The Official Sorority Handbook?
 

While flipping through my little sister's Seventeen magazine, I came across a small ad in the back for "The Official Sorority Handbook".

You can check it out here.

I am not planning on purchasing this, but it does give a list of the chapters included in the book:

Off to College You Go!
Want to Join a Sorority?
Lesson 1: The Greek Alphabet
Lesson 2: College Academics
Lesson 3: The Sorority Advantage
Lesson 4: The Sorority Disadvantage
Lesson 5: Are you the Sorority Type?
Lesson 6: Recruitment/Rush - What is it?
Lesson 7: Recruitment/Rush - When is it?
Lesson 8: Formal Recruitment/Rush
Lesson 9: Informal Recruitment/Rush
Lesson 10: Behind the Scenes
Lesson 11: Reference Letters & Legacies
Lesson 12: Sorority Vocabulary
Lesson 13: Sororities Galore
Lesson 14: Joining a Sorority Checklist
Lesson 15: Recruitment/Rush Tips
Lesson 16: The Sorority Conversation
Lesson 17: College Etiquette & Technology
Lesson 18: Sorority House Etiquette
Lesson 19: Sorority Events
Lesson 20: Sorority Courtesy
Lesson 21: Personal Care
Lesson 22: Hazing & Personal Safety
Lesson 23: Let's Talk to the Parents
Lesson 24: The Final Exam
Lesson 25: Trivia: Famous Greeks

Some of it looks like it could be useful to rushees... but then other parts of it seem to be really funny/wrong. It also promises "a behind the scenes look at the sorority process from voting to initiation" :rolleyes:

Has anyone ever seen this before? I have to admit, I'm really curious.

Hmmm....sounds neat!! (yup, I SOOO used the word "neat")

I followed the link out of curiosity, and the first paragraph sort of bothered me...

"The Official Sorority Handbook is a must read for anyone who wants to become a sorority girl (or just act like one!)"

How does one "act" like a sorority girl? Most sorority women I know act like normal people!

Although, I can see how it might be useful for people who go into recruitment not knowing anything about the recruitment process (recs, what to wear, what to expect) ... but 'what to expect' really depends on what campus you go to..


:)

hmmm....good question texas*princess!

I saw that in the back of Seventeen as well. It seened like something useful for hte rushees, but then at the same time it's kind of wierd. I am surprised that it doesn't say anything like, "How to make sure that you are given a bid/initiated." But if someone has it and they have found it useful, then some women in sororoities or even PNM's might want to have it. Now I am wondering what kind of details the book has in it.
Good question... how does one act like a sorority girl?

I bet this is as effective as the "join your high school cheerleading squad and gain instant popularity" book they used to pimp back in the day. :rolleyes:

Back when I used to read "Seventeen", there was always an advertisement in the back for some mail order modeling course and it said, "Become a model or just look like one"

It's probably the same folks!

OT - funny memory
 

When I was in high school we had a local beauty contest where the girls who would enter were nominated by their homerooms and then 7 were chosen in a schoolwide assembly. They basically walked across the stage in a sweater and skirt and that was it. Well, one year one of the hopefuls had apparently taken the "be a model, or just look like one" course. She wore a purple chiffon (!) dress and did these swooping motions across the stage. It was one of those things everyone snickered about for weeks. I don't know WTF she was thinking...

I am still learning to draw Tippy and win that art school scholarship

On a kinda-but-not-so related topic...I've always wondered why Cosmo, etc. magazines that are supposed to be so "forward thinking" have ads for instant breast reduction or enhancement, loose 100 lbs in a day, etc. ads when I am pretty sure that they don't work. Guess the paid fee is more important.

Since when is Cosmo considered to be forward thinking? Last time I checked, they were still featuring articles on how to catch/please/hold onto a man. :rolleyes:

LOL!

I've noticed that Self has those ads too. A magazine that supposedly suggests ways to be healthy and take care of yourself. They'll have an article on how to lose weight the right way, and two pages over there's an ad to lose weight with the miracle pill in two days! Annoying!

Hi, everyone!
This is my first post! My summer job is REALLY boring and I've gotten totally hooked over the past few days! I actually went to the website for the book (my little sis is going through recruitment this year and I thought that she would get a kick out of it). Look at the special offer!!!

"The first 2003 orders receive a special bonus gift -- A wallet reminder card list of "The Top 10 Rush Mistakes"."

So what are you going to do with that? Whip it out a party to make sure that you're not making any mistakes? Actually, I've met enough strange pnms to think that maybe someone WOULD pull it out in the middle of a party!

I'm officially hooked, so I'm sure that you'll be seeing more posts from me soon (especially if my job continues to be this painful!!!).

Interesting... it's published in a town about 20 minutes away from where I grew up... Interesting that it's published in Northern California and there really is no schools here with a *horribly* competitive rush.

Thank you, DGMarie. I just laughed so hard my soda nearly came out of my nose...

:D

Welcome to GC!!!! :D

To quote one of my favorite movies "Blazing Saddles"
Excuse me while I whip this out! :D

#1: Having a reminder card of The Top 10 Rush Mistakes

LOL! Yup thats a great #1....#2 Having to look at it!

