Re-Rushing as a Sophomore
 

Hi!,
I go to a Midwestern small sorority school and I am debating rushing again as a sophomore. I went through formal recruitment and was dropped from all but one sorority. I truly felt a connection to that sorority but they only took 6 girls and sadly I didn't make the cut. I truly thought that I had a bad rush because I was shy, which I think made me seem stand offish. Since recruitment I have been working hard at getting good grades (3.8 GPA ) and getting comfortable with the campus. I have gone to every open event that each sorority has held and have made many friends inside the sorority. This summer I have been working to loose weight ( to be more confident), volunteering and taking conversational/ interview skill courses online. I would very much appreciate any advise anyone has because joining a sorority has been something I have wanted to do every since I was a little kid.

Go for it.

Scar—first of all—CONGRATULATIONS on your self-improvement, something we ALL need to engage in now and then! Look what you’ve accomplished: you’re more self-confident, you’ve achieved Dean’s List status academically, you look and feel better physically and emotionally, and you have worked to become involved on your campus and have made many new friends.
YOU SHOULD BE PROUD OF YOURSELF!

As a 25+year advisor to my fraternity, I am deeply grateful for all I’ve learned and gained from Greek membership. But being Greek does not guarantee instant gratification; it requires dedication and sacrifice, two qualities you seem to have in surplus! Ha! But it can bring with it joy, a sense of belonging and a lifetime of friendships and cherished memories.

As FSUZeta said: “Go for it.” I’m betting your confidence and hard work will shine through.
BEST of luck to you!

Thank you so much to PGD-GRAD and FSUZeta, none of my family is in Greek life so I wanted to get an outside opinion on what I could improve :)

YouTube has some good videos on Recruitment: conversation skills, tips, wardrobe, etc. Craft a good Recruitment resume and search for alumnae who can write recommendation letters (through friends, parents’ friends/coworkers, or a hometown Alumnae Panhellenic Assn.), even if the campus says they aren’t required. Since you’re doing a “take two”, a recommendation might help a sorority that didn’t invite you back an opportunity to find out more about you — beyond The Panhellenic application.

P.S. MANY women join sororities in their sophomore year. I did and got my first choice ... after an abysmal 1st year rush where I go NO invites back after 3rd round!

Thank you for the advice ChioLu, I do not know if my school allows letters of recommendation but I will email my schools Greek Office.

Scar, Letters of Recommendation (recs) are not something a college allows or not allows. These letters are written by sorority alumnae to their chapter at your school, providing a positive recommendation to them about you. Your Greek Life office most likely will tell you they are not required to go through Recruitment, and they are not. BUT......... They can help you, as a woman going through Recruitment a second time, get another look at groups that cut you last year. And, some individual organisations require them before you can be issued a Bid.

Read threads on here about these letters of recommendation- you will see how important they CAN be.

It sounds like you have been making good choices with your confidence, grades, your health, and your activities.



I agree with ChioLu that YouTube has many good videos on sorority recruitment recommendations. Good luck to you and please stay in touch.

Is this for a NPHC group? If so, the guidelines are far different from an NPC group.

Since she went through Recruitment last year and was dropped by all but one group, it made sense that this was either NPC, or a mix of NPC and locals in a CPC. Her account didn't seem to mesh for an NPHC group.

How does one get recommendation letters if they do not know anyone personally in a sorority? I went through CPC/NPC Recruitment process at a relatively small Greek Life school. I forgot to add that I also went through Informal for one sorority, but again did not get a bid. I do not think it was personal because the two girls that they did take were both related to someone in that sorority . I also forgot to add that during the fall school year I was only in one club, but I was very involved with that club . Thank you everyone who has helped me on this journey, I really want to rush in the fall and I want to make sure that I optimize every opportunity to improve.

I forgot to add that when I was notified that they did not have a bid to offer me the recruitment chair told me about fall recruitment as well as the reason that I know that those two girls are related to active members is because I got to know them during the rush ( we are still friends today).Theses reasons are why I do not believe the decision was personal but I did write down what I felt went badly and worked to improve them.

While you may not be aware of it, you may know women in sororities. Ask the ladies in your parents neighborhood, your former teachers, women a year or 2 above you from your HS, the parents of your friends, the friends of your parents, your relatives (who can also ask their friends, neighbors, etc). Think 7 degrees of Kevin Bacon.

FSUZeta is correct. The sorority women do not have to have attended your college. And since all teachers went to college, I bet you'll find some sorority women in that group. When you find one who can help, ask if they know anyone in the other groups on your campus. I went to Alabama and we have 17 chapters on that campus now. And I know someone in every one of them - and most didn't attend Alabama. Network like heck!

