Everyone: if you had the chance to go through rush again...
 

If you all had the chance to go through rush again, knowing what you know now, what would you do different?? If you wouldn't change anything, why not?

That would be it. Instead taking the easy way out, doing the COB thing, I should've went through formal rush. We only have a few sororities, I should've rushed for all of them to get the "feel". That would've cut down a lot of confusion and doubts and "what ifs" about the other sororities I was interested in at that time.

Wow, what an interesting question.

I am a different person than I was when I rushed, even though it was only 8 years ago. I'm sure I'd weigh things very differently. I guess I'm more at peace with society's rules - I wouldn't assume a chapter was full of mindless conformists just because they dressed better during rush, for example. And I'd pay more attention to whether a chapter excelled in various areas - I don't mean which is most popular, but a chapter that could point with pride to its achievements.

However, in the end, would I end up someplace different? I don't know. Well, technically, yes, because my chapter is now closed, so joining it wouldn't be an option. :( And the chapters have changed, too, so the chapter I rejected before for being full of sweet but uninteresting girls is now producing the top campus leaders.

But if we had a magical time machine that could transport me back in time to my formal rush, keeping me who I am while turning me back into a freshman - well ... would I retain the foreknowledge I have now? Knowing my chapter would shrink and close? Knowing that several of my favorite people from my second choice chapter depledged and went elsewhere? Knowing that, I would stay where I am now, because I have a strong belief in my sorority's unique ideals and outlook, and I'm in this for life. But if I didn't know any of that, and was looking forward to those four years of college with a blank slate, I very might well have chosen differently. And no matter where I joined, I'm sure I'd look back later and see strengths of the other chapters I missed at the time, and weaknesses in my own chapter I had not anticipated.

I would also have gone through formal recruitment. My freshman year was when AOII recolonized and it was an interview process. I totally love where I am, but it makes me wonder where I might have ended up if I had gone through the formal recruitment process.

Interesting question. :)

I cut two sororities immediately at the beginning of formal rush. I would have given them more of a chance.

I would have done a lot more research into sororities in general and the specific chapters before rushing. GC wasn't around back then - I wish it had been!

I would have shown up to see who invited me to pref before making the decision to drop out of rush. It would have been interesting to see if I had been invited back and where. Now I'll never know.

In the end, though, I probably would still have gone where I did. :)

I completly agree with you here. I went through cob to join ADPi and I think it would have been a good idea to go through formal recruitment.

i would have gone through in the first place!! :) ... at the time, i NEVER would have joined a sorority if it weren't for cob, but now... now the fact that i never went through formal recruitment is a regret of mine... just to have had that experience would be a good thing. though at the time, i probably would have just dropped out before invites went out...

I would have gone through when I wanted to, which was fall semester of my first year. But I had made a lot of friends who were very anti-greek and so, I didn't go through because I didn't want them to be upset. I pretended to hate sororities and fraternities as much as they did, even though i wanted to be a part of a sorority so bad. So during winter semester my soph year, I said f*ck it and went to a COB, which turned out to be the best decision I ever made. I wish I could have met all of the sororities, but after meeting girls from other sororities, I realized that I wouldn't have been happy any place else.

I would have toured SigEp and SAE.

Having Summer rush meant that I basically toured the houses after my Orientation day, the houses I ended up touring ended up being the ones I considered.

At the time, being as naive as I was, I didn't know which houses were frats and which were sororities, so I ended up usually going only to houses that either had an open door or people out front (or the ones that I had heard others talk about)...not realizing that at Nebraska, the sororities are on the opposite side of the streets as the fraternities. Or that I could have checked the web to find out for sure.

I also would have turned my rush application in way earlier.

I know now that I wouldn't have joined either of the two houses I skipped, but one of them may have slipped in to a distant second at one point.

Unfortunately, they didn't have formal rush the semester that I rushed and pledged. The main reason I would have gone through formal rush is to meet other people in the other sororities. Without a doubt, the result would have been the same!:D :cool:

Nothing!
 

