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WCsweet<3's Recruitment Story
Hello everyone!
Its finally time for me to post my recruitment story! Well here goes: In August, I knew beyond all belief that I wanted to be a Greek. My maternal grandmother and grandfather both had been, but my grandmother’s sorority isn’t at my school anyway and they both died before I was born My parents were part of the generation where the entire sorority (possibly fraternity, I’m unsure) thing was unpopular. However, my brother’s girlfriend is a part of a sorority and could not say enough about it. I loved seeing the letters on her sweatshirt and hearing all her stories from college. There were also two friends of my family who had been in sororities when they were in college and really encouraged me to rush. I have really bonded with my roommate and we have made three really close girlfriends. Two of my friends are rushing (Denver and Boston), the third (San Francisco) is not, to everyone’s surprise, and my roommate (Chicago) has taken weeks of convincing but eventually she decided to rush as well. We all went to the first meeting together since we all live in the same dorm. I was very excited to have the information meeting so that rush could actually start! After the rules, times and everything else was said, we were split into the Rho Gamma groups. None of my friends were in my group. Though there is another girl in my group who I have a class with, unfortunately she isn’t all that friendly. There were 9 sororities (names may or may not be given at the end) Arizona State Sun Devils Arizona Wildcats California Berkley Bears Oregon Ducks Oregon State Beavers UCLA Bruins USC Trojans Washington Huskies Washington State Cougars Of the Greeks I had known in my home state, there was one in Trojans and one in Bruins. I also barely knew a Huskies, but she was more of an acquaintance of my mother. I had met a few Cougars, when they were passing out fliers and they had all seemed really friendly. |
Good luck!
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hooray!!
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Good luck WC!
When I was at Convention, I got to know some awesome SKs from our chapter at UW, so I'll go ahead and cheer for Huskies! |
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So sorry about that. I typed this up kinda late last night after a really long day. The first semester thing is fixed now as well.
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I'm a ASU alum so I'm pulling for my SUN DEVILS!!!!
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I always love to root for the Mighty Ducks.
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Gotta go for the Wildcats...its a Speed thing lol
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Boo for not having the Badgers... I guess I'm stuck rooting for ducks, because I love them!
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aww yeah WSU...go COUGS!
:) can't wait to read your story |
I got my fingers crossed for you, hon!
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I was wondering when/if your recruitment story would pop up. Good luck to you!
And Gooooooooo Huskies! :) |
Open House Take 1
Day 1 Open house. We met with our Rho Gammas right after breakfast and took off to the first house! Beavers: I was so excited for my first house. I felt like it was a long walk but it was probably one of the shortest I had to deal with! It was really cold with winds like mad. We were allowed inside after a few minutes and I was very confused. They don’t have any furniture in the front room? OH WAIT! They would, of course, make room for 45 girls to stand and wait. The girls came in dressed all the same with the same exact smile on their faces. It was a little creepy but that was also added to that five would come in at a time, so the girls would have to wait about 8 minutes till everyone was in. It was creepy like clone creepy. I was in front and was one of the first chosen to go with a sister. I was also one of the few girls who was alone with a sister, most others were doubled up. I loved this sister! We had a lot of common interests and clicked almost automatically. The next sister wasn’t as great but the third was amazing as well. I was sad when she led me back to the living room. Their good-bye was awesome too! I can’t describe it or you would know who it is. They began to yell a cheer as we left that got louder as we left. We could hear it a block away and my ears were ringing. I definitely want to come back Trojans: I was so excited to visit this house. This was an organization I was already familiar with and if it was as good as Beavers than I would be ecstatic. This house was the biggest house on campus and the farthest away, so we had a long walk. On the way, I talked to a girl who was in another group (there were about 3 groups at any given house, none with the same schedule over all) We walked together into the foyer of the house (which was beautiful!) and were really crowded together. I felt like I was hugging the other girls. Instead of walking and doing the creepy smiling thing (which in retrospect really wasn’t that bad) they came in screaming at us. After the Beavers quiet entrance, I was not prepared for this and my mouth dropped. I realized pretty quickly that I saw maybe two non-blondes in the entire house. I am not blonde not that I have anything against blondes but it was a Barbie blonde image. My new friend and I were picked up by the same sister and led to somewhat of a corner. I did not click at all with her. I think I was in shock a little bit too… My new friend saw a sister she had a class with and the sister bumped the last one. Needless to say, they hit it off talking about the class and a whole bunch of other things. I felt like