If you are on Facebook, post that you’re looking for recommendations for sorority recruitment and LIST which sororities you need recs. Ask if anyone knows Alumnae for those groups: friends, parents, relatives, coworkers, church members, teachers, etc. Follow up on any responses and ask any alumna writing you a Rec if she knows anyone in the other sororities that are on your campus. If you get responses but those women are not in the groups you seek, they probably know women from other sororities. Ask them! Remember, sorority Alumnae want all PNMs to have a successful recruitment. Even if you don’t join their Alpha Alpha Alpha sorority, but helped you find a Rec for Eta Bama Pi and you joined that group, the Tri-Alpha will feel like she helped you find your home! (At Tulsa University, the Bama Pie company/bakery is a few blocks from campus. Their single serve pecan pies are delicious!)

My cousin’s daughter went thru last Fall at Oklahoma State. At the beginning of the summer, she only had recs to just over 1/2 the groups. Through Panhellenic contacts/networking, I was able to help her get recs for all but 1 house. She joined her #1 choice.

Even if an alumna doesn’t know you personally, she could write an informational rec, based on your resume. It’s nice if you can meet or have a phone call with someone who writes you an info rec and that helps her fill out the form more completely.

And, don’t be stingy on your Recruitment resume, like only listing the biggest accomplishments. If you were in any activity for several years — sport, music, club, charity, whatever — but didn’t have a leadership role (because you were involved in many other activities), list that experience too. Sororities love multitaskers! For a good Recruitment resume sample, check the Houston Alumnae Panhellenic Assn. At the end of the resume, list at least 3 Fun Facts about yourself that are not related to your resume. Such as ... a connection to a celebrity (a shared birthday or a chance meeting), a non-school award/achievement (an award at summer camp or winning a Halloween costume contest) or something random (sold the most Girl Scout cookies city-wide when you were in the 5th grade or you & your friends have watch parties for a certain TV show, like The Bachelor/Bachelorette). These fun facts can help match you to members with similar interests/backgrounds and help with smooth and memorable conversations. Also list any scholarships.

Treat recs like a work reference. Say, you want to work for a great company and they have an opening. Good news! You know someone who works for that company! That person could go to HR and say “Scar would be an asset to our company. She’s smart, a leader and volunteers in the community.” Would you want a referral like that??? (Note: the answer is always YES!)

Thank you everyone who has answered my feed. I had one last question is anyone would be so kind to answer it. I have always wanted to join a sorority but sometimes I worry because of my weight problems. Do sororities use that against you as an upperclassmen? Also, is what I have done over the past year enough to change my application from last year? I know what I do want to rush again but im debating if I should do it this year or next because I know that Juniors and Seniors are not a part of the number of girls that they take.

If you are a sophomore in standing, then you are considered by PH to be an upperclassman. If your school has a separate upper class quota, then you would be in that demographic. Yes, your application should focus more heavily on what you've done this year and Jr and Sr years in HS. I wouldn't go back as far as the one last year would have. And, while we believe that appearance (outside of being clean and dressed appropriately!) should be taken into consideration, no one here knows what the women on your campus might do. I would pray my group would do the right thing.

I would rush this year because even though you qualify as an upperclassman, it's much harder to get a bid as a junior and really hard as a senior....as mentioned earlier, sororities want members for as many years as possible so rushing as a sophomore gives you that best shot.

I wish you good luck and hope you will come back and update us!

Since you are a seasoned college woman, you will rely on your accomplishments in college, rather than your HS accomplishments. I would certainly include your HS accomplishments on your resume, but the meat of it should be college.

Sororities are not going to boot someone out who gains weight after she joins. However, you have worked hard and continue to do so to improve your health, and I am sure that you will continue to do so-not because you want to join a sorority, but because you want to have a healthy life, so you have nothing to worry about. I have known girls who were overweight that have had their pick of rush invitations. They inevitably had a great sense of self, were friendly, good conversationalists, and dressed to flatter their body type.

I am not sure if Sophomores are considered Upperclassmen for rush at my school but it does make sense that that would be the case. When I was going through rush I did not meet many Sophomores let alone Junior or Seniors, so I believe that would make sense. Thank you for everyone who has responded to my thread, it truly means a lot to me that you would take the time to answer my questions. I would love to hear any advice that anyone is willing to share, I am writing everything you say down in my rush book. My Rush book is a diary type thing that I started last rush to keep track of each sorority and some tips that i found after the fact. I am going to read it before going in again so that I feel like I am ready to take the challenge on.

I will also post my full rush story no matter what the outcome is, when I went through the first time looking at threads with this similar question I found that not many of them had the results. So I will make sure to include them for Future PNMs and everyone who has taken the time to help me on my journey to hopefully find my forever home.

Oh please do. We will all be pulling for you!