My University of Iowa Recruitment Story!
 

Hi everyone, as a thank you to the wonderful women on here who gave me some great advice this summer, I thought I'd post my Iowa recruitment story! Bid Day was on Monday (Labor Day) and was an amazing reward after potentially the most exhausting two weeks/weekends of my life. There are 14 Chapters at Iowa and I'm going to use US Cities as my code!

Los Angeles
New York
Seattle
Chicago
Boston
Dallas
Miami
San Francisco
Philadelphia
Washington, DC
Houston
Atlanta
San Diego
Charlotte

Just a little background info, I believe 875 women registered for recruitment this year, and while I am unsure of the final number of women that were placed, I know that right before preference round there were 675 PNMs remaining. Our Rho Gammas told us at bid day that quota this year was 46.

And as for a little background info on myself, I did not have any letters of recommendation going into recruitment. I am from a small town and grew up with little knowledge of greek life.

Here's my story, hope you all enjoy it!

Hooray, I love an Iowa recruitment story!

Man, the GC Hawkeyes are just falling out of the woodwork!

Yay!! Another Hawkeye story. Looking forward to it :)

I'm looking forward to your story also (I can't help checking these recruitment stories for updates)!

Woo hoo! Big Ten story! :)

I'll root for Houston since I'm from near there! Can't wait to hear more!

I'm going to root for Charlotte, I have family there. :)

I am so excited to hear your story as well! Please don't make us wait too long!

Go Iowa! Can't wait to hear more!

I shall root for Charlotte since that is the closest major city to me.

I'll go for Atlanta since I live in Atlanta. I'm originally from NC, and my husband is from Charlotte, but he hates Charlotte.

L.A., oh I miss it so!

Go Chicago! My hometown :)

My vote is for my city, Chicago!

My kind of town, Chicago is

Like.

Rooting for Philly and NYC!!!

Well since my fellow sister dukemama gets to root for 2, I will root for 2 as well, Houston and Dallas since I'm from Texas!

Rooting for Atlanta, since it was the first city where I branched out on my own, and New York since that's where I hope to end up!!

Since I miss California, I will put my votes in for Los Angeles and San Francisco

Rooting for Chicago because it's the city in "This City." Oh, and New York, too. Who doesn't love New York?

Round 1, Day 1

After meeting my Rho Gamma group the night before, I was so excited to get started with recruitment! On day one (the first Friday after the start of classes, August 24th) my “traveling group” visited 5 chapters:

Charlotte: The house was beautiful, and the 2 women who I spoke to here were so easy to talk to. We had conversations about traveling, academics, and the campus, and I left with a very positive impression.

Washington, DC: This house was absolutely beautiful. The women I talked to here were so easy to talk with, and we clicked immediately. We talked a lot about athletics in high school and the transition to college. I walked out of this house hoping very strongly to return for round 2.

Philadelphia: This house is also gorgeous, but I did not enjoy my time inside nearly as much as the two previous chapters. Each chapter woman spoke to two 2 PNMs at a time. If it hadn’t been for this, I’m sure I would have had a better time there, but trying to connect with both a rusher and another rushee was a little too awkward for me.

Atlanta: I enjoyed meeting one of the three women I spoke to here, but some of the conversations felt a little forced. I was unsure how I felt about them upon walking out.

Chicago: Loved this chapter and house, talked to two women who were both so real and I felt like I could really see myself as a member there.

Round 1, Day 2

Seattle: Loved the first woman I spoke to here and felt like we bonded instantly, but had somewhat of an awkward conversation with the second. House was very pretty though.

Dallas: Very sweet, but didn’t love the house, nor did I really feel like I clicked.

Houston: Structured their event with a “speed dating” format so spoke to the most women in this chapter, maybe 4 or 5. It was nice to speak to so many sisters, but at the same time I never really had the chance to get a feel for what this house is really like. The women were gorgeous but I honestly can’t recall a single detail of those conversations.

New York: Smallest chapter on campus so one chapter woman rushed 4 PNMs. A little awkward at times but I had to cut the rusher some slack, it’s not easy leading such a large group.

San Diego: Possibly the most beautiful house, conversations were nice and flowed well. Spoke a lot about major and extracurricular activities here.

Los Angeles: Beautiful house and the sisters were absolutely stunning but I honestly can’t remember anything about the conversations I had here.

Boston: House was also incredibly beautiful and sisters were very pretty as well. Conversation here seemed very superficial though (centered around reality TV and shopping in Iowa City), whereas I would rather speak about academics or extracurricular.

Miami: Really clicked with the women rushing me here, absolutely gorgeous women yet again but had an amazing spark and spirit to them. Felt like I could see myself here.

San Francisco: Beautiful story book house, sister I talked to here was so much fun to speak with and we really emphasized academic similarities which is always interesting for me. Really loved this chapter.

After Round 1 was over, we all headed to the computers to select our top 11 that we could return to for Round 2 and rank the 3 chapters we would like to return to the least. I ordered everything from 1-14 so I would know where I stood even though the ranks really only mattered from 12-14.

Washington, DC
Chicago
Charlotte
San Francisco
Miami
San Diego
Boston
Houston
Los Angeles
Philadelphia
Dallas

Seattle
Atlanta
New York

I would however like to emphasize that despite a few awkward moments here and there, recruitment round 1 was an amazing experience. I could so easily tell that every single woman in every single chapter was a part of an incredible sisterhood. Ranking the chapters was impossible after only 20 minutes spent at each, I would have been thrilled to return to any of them.

Go Chicago!

Seattle!

I'm wishing there was more! I cannnot wait to hear the rest!
Go Chicago...my hometown!

I love your attitude! can't wait to hear more!

Phooey on Dallas but still hoping! Also, for Houston!

This is a fantastic attitude for a PNM to have, especially during round 1 at a school with chapters of over 100 women each. Hats off to you!

Yeaaa for the city by the bay! Good luck!

Really want to hear how this story ends before I have to leave for the weekend -
It's Iowa vs Iowa State on Saturday. Go Hawks!

Round 2

I was so incredibly nervous for the Welcome Back round, held on Sunday, August 26th. I prepared myself for heavy cuts and reminded myself not to be disappointed if my favorites did not ask me back. My Rho Gamma handed me my schedule as my heart ferociously pounded…and I saw that I was invited back to 11 chapters, the maximum!

Today I would be going back to:

Washington, DC
Chicago
Charlotte
San Francisco
Miami
San Diego
Philadelphia
Dallas
Seattle
Atlanta
New York

This means I had been dropped by Boston, Houston, and Los Angeles but I felt incredibly blessed to have a full schedule, especially one with my 6 favorites from the previous day. I was excited to see how I felt about the chapters that I had loved the previous day and to see if my feelings improved about the ones I had not quite clicked with during Round 1.

(I will post another update tomorrow about Round 2 and Round 3, but as for now I should really get to bed! Thanks for bearing with me! And Go Hawks!!!)

Yay for Dallas still being there! Post again soon please!

Would love to hear the rest of your story soon!

I'm guessing it'll be tomorrow or later. Today is the big Iowa State/Iowa football game. It's in Iowa City this year, so I'm sure she's already (hopefully) tailgating with her new chapter.

And, Go Cyclones!

I completely forgot there was a game today and I'm sure she is having a wonderful time! My sister went to Iowa State and loved it as well as the Greek system. Beautiful campus!:)

Ahem,

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...19695434_n.jpg

:p

LOVE IT!! LOL!! Nothing is quite as much fun as game day in IOWA CITY!! (Ames???):confused:

Agreed!