2nd time around
 

Hi Girls!,
I rushed last year and am re-rushing this year, and was wondering if I should start a thread of how it goes. I figure that there seems to be people wondering how it goes for re-rushees, and Im going to dive into it head first, so I figured I might as well post how it goes to maybe help other girls decide whether or not they too should rerush. Hope this helps!

Heres a little background though:

I rushed and bid last year to a house I didnt like lets call them "blue" (and no blue is not one of their colors that would just be silly). Well I had my heart set on another house lets call them "Green" (again not a color) and after going on this site learned of sponsorship. Its not big at out school, infact there are girls in houses who have never heard of it. Anyways I called up a local alumni green chapter, told them my situation and eventually ended up with an absolutely AMAZING sponsor! So starting October 7th rush will begin and Ive never been so nervous in my life!. And here I am. About to go where very few have gone before. I would love to tell my story as to potentially help other girls who also want a second greek shot!

Here goes nothing!

(p.s. if there are people apposed to this thread, please PM me your concerns. Thanks)

yup

Formal. We didnt start school until today. Yay for silly west coast schools.

I added you to this list

Keep in mind that a rec doesn't guarantee you a bid or really guarantee much at all.

Why did you drop out of the other house? Why did you accept a bid from them in the first place if you did not want to be in that house?

I've been thinking about this question because it seems to come up a lot in these types of threads. One thing I remember hearing a lot from girls who ended up depledging was that the houses they joined actually ended up being quite different from the image that they had projected during rush. There were two or three houses in particular that I heard this about, and these houses, according to the new members, put a lot of effort into making their house seem a lot "better" (more fun, I guess they meant?) during rush than they really were, and they also treated the rushees like royalty whereas when they pledged, they got a lot less attention. Maybe a similar sort of situation went on in this case, or in any other case where a girl chose to depledge. It sounds reasonable, because we all know how hard it is to get an accurate idea of what a house is like during rush just because everything is so hectic and fast. Or I could be wrong, I don't know...but maybe it's something to think about.

Since you are locked out of recruitment for a calendar year if you decline a bid during FR, many women will accept the bid and see if the group really does 'fit' them.

Many women do find out that the chapter is their home, after all. And some, like this woman, find out that their first impressions were accurate. I think it all depends.

However, I do agree that having a recommendation never guarantees you a bid and, as has been posted on other threads, since all the groups will know that you pledged, then broke your pledge, to another group, you shouldn't hold your expectation too high.

I understand the more common reasons why people join a chapter then drop. I was just curious as to her particular situation :)

Hi hi hi,
So I swear on my life Im not trying to be a bitch or yell at anyone or anytihng like that here. Ok now that I am threw the disclaimer, Im not going to divulge the reasons i left my house, just understand that I did. I hope this doesnt seem like Im asking people if I should rush or not, because thats not my goal here either. I heading into this thing in a if-it-goes-well-it-goes-well-if-it-doesnt-it-doesnt type additude. I figured I would sacrafice myself for the good of others in that I can be the one to relay to re-rushees whether or not its a good idea. I feel that its really different hearing it from a girl going through it rather than a girl on the other side of recruitment.

Another thing i should mention is that with the rec I know its not a surefire, or even an extrodinary help, but thats why I wanted it. So that if in fact I dont get a bid I can relay the message that even with a rec, re-rushing isnt a good idea.

This thread is going to be documentary style than anything else, because I have to go into it with the state of mind that I could end up 15 dollars in the hole and making a complete fool of myself. But whatever, things could always be worse right?

One more thing I want to point out, Im at a california school, and they treat rush and sorority life MUCH differently than those of the midwest, south, east, basically everywhere. So thats another variable to added into this whole thing.

I hope this helps any of you who seem to be confused by my thread, this is really something that I think will be beneficial to many girls. I hope you girls can support me in this because it really means alot to me.

Thanks a ton!

