(Un poco loco) recruitment story!
 

Long time lurker in this forum, so I figured it was time: here is my recruitment story! I am still a collegian and truly enjoy my sorority experience. I went to a bigger school about three hours away from home where I only knew a couple of people because I had received a great scholarship. I had a very strong high school GPA, lots of extracurriculars, and I couldn’t have been more excited to have a fresh start! I came out of a tough senior year of bad friendships, an emotionally abusive relationship, and some really awful mental health issues so I was BEYOND ready to make a big school feel like a small school through sorority life. I had one aunt (by marriage) who was Greek, but other than that, it’s never been a thing that my family has been into.I lived with three other girls in a beautiful suite-style dorm, and all of us would be going through recruitment. There are a few twists and turns on my journey to sorority membership, so hopefully it’ll be somewhat entertaining.

We visited fourteen chapters for the first round. One of my majors is Spanish, so I’ve named them after Spanish-speaking countries:

Argentina
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Mexico
Panama
Paraguay
Puerto Rico
Spain
Uruguay
Venezuela

Spain
I was extremely nervous coming into my first party. I had no idea what to say! Luckily, I had been able to tour a few of the houses during my senior year and this happened to be one of them, so I walked into a somewhat familiar environment. I remembered that this house had cold dorms, and I was super weirded out by the idea of sleeping with twenty other girls in the room, so I convinced myself that if I ended up here that I would make a makeshift bed in my room, LOL. I talked to two girls in this house. The first girl was very formal and asked a lot of good questions, but had almost robotic responses - appropriate, but very formal, and she repeated the affirmations in a cycle (she had like three positive responses, so if she liked something, it was always “great, awesome, wonderful” (not the actual words, which I don’t even remember), never “wonderful, great, awesome” - it always in the same order and that was her response to everything. I got bumped to another girl in the kitchen, which was the LOUDEST room of the entire open house round. She told me that their house is known for being the loudest. (I heard louder songs, but not louder conversations). Screaming to the MAX. We talked about crafting and leadership *basic voice* Hashtag so srat. I left feeling good about this house, but not having anything to compare it to, I wasn’t quite sure. I felt like recruitment was something I could manage well after this party - nothing too intimidating.

Mexico
This is a house that everyone likes, myself included. I got to tour Mexico senior year, and I was in the last tour of the day, but the girls thought the one before was the last tour and had gone upstairs to change into comfy clothes and slippers, so when our group came knocking, they all came running down the stairs like chickens with their heads cut off and gave us a tour in their comfy clothes - they seemed so real, cute, and fun and I was totally into it. I had very natural, fun conversations with both girls. First was a girl who had taken a class that I had my first semester (which has 400+ students in it) with the same professor and we talked about that for a while. Great advice. I got bumped to another girl who was equally bubbly and friendly and very easy to talk to. We talked about our hometowns and being in choir. At the end of the round, everyone packed into the living room for an adorable song. All the PNMs kept talking about it! This was one of my favorite houses of the first round.

Cuba
I talked to two girls here as well. With one, I discussed cheerleading (which she did, I can hardly do a back somersault without injuring myself) and our home states. I noted that she had super long lashes (IDK, but this is what I have written down. Little hints). I bumped to another girl and we discussed travel, the a cappella groups here on campus, and a few other things. I had to repeat a couple of things, and I had to ask her to repeat a couple of things. (Not as much as in Spain, though). I left this party feeling like I would be ranking Cuba lower since Spain and Mexico had wowed me far more. (Sorry, Fidel.)

Dominican Republic
While waiting in line outside this house (which all PNMs agreed was beautiful), the sprinklers turned on. We were expecting rain that night, but we didn’t expect water to come UP from the ground. They let us into DR before anyone got too soaked. I talked to a senior who was in a music group on campus. She asked me about what I was looking for in a sorority, since we have a values-based recruitment. There were just a couple of awkward “...so” moments and I felt myself touching my face a lot. She mentioned how much her sisters were really there for her, especially when she had the stomach flu - they brought her soup and meds and it was very sweet. I thought that Dominican Republic was a nice house with nice girls but I felt like I needed to meet more people to get a better sense of it.

Puerto Rico
This house is beautiful! I again talked to two girls. With the first, we talked about Disney World! I’ve been so many times that I’ve lost count because my grandparents live 40 minutes away, and I even road-tripped there over Spring Break senior year with my three closest friends. It was a free-flowing conversation. Then, I got bumped to a girl who was very laid-back. We talked about our love for leggings as pants. They did an adorable values speech as a chapter and it was cute! I liked Puerto Rico, but thought I needed to take another vacation there to get a connection because the two girls I talked to seemed a little more outgoing and wild than little freshman me.

Costa Rica
These girls are very sophisticated! They have a strong GPA and are very beauuuuutiful. I talked to a girl who had amazing curly hair, and we discussed the community aspect of a sorority as a home away from home. Next, I talked to a girl in their kitchen. They sang a fun sorority song together in the kitchen. I liked the girls here, but was worried that I wouldn’t get called back - there seemed to be a “look” here that I don’t mirror.

Panama
I talked to one girl and we sat in the kitchen, where they had unusual decorations in bowls on their tables (I won’t say what since I’ve never heard of it being used anywhere else and I don’t want to give it away). We talked about concerts, recruitment weather (it was burning hot her year), choir, and Chipotle. This house is very involved, and has a great GPA as well. This was another house that I thought might be too “cool” for me, and our conversations were just kind of surface level, but it was round one and that’s what I had been told to expect, so I went with it.

Colombia
Wow!!!! I had a moment of “I WANNA BE HERE” - the president (who I met at the event I went to senior year for Greek Life information) was giving a speech when ten or so girls burst out in a rap in the middle of it! It was such a funny moment, and a total groove along jam kind of song. I talked in the basement kitchen with a girl, who is from a very small town, and who knows a girl with my exact name (I have a common first name, but a weird, unpronounceable last name)! She played french horn, I sing, so we discussed music. We also talked about our very unusual German teachers from high school. I left this house feeling so rejuvenated and relaxed. This was totally one of my favorite houses for round one!

