Why not hop on the bandwagon? Mine's alot different!
 

So, I am new to GC and I read a couple of retro recruitment stories and loved each of them. My recruitment experience is COMPLETELY different and it's probably because I go to a small school with a newer greek system. So, here we go.

Well, I'm not gonna sugar coat it, (my username speaks it all), I am a Sigma Sigma Sigma. I will not reveal the name of the other 'house' on campus, because that would not be very panhellenic. We don't have a house because both NPC sororities were chartered in 2005 and are too new to afford a house. We have to work on getting our numbers up first.

I grew up in a very small town in southern Georgia and ended up going to a community college my first two years of college. I transferred to a University (which I will call University) the beginning of my Junior year. (Spring 06).

During spring 06, I was a commuter student and didn't know anyone. I only commuted twice a week, so I was never on campus. During the summer, I used the all-knowing facebook to do a search of people who had the same birthday as me (June 21) that went to University. I found plenty!! I also found this one girl who was the same major as me (Biology) and after messaging back and forth, we signed up for three of the same classes that fall. (Fall 06). I also was invited to join the Universities NPC group on facebook. So, I joined... why not?

The girl with the same major and birthday and I met the first day of class. We immediately hit it off. She was an employee of the University, so she took me on a tour. (I didn't even know we had a cafeteria!!!!) Then, we both saw a big sign on the wall promoting the University's NPC recruitment week. I casually mentioned that I might want to go through recruitment, and she said she was too along with her roommate.

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More to come later - I have to go cook dinner. :)

YAY! Entertainment! haha, thank you for sharing your story here!

im reading!

Cont'd.

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I was still on the fence about the whole thing. I mean, all through high school I hated the cliche sorority girl. In my county, we had a high school sorority who were known for their drinking, bad behaviors, and occasional philanthropy services. My maternal grandmother was a part of this high school sorority so I could have walked on as a legacy, but decided not to.

But, I decided to go through Fall 2006 University NPC Recruitment at the last minute. I had heard stories about how hush hush recruitment was and how selective they were. I was prepared for anything. Going into recruitment, I knew one girl from each sorority. One was in my Microbiology class with me and the other was a girl from the same county as me. I think that's pretty fair.

***Our recruitment 'week' is only three days long***

Open House
This was held on Wednesday during the lunch period where no classes are scheduled. Normally I wear a tshirt and jeans to class, but that day, I wore jeans and a nice shirt (ie not made of cotton). I got my name badge from the NPC desk and waited for it to begin. There were about 35 pnm's going through recruitment. (Remember, small school, new greek system!) The room was split into two by birthdays and each group was sent to a different sorority.

When I arrived at the first set of tables, I met many girls. I looked through their scrapbook of members and their trifold board of all their information. (Philanthropy, financial obligations, etc.) I chit chatted with most of the girls since there were only about 25 members. I felt welcomed and at home. One thing that really interested me was the fact that their chapter meetings are on Monday nights. I was and still am a commuter student traveling an hour away to attend class, so why not attend a meeting when I was already up there? (By this point, I had classes five days a week) The other sorority held their chapter meetings on Sundays. Time was up, I said my good-byes and proceeded over to the other side of the room.

When I arrived at this set of tables, I was immediately whisked away by girls. I was shown their scrapbook and their trifold board with their obigations and such. I met the current president who was a sophomore! This floored me!!! Why did a sophomore have so much respect? It was at this point I realized that maybe as a junior I had a shot in getting a bid.

I left open house very impressed with both sororities and very eager to embark on one of the greatest journeys of my life.

I'm not trying to figure out where you go to school, but curious as to the make-up of the campus.... is it mostly commuter? Or were you in the minority?

I am most definately a minority. My job is in my hometown and I was not going to quit just to attend college. My job was willing to work around my school schedule and it has actually worked out great. I'm a bio major, and I work for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. I knew that once I completed college, I would have a full time position waiting for me. But I am the only 'nut job' in my chapter who commutes. But, I also recruited two girls from my hometown to go Sigma, so it has worked out for the best!

Another story! Looking forward to it.:)

Cont'd

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So, I went home that Wednesday and told my mom all about it. Come to find out, not only was my maternal grandmother in the high school sorority, she was also an Alpha Gamma Delta at University of Georgia. WOW! She passed away five years before I was born, and I had never ever thought to ask. Too bad there wasn't an Alpha Gamma Delta at my school. My mom really didn't want me to drive up there just for a meeting on Sunday and told me she would prefer if I joined the sorority that met on Monday. I told her that I would join whichever sorority I felt I belonged to.

I immediately got on the computer (surprise surprise) and went to both sororities national websites and read just about everything on both. (I was under the preconceived notion that we had a to take a test over the founders and philanthropy and such BEFORE we got our bid) Haha. I was very naive to greek life.