This is a great thought to mention! I saw this happening a lot at my school. There was one chapter that always got the 'trophy' PNMs. Then, they would either drop before initiation, or leave shortly thereafter. I think that demonstrating actual sisterhood during recruitment events is quite difficult...even with a no-frills rush. I think that's why so many people on this forum stress to PNMs the importance of an open mind. It's very easy to let outward appearances create your opinions!

I've heard of this happening before. Sometimes they come to us or other local organizations on campus too.

At any rate, I wish you luck, being an alum of a California school myself. We just finished up formal here and my group finishes up tonight.

Just to let you know--I went through rush a 2nd time, and it is VERY hard. Granted my chapter only has 2 NPC sororities, it was very hard to rush again. I was lucky that there were groups that hadn't participated in rush last year or else I was have gotten ZERO bids. There are going to be people that recognize you and want to know WHY you left the other group. You can't just say "its my reasons" b/c that necessarily won't fly with anyone. (i'm not trying to be mean, its just the reality). Just go in with an open mind...I wouldn't go straight into it thinking you know which group to go with, because it just might not happen. Take care and I wish you a lot of luck!

well, good luck to you tinkgirl. hope it goes as you want, and please keep us posted!!

We wish you well - just some folks want to know more, whether it is germane or not.

Good luck and we look forward to hearing your experience.

I agree. I think that rush can send a fairly inaccurate message of what certain houses are like. I know that in my case, the house I saw during rush wasn't the exact same house that I saw after rush. In that case, it was okay because I still "fit" with both houses -- in fact, I actually fit with the "real" sorority better than the one I saw during rush. This isn't true for everyone. One of the sororities that I liked during rush and that was on my bid card? I later found out that they hazed.

I just think this is a no-brainer -- what you see during rush isn't always what you get, and that can lead to some bad fits.

Getting nervous
 

So rush starts in about a week, and I am basically getting extremely nervous. Everyone is running around promoting either their non NPC sorority or Rho Chi's are running around promoting NPC sororities, and all the girls are decked out in their house shirts, and getting ready for rush. I wasn't nervous the first time around, infact I just wanted to get in, get out, and get a bid. This time, I am so completely nervous because it may or may not be really difficult to get a bid at all. BAH!! But Im still in it! Heck if I dont get a bid, this whole experience will just make me all the stronger and wiser. Common how many people do you know who can honestly say that rush wasn't the scariest thing ever. 3 girls, talking to you for 10 minutes each, and they then deciding, based on a 10 minute convo, whether or not your worthy of their house. Scary, not gonna lie.

But Im still excited! As nervous as I am, I am still looking forward to it. YAY!

good luck to you...

I was a re-rushee as well and it turned out wonderfully for me! Granted rush was HARD on me the second time around, in the end it was the best decision I ever made. I knew a ton of the Tri-Delts, and they were the ones who talked me into going through a second time... I think it was destiny! Some chapters won't be willing to look past the fact that you are a sophomore, but those that are may just be the perfect place for you. Don't be surprised if quite a few of the houses drop you the first round, it happened to me. I'm hoping that you find your place, though, and I love to see fellow re-rushees do just that. Best of luck to you and keep us updated!

ETA: I just noticed that I've hit the Senior Member mark... woo hoo! :p

Good luck. I went through twice because I wasn't happy with the bid I received freshman year. The cuts can be harder the second time around and there's not always a happy ending. Just be yourself and see how things go.

One of my best friends was a re-rush at USC and the exact same thing happened her!! Tri-delts wanted her to rerush, she re-rushed, and Ive never seen her so happy.

Yay!!

RUSH STARTS FRIDAY!!!! I think I am going to be sick. But I've recently decided that I really will be happy in any house on campus. I mean come on, if they want me, how can I possibly be so self involved as to be "No, I am too good for your house" Please!! Thats just not nice!


GAHHH! Sorry Im kinda scatter-brained right now, as it has recently come to my attention that I need new clothes for rush. EEP!

best wishes that all works out well for you!!

nothing but the best to you....