LOL omgosh you guys so cracked me up on this post

This thread is sooo cracking me up!! Thanks for making me laugh :)

Re: The Official Sorority Handbook?
 

I hope any PNM that buys this book skips this chapter. I don't know what advice the book offers on this topic, but I hope it doesn't keep girls from rushing because they don't fit into a mold. I think one of the things I liked best about AGD when I rushed was the fact that many of the girls were NOT the typical sorority type.

You know, it's this crap like "How to be popular!", "How to make him like you!" and now, "How to become a [horribly and unfairly stereotyped] sorority girl!" that made me quit reading that damn magazine.

I imagine this will be like most of the books published on sorority rush -- some helpful information and the rest is either

1) only applicable to the school where the author rushed
2) completely stereotypical
3) outdated
4) completely useless

I read one of the older books on rush (Rush: A Girl's Guide to Sorority Success), which was by a former ZTA rush chair at UT-Austin, and while it did include some useful information, a lot of it was common sense and a lot of it was applicable only to Texas and similar big SEC schools. And obviously, since the book was written in the 1980s, some things have changed since then. This book sounds like it will be pretty similar.

And in defense of Cosmo, Self, and similar magazines -- they have to pay their bills, and usually the companies selling products related to body image (breast enhancement and diet pills) are the ones offering them the most money. Usually, companies who sell spare car parts or football uniforms know that it would be a waste of their money to target Cosmo, so it's mostly the appearance-oriented companies that offer to sell ads to the magazine. If they didn't take money from these guys, they wouldn't exist.

Not that a world without Cosmo would be THAT bad . . . ;)

Actually (I know we had this discussion in another thread) Seventeen is probably among the best of the teen girl-oriented magazines out there -- certainly better than YM. Seventeen actually addresses the concept of birth control, pregnancy and STDs (whereas most teen girl magazines send out the conflicting message of "Make him like you!" "How to be a great kisser!" "Center your life around boys!" and fill their pages with super-skimpy clothing while still preaching abstinence-only), does articles on political issues and other serious things interspersed with their "How to tell if he's crushing" quizzes. And Seventeen is actually the only teen magazine that I know of that has ever done pro-sorority articles.

Oh I agree that it's better than YM. I used to like Seventeen a great deal because I thought it was much better than the other "teen" magazines. But somewhere around '98 they started stooping to the level of YM and others and I just got sick of it and cancelled my subscription.

I still think Seventeen is better than YM. :p

But I haven't picked up a copy of either in a while.

I used to read Seventeen for the same reasons. It seemed a little more empowering than YM or Sassy. But with everything, as the generation changes, so does the entertainment. I think MTV has gotten way more ridiculous as the years go by also (but I still watch because I'm a freak). Any who, I'm all about Jane now, although some might think it's a bit racy.

I love Jane!! That's got to be my favorite!!

Jane is awesome!!! (though I must admit that I still have a subscription to Cosmo....)

yeah i have subscriptions to pretty much all of them.. it keeps me motivated at the gym if i have something like that to read!

I had a subscription to Jane last year, but each month I watched them go from independent, free-thinking, and empowering to Cosmo-wannabe. I quit reading it because I was totally disgusted with it. But that's just my $.02 :o

yea that line disturbed me too

Maybe they teach these airheaded Seventeen-ers how to act like sorority girls.....aka normal people. But what's chances? :p

Ok, who is going to be the person that buys a copy and tells the rest of us about it. It needs to be done.

sorority handbook?
 

ok- so i may just be local- and i don't know about you- but thats so much bs- just act like one? you knwo that saying "from the outside looking in you don't understand it- from the inside looking out- you can't explain it?" that is true- and no book or 29.95 or whatever will ever explain it to you- and rush will be totally unique- and thats the way it should be- not laid out in a book- thats so stupid- lol! :rolleyes: oh yea you guys definately cracked me up with the comments :p

This is the funniest thing I've heard all week!! :D

Don't these schools have rush workshops that explain what to do and what not to do? I am frightened that handbook would contain stereotypical things about sororities and the PNM would behave in such a manner that would guarantee her getting cut. I am sure the handbook would be good for a laugh or two.

Also, what I don't understand is lesson 5: Are you the Sorority Type? That would likely deter girls who don't fit the mold from giving it a chance. I know that there are plenty of women who don't fit that mold gave rush a chance, got a bid, pledged and were initiated. Either that or they formed their own!

Just my $20.00!

DGMarie, I got a kick out of that comment about Tippy and the Art School Scholarship!

http://66.227.101.70/contrib/blackeye/stretch.gif http://216.40.249.192/s/otn/wink/smily012.gif

and besides, who needs a sorority rush handbook when you've got GC?

hmm, that book isnt listed on bn.com or amazon.com... as funny as that book would be to read on a rainy day, it seems a bit sketchy to me. i think i'll keep my $19.95 and get my hair dyed blonde before open house so i can like, totally look like a sorority girl! ;) ;)