What NOT to do--my Fall 07 story
 

I didn't know about Greek Chat when I went through recruitment, so I didn't get to make a thread like this. I also didn't know what I was doing--I wish I had Googled it beforehand!

I've revealed my school and sorority around GC, but just pretend you haven't seen them so it will be a surprise!

Quick background: I was a sophomore who had transferred from an out of state school back to the state school in my home town. I had no legacies and, because I didn't really know anyone Greek and they weren't required, I had no recommendations.

I'm naming my sororities after Ben and Jerry's flavors because I'm hungry.

The first two days are open house rounds.

Day 1 I went to...
Cherry Garcia: I was so nervous! I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I hadn't really prepared myself for the whole porch singing, single file extravaganza. I had a good conversation with a blonde senior who was nice, but we didn't seem to have a lot in common. She's the only person I talked to, which didn't seem strange until...

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough: I was excited about this house because my mom told me all the CCCD's she met in college (as a nontrad student) were really smart and pretty and going to pharmacy school. When they came out on the porch, they seemed exactly like a cheer squad. The girls took two PNMs each, and the other PNM with me was a girl from my high school. She had been a state champion gymnast, a varsity cheerleader, and was pole vaulting for our college track team. They seemed to be a bunch of athletic girls. They did "bump" once or twice, but all anyone could talk about was sports! I felt like SUCH a loser with not a single sport on my resume.

Chunky Monkey: I noticed this group was dressed a little more casually than the others. They were wearing tennis shoes! The first girl I talked to talked about how great this chapter's intramural program was. I thought oh no, another sporty house! But I had a friend from high school who was in this house, and she was only a little bit athletic. One thing that I--and all the PNMs--noticed was that this house was ESPECIALLY loud. Nobody could hear anyone! It really turned off some girls in my recruitment group.

Half Baked: This was the sorority my roommate had joined at my old school. Everyone was SO PRETTY. It looked like they were all these makeup-less, naturally immaculate creatures (freaks). I had been warned about no frills: nobody should have fruit in their water or offer me food. Well, this house had lemons in the water and when my girl offered me some, I got nervous and refused. She was so confused! I felt like a nerd... a thirsty nerd. We had a great conversation and I was excited to hear that their president had gone through recruitment as a sophomore.

Phish Food: I expected to hate this sorority. In my town it was known as THE sorority, and many of the most popular girls at my high school had serious legacies there. It also has a VERY visible and well known chapter house. Turns out, they were great! One girl had pink glasses (they were cute!) and talked to me about my tattoo. We had a great conversation, and she seemed much more relaxed than the other girls I talked to there. Still, it seemed kind of stuffy.

Neapolitan Dynamite: I hated this house because of the ridiculous stairs I had to climb to get up to the hill where the house was. The president stood outside and said "Hi sarahsmilehawk, I'm Chocolate and I'd like you to meet my sister Strawberry." It took me a second to realize she didn't mean her biological sister. This chapter is small and it was one active to two PNMs. These girls were NOT good with conversation. It was a struggle to avoid awkward silences. They were nice, but isn't everyone?

Then I went home to rest. The next day was the longest--7 more houses to visit!

On my schedule for the next day: Turtle Soup, Vermonty Python, Magic Brownies, Creme Brulee, Fossil Fuel and Dublin Mudslide.

Very good! Don't make us wait too long. :)

Yay - I love this mini-surge of Retro Recruitment threads!

And I agree...don't make us wait too long. :)

I agree on the waiting.

I'm just a little sad that you used the same code name theme that I did, but that's okay.

HILARIOUS! I hope there is (slash you already found) a chapter full of sisters with the same great sense of humor!

I think Immaculate Creatures and Thirsty Nerds would make a great names for Ben and Jerry's flavors. Ever think about ice cream marketing?

GO PHISH FOOD!!!


Oh, and Creme Brulee sounds yummy too

I just don't feel like doing homework, so let me continue introducing you to the chapters. Thank goodness my school didn't do all open houses in one day! Oh, and as far as the actual ice cream flavor goes, creme brulee is AMAZING!

Turtle Soup: I didn't know what to think of this house. A girl from my high school was in this chapter. I barely knew her, but she was a self-proclaimed "prep" and I just got no particular vibe from the rest of the girls. Actually, the girl who picked me up at the door was a friend of a friend of a friend. Halfway through our conversation she said "Wait, I think we're Facebook friends." DOH! I must have made friends with her back when FB first opened to high school students and everyone went crazy adding people they barely knew. How embarrassing...