Good luck tonight!!!

Good-luck! :)

I have no voice
 

So its now 11:23pm and I am exhausted. So heres the recap, oh and by the way who ever that matchers this year are, are amazing.

There are nine house lets call them
red
orange
yellow
Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet
Gold and
Silver
(none of these correlate to house colors they're just in the order of the houses i visited.)

Ok so starting off red. . .I was kidnapped by a girl who knew me previously, and thus was not able to talk to any other girls. Which was both good and bad, I really have no interest in that house, and don't want this one girl taking our "catching up" conversation to move me forward. At the same time, because i didnt talk to anyone else I may not get asked back.

Orange: The room was great! Alot different than last year ( I remember because it was dark and stiffling last year). Had great conversations with the girls, just casual conversation like old friends would have. Great Fun.

Yellow: Horrible. Which is weird, because last year I had great conversations with them, and this year it was horrible. I was double rushed, and the second girl to talk to us, basically talked about a common friend between her and the other girl. When 10 minutes was spent where I couldnt even try to park take, in a 30 minute party, it makes things a little rough.

Green: Loved them loved them loved them. The room was adorable, the girls were fantastic, I honestly felt the most comfortable in this room, and I dont even have friends in that house. I had terrific conversations AND my rho chi from last year is actually the president and shes an absolute doll!!

Blue: This was totally fun, I bonded with a girl over our theatre interests( shes a major Im a minor) and really had just a fun comfortable converastions. One girl was so comfortable she took her shoes off. Great but not amazing.

Indigo: I was picked up by the ONLY girl I knew in the hosue. We happen to be pretty close so we just sat there an gossiped about things going on lately. It was great to see her again, however she passed me off to a girl I didn't click with at all, which was kind of uncomfortable ( I hate awkward pauses)

Violet: This house has a reputation and I think I met the girls that just dont fit it. Although I felt that they really didnt care about me. THey were talking to me to talk to me, and that was that. They were kind of hollow and thats just sad.

Gold: This house made me really sad. Because I know that they wanted my to pref them last year, and they put on a terrific rush, and the girls are terrific, but I just cannot see myself being happy in that house. I like the girls, but I feel the overall vibe of the house just isnt what Im looking for, or anything that really defines me.

Silver: The sins of rush. The room was so hot and sweltering it was almost impossible to breath. I could tell the girl that picked me up was tired of all this. There were big gaps in the conversation, and I was trying to be excited but her lack of energy just made it alot harder. I was passed on to girls who little to nothing in common with me and had a hard time coming up with things to talk about continusly.

So at the end of the night we rank the house, plug em in and go about our marry way. Heres my ranking
1. Green
2. Orange
3. Indigo
4. Blue
5. Silver
6. Violet
7. Yellow
8. Gold
9. Red

I may have mixed up my 7 and 8 because my mind is so tired I cannot remember which one I put where. But on the matcher comment, I had alot of girls rush me who were also re-rushees. It not uncommon to re-rush at my school, and if everyone is happy in the end then its great.

Another note, we dont have houses, so we have to rush around in a random fashion to a bunch of different conference rooms the houses decorate each day, tear down each night, then move to a different room for the next day. Its intense for those girls, eesh. Any how Im nervous for tomorrow, since I have no idea how many houses I'll be asked back too.

Thanks for all your love and support!!

**Tink**
Butterflys in my stomach!

Are blue and green the same as the blue and green you mentioned at the beginning of this thread? And when is the next night of rush?

Good luck!