Venezuela
I talked to two girls here - first was a girl who was on the cheerleading team and is from the Southwest, and she was really friendly! I then got a quick visit with a girl, then got bumped to another girl and we talked about travel, specifically Italy, where both of us have been (she studied abroad there). I had heard tent talk that this was a really well-liked house, and I could see why. Each girl was a great conversationalist and their house was stunning, inside and out. I wanted to learn more about Venezuela for sure!

Argentina
I talked to an adorable girl and we discussed how I was in synchronized swimming in high school and our mutual love for Michael Buble. Then, I got bumped to another Argentinian girl with the most gorgeous freckles and was losing her voice like I was. I wrote down “pretty house, pretty girls” and had a smiley face next to it. I especially loved their philanthropy and how down-to-earth the women seemed, even though they all were dressed and made-up to the nines...and sixes and sevens with you...Don’t cry for me, Argentina, I hoped to be back the next day!

Chile
I had been waiting for a chapter that I could easily cross off of my list, and boy, did I find it. I talked to one girl the whole time, and this would be her second year living in the house. This was one chapter where I asked darn near ALL of the questions. I basically walked in, got seated in a room that looked like a basement storage closet, and she asked “So what do you want to know about me?” - not at all in an egotistical way, in an AWKWARD way. She was a junior who had no idea how to keep a recruitment conversation going, who didn’t ask a single thing about me, and who gave the most vague answers possible. I felt bad for her because she just seemed so out of her element and nervous the whole time. It was so painful, but I was simultaneously grateful to have one easier decision to make at rankings.

Uruguay
Again, one girl here. She was from the city where the university is, and we discussed travel and hockey. She lived in the building next to mine her freshman year, which has the same living style (which I absolutely LOVED). She was a sweetheart. All the sisters gathered round for a speech and song. Whenever anyone slipped up a little bit, everyone giggled supportively (weird wording, I know) but you could tell that they have a very close sisterhood! Lots of laughs, and adorable songs!! I was smitten by Uruguay and they had a gorgeous house all decked out in their sorority colors. I definitely wanted to be back.

Ecuador
This house was another one that I had toured, but they had completely renovated the first floor since I had last visited and it’s like my Pinterest dream house! I noticed that the girls had a certain look here, not in a Stepford Wives way - just in a natural, relaxed way - but then I realized that I totally looked similar to a lot of girls in the house, haha. I talked to a bunch of girls here! I talked to two girls and then the president popped in to talk to me, and then a fourth girl, who brought me over to the living room for the song, which was...amazing. Everyone had it stuck in their heads for the rest of the day. I seriously liked this house so much - I felt like every girl I talked to had real ambitions, was super smart, very laid back, and incredibly classy. Totally up there with at the top of my list!

Paraguay
This was my last party of the day, and I don’t know if I had a drop-off after the adrenaline rush of Ecuador or something but I was ZONKED. I had toured the house before, but sort of forgot what it looked like. I talked to three girls - the first one wasn’t too memorable. The second girl was nice, but we only talked about recruitment and how odd the process is. The third girl asked me the basics - hometown, major, etc - and repeated a couple of questions. I was tired, she was very clearly tired, and that made it easy to rank this one the lowest of Round One.

I ranked:
Mexico, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay, and Ecuador as 1s
2 Spain
3 Cuba
4 Chile
5 Paraguay

Love, love , love your descriptions. Really great!I find it interesting(and a little unusual) that rushing was going on in the kitchens. Is this the commercial kitchen where cooks prepare the meals for the house, or a kitchen for the sisters to use for snacks?

I guess it would be more of a dining room, not a kitchen. I just lump the two things together in my head because “dining room” seems formal to me. We call our house dining room “the kitchen”, the area where the snacks are “the snack kitchen”, and the area where our chefs cook “the chef’s kitchen” :D

Hahahahahahahaha!!!! I love it!

Round 2: Philanthropy
 

I woke up to the list already being out (about an hour early)! I was hoping for at least 6 out of a possible ten parties. I was shocked and very pleased to receive ten parties!
Colombia
Spain
Dominican Republic
Venezuela
Uruguay
Argentina
Panama
Costa Rica
Mexico
Ecuador

9 of my 1s, and my 2 (Spain). Puerto Rico had dropped me, and looking back, I wasn’t bothered by it since there really wasn’t a “click” moment.

I set off for…

Colombia
One of my favorites from Round 1 as my first party! I was stoked. I was paired with a girl and we related over how our brains were still waking up for the day. Then, I got bumped to a girl who I had met at the preview event - she immediately said, “I remember you! Not to be creepy! I just got really excited!” and I said that if she hadn’t said that, I was going to! I remembered her too and really liked her. We got to talking and gabbing, and we got so distracted while talking that we didn’t notice that almost everyone had already assembled into the living room to sing. They had a problem with their sound system, so they improvised and sang a cappella - and NAILED IT! Lots of giggles within, and I knew I wanted to come back. Loved, loved, LOVED Colombia. Didn’t want to leave.

Spain
I felt good about returning to Spain for the next round. In Cuba, Chile, and Paraguay, I felt negative about the parties, I had felt positive about Spain and was happy that they liked me enough to invite me back. I got paired with a girl who was in an a cappella group on campus! We really got to talking and their philanthropy video was beautiful. Then, I got bumped again and we talked about moving away for college. Again, sort of formal, and a little low on energy. Nice, but not exciting.

Dominican Republic
I talked to a girl here who was crazy and goofy! A good boost of energy after Spain. I got bumped to a second girl and we discussed more about campus and activities. Their song was a fun pop medley and they all were having CRAZY fun. I felt like I had to ask a lot of questions to keep the ball rolling here. The girls all seem loud and comfortable with each other, but quieter with me so far, except the crazy/goofy one who honestly just intimidated me with her energy.

Venezuela
This house has a reputation for making really big cuts, so I was pretty pumped to be asked back! The girls are very beautiful, though I did see more girls who looked like me today, which was nice. A girl picked me up, and we talked about recruitment process (which I was shockingly really enjoying) and how you can tell when people are being genuine and comfortable. I felt so comfortable talking to her! A second girl came to talk to me and we talked about food, the ultimate conversation starter. The girl who floated to me on the first day came back to do another quick meet-cute. She seemed sweet! The song here was great - it started out with a ukulele and two girls singing before everyone joined in. These girls seemed to have a great quality about them that I can’t put my finger on, but I couldn’t help feeling like they’re cooler than I was.