Vermonty Python: These girls had a very plastic look to them. There was one girl I knew in junior high, before she moved to another town. Another girl from my high school had pledged that sorority at another school the year before and affiliated at this chapter (it's common for people to transfer home their sophomore years). She's great, but she wasn't recruiting. I think I had a really basic conversation with whoever I talked to. I really don't remember much. I think I may have actually mentioned another sorority. Something like "A lot of girls from my town go Phish Food so that's the one I've heard about most." DOH. I was just trying to explain my frame of reference, but I'm sure it sounded like I wasn't really interested in their chapter... which wasn't completely untrue.

Magic Brownies: These girls were the only sorority without a house. Many of the PNMs were shocked. The school I transferred from had no sorority houses and very few fraternity houses, so it didn't bother me too much. I even kinda like the idea of living all together in a bunch of apartments. I remember not really liking their t-shirts. When I talked to the other PNMs, everyone said "Oh I thought they were really nice." It was true, but that's about all I could say about that house one way or the other. There were also some girls about two years older than me that I sorta barely knew... I had always looked up to them, so I thought it might be a strong chapter, but they didn't make an impression.

Creme Brulee: This sorority was the love of my short sorority life. I went into recruitment knowing that I would probably like this house. They had the most memorable outfit of any house: White tops with white capris or skirts and red heels with red jewelry. The effect was very cool. I mostly talked to one girl who was SO funny and we just got along famously. We talked about my great new apartment which was nearby. A girl from my high school stopped by to say hi. We had a SERIOUS falling out my junior year and we still don't get along to this day. But even she was super sweet in an almost genuine way. Then another girl overheard that many of my friends were in the music department. She asked if I knew a few people, and I did! I walked out the door knowing this house was The One.

Fossil Fuel: These girls had on t-shirts that were a play on the Juicy Couture logo. This kind of shirt was immensely popular at my old school, but they were the only ones with a shirt like this at my new school. A girl told me about how her friend was a really big fan of a former walk-on basketball player at our school who was very cute. She told me a story about how her friend had made fake Christmas cards as if they were a couple, photoshopping her picture in with the basketball player's. I thought it was SO funny and absolutely fit my sense of humor. They "bumped" and I talked to someone else, but on my way out the first girl tapped me on the shoulder and said "It was really good to meet you." It sounded like she really liked me! I went home and told my roommate (who was going to community college) about it later, and she said "Oh well I can tell someone's gonna invite you back!"

Dublin Mudslide: This house started out on my ish list because it was also on a ridiculous hill. They were the only chapter that let the PNMs wait inside though, which was nice. It's incredibly hot and humid in August. I happen to know a lot of Dublin Mudslides at a whole bunch of different schools, and one of my closest friends at my old school was a DM, so I was still excited about the idea of being in the same sorority as all those other girls. I talked for a while about my 1-year-old sister and what it was like to grow up in a college town, but the girl didn't seem to be listening to me. Knowing what I know now, she was probably looking out for the girl who would be bumping her. When that girl showed up, she asked me all the same questions and I pretty much repeated everything I'd said. Crazy thing is, the second girl didn't seem to be listening either! I was actually pretty offended. I knew they were a prominent house on campus and all the PNMs seemed to gush about them. But they still left a sour taste in my mouth.

AmeriCone Dream: Sorry, I forgot to make a fake name for this one! I loved their symbols and the song they sang. I talked to three girls. One was a big athlete, and I didn't have a lot to say to her. Another was great at making conversation and we got along really well. I think we talked about how great it was that the Greek system here was so unified. The third said very little. They seem like a great house, but I felt a little uncomfortable. Somehow I just felt like I didn't fit in with this group of girls, and I really couldn't put my finger on it.

That night, I ranked the houses in the following order.
1. Creme Brulee
2. Fossil Fuel
3. Half Baked
4. Phish Food
5. Chunky Monkey
6. Cherry Garcia
7. AmeriCone Dream
8. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
9. Turtle Soup
10. Magic Brownies
11. Vermonty Python
12. Neapolitan Dynamite
13. Dublin Mudslide--yep, I was that offended!

Just FYI, the sororities at my school (in ABC order): Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Gamma Delta, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Delta Tau and Sigma Kappa.

Sarah,

First of all, you are a GREAT writer! I hope you are an english or creative writing major!