After thinking about it for a bit I realize i wouldn't have changed anything about my rush experience. I think going into it knowing i could drop out if i totally hated it, was calming. there wasn't any pressure from anyone really. And i accually did it just wanted to meet different people and see all the houses. Have an AWSOME Rho Chi helped too! The first day i knew right where i wanted to end up, and although opinions changed slightly, on bid day I had that feeling that this is where i was supposed to go and knew i would have a great time :D YEA ALPHA CHI!!

Re: Nothing!
 

After thinking about it for a bit I realize i wouldn't have changed anything about my rush experience. I think going into it knowing i could drop out if i totally hated it, was calming. there wasn't any pressure from anyone really. And i accually did it just wanting to meet different people and see all the houses. Having an AWSOME Rho Chi helped too! The first day i knew right where i wanted to end up, and although opinions changed slightly, on bid day I had that feeling that this is where i was supposed to go and knew i would have a great time :D YEA ALPHA CHI!!

opps sorry bout that :)

looking back i probably would have chosen different topics to talk about. i was a little freshman who didn't know any better. i went to high school overseas where drinking was allowed at 16, so i'd been drinking for a while. i'm not like out of control or anything, but my experiances got brought up a couple places where i think it hurt me. ultimately i think i still would've ended up sigma kappa, because of my strong family legacy (5 + me) but i think i would have had a different pref nite if i'd talked about something else.

Looking back I am glad things went the way they did. I went through formal rush and though i didnt put all the effort I should have into, I just dont think I would have fit in anywhere.

Then AGD came to campus. To tell you the truth I didnt think I was going to try it either due to not fitting in to the other groups on campus. But I was walking into the Student Center in sweats, t shirt and cap (a lazy day!) and was met by this AWESOME Alpha GAm. She totally didnt care how I looked that day and told me all about the new sorority on campus. So I thought about it and decided to give it a try. Since then I have never looked back!!

I think that knowing what I know now I would've rushed as a freshman... or at least come up with a better reason for why I waited until my sophomore year. Also, I said some pretty stupid things... for example, in the KD room, I cussed at one point, and said that "it doesn't really matter what sorority you're in, as long as you're greek." I don't think the girl appreciated that too much. Also, I would've kept a more open mind. Going through as a sophomore, I already knew a lot of the girls and a lot of the sororities' reputations. One of the reasons I gave DG a better chance is because a Sigma Nu told me what a great sorority it was. I was also rude to one sorority (well, not blatantly, I just didn't really try to talk that much) because I was supposed to have a guaranteed bid and I didn't care about impressing them... I ended up getting cut first round. Whoops!

I don't think I would change anything about my rush experience if I had it to do over again. I went through as a sophomore but, if I had gone through as a freshman, I don't think I would be the same person I am today. I knew more about college and about myself.

Now, there are definitely some things I would change about my recruitment experience as an active...but that's another story! ;)

I would have ignored my mother's advice and rushed. Maybe she was right about the whole thing all along, but if I had rushed then at least I'd know for sure instead of sitting here wondering "what if..."

Not a damned thing. :D And for the record, this is one of the few instances in my life where I can truly say that.

I'm with you, 33girl. If only I could look back on all of the other things I've done in my life with such confidence....

...well, maybe I wouldn't have worn that red skirt & peach blazer to first round....(it was the 80's folks--totally acceptable then...).:D

I would have taken my grandmothers advise and gone through recruitment as a freshman. I had a boyfriend who didn't want me to do it and like a FOOL I listen to him.

I think it would have been interesting to see who I got invited back to as a freshman rather than an undervalued sophmore, but I KNOW that I would have choosen Alpha Xi Delta anyway. I went through looking for girl friends - I was one of those girls that had lots of guy friends in highschool. Alpha Xi was a great group - maybe not number one on campus - but number one in my heart, then and now.