I then had lunch and a break, so I headed back to my dorm to put on some more undereye concealer (a necessary thing, let me tell you!)

Uruguay
For the first girl I talked to, we pretty exclusively talked about food (oops!) so I made sure that when I got bumped that I asked about the philanthropy, which I really like! I saw one of the girls from the first day, and she smiled at me, which was reassuring. Their song was wonderful! Again, lots of laughs. Such a beautiful house and you could tell that these girls just really freakin’ liked each other. I had developed a little bit of a crush on them and was totally feeling it.

Argentina
I absolutely LOVED Argentina’s philanthropy and they did a beautiful job presenting it. It’s such a serious topic but they did a wonderful job setting the mood. These girls definitely stepped it up in terms of outfits today - each girl was Insta-ready in clothing, hair, and makeup, and frankly, I felt pretty lame in comparison in my sundress which was getting more and more wrinkled with every folding chair that I sat in. I don’t really remember what we talked about here. I still left feeling that the house was very friendly and down-to-earth and I never felt like I was being rushed here - I just felt like they were really trying to get to know me, instead of it being a formal interview like at other houses.

Panama
Panama started with a presentation, but whoever was speaking started with a line that was something to the effect of “Panama is a top house and you must have been cool to get to day 2”, but not in so many words. I think it was meant to be more of a “welcome back, we saw something in you yesterday and we’re so glad to have you here at Panama today” but it came off as SO prideful and egotistical. I was totally turned off by it and barely remembered anything else except that everyone was in super color-coordinated outfits, down to the shade - it looked like they had all been cut out of one bolt of fabric like the von Trapp kids with the curtains, and I decided that I didn’t want to frolic around the streets of Salzburg as a Panama woman.

Costa Rica
I didn’t learn much about Costa Rica’s philanthropy. The one thing that stood out to me during this round was that I had missed a spot shaving my legs and had a few little blonde hairs on my kneecap and the girl I was talking to would not stop staring at my knee. It was weird. I still think about how weird it was sometimes. The girls still seemed smart and sophisticated but the house just didn’t seem like it would be one for me.

Mexico
After leaving three parties feeling “meh”, I was thrilled to be going back to Mexico and they did not disappoint! These girls were so smart, relaxed, and fun, and I just loved every conversation I had with them this day. At the end of the round all of the PNMs sat in the living room and the Mexicans stood around us and sang a beautiful song and I teared up a little bit. I loved Mexico and so wanted to come back.

Ecuador
Another party I was excited to come back to and such a great one to finish off the day with.
These girls were so passionate about their philanthropy and put themselves in such a good light. They had little iced coffee drinks that were so tasty (and NEEDED) and again, I was just so impressed by these women. They sang another song at the end of the round and it happened to be one of my favorites. I had the tingles here!

At the end of the round, I ranked the houses accordingly:
1s: Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Argentina
2: Dominican Republic
3: Spain
4: Costa Rica
5: Panama

Great recruitment story. Looking forward to reading more.
Trying in figure out what school gets to serve drinks other than water. With “no frills” recruitment at UCLA, all chapters can only serve ice water (with a fruit/veggie slice — like a lime or cucumber slice — or an edible flower, or mint sprig). Then on Pref, you can serve a sparkling drink, like ginger ale.

Panama's introduction sounds like those inside jokes sorority members mistakenly make that non members don't get. Sounded great in rehearsal, but the audience was not taken in to account. Yikes!

Round Three: House Tours

I opened my schedule today and was a little disappointed to see only four houses. Two of my roommates and a few other girls in my hall had all six houses, but those tended to be the local girls who went to high school in the area or in the big city an hour away - but I honestly had no room to complain, because my other roommate and many other women in the hall had one or two houses left, and they tended to be the houses that had trouble recruiting (one house that had only been on campus for about five years and another that joined much later than the vast majority of houses). A lot of people dropped out today, both before and after parties. I felt okay about having four events, especially because I still liked all of the ones that I had left at least a little bit, if not a lot:

Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Colombia
Venezuela


No Mexico and no Uruguay, which bummed me out. I had developed such a crush on both of them, and I remember just looking at my schedule and thinking “I will never be a Uruguay” and walking past Mexico on the way to parties sadly. But I still had houses on my list, so my moping had to end and I had to refocus on the women who wanted ME.
Today was house tours, which was just so darn cool. I still think that sorority houses are some of the most interesting things - just looking at various pictures of where women have some of the best years of their lives and how beautifully they’re all designed is something that totally gives me the feels.

Dominican Republic was good today - they had kind of been middle of the pack all week but I met some girls that were more relatable today. I had a girl give me a house tour and then I got bumped to go to a different floor by her big and they had the cutest hug and were just so happy to be in each other’s company. It was super adorable. Other than that, nothing really stood out, but I liked that there weren’t any cold dorms. (Ah, the young innocent freshman mind had still not softened to the idea after hearing plenty of women say it was nice). I hadn’t really clicked with anyone at this house yet.

Ecuador - the lovefest continued. Their house was one of the biggest on campus, no cold dorms, big (okay, huge) rooms and newly remodeled bathrooms, and still just the most classy and genuine women. I wanted to be just like their seniors by the time I graduated college. The girl who gave me a house tour was one of the girls I talked to on the first day and she was showering me with compliments and seemed soooo excited to see me again. I totally wanted to have Ecuador back for pref.

Colombia - After two perfect days here, I couldn’t have been more excited to come back...but the girl I was paired with just didn’t connect with me at all. She seemed tired, cranky, and just not super enthusiastic. This house is an older one and because of that, they are a little cramped. They have some cold dorms and some small bedrooms and it was so hard to see it all because there were so many bodies in such little space. I left feeling weird today, because the girl seemed so disinterested and didn’t connect with me at all...but still wanted to go back for preference because of how passionate I had felt about Colombia the first two days.

Venezuela - I felt more and more at home here as the week went on. They had lots of gorgeous dark wood and the house seemed so airy and roomy. The girls were so welcoming and friendly but definitely seemed so cool and I wasn’t sure that they liked me as much as I liked them. My roommates and I had discovered that my recruitment counselor was a Venezuela after looking at the chapter’s Instagram page - she was all over it! We all loved her and she was such a positive, uplifting, and level-headed presence for our whole group - which was great, because about half of the group decided not to go through preference round. I decided I would rank the houses like this:

1s: Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela
2: Dominican Republic

I was so worn out from a long, hot week - I was just ready for Bid Day! And I was less excited about wearing heels the next day for Pref.

