A Penn State Disney Recruitment!
 

Hi guys!

A little about myself: I'm a sophomore at Penn State. I have always done well with girls and even better with groups of girls (<3 my high school sports teams). I would say I had good friends last year but not best friends. I sort of thought about rushing last year and then I really wanted to do it over the summer. And tah dah! Right now I'm going through recruitment and I'd like to share my story! Penn State has 19 sororities and the process this year lasts about a week and a half. I will be posting a day or two behind.

A little background of Penn State; at Penn State, Greek life is big (over 40 frats, business and other major frats, honor orgs and cultural orgs), but it's not the be-all end-all for a social life. There are some sororities that are very competitive and intense and there are others that are more chill. You oftentimes hear of a girl that said she didn't feel like a typical sorority girl (which is what I feel about myself), but she still loves hers. Although the process is very long, I definitely think the pros of having 19 sororities on campus outweigh the cons.

I know there are a lot of Disney-themed, but I'm still doing it anyway! Plus I couldn't think of other things that had 19 categories haha.

So at our campus we have:

Alice in Wonderland
Peter Pan
The Little Mermaid
Beauty and the Beast
Aladdin
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Lion King
Toy Story
Hercules
Mulan
Tarzan
The Emperor's New Groove
Monster's Inc.
Lilo & Stitch
Finding Nemo
The Incredibles
Enchanted
Tangled
Wreck-It Ralph

Our recruitment has three days of open houses, two days of first rounds, two days of second rounds, pref night, and bid day.

One thing that's hard for me is already knowing some stereotypes since I'm a sophomore. I am trying to keep an open mind as I go through this experience!

Thanks in advance for reading and hope you enjoy!

-Nittanyville

Hi guys!

So Orientation was packed! We just learned a little about the process, what to expect, how to dress, etc. Apparently there was around 1600 girls this year, which beat last year's 1300 (approximately)! Crazy!

Afterwards, we split into our Pi Chi groups. I really liked all three of mine. The Pi Chis took more time to explain in detail what was going to happen and were there to answer our questions. I'd say the average Pi Chi group size was 40-45 girls. At the end of the meeting they told us to sleep because we would need it. The next few days were going to be five hour ordeals! I was getting pretty excited/nervous.

- Nittanyville

This sounds like fun!

As a Penn State Alumna (and initiate of the Beta Mu chapter of Phi Mu), I can tell you that all the sororities on campus are wonderful! Whatever sorority you join, you will have the opportunity to get really involved with Homecoming, Greek Sing, THON, Greek Week, and many other activities. I wouldn't change the amazing experience I had at Penn State as a sorority woman for the world! I'm still very involved as an alumna and I support the chapter, my local Alumnae Chapter, and the chapter of my sorority on the campus where I am doing graduate work. Good luck to you! WE ARE...

Best of luck, looking forward to follow a Big Ten rush story

Finally! A Penn State rush!
 

Like you said, the best thing about Penn State Panhel is the wide variety of sororities available, which gives you a good chance to find somewhere that's a good fit. Sounds like you're keeping the proverbial "open mind", which is the only way to go.

Penn State is so damned huge that a sorority gives you both a manageable home base and a group to work for during 'Thon, but also a great group of friends to celebrate life events with in the years to come. Plus, you have people to tailgate with when you come back as an alum! I was at the UCF game this weekend with 16 old ASAs, and the tailgate right next to us was full of old KDs.

One of my favorite sorority sisters has a daughter who is also going through recruitment with you. Best of luck to both of you - here's hoping you can keep up your energy through all those parties!

Can't wait to read this; PSU was one of my top college choices (The Creamery alone was almost enough for me to enroll!). I have to root for Nightmare Before Christmas in this story; my fave Disney movie. Good Luck Nittanyville!

Without knowing anything about the groups or the OPs preferences... I am rooting for Mulan. She is pretty bad @ss as far as "princesses" go.

I am so excited to read a Penn State recruitment story! 3 days of open house rounds, wow! I am rooting for Finding Nemo, Wreck It Ralph and Mulan. Good luck to you!

Hi guys!

So today I visited seven sororities. Each party was 15 minutes long. It wasn't that bad overall and I actually started getting more energetic as the night went on.

Alice in Wonderland - It was sort of a shock to start off so quickly. I actually don't remember much but I think the girl or two I talked to was nice.

