ausguals SPRING 08 recruitment story !!!! :)
 

Hey everyone :)

I've been sketching around GC for some time now and I've been DYING to be able to post a recruitment story.....and recruitment starts today! I'm on the eastern part of the state (I'm not saying where..) and I think about 7 sororities are participating in recruitment, but I won't know for sure until the meeting tonight...so I'll let you know. I'm not sure what to expect from the meeting exactly but I'm siked for it. It's in about an hour and I'll post ASAP when its over.

I'm a sophomore, by the way. And I can't decide what code names to use for all the different chapters, so hopefully when I come back from my meeting I'll have come up with something :)

I'll be the first to say good luck and I look forward to reading about your experience!

Do you mean "eastern part of the country"? :) Just wondering... good luck!!!

haha yes sorry, i meant eastern part of the country :)

Sadly, there are only 4 sororities going through recruitment. We didn't do much at the meeting except meet with our councilors and go over how things will go for the next week (no agenda, if you get invited to a chapter event you can go, but you don't have to, and you may not get invited to any events). I thought a lot more people there would be a little dressed up, but there were girls their in sweat pants, which surprised me a little

Anyways... I'm going to name them after different types of diamond cuts....Princess, Emerald, Marquis, and Round. (That is, if I get invited to more than one. They were told not to contact us before 8 pm tonight, but we were warned that they weren't forbidden from inviting us before then.)

I have a party tomorrow with Princess, at their house. From my understanding, I don't think all the girls going through recruitment got invited. I haven't met any of the girls before, so it should be interesting. Their house is gorgeous on the outside though, so I'm interested in seeing the inside .


The hardest time I'm going to have is not listening to the girl who lives across the hall from me. She's in another sorority that isn't rushing, and she has opinions on every other sorority on campus, which is fine, but now probably isn't the time to be expressing her opinions on me, and I'm definately not listening to them. She's a great friend, but just because she didn't like a sorority (or maybe they didn't like her?) doesn't mean she should hold me back. I hope this doesn't sound like I'm expecting to "pick a sorority," I'm not cocky, trust me. I know I'm lucky if I get an invite--or a bid!!--anywhere, especially being a sophomore.

PS. Bid day is Thursday, January 31st :)

Yay! Love the names!

I'm a little confused. Is this an informal recruitment? Are they NPC chapters?

sounds like a different type of recruitment-- should be interesting to hear about!

i hope you get an invite from round; i'd like to cheer for them.

sorry, i'm terribly vauge (obviously i've never done a recruitment story before). It is informal recruitment, and yes, they are NPC chapters. The way my school does it is that we have a meeting and meet with our greek advisors, but we aren't likely to see them again after today, though they are likely to call us to ask how things are going during the week.

The organizations that have decided to participate are sent our recuitment applications that we filled out. They don't have to invite us to anything if they don't want to, and aren't required to do so. If they like what they see, we could be invited to a dinner or dessert with them or any other function. However, you aren't really guaranteed to be contacted by any sorority if you sign up. I don't know if thats how informal works at other schools, but its more like "continuous open recruitment," really.

Thanks for the clarification and good luck to you.

how exciting that you already have one invitation!! good for you for not taking anything your friend across the hall says-but, maybe she will realize that you might be looking for a different experience than she was, and will be supportive of you.

please let us know how things go!

great news !! Emerald called this evening and dropped off an invitation at my RAs desk (I wasn't there at the time). The invitation is SOOO cute and I loved that they came by to personally deliver it. Their first party is later on this week (thank goodness it doesn't conflict with Princess'!!!!! I've heard horror stories before about that!) and have two parties after that...the girl who called me seemed really nice and I'm excited to meet them. I had lunch with a friend and her friend, who was an Emerald, and she was very laid back, though a bit shy, so I'm excited to meet the rest.

No word on Round or Marquis, but I heard Round doesn't necessarily take sophomores, but I'm hopping they'll make an exception and invite me to a party :)

May you end up sporting the cut that best flatters your hand!

I will cheer for Princess, since my little's engagement ring is Princess cut (and also because we know that they are in the running at least for one party). Good luck!

Congratulations on being invited to 2 of the 4 sororities, that's great! Good luck!

okay that thing about the ring fitting the finger..that was my favorite. i didn't even think about it that way! aw.

anyways, i'm getting ready to go to my first rush party EVER and i'm sooo nervous..I get really quiet when I'm nervous and I'm trying to calm myself down and overcome that right now because it won't really get me anywhere, and I keep telling myself that I just need to be myself (I also keep repeating the "b" words that everyone listed on the "what not to do during recruitment" thread..haha) and that if it is meant to be, it is. if its not, i shouldnt force it. it's not really helping but i'm just going to keep telling myself i'll be okay...

i'll let you guys know how it goes, i'll be done around 8 pm eastern time :)

How exciting!!! Good luck, you'll do fine!

Report back to us tonight. I'm dying to find out how your party goes. To calm yourself, start talking to whoever you are walking with toward the house. But, talk about something besides recruitment. Maybe something like, hmmmm, Diamonds!