Any guesses as to where I ended up?

I don't recognize the campus, so not from me, but I can't wait to find out.

Preference Round
 

Preference Round!

I received my schedule back and it said:
Ecuador
Dominican Republic
Colombia

I felt so lucky to have two houses that I had loved throughout the week (except the prior day at Colombia, but every house has a fluke day, right?) and one that I didn’t mind. I was a little disappointed to see that Venezuela hadn’t invited me back, but I didn’t think much of it. I started out the day at Ecuador, and one of my roommates was also attending Ecuador that day and we were going to be at the same party. We ate lunch together in the dining hall, went back and changed, and got ready to head to the house.

Ecuador:
I talked to three girls at Ecuador during the preference round. The first was a senior who had the same major as I did - plus five minors! I was so impressed and she just seemed amazing. The second was a girl that I had gone to a summer camp with the year prior (she was a sophomore). She told me how excited she was that I had come to Ecuador for Preference. She said that the whole chapter had been talking about me and that the girl who gave me a house tour/talked to me on the first day had been saying that she could see me as her little. She told me about their Bid Day shirts and what their fun activity was and how she could see me in her chapter doing great things. The third girl came and reinforced everything that Summer Camp Girl had said - everyone was so excited to have me back. I felt so loved and welcomed at Ecuador and as I was walking out, I looked at my roommate and said “I think I’ve found my home”, but I felt like I still had to keep an open mind for the next two parties.

Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic had a very serious ceremony during their preference round. It was a stark contrast from the previous party, but I appreciated how seriously they took it (although as a singer, I was cringing - the vocals of the girl doing a solo were...not great). The girl that I was paired with during this round was from the suburb next to mine from home, and although we had some mutual friends, we had never met before. She asked me how I felt about preference round, and I said honestly, “I think I know what I’m going to do, but I want to make sure to keep an open mind.” I walked out feeling like Dominican Republic was a nice house, but just not one that I felt a connection with.

Colombia
I was so excited to be back at Colombia. They had a classy set up that looked like a little cocktail party, although it was about three in the afternoon. However, the way it worked was just odd. They had about two active members to three PNMs standing around the little tables and then they sang some songs. I didn’t see familiar faces and the actives that I was paired with didn’t really seem to be paying attention. I was a little crushed by Colombia - after being so thoroughly wowed the first two days, they just didn’t seem to put any effort into the back nine holes. The magic was lost. I just didn’t see myself standing here among these women.

I felt so strongly about Ecuador that it was easy to list them first, but I thought over Dominican Republic and Colombia for a long time. On one hand, Dominican Republic had fallen in the middle of the pack for the whole week. There was never a bad moment, but there wasn’t a strong, convincing moment that showed me that this could really be my home on campus. Colombia, on the other hand, had started out so strongly - it was in my elite, top-favorite houses for the first two days, but then had fizzled out in Rounds 3 and 4. Should I list the house that was “nice” but not great - maybe a 5 out of 10 every day - as my second choice? Or, should I choose the house that was a 10 twice in a row, followed by two zeros? I decided that I would rather make the best of a house that I had always felt decent about rather than one that was completely hit-or miss, so, I filled out my MRABA accordingly:
Ecuador
Dominican Republic
Colombia

One of my roommates had dropped out of recruitment after the parties on the third day. The girl who shared my bedroom had attended Dominican Republic, Argentina, and Costa Rica, and had decided to list Costa Rica as her first choice, Argentina as her second, and elect to not list Dominican Republic at all. My third roommate had attended Ecuador with me, as well as Costa Rica and Venezuela. She was from the area and felt very pressured by Venezuela to join them, but felt so much pressure and no real emotion that she chose to list them third, despite having many friends in the house. She chose Costa Rica as her first option, followed by Ecuador.

Bid Day was just one sleep away!

I know this is a retro rush, but I catch myself crossing my fingers that you get Ecuador.

Such a great story!! I can't wait to hear how this ends!! :)

Mesmerizing! For the life of me, I can't think of a campus with 14 sororities, but I find myself hoping that you'll be my sister!

Well - if they have cold dorms, it's gonna have to be somewhere up north.

I'm rooting for Ecuador, but I honestly just want to know where you ended up!

BID DAY!
 

My recruitment group went out to breakfast with our recruitment guide on the morning of Bid Day. There were a few sorority women milling about in the place that we chose, but none of them were from houses that I could possibly be receiving a bid from, so I didn’t feel too uncomfortable. I arrived at the opening of the bids with two of my roommates. Our fourth roommate had been given a snap bid to Cuba, but had decided to decline it, thinking that she might go through recruitment the following year. Her GPA, although decent and from a large, competitive high school, had probably held her back from the houses that she had hoped for - and she knew a lot of the girls in a lot of the more competitive houses, so she had set her hopes fairly high. All of the women opened bids together…

My roommates were two very happy new members of Costa Rica…

And my bid said…
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Dominican Republic

Also known as…

Wait, what? *record scratch* It wasn’t Ecuador?

My initial reaction was just...shock. I had loved Ecuador all week and based off of what I had heard from the girls that I talked to, they had loved me too. So many thoughts were spinning around in my head. Knowing what I know now, as a collegian with quite a bit more experience in Panhellenic life, I can say that I was dirty rushed and that Ecuador had said and done many things that go against NPC Unanimous Agreements. Although many of the girls in my recruitment group and many girls from the local area (including my roommate who also went to preference there) had said over the week that I would make the perfect Ecuador, it wasn’t meant to be. Having heard the things that the women said to me and then not having gotten my bid from them crushed my spirit for the initial thirty seconds. Everyone in my group was asking each other what they had gotten and I was the only one to receive my second choice, although I tried my hardest to play off the shock as excitement. We ran to our new pledge classes and got t-shirts and everyone else in Dominican Republic seemed so excited. There was even one girl that I had been line buddies with whose older sister was a recently-graduated Dominican Republic sister. I was happy to see her and happy to have one person with whom I felt a connection in my house.

