha. He does however throw the gamma better than I do. I hope all goes well for your daughter and you can have as much pride in her new chapter as my dad has in mine :)

I'm right there with you FSUDAD! My daughter is also going through rush at FSU right now....very exciting! I may write her recruitment story after all is said and done but, for now, she's not really giving many details and phone calls are brief. I think she's having a great time with her new friends from this week so I'm not going to feel left out just yet!;) She told me they had 83 Rho Gamma groups and that this is the largest recruitment group ever. Last night she said she'll have a lot more to say when it gets really "interesting" which I would assume, once cuts are made. Lets just say she is not one for details! Good luck to all the 2012 FSU PNM's!

Well, my daughter called last night at 9:30 when she was done with the selections. She said the same thing about the computer being all tied up. She is very curious about who will cut her as she thinks that all went well. Im sure that things will change today, but last night she said that she is enjoying herself so much at all the parties that so far it has all been very easy. She's making new friends from her group and in my mind it seems like this is part of the plan. Her Rho Gamma informed the group that she did not receive a bid from her first choice and that made my daughter feel better. Keeping my fingers crossed for her this morning, hoping she has 12 on her schedule.......

Best wishes to all the FSU PNMs today!

The cuts were tough today. Shannon was invited back to the following groups: Clearwater, Orlando, Pensacola, Jacksonville, Ft. Myers, Ft. Lauderdale, and Tallahassee.

She is happy that two of her faves invited her back, but is sad to lose one to which she felt she had a very close connection.

She sounds like she is being a good trooper and trying keep a postive attitude with the houses which remain on her schedule.

The disappointment has begun. My daughter got invited back to 12 houses but 3 were her alternates. Her favorite cut her. But, I think its positive that 12 invited her back. I'll bet at the end of the 2 days, one of the alternates will become a favorite.......will keep you posted.

This is Great!! Remind her to keep that open mind-impressions can and do change from day to day. The important thing is to stick with it, put the best foot forward (think job interview), have fun, and look for a place to call 'home'. Keep us posted!

Meant to say that the full party schedule is great and I agree with you that there are some on there she will grow to love during the week if she opens herself up to her remaining chapters.

I hope that your girls enjoyed their day today, and that they now have some additional favorites.

It looks like this is a triple recruitment story thread! My daughter was invited back to 12 houses today which included 3 of her alternates. I wondered if she would be disappointed at losing a chance with 3 of her favorites from the first round but she seemed perfectly fine and had a great attitude going into the 2nd round. I talked to her this evening and she already had some new favorites. Funny how things change because the only house that she voiced discontent with from the first round invited her back, and she is looking forward to having another chance to get to know them (but hopefully with a different rusher!). All in all, she is loving the opportunity to meet the girls and develop new relationships with her Rho Gamma group. I only hope this positive attitude continues because I fear the next round will have a lot more cuts.

Love Reading other parent's replies
 

I am so glad I found this thread. I, too, have a daughter going through the process at FSU. It is nice to know other parents are concerned and providing support for their girls.

My daughter is loving the process, but is exhausted and losing her voice from talking so much. She has spoken so highly of the way it is run and knows in the end she will be a part of the sorority she can call home. She was fortunate in her first round and was invited back to all of her houses... but she anticpates that she won't be as lucky on Friday. She visited 8 houses today and didn't get a break besides the time to walk to another house. She said by the end she was losing steam. Tomorrow she only has to go to four.


She can not say enough about her Rho Gamma and the support she is providing the entire group. She said she really is helpful about instilling confidence in each girl individually and the process. Kudos to FSU for doing such a great job training these mentors.

Please keep posting your stories... they are fun to read.

I agree about the Rho Gammas. My daughter has loved hers and I attribute her positivity to her group leader. I think their whole group has been very supportive of each other. She mentioned that someone wanted to drop out after the first day and the rest of the girls encouraged her to remain to give all of the sororities a chance because the right one may have not met her yet.

Well, it was a good day and my daughter enjoyed the 6 houses she saw yesterday and is looking forward to 6 more today. What also was nice is that she went to dinner with a bunch of girls last night. Meeting new people thru this experience is so important. She was at FSU this summer for 2 classes and didnt meet alot of people. It's a whole new world to her in fall and she is really enjoying herself. New favorite houses have emerged and the ones that cut her are forgotten about.

But, I agree with the other poster, Friday morning, I fear will bring disappointment.

Son moved into his Graduate dorm yesterday and had to drive past group after group of PNMs and had to quickly stop his vehicle at one point as PNMs swarmed across the street to get to their appointed parties. He loved it!

Good luck to all the girls today and hang in their parents!

My daughter commented on the high volume of male spectators in the area. She was taken a bit off-guard by some taking videos of as they walked. She knew that they were harmless though and laughed about it. I told her that is what happens when you have 1,500 beautiful, well-dressed young woman out walking around.

Im new to this. Are the Moms suppose to have a present for their daughters on bid day. Was just reading an auburn story and it sounded like they get their daughters gifts. Well what is an appropriate gift. I dont want to be giftless on bid day

Auburn =/= FSU.

So excited to see an FSU thread! To the Moms and Dads, I can't stress enough how strong the Greek life is at FSU and how impressive all the sorority groups on campus are. Wherever your daughter finds her home for the next four years, she will love the experience!

And some things never change. The rain, the heat, and the fraternity boys driving around checking out the newbies. I can still remember the KA's renting a huge flatbed truck, putting hay in the back (so they could hide the keg) and driving around during the rush parties. Catcalls and shouts of approval were sort of unnerving for the rushees (pre-PNM terminology) but the sorority girls would just roll their eyes and keep on singing.

Can't wait to hear the outcomes. Hope you pround parents will share the stories.

My daughter went through FSU recruitment and pledged last year. I did not send a gift on bid day (but I did for initiation). My daughter never mentioned other girls getting parental bid day gifts, but her pledge class did receive welcome gifts from the sorority house. Last year at FSU on bid day, the Rho Gammas met with each PNM individually and gave them their bid and bid day t-shirt. So, PNMs were able to open their bid privately and be counseled by their Rho Gamma if necessary. The PNMs then go to the fountain and meet the rest of their pledge class.

AWWW, that is really nice. So I guess they see the tshirt and know who they received the bid from.

The girls will get some kind of bid day bag or backpack from their new home and it will be filled with stuff so it is better to wait till after bid day and big/little to get a present (but even then it isn't necessary!) I have seen parents sending flowers but by no way is it the majority.

Sigma Chi was directly across the street from my sorority house. Not only did they learn our yard songs and dances, but they "rated" or "scored" the PNMs as they walked up to our steps and as they exited from the parties. The ZTAs who were little sisters there pleaded with them year after year, but the pleas fell on deaf ears.


You might send flowers to the sorority house for your daughter-it's a big deal to receive flowers at the house-they are placed on a table in the foyer and everyone wonders who the lucky recipient is. If you do decide to send flowers, try to send an arrangement of that sorority's flower.

(I will tell you that should they pledge ZTA, it is very hard to find white violets!)

Just personal preference...
 

Or... in the sorority colors. For Chi Omega, a big vase of red/yellow glads looks better to me than a dozen white carnations.