When I was in the chapter and some of us would be sitting around lamenting that we didn't get to mix with such and such fraternity we would play the "if you could have gone anywhere" game. And while we all thought there was a group that we didn't get to go back to during recruitment that we would have like too, we all agreed that we wouldn't change where we pledged. It's more about the people than the name. All five bridesmaids in my wedding were Alpha Xi's - 4 from my chapter and 1 from the chapter that I advise. I never would have met any of them without Alpha Xi Delta.

Alpha Xi is the best decision I ever made - my only regret is not going through a year earlier so I could have been at home with my sisters sooner!
:D

There are so many great sororities out in the world that I would have liked to maybe have waited to see if I was going to stay at the school before rushing. Now I am transferring to UWF and wonder what could have been, but i get to help with Panhellenic which is awesome! Anyway I was such a geek during rush I'd like to change that! I hated rush, but everything else was fun!

Yeah, we sometimes pass around the ole "who did you pref" thing to see where everyone would've gone had they not gone DG. And, as one of the girls said the other day, "Even when you get frustrated with this chapter, you've gotta admit you love the sorority." I find out more and more things every day about DG that makes me SOOOO proud that I am one!

i wish i wasn't so naive as to believe someone who told me that i was going to be a part of their chapter, when in fact they didn't even invite me back to second round. but i ended up where i wanted to be, and where i needed to be by preference.

Hey CarolinaDG, check your pm box.

I did my research
 

I look back, year and a half ago, and knew I mad the right choice because I did do alittle research into the history, beliefs, and etc. about the national org. As far as local org. I did not do any research on them because I know I would be told alot about them by them. So, I just went with the flow. I looked and participated in another org. but did not feel their mentality. I felt as if it was another bunch of highschool PALs of mine. They were all into the I bet your ass if you give the wrong look to us and we are the best because of our pledging. They believed highly, into hazing. To me that is bullshit. But, In short I felt I mad the best choice.
--Heath--
[B][COLOR=darkred]FKT

If i had to go back and do it all again...I WOULDN'T CHANGE A THING!!! All the memories, tears, smiles, and legacies produced within the past two years in my life as a DphiE are PRICELESS. This is where i belong, and this is where my heart will forever be. Never could i EVER imagine being anything but a DphiE!
*Everything Happens For a Reason*

Wouldn't have changed a thing. It's amazing how rush usually works out for the best for both the PNMs and the members.

Fun question! I wouldn't have changed how CLUELESS I was going into it, since clues would probably have only added mental baggage to the process. I would not have declined my other preference invite -- although I am 100% certain my decision would have been the same, I should have stuck that through to the end. I wouldn't have gotten upset when XYZ chapter cut me, and instead would have realized, going in, that the fact that the very nice girl who'd been in [embarrassingly unrequited] love with my boyfriend for YEARS was an XYZ chapter member, really didn't bode well for my membership there! And when the week was over, I would have filed an infraction against my Rush Counselor, who told my entire group that Alpha Xi Delta was about to fold at a time when, in fact, the chapter was rebuilding very successfully -- we've been one of the strongest chapters on campus for several years now. Thank heaven most RCs have better panhellenic spirit than she did! All in, though, it was a wonderful rush, and it changed my life forever and for the better!

I have to say that on my campus, I would never have gone anywhere else. Even if I went back to college tomorrow, I would still pick Phi Mu. First of all, I knew where I wanted to be before rush started. There are only 4 sororities on my campus and we have sophomore deferment, so most people have a pretty good idea of where they want to be. I cut one the first night because one of the sisters told my boyfriend to tell me that I would definately get a bid there. I didn't like most of the sisters and I thought it was silly that this girl was making my bf be a go-between. I cut another sorority because the person I was paired with left me! Their president ended up noticing that I had been left alone and spent time talking to me. Needless to say, this was not a place I wanted to go. And the third was a group of nice girls, but I just knew I wouldn't fit in. Phi Mu was a perfect fit! :)

What a beautiful post! :D

Looking back on it, I would have gone back to the other houses and told them I was going to rush somewhere else, and then still rushed the same place I did. :)