The next few weeks were...just okay. Having read a LOT of GreekChat before recruitment, due to my lack of knowledge about Greek life in general, I knew that I had to put in a lot of effort if I wanted to make Dominican Republic my home. I went to every sisterhood event, always tried to sit with new people at chapter, went to football games with my sisters, went out to dinner and sat in dining halls with them, the whole enchilada. I even found a girl who I thought could be my big - and she wanted twins and had also bonded with my line buddy. But try as I might, I just didn’t feel connected to these girls. My desire to be studious and involved on campus wasn’t being fulfilled - the one group I was a part of just seemed to not be the right one for me, and the campus I went to was terrible at advertising student organizations and ways to get involved, so if you weren't in-state (I wasn't) and didn't already know someone in the group, you were SOL. I won’t go into too much detail, but the personality of the chapter and my personality just didn’t seem to line up, and I felt that it would be better to resign before receiving a big or going through initiation. I had talked to the girl who I thought might be my big about my doubts and she even admitted that she didn’t really like being in the house very much and wasn’t sure if she was going to stay. Even my line buddy, who was a chapter legacy, was very much doubting if she was going to go through initiation. I felt that if I was going to lose the two people in the chapter who I got along with well, then there wasn’t really a point in me going through initiation. I talked to the New Member chair and the President and turned in my pledge pin.

But the personality of the chapter wasn’t the only thing pushing me to resign. My choice in college didn’t really seem to be the right one. I had absolutely loved a school eight hours from home that was smaller and in a bigger city, and I had initially accepted the offer of admission and put a deposit down. However, when I received the scholarship at the big school, I was in a very weak time in my life. I was scared to go far from home and scared to go to college without at least one friend with me, so I chose the bigger school that offered a bigger scholarship because I knew that I could give it the “good old college try”, literally, and have one of my best friends from high school there with me. It was really just the wrong choice for me - I’m someone that loves to be hyper-involved in a lot of organizations and I need a challenge academically. I really wanted a community where I could wave to someone on the way to class, and at this big school, I walked a mile to my closest classroom and shared a lecture hall with over 400 students. None of the professors knew my name - not even in the Spanish class I had with only 12 other students - and I felt so much like a number. I wasn’t content to just live life as a number for four years, and my desire to transfer to the smaller school that was farther from home came around three or four weeks into the semester. I went home for the first time at the end of September and told my parents that I wanted to transfer to the smaller school that I had LOVED, and neither of them were surprised. If I transferred at semester, I could keep the scholarships that I had earned as a senior in high school, so I pulled the plug and turned in my transfer application. Best of all, I knew that I could do it, because due to my acceptance senior year, I was guaranteed admission as a transfer student. I left Dominican Republic and the big school behind…

But my sorority journey was not over yet! My new school had deferred recruitment in January and I was able to sign up! I was absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to move into my new dorm early, acclimate to the campus before it filled up again, and most of all, to get involved from Day 1 at my new school through Greek life.

More to come :)

What a plot twist! :eek:

Can't wait to find out how this story continues. :D

Wow! I didn't see that coming...can't wait to hear more.

Oh my gosh!! I sure did not see this coming either but so proud of you for doing what you felt in your heart was the right thing. That is a huge step into adulthood and something very mature. I am very anxious to see how this story end. :)

"Un poco" loco?! This is pretty darn loco! Can't wait to hear how things ended up!

Wow, that was not at all what I was expecting! I can't wait to see how your story actually ends!

Major plot twist! Can't wait to hear the rest!

Wow! I didn’t see that coming. I am sure it was a hard decision to resign, but I understand why. Please fill us in on rush at your new campus.

And ...?

So help me if this becomes a Pink Sequins story...

Recruitment, Take Two (omg please don't compare me to pink sequins!! that lady was crazy)

I was thrilled to be starting off a new year at a new school. I had loved this college since the first time that I stepped on campus and was feeling overwhelmingly positive about a new beginning in the right place. I was assigned a roommate and moved in the day before recruitment was due to begin. It was actually pleasant outside for early January for the first few days - high fifties and sunny without a single snowflake frozen to the ground. We had meetings with our recruitment counselors that night and I met the majority of the girls who lived in my hallway after we came back from those. I even went out to get ice cream with a few girls that night (but the McDonald’s ice cream machine was broken, so we went to the Walmart next door and grabbed pints of Ben and Jerry’s). Nights like this are some of the most fun in college - just relaxing with your girls and eating Phish Food on the floor of a dorm room.

We started recruitment bright and early the next morning. Some of the girls in my hallway offered to “give me the lowdown” about each of the sororities before we left for parties that morning. I tried to shrug it off as an advantage that I could really be bias-free as I went through recruitment, since I didn’t know a single soul in a sorority at this new school, and asked them for the “lowdown” about the fraternities instead.

There are seven sororities at my school. In keeping with the theme of my Spanish major, I’ll give them names of Latin dances (I debated naming them after foods, but I decided that reading about "Preference round at Burrito" might just be a little too weird):

Cha Cha Cha
Merengue
Rumba
Mambo
Plena
Salsa
Tango

The first party in my day was at Cha Cha Cha. I was excited to actually see inside the gorgeous homes that line Greek Row, since I had only seen the exteriors on campus tours. This house was a positive start to my day. I started off with a Cha Cha that was in one of my majors. She was extremely down-to-earth and relaxed and carrying on a conversation with her was fairly easy. She was an international student who was spending all four years at my new school and I loved asking her questions about her home country. The second girl I talked to was less prepared when it came to conversations. Cha Cha had set up a small game for sisters and PNMs to play to keep the conversations going, but this girl would draw a question, answer it for herself, and then draw another one. It was like watching someone play solitaire, but eventually I got a few questions in.

My next party was at Merengue. The inside of this house is absolutely stunning and very unlike the other chapters, which was helpful as a little thing to remember. I talked to three girls here: the first was a student in our school’s biggest and most competitive program who loved Merengue because it allowed her to balance school and fun by providing her with sisters both inside and outside of her major, the second was a vivacious girl from a nearby big city who reminded me of one of my awesome older cousins, and the third was a girl from way out on the East Coast who loved Merengue because it really got her engaged in campus life. The three were very different from each other but it was cool to see a house where the girls were less cookie-cutter.