Peter Pan - This was one of the more well-known sororities but luckily I didn't even think of that until afterwards. The girls I talked to were very pretty, but the conversations were nothing special. Not much to complain about though.

The Little Mermaid - The girl I talked to was really peppy and entertaining but the conversation became stunted and boring. We only talked with one girl.

Beauty and the Beast - Sat in a highly uncomfrotable pose and my legs fell asleep haha! But that really didn't bother me until I got up. We only talked with one girl but it wasn't a bad conversation. Nothing exceptional.

Aladdin - This one was alright. We talked to three girls and the first two were average but the third was really funny!

The Nightmare Before Christmas - This one wasn't that great. We talked to two girls and but I looked around a bit. The conversations weren't bad but I wasn't really feeling it. However, the other rushee with me seemed to connect with them a lot.

The Lion King - This was the first time I got to talk to a sister alone. The conversation was great and flowed really well!

All in all, the first day wasn't bad! Everyone always talks about the horrors of recruitment but I felt pretty good. Obviously I want to be invited back to a lot, but I'm keeping an open mind and I'm not dead-set on joining (although I really want to!). I feel like coming into it as a sophomore has it's disadvantages but not really sure.

I wasted a lot of time before going to bed, which I need to stop doing since homework and studying is piling up haha.

- Nittanyville

Oh my gosh! I can't root for just one as all but three movies are my favorites in their own way! Ahh, Nittanyville, why you do me like this? Haha. I'm just rooting for you to find a home, then.

Wow -- 15 minutes for a party.
That's like speed-dating!

Definitely! That's how everyone explains it! Even crazier when there are 3 or 4 sisters that switch and talk with us PNMs.

When I was in school, Round 1 was 15 minutes and we visited 18 hours. Round 2 wasn't much better: 20 minutes.

Love Penn State and Disney!
 

Good luck to you! Thats crazy that you only have 15 minutes... barely enough time to get to know someone.

Im rooting for Finding Nemo and Tangled!

No, I think open houses is what they're doing now (i.e. the speed dating).

You're right! You could learn a little about each sorority at the involvement fair a couple weeks back as well. But that was more of a visit booths-type deal.

Hey guys!

Day two went really well! Saw another 7 sororities!

Toy Story - Not too bad. The other girl I was rushing with laughed at some of my jokes. Not fantastic convos but nothing to really complain about.

Hercules - Started off rough because I let tiers get into my head. The first girl I didn't do well with but I got better as it went on.

Mulan - Don't remember much but I remember it went well. I remember really liking the 2nd girl I talked to.

Tarzan - This one is another one that a lot of people think is really good. I recognized a girl that I'm not really friends with. Other than that, convos went well and all the sisters seemed very put together, good-looking, and outgoing. I started out the convo rough but it got a lot better by the end and I felt comfortable.

The Emperor's New Groove - I'm a legacy here but from a different campus. The girls here were very nice and pretty. I don't really remember the convos.

Monster's Inc. - I was actually really looking forward to this one! I didn't think I would like it before I started rushing but now it's one of my favorites! The convo flowed really easily.

Lilo & Stitch - The setup of the room was pretty hectic and loud but the conversation wasn't bad. The girls were very nice but nothing really special.

Second day went great in my opinion! Much better than the first, probably because I knew what to expect. One more day of open houses, then first rounds start! When I get back each day I put off doing homework in favor of picking out clothes for future rounds! (Don't worry, this post is a homework break right now.... might end up doing an all-nighter :( )

Something to note - the sororities at Penn State don't have houses (and no, it's not because of the brothel rule, look that up on snopes). So we are meeting in the sorority suites. They're really larger rooms or like study lounges.

- Nittanyville

I <3 OP

THON has grown exponentially since I participated almost 30 years ago - it was an amazing experience then, I can't imagine what it's like now. My chapter isn't there anymore so I don't have a GLO preference for you, but you do get cool points for having The Emperor's New Groove on your list.

Good luck with the process and I hope it works out for you - it's nice to have a 'home' on a campus of 40,000.

Haha aw, thanks! :p

It's crazy to look at old pictures and numbers! Hopefully you can visit sometime! Stinks about your GLO! Would have been nice to have an even 20 chapters haha.

And thank you! I hope it works out well too!