I barely slept that night, very excited about theme night the next night.

Theme Night
FINALLY, it was here! I was super excited about theme night. I loved all the girls right off the bat from both sororities. All the pnm's met in one room at the University and each of the sororities had their own room. We were separated again into two groups and each group visited a sorority then after a while, we switched.

***Side bar***
I see all these things about Rho Chis and rush leaders or whatnot... that's really all foreign to me. We were just split into two groups and two members from the University's panhellenic escorted us from one room to another. (The universities panhellenic was composed of two girls from each sorority who were of course disaffiliated during the time of recruitment.)

Anywho...

I walked into my first room. They had different corners set up. First, the pnms were split up into groups and each pnm group decorated a clay pot with paint. That was a lot of fun! The girls then just kinda chatted with us and time was up.

Then I was escorted into another room with the other sorority and it was a super cute candy land theme. They had us paint onto children's aprons. Each pnm was then whisked away by a current member. I am not good with names... which is why none are included. =/ Little did I know that the members were using rotation groups on me... sneaky sneaky. So, I learned about everything! (Not that I didn't already read and memorize it all via their national websites! =) ) Time was up and we all returned back to the original room.

We were informed about the party the next night and how it would go. We were explained how the pref cards worked and then the greek advisor took questions.

I drove back home very excited about everything! I felt so close to both groups and I knew that it would be super hard to choose one over the other!

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To be continued tomorrow! =)

***Side bar***
I see all these things about Rho Chis and rush leaders or whatnot... that's really all foreign to me. We were just split into two groups and two members from the University's panhellenic escorted us from one room to another. (The universities panhellenic was composed of two girls from each sorority who were of course disaffiliated during the time of recruitment.)


that must be awkward: a Rho Chi from XYZ escorting PNMs to ABC's rush parties and vice versa. its different when you've got a bunch of orgs to see, but when it's just one other, its like you're leading your consumer to the competition.

[/hijack] carry on! i want more!

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Finally, Friday aka Pref Night was here! By this point, I am excited beyond belief. I felt very close to both sets of girls and was very nervous and undecided.

Again, we were split into our two groups and escorted by panhellenic into separate rooms. The first room (the same as the day before) was dressed all in black. I walked in and we all sat down to watch a slide show. This is a good idea, I suppose, for people who know these girls or are familiar with greek life, but I was just bored. This went on for over 2/3 of the alloted time. But, I had good conversation with these girls afterwards.

Then I went into the other sororities room and was met at the door by Ashley. (I remember this name) She got me punch and food and made sure that all my questions were answered. They then introduced their alumnae and everyone got into a circle. Each of the current members held candles and took turns saying what that sorority meant to them. They then did a wishing well theme to 'make a wish' while one of the members sang and played guitar.

The pnms then filled back into the original room to fill out pref cards. I was the last person in there. Most if not all of the other girls had already made up their mind which one was their first choice. I just sat there and contemplated my options. A good fifteen minutes went by and I could tell that the greek advisor was getting a little anxious.

So, I finally ranked my choices on the pref card. (Since there were only two sororities on campus, you could either put both in the order you'd want, or just put one)

As I was leaving, I was stopped by the greek advisor. She asked me if I knew everyone in both sororities. I told her no, that I knew one girl from each sorority going into recruitment and a few of my fellow pnms. She seemed floored.

She was under the impression that I knew everyone because of how much I talked with girls from each sorority. She was convinced that I knew them all and really didn't believe me.

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You know, I think there used to be an Alpha Gamma Delta chapter at your school.

There was. At my school, the greek system was abundant "way back when" and evenutally died out. We are just working on getting it up to speed again. But yes, there once was an Alpha Gamma chapter at my school which closed in the mid 90's. =( Sadness.

You know I've heard a lot of random reasons girls have chosen one chapter over another, but I don't think I've heard someone choosing because of the day of the week chapter meetings were held on! haha. I can't wait to hear more!

To make a long story short, I chose Sigma and Sigma chose me. Even though their meetings are on Sunday, that's where I belonged.

IF you don't mind me asking- which pref ceremony was which?

hold on a friggin minute... the point of these threads are to make your stories long. don't spare us any details!

Haha. Okay.

So, when I went through fall recruitment, I actually held three part time jobs and fifteen hours worth of classes (including three labs).

One of my jobs fell on bid-day and there way no way that I could get off of work. So, I was allowed to call in my bid during certain hours. (10-11, I think)

I had to be at work at 7:30 am, so I had been up since 5:30 counting down the hours until I would find out if I really belonged in either sorority.