The third house that I visited was a different dynamic. Rumba reminded me of Panama from my previous school - they were a little more aggressive in their recruiting style. I was seated in the kitchen/dining room (Sorry! We just call them kitchens here hahaha) with one woman and four other women came up at various times throughout the conversation. Each looked practically identical to the one before, and with each I had the exact same conversation. The girl who was sitting with me had asked if I liked to travel and what my favorite country that I had been to was, and each time that a girl would come over and introduce herself, the girl would say “Oh, this is _RushPuppies_ and her favorite place is Switzerland!” and the other Rumba sister would say, oh, what did you like about it, we would chat about it for a second, and she would leave. This happened four times and I left Rumba feeling like I had been running around in a revolving door for thirty minutes.

The fourth chapter was Mambo. Right away, I got the feeling that this was a quieter chapter. I talked to three different girls and we watched three different videos from their national organization about the sorority. It was all pretty day-one in conversation; lots of what’s your major, where are you from, why did you transfer, et cetera. The girls seemed friendly but not as outgoing as the other three chapters that I had visited, but having done it before, I knew that anything could change throughout the week.

We all had a lunch break, which was so welcome - after fourteen sororities at my previous school, I wasn’t sure why I was so worn out after four, but luck was on my side and there was a break party built into everyone’s day. The break was between Mambo and Plena for everyone, so we all had different breaks based on rotation, but mine was right after lunch so I had two hours to eat and relax before finishing up the first day!

Party five was at Plena, which had a gorgeous exterior, so I was ready to see what was inside. We broke off into small groups of four sisters and four PNMs and squished into the various bedrooms in the house. We played icebreaker type games as a group, which was something that I hadn’t really been prepared for - how were these girls judging us based off of one-word answers to goofy questions? After a handful of rounds, we split up and had one-on-one conversations. We ended up standing along the walls in a room that had been cleared of furniture to talk, which just struck me as odd, and we stood the whole time, so I was glad that I had worn comfy boots. The girl that I talked to seemed funny and ambitious and I left Plena feeling like there was definitely potential here.

Salsa was one that I had girls say over lunch that they were enjoying, so I was eager to see if my experience was the same. The girls here seemed very peppy and type-A; they were very polished in their conversations and did a good job of not repeating the basic questions. I don’t remember too much from this day, but I remembered that everyone in the house just seemed to genuinely enjoy being there and they seemed to like each other a lot. I left with a smile on my face.

Last of the day was Tango. This party was wildly different from any of the others in terms of energy and appearances. The girls reminded me more of the girls at the first school - they had definitely been coached on how to prepare for recruitment in terms of makeup, clothes, and conversations. It didn’t seem terribly genuine at first, but they did do a great job at asking unusual questions to keep a conversation fresh, and they seemed like they were having oodles of fun doing it. They asked me all kinds of things about myself and kept the mood light. I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about Tango yet, but I decided that I would like to know more about them.

We met with our recruitment counselors that night - mine was a soft-spoken but fun junior who was extremely caring. She asked me if I needed anything or had any questions about my new school and promised to be a completely open book with me if I needed it because everyone else had gotten a semester to size up the chapters and decide if going through recruitment was the right thing for them and I just kind of dropped in and said “let’s do it”. She was a great resource throughout the week and made it fun for the girls who were waiting while she talked in the hall with individual PNMs, which just made the week that much easier.

We were allowed to attend six parties the next day, so I ranked mine accordingly:
1s: Cha Cha Cha, Merengue, Rumba, Plena, Salsa, and Tango
2: Mambo

I was SOOOOOOO ready for bed after having moved the day prior and spending the day traipsing along Greek Row. Some of the girls in my hall were all hanging out in each other’s rooms but I decided that I would sleep now and socialize later (and I didn’t want to hear any tent talk!!!).

And the process starts again! It sounds like you had a great mindset going in the second time.

Sorry if I missed this detail, but did the sorority you started pledging at school #1 have a chapter at school#2?

Nope, Dominican Republic does not have a chapter at school #2. However, all of the chapters at school #2 had chapters at #1, so I was vaguely familiar with philanthropies, names, etc.

I'm assuming if you transfer schools, you're no longer bound to your bid card at your first school? (Not a situation I'm very familiar with).

From the NPC's .pdf "Questions Frequently Asked of College Panhellenic Area Advisors"

Q: A transfer student who was a new member of another chapter last spring has asked if she is
eligible to participate in recruitment this fall on our campus. She was never initiated. Doesn’t she
have to wait a year before she can pledge a new chapter?
A: No. A transfer student who was never initiated is eligible to go through recruitment at the earliest
opportunity on her new campus as her pledge was broken when she left school.

I did my research before leaving School #1! Although, if memory serves, I think that at the time, if the chapter you pledged at School 1 had an active chapter at School 2, you would be bound to them. Not sure if that's still the case/was ever the case but that is what is stuck in my head. It's been a few years and the hard drive space is a little full of college class material now. :)

Philanthropy Round
 

Day 2 - Philanthropy Day

I woke up bright and early today for the second round of events. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood and was happy to be back - one of the things that I love best about my school is that the students genuinely really, really, REALLY like being here. There seriously may be something in the water, but I’ll keep drinking it. :)

We walked over to the academic building where our recruitment groups met each day (helpful, because this would end up being the building where I would have 95% of my college classes, and it was good to know from the get-go that the stairs to the third floor are seriously murderous on a pair of thighs) to receive our schedules. There was one other girl who lived in my hallway in my recruitment group, and it was nice to have a buddy to help me find stuff and give me advice about which shower flooded and the like. We each went out into the hallway to receive our schedules for the day. Mine read:

Cha Cha Cha
Salsa
Merengue
Mambo
Plena
Tango

Rumba had dropped me, which was totally fine after the whole repetitive conversation and aggressive rushing the day before. No harm, no foul. I was thrilled to have six houses, since I wasn’t sure how being a transfer student going through second semester would affect my chances. My school is less than half in-state, but does tend to pull a lot from a shortlist of high schools and I was worried that not meeting people first semester would prevent anyone from “pulling for me”, so six out of a possible six felt great. :)

I was off to Cha Cha Cha first thing. It was pretty consistent with the day prior - really nice girls who seemed very genuine about their interest in their philanthropy, a little on the quieter side. I don’t really remember anything about the girls that I talked to today, but they did leave me with a positive impression of their involvement, sisterhood, and chapter as a whole. It was a lower-energy party, but that could have also just been due to the early start time. Seriously, at School #1, we had the most freakin leisurely start times and recruitment groups were done by hall, so our counselor came to us while we were in pajamas, so leaving the dorm at 7:20, dressed, fed, and made up for a 7:30 meeting and an 8:30 first event was killllllllllling me, especially since I was still behind a time zone in my head.