Secondly, you need to continue this saga.....I am hooked and want more!

Ditto!

And there's Sigma Kappa! More please! (Now, off to the freezer...)

Actually, I'm a journalism major. :)

Before I tell you what happened on day 3, let's review my stats. I was a sophomore, but listed as a freshman by my high school gpa (because I didn't have 30 hours). That gpa was 2.77. Recs were not required and I didn't know anyone who had been greek (that I knew of), so I didn't bother trying to get them. I didn't know you could get help with recs from the alumnae associations.

By this point, I had started to figure out that the houses I adored (Creme Brulee, Fossil Fuel and Half Baked) were TOP houses.

I knew I wasn't the strongest PNM but I felt like I had made such an incredible connection with those girls that at least one of them would keep me. And even if they didn't, I would have been happy to go back to most of the chapters. My rho chis had assured me I'd end up where I was meant to, and that there was a chapter out there for everyone. I didn't care about wearing top-tier letters; I was just ready to find my home in sororityland, which seemed to be waiting for me to grab them up.

My rho chis handed out everyone's schedule. PNMs could go to a maximum of 8 houses. If not all of your top 8 chapters invited you back, the computer matched you with whichever lower-ranked sororities invited you back.

I started to scan my schedule, looking for my favorite houses. Creme Brulee wasn't there... Neither was Phish Food. This wasn't looking good.

My schedule:
1. No event
2. No event
3. Chunky Monkey
4. No event
5. No event
6. No event
7. Neapolitan Dynamite
8. No event

I WAS HORRIFIED.

I was pretty sure Creme Brulee was where I was meant to be, so why weren't they on my schedule? Something must be wrong. I hadn't made a strong connection at either of those two houses, so why had the Recruitment Gods taken away the only sororities I had ever loved in my whole whole life?

But my rho chi told me to stick with it. "Those are such great houses," she told me. "They're a great bunch of girls so you should at least go to the events and see how you like it."

I spent most of my day roasting in the sun outside Chunky Monkey and Neapolitan Dynamite, waiting for my events. It was awful.

Even though Chunky Monkey hadn't impressed me, I really admired the high school friend I had who was a Chunky Monkey. I thought maybe I could be CB, even if they weren't that great. It was better than being in no sorority at all, right?

And even though Neapolitan Dynamite wasn't in my top 8, I was required to attend their event if I wanted to stay in recruitment. Maybe I had just talked to a shy girl and didn't get a chance to really get to know them. Could I learn to love Neapolitan Dynamite?

My confidence was severely damaged, but I decided to give CM and ND a shot.

Oh no! Well, Chunky Monkey is my fav kind of Ben n Jerry's so...yay!

i'm sure that you felt really bad when your favorites did not show up on your list...but good for you for soldiering on!

Sarah,
You're killing me with anticipation.....MORE, please! :)

So here's more about day 3.

Chunky Monkey: Today they sat us down and showed just the BEST video! It was so well made and I could tell the girls really loved being a part of Chunky Monkey. It really changed my attitude. It was philanthropy day, so we made cards. If I say any more about the craft, it will give away the philanthropy which would give away the chapter. This philanthropy did a lot for a friend of mine in elementary school, so I liked having a personal connection instead of just donating to some worthy but personally irrelevant cause.

Sidenote: I had done a little Wikipedia research beforehand and felt really strongly about Creme Brulee's philanthropy. That's another reason I had been so sure it was meant to be! :(

Neapolitan Dynamite: Again, I had to trek up a completely unreasonable hill. (I later found out there was an easier way to get to this house, but it wasn't convenient for the busses, grrr.) And again, the president said "Hi, I'm Chocolate. I'd like you to meet my sister Vanilla." Actually, Vanilla is a great name for this girl! She was very shy and we spent a lot of time in awkward silence. She pointed out that an advantage of being part of a smaller chapter is that you get to know everyone very well. She said she could sit down next to anyone at dinner and feel totally comfortable--no one was a stranger. That helped me see them in a better light. Honestly, ND was just BAD at recruitment compared to everyone else. But they seemed to really like me and that felt great after such a serious blow to my ego.

So I did my rankings, and it took all of about 30 seconds.
1. Chunky Monkey
2. Neapolitan Dynamite

I went home, half expecting to get a call telling me I'd been dropped from recruitment altogether. I may not have been 100% sold on either house, but I was 200% sold on going greek. I didn't get much sleep that night.