SORRY! I didnt even realize I used colors at the begining. No blue in my first post is actually orange. However by some weird twist of fate, green is still green. Ha! Crazy huh.
So I waited till this morning to post since I didnt get home last night till about 12:30 and I was beat. I was asked back to 4 out of 7 houses, which was to be expected. What wasnt to be expected was that the house that I had the rec for dropped me. Im not going to lie, I have had my heart set on that house both times! I was just really hard to look down at my list of parties and see that it just wasnt there. So here they are in the order I visited them:

Red: I hate this house. I cannot stand them, they kept asking me back last year, and I really do not want to be in this house. I look around and know that I wouldnt be happy there. I dont like there events, I dont like there foundings, I dont like the conversation I had with the girls. They sat us down and had us talk to ONE girl for 45 minutes. I talked to this girl about her major and applying for grad school and taking the GRE's. Not a fun conversation piece.

Yellow: Nice room, cute theme, wish this house were stronger on campus. Again I took all things into consideration and just know that by talking to the girls that I wouldnt fit in there. I was uncomfortable and I was double rushed so conversation was very forced.

A three hour break in which I caught my toe under a heavy glass door which proceeded to rip off a large chunk of my cutely painted toes. Ouch. Oh and while talking to girls on my THREE HOUR break I lost my voice, and had the hardest time talk to girls in my next two parties.

Blue: I had so much fun here again. The conversations was great, and looking around the room I really felt the girls were alot like me. It was hyper and the slideshow went along to show that they LOVE wearing crazy outfits. I LOVE WEARING CRAZY OUTFITS!! They were so great I didnt realize the 45 minutes were up

Indigo: I felt a little intimidated here. THe first girl I talked to was a little slow, and we found it kind of hard to get the ball rolling (she was IN my rho chi group last year) and when the next girl came the conversation was great, it was desperate house wives, then football, then the love of rivals (school wise not people). It was alot of fun, I just felt the overall "attractiveness" of the house was really intimidating.

So here was the nightly rankings if you didnt guess:
1. Blue
2. Indigo
3. Yellow
4. Red

There are few sad endings to this story. One is that I woke up this morning with a swollen tongue. I have a grapefruit tongue, a bloody toe, and no voice. This is painful. Also tonight we get knocked down to four houses. And of the four I got last night, theres only two that I am even remotely considering. I knew as a re-rush it would be hard, but honestly had I not been having all this physically trying epidemics, I wouldnt be so upset. I cant even lick my lips. But another sad ending is that if I had four last night, I may not get four today. It goes 9,7,4,2. And I already know what houses I want to pref. I am just hoping that I make it far enough to pref. them. I've also been writing updates to the woman who gave me rec. and had to break the news to her that I was no longer going to be in her house. Unless some never before seen strings get pulled and I get asked back. Yeah thats just not gonna happen. So I am sitting here extremely nervous since I dont want to get knocked down to 3,2, or 1 house tonight. GAH STRESS!!

Another point I want to make, is that I am extemely nervous because I have actually ended up liking two of the houses, ALOT. The reason I am so nervous is because WHENEVER I start liking a house I always end up losing them or something else. Case in point when i took the bid last year, through out recruitment I wanted them not because I like them but because I thought they were better then getting put in the other houses. I know its horrible and it doesnt matter because Im not there anyway, but then I started really warming up to the house, and then it just didnt work out. Again, this is what makes me so nervous, is I really just cannot take another let down.

Having a rec doesn't guarantee ANYTHING. It's still up to the women in the house.

Yep. 100,000% correct! Again, I went into this knowing it was going to be difficult, and this is hopefully a learning curve for anyone else that want to re-rush.

PS I'm feeling better, and rush starts in 40 minutes. . .so Im off!

Well things seem to be going well despite the sickness and toe issue! :) Good luck today!!!

So tonight was pretty darn good! Tonight was philanthropy night with up to 4 houses. I was asked back to 3 out of my four from last night. I wasnt surprised that I didnt get asked back, and I wasnt all that disappointed. It was my second choice from last night but thats because it was better than the other two houses (unfortunately to two bottom houses on campus)

So heres tonights recap:

1st party I ate sushi because I had an open party.