Salsa was up next. We did a fun craft project and chatted about their philanthropy. They also seemed extremely passionate about their chosen cause. One of the girls that I talked to today was one that presented at an admissions session I had attended during my fall break from School #1 just to make sure that I was still interested in transferring to School #2. She had also transferred at semester and gone right through recruitment, so that was reassuring. She asked me about why I transferred and got to know a little more about my interests. I definitely wanted to come back and learn more about Salsa!

Merengue was a really fun party today. I met three very different girls again - one had competed abroad on a national sports team, one was sarcastic and studious (both in a good way), and one was a relaxed girl who seemed like a surfer-type but was from a big city. They asked me about transferring, what I wanted to get involved in, and what I had done in high school, and they told me a lot about their philanthropy events which sounded super exciting! I was hoping for another day at Merengue.

Mambo was pretty much the same as the day before. I talked to two girls here who both had the same first name as me. With the first, we watched another video from their headquarters about their philanthropy and worked on a craft. With the second, we chatted in one of the bedrooms (they had cold dorms) about involvement and interests. I felt like this day didn’t really progress and that I didn’t learn much about their house or feel much of a spark.

Plena was up next. I was paired with a girl who had been in the same group of PNMs and sisters with me the day before. She was very fun and friendly and we had quite a few shared interests. I then talked to a senior who told me more about their sisterhood and philanthropy events. I loved her style and makeup and she just seemed super cool. Unfortunately, as she was giving me my coat on the way out, I definitely called her the wrong name. Wasn’t even close to her name. Oops!!

My last house was Tango. I could tell that they matched girls, because I got three girls who all had very odd similarities to me and they were all related to things that I had talked about the day before at Tango. Whoever trained these girls to take notes did a darn good job! They were upbeat and peppy again, and most girls had spray tans and bright makeup that contrasted with the dull January sky outside. Their membership chair clearly came prepared. One thing that I found odd was that as a sister would escort me around the house, they would all keep their hand on the small of my back and kind of rub it a little. All of my friends said the same about their experiences at Tango and there were plenty of rumors about the girls holding up numbers behind our backs as we walked or other silly things like that. Ah, how a group of eighteen-year-olds loves to jump to conclusions.

We were allowed to have four houses for the following day, so I ranked mine accordingly:

1s: Salsa, Merengue, Plena, and Tango
2: Cha Cha Cha
3: Mambo

Winter recruitment.
7 chapters, then to 6, then to 4.
Any guesses of the university?

I'm almost certain I know but I'm keeping my lips zipped unless RushPuppies wants us to know too:)

I have an idea as well. 7 chapters, deferred recruitment, small-ish campus in a larger urban area... But I'm not an expert.

I woke up the next day still feeling bleary-eyed. The weather started to cool off this day and we traded high-fifties and warm sunshine for dull gray rain. Luckily, the day was slightly shorter, so we weren’t standing outside for too long. I made my way over to the academic building to get my schedule in the morning but we had all of our parties after lunch, meaning that everyone came over in sweats. My schedule read:

Tango
Salsa
Cha Cha Cha
Merengue

I was dropped from Plena, which had been my favorite house for the first two days. My recruitment counselor asked me if I was okay, since the day before, I had expressed how much I liked it, but honestly, I would have given Plena an 8 for the first two days and I would have given Salsa and Merengue 7s, so I wasn’t very broken up about it. Plus, I figured that I had less of an advantage than everyone who had been here the semester before. I was happy to have four - a lot of people only had two today and getting cut by a favorite house or two today was par for the course for just about everyone. There was a girl in my hallway who wanted to be a Salsa since the day she stepped on campus - we’ll call her Amanda - and she had spent a ton of time hanging out with our RA, who was a sophomore Salsa. She had gotten cut from Salsa today and only had two houses remaining but was so blindsided that it took practically the whole hallway of girls to convince Amanda to at least go to the parties and drop afterwards if she really didn’t like them.

This reveals my age a little bit, but today was Skit Day!

I still think Skit Day is the shiz. As a transfer student, I had no idea going in how helpful it would be to see the chapters interact as a whole and to see what the vibe and personality of the house was, as opposed to just talking to individuals, because every girl talking to you during recruitment is going to be extremely nice and that’s just how it goes. So after a massive clothing swap in the hallway to get everyone into something business-casual (I borrowed a blazer from Amanda), we set off to see the skits.

First up was Tango, and I swear to Gawd that this is probably the story that I have told and will continue to tell more than any other story in my life. I sat down with a girl to watch the skit. It was very put-together and polished and did a good job of telling the story, although there wasn’t much emphasis on the chapter and it was mostly just a cute skit. The sisters in the room are all laughing at coordinated moments and turning to their respective PNMs at the exact same times to tell them short little facts. I found this to be a little off-putting and robotic, but hey, recruitment isn’t always the most natural thing in the world. What happened after was just completely wild.

So Tango finishes their skit, and the room applauds nicely and then conversations begin again and there’s a good buzz in the room. My rusher turns to me slowly, and goes,
“So, I was adopted.”
She bursts into tears and heavy sobs, telling me how she had a terrible childhood and never had friends until she joined her sorority. She’s completely inconsolable and frankly, difficult to understand through the crying. I’m trying to comfort her, but I’m not sure whether to go along with it or to try to change the subject, and I’m looking around wildly to see if this is happening to anyone else. Nope, no one else is crying, everyone else is laughing and having a great time, and as I’m looking around, I noticed that every Tango sister is super done up in terms of hair, makeup, and outfit, and I’m just getting this sinking feeling that I can’t see myself in the chair opposite of me in a year. At the end of the party (aka after crying for the better part of 40 minutes post-skit), my rusher dries her eyes and walks me to the door, and I just think to myself, well, that made my choice a little easier. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with being adopted, and we all get a little emotional during a long recruitment week, but her outburst caught me so off-guard that I just had no idea what to do. I mentioned this story to someone this past year, and she asked me who the girl was - it was her freshman roommate, and apparently she did this a LOT. Like when she left dirty dishes on the floor of their dorm room and my friend asked her to pick them up, she burst into tears about being adopted and not having friends. Another person had seen her do it in front of a professor. It was, in a word, odd.