This is a really great story - I hope a lot of PNMs are reading this, because it's such a good example of how to keep a positive attitude.

I agree, great threat, and you have an amazing attitude!

waiting on you and congrats for being open/driven!

Day 4:

No one called to tell me I was dropped from recruitment, so I nervously got dressed and waited. The rho chis handed out schedules again and handed out schedules. We could visit a maximum of five chapters today.

1. No event
2. Chunky Monkey
3. Neapolitan Dynamite
4. No event
5. No event

It wasn't a thrilling schedule, but I was so happy that nobody cut me!

Chunky Monkey: Someone came out (the FFR chair, probably) and lined us up in the order they want. She goes inside and, while we're waiting, a bee stings me! It smarts for a second and then starts burning. Another girl had just been taken to the hospital for an allergic reaction just a few minutes before, so I freaked out. I started crying and another PNM pulled the stinger out. I only had a short time to get myself together, because the whole chapter was about to come outside and sing.

Once I got in the house, the girls did a cute skit to explain how much fun they have being Monkeys. Then it was time for house tours. I loved the interior. Every room was nicely decorated and I liked all the pictures people had (strategically) placed around the bedrooms. I definitely could see myself living there one day.

Another PNM was touring with me and talking to my guide. She was originally from some exotic country (somewhere in the middleast, I think) and had really interesting stories. She was also in a lot of activities at school and was very pretty. I felt so overshadowed! I did everything I could to contribute to conversation, but I could barely get a word in edgewise. It was a disappointing event.

Neapolitan Dynamite: By this time I was noticing that many girls outside ND didn't really want to be there and very few had ranked them in their top 8 or top 5. Some girls were being really snotty about it, which made me want to give Neapolitan Dynamite a chance before I wrote them off.

I climbed up the hill and the girls came out and sang. Their song was an old pop song with the lyrics changed to talk about their sorority and specifically the house. Honestly, I thought it was stupid. The president "Welcome back, sarahsmilehawk. I'd like you to meet my sister Strawberry." I don't know what it is, but that greeting just made me feel weird.

I sat down with Strawberry and we watched a skit where they ripped off "Grease." At the end, they did "You're the one that I want" and pointed at the audience, like we were the pledges we wanted. Chunky Monkey's skit hadn't been creative, but at least it was original. I hated to admit it, but the skit just turned me off further to Neapolitan Dynamite. But I was determined to make a connection.

After talking to Strawberry for a while, Vanilla shows up (from day 3) and we tour the house. It's smaller than Chunky Monkey and doesn't look as much like a traditional sorority house. But it's still livable and it's actually closer to campus than the other houses. Vanilla and I are friendly, but don't appear to have a lot in common. She was from St. Louis and came to college not knowing anyone. I transferred to my school already knowing a few hundred people. There just wasn't a connection.

It was easy to rank my choices.
1. Chunky Monkey
2. Neapolitan Dynamite

I was worried that Chunky Monkey would cut me and leave me with a tough decision. Could I see myself as a Neapolitan Dynamite, or would I rather not be in a sorority at all? I even toyed with the idea of dropping out of recruitment and doing COR with Creme Brulee or Phish Food. This, of course, would have been a bad plan since neither of these houses ever did COR.

The next day was the first day of school. All day I was distracted by the feeling that Chunky Monkey would drop me and break my heart.

The day after was pref night.

ackkkkk....don't leave us dangling!!

I love this thread!!! More please!!! :)

The ice cream names are also making me hungry!

I should be doing my homework, but my notebook is missing. So I'll update.

People had told me that I probably received heavy cuts because of m grades. Before recruitment, I had no idea how important grades were in the process. But it didn't sting so much to know that they cut me based on numbers and not because they flat-out didn't like me. However, many girls with stats similar to mine attended events (and later pledged) at Magic Brownies. They cut me after the first round! Maybe I just didn't make an impression.

Day 4 was pref night. I remember being really nervous that I might be overdressed. It was SO hard to know what to wear, even with the guidelines they gave. Most girls wore black. I wore purple.

I was praying that Chunky Monkey wouldn't cut me. I really, really wanted to be a CM but after a not-so-stellar 2nd invitational, I wasn't feeling great. Even if I did get asked back, I had a decision to make. Should I suicide Chunky Monkey and risk going bidless? Should I rank both chapters and risk ending up in Neapolitan Dynamite? I still wasn't sure.

