Rollwave2008's Spring Recruitment at Tulane
 

Feeling incredibly burnt out by finals (2 down, 2 to go!), I thought I would start my recruitment thread today! Hooray!

I am originally from California, am a freshman at Tulane in New Orleans, and absolutely thrilled about recruitment starting (Ok, it doesn't start for another month, but I have to right to be excited, right?) I am entirely new to the whole Greek system (I don't know any alumnae...sheesh!)but have been fascinated with the idea of sisterhood for as long as I can remember.

Anyway, there are six sororities here:
Alpha Epsilon Phi
Chi Omega
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Pi Beta Phi
Sigma Delta Tau

And, inspired by the episode of Saved by the Bell I was watching (god bless TBS!) I have nicknamed them (In no particular order...):
Jessie
Kelly
Lisa
Screech
Slater
Zach

Anyway, winter break is coming up and I can't wait to assemble some cute outfits to wear for recruitment! Have a great day!

Re: Rollwave2008's Spring Recruitment at Tulane
 

Cute:)

Good Luck!

Aww very cute naming idea! I hope you get Kelly (haha jk, she was just my fav on the show).

For Christmas/Hannukak or whichever holiday you celebrate this season, just ask for money or gift cards ;) ;)

I look forward to reading more about your recruitment!!!:D

Re: Rollwave2008's Spring Recruitment at Tulane
 

Hi from next door! I'm a Loyola Greek. :)

I am also from down the ways at UNO.

get ready to swim on in...
i know a bad wave joke.
seriously, get ready to have some fun, meet some neat people...and see what happens.

Good luck! :)

good luck! and i love saved by the bell...whenever i see a rerun, i can't resist watching!

Good luck! I wish you all the best with your recruitment!

good luck!!! (and I LOVE saved by the bell!) ;)

Good luck with recruitment! The theme for your thread is cute. Saved By The Bell was/is one of my favorite shows ever!!

Saved by the bell was a cool show! Best of luck

Thank you all so much for your kind words, encouragement, and support.

Open House a week from tomorrow (so I guess technically I should have started this thread today, instead of almost a month ago...oops!)I go back to New Orleans tomorrow and I am really looking forward to the semester starting, and, of course, the weekend coming. The schedule for recruitment looks like this:

Thursday, January 13th- Kickoff 9:15 pm
Saturday, January 15th- Open House 9:30 am-5:15 pm
Sunday, January 16th- First Series (slide show) 2:00-6:45 pm

...5 days of school and stress...

Friday, January 21- Second Series (skit night) 5:00-8:00 pm
Saturday, January 22- Preference Night 3:00-6:00 pm
Sunday, January 23- BID DAY (fingers crossed!!)

So, there you go. Winter break has been a nice way to relax, but unfortunately I have gotten really sick. I can barely speak, but today (so far) has been the best I have been. Hopefully I will be better by the time classes start, and if not, by Saturday. How terrible would that be if no one was talking to could hear me?!?

Now, I have a question. I have lurked around GC long enough to know that when going through recruitment one should keep an open mind. Unfortunately, however, having been at Tulane a semester, I know which stereotypes go along with each chapter. I know these things change, so should I overlook them? Or should I take them into consideration? Thank you so much in advance for your advice!

See you soon!

I think it really depends on each individual situation as to whether or not you listen to stereotypes. I say this because if you keep an open mind and go into a house that is known to be a bunch of snotty B**ches and who all have blonde hair and big boobs, but then you meet some really sweet girls who dont fit the stereotype, are you going to rule them out because you don't want to be lumped into this category? If you go to another house that is known to be smaller and struggling but see what an awesome close sisterhood they have, see all the opportunities you have as a younger member to take on leadership roles, etc, to see this chapter expand and be a part of it, are you going to be a snotty you know what yourself and not join because you don't want people to think you're a loser? Anyway, I just hate spring rush because there are so many things that a pnm can hear about a group and most of them have their minds made up going into recruitment about how they feel about each chapter, before even meeting a single member. The result? Struggling chapters struggle more and stronger chapters get stronger. Sigh, /soapbox.
I would definitely advise you to keep an open mind and go where you feel most comfortable, not where you would least likely fall into a negative stereotype.

A chapter can't be in one week what they are not the other 51 weeks -- that's even more true with Deferred Recruitment.

Sure, keep an open mind & an open heart, but weigh all things that you know.

Hope you have a super experience. Newcomb has a great Greek legacy.

If they're things like "XYZ is all blonde rich witches" or "ABC all have 4.0's and never party" ignore them. Those are ridiculous and have nothing to do with the relationships you will find within the sorority.

However, if it's things like "PQR have a serious drug problem" and you've got firsthand knowledge of it - like every PQR you met has been stoned or constantly wiping her nose or their members have been arrested for possession - that's when you should think twice.

I agree, that was the rest of my "it depends on the situation" comment. I got on a rant about the other though. :)

I completely agree. When I went through, some houses held their stereotypes. Others, though, completely shocked me. I ended up going back to some houses I never thought I would. A lot of it depends on who you have for the day at the houses.

Good luck :D

Just a warning it is extremley hot in New Orleans right now. SO i would make sure you rush clothes aren't very winter but something you could throw a jacket or sweater over if necessary. Today it is 75 degrees. Good luck just ignore the stereotypes you hear and go in and meet all the girls!!!

I agree with what these ladies are saying. Be true to yourself, and find the sorority where you fit in the best. Stereotypes are often perpetuated out of old rumors.

For example, I was schocked to learn the "hard party girl" sorority at one school was full of nice pretty girls who knocked everyone out of the park with their campus awards, community involvement and leadership... the stigma came from many years back when there had been some chapter issues. They had a great sisterhood and I couldn't understand where the rumor had gotten started.