Moving along with Skit Day…

Salsa had a very cute and upbeat skit. It was about being new to college and looking for all of the resources that a sorority would provide. The girls talked about their favorite parts of being in their chapter and what it had done for them. It was very sweet. I talked to two girls today, although there seemed to be some issue with the bumping, because after the first girl had talked to me for a while, she told me she’d be right back, and then about two minutes later, another girl came back in her place. Weird, but as a PNM, I really didn’t know any better. Everyone seemed very very nice at Salsa, and I hoped to be back for Preference (and I also hoped that Amanda was enjoying her parties and wouldn’t be moping about Salsa when I came back to the dorm that night).

Cha Cha didn’t really wow me today. Their skit was very Disney-esque, with some high-energy numbers and a very cute theme that was a play on their sorority’s name. It was fun and nostalgic. They paired me off with a girl and I was trying so hard to smile and be attentive but my face was so tired from smiling all week that my eyelid started twitching and my cheek started hurting. Everyone seemed very down-to-earth and friendly here, but I just didn’t feel a spark yet. I wasn’t sure where I would rank this chapter.

My last party of the day was at Merengue, and it was amazing! The skit used my exact form of humor and played off a TV show that I absolutely love to pieces. The first girl that I talked to asked me what I was involved in on campus, and I said that I was a transfer student and had just gotten there three days ago. She stopped me and said that she did the exact same thing two years prior, and she goes, “I bet all you’ve talked about all week is where you went before, why you didn’t like it, and why you wanted to come here. I want to talk to you about stuff that really matters and really get to know you.” She was bang on the money and did an amazing job asking me more personal and unconventional questions. I was so glad to have her to talk to because I knew that she knew exactly how I was feeling. It was such a breath of fresh air. I was bumped by a sophomore who was from one state over. I honestly can only remember talking about Harry Potter and a few other things, but I CLICKED with this girl. I just wanted to be her friend so freakin’ badly. I walked out of Merengue feeling tired from a roller-coaster of events, but knowing exactly what I would do for my rankings:

1s: Salsa, Merengue
2: Tango
3: Cha Cha Cha

Even though I had a weird experience for skits at Tango, I had much preferred it in the two days prior to Cha Cha, so I chose to preference it as my first alternate.

One more round of parties left!

What a great way to end the day!

Preference Round

Once again, we made the trek to our recruitment group meetings to get our schedules. I was happy to see that mine read:

Salsa
Merengue

I was thrilled to have my two favorite houses left for Preference Night! Though they seemed very different, I could see myself enjoying being a part of either one, so I didn’t come into the night with a favorite.

First up was Salsa. The weather had cooled off further and snow was gently falling as we all stood outside the chapter houses. I walked into the house and was greeted by a sophomore who I didn’t know. We all gathered in the dining room for desserts and chatting, and then we broke off for one-on-one conversations. The girl who was preffing me had also attended two houses on Preference Night, one being a house that she really liked throughout the week and one being her legacy, Salsa. She talked about making the decision to join her legacy house over the house that all of her friends were joining and how she was glad to end up where she had ended up. Our conversation only lasted a few minutes and then we had a lot of dead air because the chapter gave a lot of time for one-on-ones, so we ended up going back to surface level conversation. To conclude Preference, the sisters put on a beautiful ceremony, and I left the house feeling like I would be happy to be back for Bid Day tomorrow.

My last event of the week was at Merengue. The house was beautifully decorated and I was greeted by the girl that I had clicked with so strongly the previous day. This round was really, really wonderful. We shared dessert, listened to beautiful singing from the Merengue sisters, and I felt an even stronger connection with the girl I was talking to. The mood of the round was well-set and I found myself looking around the room and thinking to myself that these girls could be the women that I spent the rest of college with. I walked out thinking about how lucky I was to have two options that I liked and wondered how I would make a decision.

I had to sit and think about what I wanted to do for a while. I honestly felt odd - even though I had great parties at both chapters for the whole week, I was having a little bit of trouble putting one above the other because I felt that in actuality, I didn’t really know much about them. With the help of my ever-prepared recruitment counselor, who asked me questions about what my priorities were coming into the week, what I valued in a sorority experience, and what I saw during the week that matched those qualities, I was able to think through it more clearly. Finally, she asked me which chapter I would be more excited to run home to the following day and which faces I wanted to see in a crowd. That was what made the choice easy for me.

I listed the chapters:
Merengue
Salsa

The next morning, most of the girls in my hallway went out to brunch together. My roommate had gone to Salsa and Cha Cha and was hoping for a bid to Salsa. The hall was split all over the place with where we had placed our hopes - I think that of the eight girls that were there at brunch, we ended up in six of the seven chapters.

We all went back to our recruitment groups to open our bids and were taken out into the hallway individually to open them with our recruitment counselors. I opened mine and saw that

“With love and careful thought, the ladies of Merengue cordially invite…”

Hooray! I was thrilled to be running home to the fun, diverse, and savvy girls of Merengue. Each woman had shown me a different background and a unique reason for joining a sorority but they all shared a really tangible love for their sisterhood. I got to run down Greek Row, which was now fully covered in a beautiful blanket of snow, to...
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Kappa Kappa Gamma!

I have been really lucky with my sorority experience. The girl who I talked to on Skit and Pref became my fabulous big, and I now have a wonderful little and beautiful grandlittle. I have served on our Chapter Council and I currently am on Panhellenic Exec and have a few other positions within Greek Life. Our campus has a wonderfully friendly environment and many of my closest friends are members of other chapters and I still feel incredibly thankful to have been able to go through recruitment right away and find a home to kick off my college experience for real :)

Thank you for sharing your story! I'm glad you found your home with KKG. :)

Hooray!!! Congratulations.