Instead of just meeting in our small recruitment groups, all of the PNMs met in a big auditorium at the student union. Things were more serious tonight. Before they handed out schedules, they warned us NOT to talk to anyone between rounds.

We could attend a maximum of 3 events, so even on the last day I wouldn't have a full schedule. My rho chi handed me a slip of paper. I held my breath.

There was only one event on my schedule. I read it over and over. Had Chunky Monkey cut me?

you HAVE to tell us now!

this is a good story. bring it on home!
(and i was rooting for Creme Brulee, darn. i am not familliar with your posts, so i dont know your school or affiliation.)

ETA: im guessing CM cut you and you decide to COB somewhere else. but im being adventurous here.

MEAN!

I must know!

<clearing throat> It has been more than 24 hours now <clearing throat>

Ditto!

I third this!! I'm continually checking the site for updates and get excited when I see an update but not by Sarah...

Ahh sorry, sorry. Summer school's been trying to kill me!

So anyway, pref night.

I read my schedule one more time before handing it to my rho chi to confirm. It looked like this.

1. Chunky Monkey
2. No event
3. No event

Not gonna lie, it kinda hurt that Neapolitan Dynamite cut me. I felt like I was the only girl NOT rolling my eyes there, and they cut me? Maybe they could tell I wasn't really into them.

At my school, if you maximize your options and make it to pref, you're guaranteed a bid from one of the houses you rank. If you only have one to rank, then you're guaranteed a bid to that house. All week I had been holding my breath, and now I was guaranteed a bid to Chunky Monkey... if I wanted it.

So I went to pref night. One girl picked me up and we talked for a while before they led us into the kitchen for the ritual. I actually think ritual is pretty cool, and was excited that they shared something so special with the PNMs. Each girl also told about what Chunky Monkey meant to her. I got goosebumps.

Next, the first girl's roommate picked me up. I'm pretty sure I had met both of them earlier in the week, but I have a hard time remembering faces. I'm usually good at names, but it gets tricky when you meet so many girls in a week; seems like everyone's named Lauren.

Finally, the houses were allowed to serve food! We had cheesecake and Shirley Temples.

The girl who was preffing me told me about a horrible week she'd had last year. First, she totaled her car. She was taking this awful geography mapping class and she was the only girl in it. A few days after she totaled the car, the class took a field trip and my girl ended up being partnered up with two guys she had been kinda dating at the same time, which totally blew up in her face. Then she fell climbing a fence and ripped her leg open on some barbed wire. She still had a huge scar from it.

So the girl calls her roommates crying. They plug her location into the GPS and pick her up out in the middle of nowhere, and take her to the health center to fix up her leg. They decided she needed to go home to her family for a weekend so they packed her up and put her on a plane the next day.

These are the kinds of roommates I wanted to have. I was completely sold on Chunky Monkey. I couldn't believe they wanted ME. I went to the student union to fill out my bid card. As you can probably guess, it looked like this:

1. Chunky Monkey
2.
3.

The Greek Life guy running the pref card stand had me double check my card and then asked "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

I told him I was sure and headed home to get a good night's sleep before bid day.

wow. her story would have had me signing on the dotted line too!!

is it a done deal, or is there a twist?

I love this thread!!

Ok, the not-so-dramatic conclusion to my tale...


The next day was bid day. It was a little disappointing because I already knew what my bid card said, while everyone around me was anxiously awaiting their fate.


The card said ALPHA DELTA PI!!



I got on the bus to the Pi Hut and the rest is history!

I should add that ADPi took a pretty serious risk extending me a bid. My gpa, as I posted earlier, was not wonderful and I came without anyone's recommendation. I don't want people to think we don't have a strong house--I was absolutely at the bottom of my Alpha class, which was full of awesome girls with impressive resumes.

Anyway, I got my grades up and became very active, and now here I am. So maybe they just saw potential. :)

yayyyyyyy!

Thanks for your story! We really enjoyed it.

Will you tell us the code?

ETA: Looking back, would you have had a more successful rush ( I am referring to a full party schedule ) if you had been a freshman and had recs?

Recruitment season is coming up. I probably shouldn't reveal my code since my comments about some of the houses are not very, how do you say, "Panhellenic." The last thing I want is an uncomfortable chat with an adviser on move-in day.

would you be willing to PM the code? i loved reading this!

Out of curiosity, why did you title the thread "What NOT to do..."?

You are wise beyond your years. . . but could we please just know who Creme Brulee was?