So listen to your heart, and not the tent talk or rumors. You're the prospective member, not all the naysayers!

It's not extremely hot! What are you talking about?

For mid January it is hot.

BUT THERE'S NO HUMIDITY. THAT MAKES IT VERY NICE!!! :D

Hell girl, can you send that type of weather up to the Pacific NW? PLEASE? :D
(typing this because we have 6 inches of snow and crappy side streets that have lots of snow and ice)

LOL. It got cooler today I mean nothing like ya'lls snow cold but like 54 degrees. Our weather is schizophrenic.

Yeah! It is Thursday and kickoff time! How did it go?

And it is kind of cold today in La. I actually needed a long sleeved shirt today;)
But this weekend it is supposed to freeze. That means the doggie sleeps inside!

Ugh, our recruitment next door started tonight and it was so cold!!! And of course, it was rainy all day and really gross!!

Hey Everyone!!

Ahhhh! Open house starts in 12 hours and 25 minutes and I am feeling incredibly... everything! I am nervous, excited, anxious, calm, but most of all worried that I forgot something (i.e. something to wear!), but I think I am prepared. Heck, I have been looking forward to this for 6 months, I better be prepared.

Kickoff went well yesterday. Yes, the weather was extremely unfortunate, but all in all it was fine. There were so many girls! Upwards of 500 I think, which was completely unexpected. It was a little bit intimidating in the beginning, but once we broke up into groups it was a lot easier to handle.

The first 45 minutes were full of silly skits (some really cute, others sort of thrown together) and then we split up into our Gamma Chi groups. The groups are a lot larger than I expected (probably 50 girls a piece), but fortunately I know a few girls in the group and have already started to get to know some others. Our Gamma Chis are really great. One of them is in an organization with my best friend here, so that was a nice way to get to know her. We also got our tee-shirts that we have to wear tomorrow and they are SO TINY!!! I ordered a small, assuming that it would be a standard tee shirt like we get at every other Tulane function. But no, they were fitted. Needless to say, I will have quite a bit of flub hanging out, which may not be the best way to get to know my potential future sisters, but at least they will get to see the REAL me, right? :D Of course, all of the other girls I have talked to had the same complaints, so at least I am not alone.

I got some final touches (shoes, jewelry, and the Victoria's Secret sale) for recruitment today, and I feel pretty good about my outfits and all. Now I need to get my beauty/sanity sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a looooooong day!

I will update either tomorrow night or Sunday morning! Goodnight and happy Friday!

For the shirt thing--try higher waist pants. If I am wearing a shirt that shows a little, the higher pant covers up nicely. I love my Gap Long and Leans! But don't go up to your armpit or anything;)

Have fun! And remember what Greek Chat has taught you. Breath mints, not too much perfume and talk nice!

How funny! That is exactly what I planned on wearing! Phew! Thank you so much for the kind words of advice!

... I think that my excessive use of exclamation points pretty much sums up how I am feeling right now.

Smile & have fun!

enjoy the ride...
who know where it will end??

Hooray!! One day down!!

Today was so much fun!! I really enjoyed the entire day and I am so mad that I was so nervous all along. Here's how the schedule went:

House 1: Zach
House 2: Lisa
House 3: Jessie
House 4: Slater
House 5: Kelly
House 6: Screech

Zach was AMAZING!! I was really intimidated by this group before because I thought that they were going to be extremely "Sorority girl." While they were (probably more so than any other group), I got along so well with all of the girls I talked with and even spoke with the president and upcoming president for quite a while. The songs that they were singing were adorable and the house was amazingly well put together.

Lisa was a house that I have been a little bit unsure of, but I feel that my visit today really concreted everything that I thought. While all of the girls were really nice, the conversations I felt were a bit forced and awkward. I don't think that this will be where I end up.

Jessie was far and away my very favorite. I have a lot of good friends in this group that I haven't been able to hang out with recently due to Panhell silence rules. I got to meet some wonderful, wonderful girls and just felt immediately at home. One girl even told me that she thinks that I would make great contributions to the organization! Wee!!! The only thing I am worried about is that this is the house that EVERYONE loves, which means that the competition will be fierce. Fingers crossed that I can return to this one!

Slater was kind of a letdown. A lot of my friends are in this group and they have a really strong presence on campus. They sort of have a negative reputation (one that I thought was undeserved) but I chose to overlook this and keep an open mind like y'all reccomended. Unfortunately, all of the girls I spoke with sort of lived up to their reputations. I still really respect this house because I LOVE so many of the girls that I didn't talk to, but I was still bummed.

Kelly was really nice. I liked all of the girls I talked to, and conversation flowed really really well. The house was cute and the outfits were adorable! I really want to get to know these girls better.

Screech was an interesting experience. Of all of the houses I went to, this was the only one that really really tried to sell their sorority to me. However, they did it by telling me which frats liked them and all the awesome parties they have, which, while all great, isn't all that I am looking for. I also felt really left out at points when several members would be talking and inside-joking while I was left sort of clueless. While their decorations were cute and seemed like they had a great sisterhood, I just didn't feel like it was the place for me.

All in all, here's my ranking:
1- Jessie
2- Zach
3- Kelly
4- Slater
5- Lisa
6- Screech

We have accept/regret tomorrow at 9, so I will update then on which ones I am going back to! Goodnight!

Yeah! Congrats on making it through your first night!

PS How did the shirt thing work out?

good luck!

Rollwave, thanks for the prompt & very thorough update! (You have to know how "hooked" we all get on recruitment threads & we're anxious to know ASAP how it's going!) You're verbalizing your reactions very well. I just bet this is going to be a great experience for you.

excellent first step my friend...
your reactions are honest, but still open.
may tomorrow be terrific. keep that smile going...