Finally 10:00 came around and I went into the back office. I was shaking badly. I called the Universities panhellinic president and learned that the ladies of ΣΣΣ had extended me a bid along with eleven other members. Her next question was if I accepted the bid or not. DUH! Yes, I accepted the bid. Sigma was my first choice.

When it came down to it, I just felt more at home with Sigma. I felt like I really belonged there.

Our first meeting was the next day (Sunday) and I was overjoyed to be a part of something so wonderful! I would have never thought that I would have found myself in a sorority, but regardless, here I am. A proud member of Sigma Sigma Sigma.

I now hold four chairs: Awards, Social Co-chair, Violet Vibe/Communications, and Efficiency.

I will be going into my third semester in Sigma in the fall and I can't wait for it to start! Let the countdown begin.

I am super excited to see formal recruitment from the opposite side.

If you have figured out my University and the other sorority there, I hope I did not cast a negative shadow upon them. They are both great groups of girls. I am friends with numerous people in the other group.

Anyways - I hope y'all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed typing it up. =)

To any and all parents who read this ^ : See? It isn't just your child; when they're young adults a lot of them act that way.

Just kidding, Magan -- thank you for your story. It's interesting to learn about recruitment in a small Panhellenic system.

Haha. Funny! =) Well, I just wanted to get across to pnms out there that they should not pick the sorority that their mom wants them to pick. Actually, my mom is quite happy with my decision. I also recruited someone else from my hometown who lives here part-time, so we alternate weeks. One Sunday, I will drive to the chapter meeting and she will the next Sunday. It's fun to get to know someone because all you do is talk for three hours every week. :)

Oh, I know where you go to school. I wish that we would re-charter there! :D

Yes, that would be cool. But I probably wont see it happen. I will graduate Dec 08. The greek community there is striving to keep numbers up as it is. I'm not so sure there's enough interest in adding another GLO.

wow FOUR chairs??? you busy girl!! congrats on Sigma! i enjoyed ur story!!

Yes. Well,three and a half chairs since one is a co-chair. But I enjoy every minute of it. I think I do have the most chairs in the chapter. Anyways, thanks for reading! =)

Thanks so much for posting. I really love these stories!
ZTA72:)

So, after a few years off and a new screen name (I completely forgot what my last one was) I'm back. Yup, I was ΣΣΣMagan andI'm now mdobson621!It was funny because I actually forgot I had posted my recruitment story. I'm so glad I did though because it's the small details I had forgotten over time.

For those of you who wanted an update...

I became President of my chapter for 2008. I am a charter member of the Greater Savannah Area Alumnae Chapter of Tri Sigma. I became a member of the Chapter Advisory Board in 2010. I now hold the fundraising and community service chair for the alum chapter.

Oh and as for my mother, she recently just became a Tri Sigma through our alum initiate program. She loves Tri Sigma as much as I do :)

YAY!!! i loved your recruitment story and am loving your update!

Hmmm...I know what I'm doing tonight!

Oh, and I got married last June and three Sigma's were bridesmaids including my MOH. I'm so glad for the decisions I made almost 6 years ago! I received more than I ever thought was possible and I know that I'm going to receive even more as the years go by. :)

And how are the chapters doing? They were very new when you joined. Since it isn't too hard to figure out what school, I checked to see what quota is, and it looks like it's pretty stable. Are the chapters still thinking of getting houses? As a grown up now you may have changed your mind on whether that's a good idea, and this site may have given you lots of ideas about housing alternatives (dorm floors, etc.).

My collegiate chapter is doing very well! They have continously met quota and total during Formal Recruitment since Fall 2007 and have not had to have Informal Spring Recruitment.

The Alumnae Chapter was chartered in 2009. The membership is small, but it's a ton of fun! We are working now to inform local alums that there is an alumnae chapter and hopefully get more alumnae involved. We also just initiated 7 women as alum initiates. We partner with the collegiate chapter in community service and fundraising efforts.

As far as houses, I'm not sure where that stands. Neither NPC sorority on campus has a house and I haven't heard of any plans to get a house. The University did offer (back in 2008) a wing of a dorm building, but all officers would have to live in the dorms and that wasn't going to happen as some still lived at home (like me) for free and they weren't going to shell out campus living fees.

You did :) She's the Chapter Advisor.

What a great story
 

Not everyone goes to Enormous State U or goes through The Big Scary SEC Recruitment. Nice to hear not only how smaller recruitments go, but how much the sorority contributed to a somewhat less-traditional student's college experience.

And having regular work to fund tuition, plus a guaranteed job upon graduation does not suck.

I see that your school has grown to have three NPC sororities now: Tri Sigma, Phi Mu, and Alpha Sigma Tau. How lovely!