[hijack] How can anyone feasibly make an impression on someone when the entire party is 15 minutes and you spend at most 2-3 minutes talking to them? Am I the only one who thinks that is a bit stupid? [/end hijack]

Toss up between Monsters Inc ("kitty") and Finding Nemo ("fish are friends, not food")

It's definitely hard and I'm never 100% sure on anything but I hope it will get better as I go on!

Edited out. Will post later.

Just reading your write-up brings back how exhausting that first round is. But yay, you made it through! Hope you get back the chapters you want, but regardless, keep with the process, if you want to be greek, Penn State provides a lot of opportunities. Fingers crossed for Emperor's New Groove! Mainly because I've been reciting lines in my head from the movie all day since reading your post this morning!

Thanks for the support! I always forget how much I love that movie and how funny it is! Definitely need to re-watch it soon.

Edit: I have decided to wait 2-3 days behind instead of 1-2. I was reading another thread and I feel that it's best since my thread is so specific with the school. Hope you all don't mind!

I'm pretty sure there is no cutting after this round...it's more to familiarize the rushees with the chapters.

They do release after open round.

I am not familiar with Penn State (other than lots of work colleagues WHO ARE .. PENN STATE). : )

The party times are short. How does this compare to, say, Indiana or Illinois? Is a lot of time spent "herding" PNMs (thank you, Clemsongirl) between parties? I assume that the suites are in close proximity to one another, but then again envisioning herding in Littlejohn makes me think the same may be true here?

At Indiana, open house rounds are 30 minutes with 15 minutes between houses!

Haha thank you! I didn't want to make anyone mad but I was reading another thread and I don't want any chance of a sorority figuring out who I am so I want to wait longer and put less specific details. Hopefully I can add more insight at the end of the process.

You're right! 19 open houses, max 13 first, max 8 second, max 3 pref.

We are! There is a lot of herding. We have 10 minutes to get to the next party (so far has been 10 for open house and first rounds). I would say by the time I get to the next suite I have 3-4 minutes before the party starts (we line up in order in that time). Obviously it depends on how far everything is.

If me answering questions/responding (real time) is annoying since there won't be new content for a day or two, I wont post until an update! Like I said, after reading a sticky I reconsidered what I was posting and the timeline of it.

Nittanyville -- post however you see fit! : )

I appreciate your answering questions.

Until the next post, have fun!

What I find interesting about how it works at Penn State is that IT WORKS. They end up with great girls who turn into successful leaders in the chapters, the university and in later life. They are able to make significant cuts, minus mountains of recs, and not accidentally end up with girls with horns or rap sheets. They don't have massive multi-million dollar chapter houses to sway girls. What they have is a sisterhood and a chapter room. And it works!

I don't want to get into another discussion about recs, and how they discriminate against girls who aren't from the kind of middle class families where sororities are the thing to do.

But Amen, DubaiSis - Penn State sororities get great girls without much in the way of recs and without everyone memorizing their (photo studio) glamour shots over the summer. It can work!

Doesn't it work this way at most schools outside the SEC or the "absolutely positively need eighteen years of social acclimatization" schools?

I don't think DS's comment was meant to enable an SEC pile-on. I'm sure that there are some girls at Penn State who are jealous every single day of the huge chapter houses they see online and would gladly wade through recs and everything else to have them. The plain fact of the matter is that Penn State doesn't have sorority houses not because they think it's better or enables them to conduct rush on a higher moral plane - it's because there was not room left to build them.

My intention was to point out that there are a lot of different ways to have a Greek system at your school. Even very large schools can have very low key rushes. Competitive? Yes, but minus a lot of the drama that many schools think is just part of the game. I think what Penn State does is pretty unusual. I can't think of any other schools with this many chapters that don't have chapter houses, don't require recs, don't require months of prep work, etc. I haven't seen it first hand, but it does seem like a beacon of hope for turning down the crazy with large rushes.

The Penn State system is probably as good as it can be given the number of sororities and rushees.

One of my friends has a freshman daughter who is rushing there now. Before recruitment, a guy friend from high school who is in a fraternity sent her a list of the four sororities he considered the "hot" ones who partied at his house, and Mom pointed out that it was far more important that she ask herself "Who do I want to eat dinner with for the next four years?" rather than "Is this one of the 'hot' groups who party with XYZ?". She reminded her daughter that mom is still getting together with her sorority sisters, and suggested that when she's talking to people, she ask herself if she would still want to be hanging out with them 30 years later. Good advice!