So I just got back. and let me put it this way:

I really, really, really hope they invite me back. I'm probably getting my hopes up a little bit, but as nervous as I was coming out of their house, I walked out completely calm and normal. It was hard at first because there were some 100% awkward situations (all which were met with something like "haha this is awkward" or something, mostly by the princess girls themselves, but it wasn't in a bad way). A few of them said that they hoped to see me again. I oftentimes found myself surrounded with abour four or five of their members, all talking between eachother/me, which was nice. I actually found out that one of the girls knows two of my best friends, and another went to high school with one of my friends. Their house was gorgeous, they were super classy, but not in an uptight way, and I think I could see myself there. I left right at the scheduled time, and I don't know if I'm over analyzing it by thinking its a bad thing if they said something about getting my coat and jacket, because I was one of the first ones to leave but I felt like a lot of them were pleased to meet me and said they hope to see me again...is leaving right at the scheduled time a bad thing?? I don't know how many PNMs were actually there when i left (we all had on the same nametags and such) but i think there were about half.


Anyways...I did like them, a lot. It was a struggle at first because many PNMs knew someone there, but I eventually settled in. I'm really excited to see if I hear back from them, I definately think I could flourish.

I've got Emerald tomorrow...no word back from the other two, so I expect that I won't get invited, which is fine.

ausguals, leaving at the time stated is a great idea! It shows that you're not over-eager, but still stuck around until the end. Staying too long can sometimes sink your chances. Calm = Good!

agreed! plus, and i'll admit i an assuming something here, if you all are attending parties while school is going on, you are tired and the sisters are tired too-and they have to take down any decorations that they used before they can study/go to bed. i think it is polite to leave at the appointed time!

hope you have fun tonight.

Good luck tonight! Can't wait to hear how it went.

hmm well maybe I'm just crazy. I haven't heard anything back from Princess yet and its been almost 24 hours since I went to their event, but its okay. I'm going to Emerald tonight and I'm excited for that, a lot of the girls I've met seem down to earth and humble which is nice. I don't know what to wear (its FREEZING here and REALLY windy) so I have to go figure that out before 7..ah!

Talk to you guys later :O)

A nice pair of dress pants and a really cool sweater. Have a great looking scarf on with your coat. That will make a nice impression and keep you warm.
Good luck tonight and try not to look into the 24 hour - thing.

There are a million and a half reasons you haven't heard anything yet. They could have had initiation, officer interviews, etc, etc - or maybe somebody dropped the ball. If you happen to see one on campus, be friendly, even if it's just a pleasant greeting in passing.

Hope Emerald is "square" with you!

I'm back!!! I got home about an hour ago from Emerald. I was a little nervous about tonight (I know I said I wouldn't listen to my neighbor but words kindof stick in your head even though you don't care for them and she was completely talking down Emerald) All I can say is WOW. I loved Princess but Emerald girls were SOOOO easy to relate to---AND they picked us up, brought us to the house, and brought us home. it was really nice because I got to meet girls before the initial overwhelmingness (which isn't a word, by the way) of going into the house. Their house doesn't have as much history as Princess' but it is just as gorgeous, especially the outside. The chapter seems to have a really diverse mix of girls, but at the same time it seemed to fit. The girls that I did meet were a bit easier to talk to, but we didn't get as in depth as I did with Princess last night..just the basics: major, hometown, siblings, etc. They actually did a skit, which was nice, and really funny. Overall I think that I could see myself here more than anything because I felt like it was easier to be myself...I wasn't worried about saying anything and I wasn't even that nervous when I walked into the house. A girl from Emerald just requested to be my friend on facebook, which is a little soon, but at least she remembered my name!

I've got another event with Emerald on Saturday, lunch and a house tour.

Princess just called me a bit ago and I have a casual event tomorrow at 6 :)
Sooo we'll see how that goes, thanks for all the advice guys!

Sounds great! Good luck!

sounds like you are having a great time. good luck tomorrow! don't forget to have fun! :D

Yay! Have fun on your next visits!

Terrific. Glad you still have two options and that you like both.

Best of Luck! I am loving reading your story. Sounds like you are having a great time and keeping a wonderful attitude.

Stay warm!

I know exactly what you mean. An acquaintance totally bashed one of my son's 3rd grade teachers (her son had had her the year before), so I was very apprehensive about his new teacher. My son LOVED her and so did I and she loved him, but the whole year I was sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop (never did--it was a good year). It ticked me off that the other mom put her own opinion into my head, and I was mad at myself for listening to her!

Don't worry about what your neighbor said. Enjoy Emerald and Princess and do what you think is best for you.

ahhh!!! what do i do?? both chapters are having events tomorrow..the same sporting event!!!! one of the houses is doing a house tour/lunch before it, so i have to meet there at 2 , and the other one is having us meet there at 3. would it be wrong to attend lunch/the house tour and then attend the sporting event with the other? what reasons would i cite for leaving early/being late? i would choose one or the other but thats rather hard when you get along with both so well...

I would go to the first event, and then just state that you have a prior engagement - no need to go into great detail.

Be straight forward and honest. I would hate for you to "come up with a reason" only to have the sisters from the house tour see you at the game with the other group.

That's what I was thinking. It's highly likely that someone else could be in the same situation, right? I'm not sure how many people are going through recruitment, but I think it's definitely plausabile.

Seriously, I'm sure there's a way that you can say that you'd like to come to the lunch, but already had plans for the game or vice versa. You don't have to say, "I'm watching the game with ABC," but you surely don't want to be busted for being with them, either.

FWIW, I think I'd say, "I'd love to come to the house tour, but I've already promised to meet some others for the game - is that okay with you?" If it's not, then you have a BIG decision to make!

^Yes, sorry. I figured diplomacy was a given. :)