Blue: OMG!! I cannot get enough of these girls! I talked to girl who is basically my twin. I am uber sarcastic, and tell long stories that definately arent true. Like a princess who lives in a tower eatting pizza with corn nuts, glue, mango's and without cheese and bread. (honest to god story we put together to mix things up a litte) The next girl was equally as cute, we talked about school since we're in the same bio class, but it was actually a fun school conversation. I love them!!

Red: I just did not want to be here. Theres no good way to go to a house that you know youre not interested in. And I just dont have it in me to be mean to the girls, so I had a really really hard time in here. Once again I talked to one girl the entire time, and it was a very miserable conversation. I decided that if I can't be mean, then I would talk about something I know Im not supposed to talk about, because it gives a bad impression. That way they dont like me, but we're still keeping conversation. So I talked about my boyfriend, and how we're getting married and joined at the hip.

Yellow: The girls are so sweet, but I just dont see myself being happy here, although if they are striving to find girls to ask back to pref, then I would gladly come. I like the girls alot, but not nearly as much as blue. They really love their house and are just always really nice and down to earth.

So the end tally of the night (if you hadn't already guessed):
1. Blue
2. Yellow
3. Red

Unfortunately if I only get asked back to pref yellow and red, I am not going to finish pref night. Its not that one of those houses may give me a bid, if there is another girl that really wants one from that house. It an early night so I am off to study!

It sounds a little about when you first start dating, doesn't it? You SO want him to like you that sometimes, you just do something foolish, almost as if you're sabotaging yourself. Let's hope you don't subconsciously do that with other aspects of life!

As for tonight's comments, here's my take, like it or not: If you're invited back to any houses, go! Consider it a teaching seminar in which you need to be nice, but not silly.

Why, you ask? Because you love Blue & Indigo so much! Most Panhellenics (yes, I know there are exceptions) will not let you fill out a Bid Card unless you go to Pref. Then, put your first & second choices (Blue & Indigo) down, and Yellow as a possible third, if you like. If you're not allowed to put Blue & Indigo down, write something to the effect that you are interested in Snap Bidding or COB on the Bid Card - but mostly from Blue & Indigo.

Panhellenic Councils really DO want every woman to be placed, and placed happily!. This is just one way of "urging it along" a little. Good luck, and may you be happy in whichever color you choose.

Oh, and be sure to let us know who each of the houses are, even if you need to PM we nosy people!! ;)

No honestly I completely agree with you on all aspects. I wasn't saying that Im not going to pref the houses that ask me back (we only pref 2 houses) I was just saying if it turns out that I am asked back to pref red and yellow, then I would have to not attend pref night, and kiss my life in the Greek system good bye. However I'm hoping that I get asked back to Blue and Yellow and even though I dont want a bid from yellow, I wouldn't even consider not going to their pref. Thats just rude and uncalled for, especially if I plan on attending the other party. I was just saying that going to pref night, to two houses that I most likely will not accept a bid from, isnt fair to girls who really do want those houses.

Ironically enough the houses on our campus who typically COB are Red and Yellow, crazy huh? They are the only two houses on campus that have done informal rush for the last three years.

Also since it seems to have come to my attention that rush here is alot different that other schools I should explain it.
We dont have houses. We go around from conference room to conference room in our student center, each house decorates a room for the days events. We go to all nine houses, rank them at the end of the night, and are asked back for up to 7 houses, another round of ranking, 4 houses, ranking and then finally pref two houses. We rank the houses we pref'd then pray that we get that house for bid day the next day. We can't rush only one house, we rush only once a year, and there is rarely an opportunity for COB's. Our campus isnt that HUGE into greek life and thus our recruitment is a little bit different.

And of course I will tell you houses if you ask me to! Out of respect for the houses and there members I dont want to post their identities all over the internet but after tuesday if you are interested just send a PM and will let you know lickidy split!!

FWIW, not much detective work went into figuring out what campus you're at, and yes, rush is a lot different.

I appreciate your honesty in describing your experiences, and I wish you the best of luck.