a ghost. We were walked into this somewhat garage-y room that was set up with bleachers so we could watch a video. I could not watch the video mainly because all the other sisters were screaming and singing and dancing and running in front of the video. All in all, this house let me down. Sun Devils: The shock eventually wore off as we were led to the next house. Now when I say this house is beautiful and looks like a castle. I mean it. There was a moat. The groups sat down in a gorgeous living room. The inside of this house was just as beautiful as the outside. This house did not scream! Instead, half filed in upstairs along a balcony and the other half formed two lines in front of the PNMs. After being welcomed in, the first sister called out two names. I was already impressed… until they reached my name. I heard the first name and then my middle name. I was confused. My middle name is my mother’s maiden name so it is possible for someone to have that name, but what are the chances? I waited and no one moved. I walked up to the sister and told her that I think she is looking for me and explained the situation. The conversations were okay, I had a few similarities with the other girls but the conversations seemed really forced. I left with an okay feel. I would want to visit this house again. Bruins: I was wary of this house. I had been familiar with Trojans and they let me down. Would Bruins as well? While waiting, I saw a girl I knew from a class. We talked a little and I found out she was a legacy to this house. She really wanted to be a Bruin. While we were talking, the girls started down the stairs. My classmate, one other girl and I were picked up by one sister and led off into another room. I don’t think the third girl really wanted to be there. While my classmate was trying her best to connect and take over the conversation (I didn’t mind it was something about designers) this girl stared at the wall. I don’t think we ever got passed her name and her major (nor do I remember either). The girls at bruins did not come off in the best light to me. All four of the sisters we talked to, talked about how this sorority was the wealthiest and always had the best clothes. I did not see this as a plus, I saw them as a little snobby. I walked away from this house also disappointed. Wildcats: I knew a girl in my major who was in this house. I was a little excited because that girl was really cool and could always make you laugh. For this one, we had to wait outside. Chicago was at this house and I was really excited to see one of my good friends. I don’t know if it was the killer wind or if it actually took a long amount of time, but I was more than ready when I heard bangs on the doors. The doors opened to the sisters and one walked forward and asked “Will one girl follow me into the house?” After about a millisecond, I went forward. I had figured out at this point it was better to be single than in a group of PNMs (less of a competition feel). The girl I talked to was great and my major friend also stopped by to see me and say hi. I only talked to one girl and then it was time to watch their video. You could tell this house had a great sisterhood, which was even more enforced by their song at the end of the video. I left with that song in my head and it stayed there for hours. I really want to come back to this house. End of the day. The rest of the houses are tomorrow I know tent talk is bad. I really tried to not have any, but for some reason my room tends to be the hang out room. Chicago loved Beavers as well as Wildcats. Boston and Denver both loved Bears and Boston was thinking about Cougars. I refuse to post the negative talk. More for tomorrow! How is the writing? Its never been my strong suit. |
Yay Mighty Ducks! FLYING V!
I love recruitment stories so I had to post mine. |
Good luck!:D
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Open House Take 2
We wasted no time this morning and were off pretty early.
Ducks: I was the first of my friends to go there so I had not heard anything about it. While walking and reading about this sorority, I began to have a bad taste in my mouth. I think it was the symbol or something, but I was just not into it. Again we crowded into a small room and waited. I looked for people I knew, but did not see any. The sisters came in and two girls next to me started picking out which ones they knew since one of their sisters was in Ducks. That made me feel really good about their chances here, not so much mine. The same thing happened as before, a sister came and grabbed one or two girls and led them into the other room. I tried to be solo but it couldn’t be avoided. The same small talk happened and I ended up falling in love with this house. I wanted this house! Huskies: This house was actually on campus, which I loved since my dorms were the farthest off, how great would that be to be on campus! This house also called names and they used my last name here! (double points!) The house seemed a little dark but cozy in a way. The girl was great and we hit it off. The other PNM was a girl who did not seem to want to be there. I don’t understand why, but she just sat there in silence. I thought it was weird but I didn't mind much. I loved this house. Cougars: Oh Cougars. From the outside it was okay, from the inside… not so much. The moment I walked in I felt like I didn't belong. The girls seemed really sweet and were trying so hard, but I felt like I shouldn't be there. I don't know if it was the girls I was with or if all the stress had gotten to me. I really wanted to give them a second chance though. I hope tomorrow will be better, hopefully the stress/girls will be different. I love their philanthropy! Bears: The last house! I felt like death and I probably looked like it too. My cheeks hurt so much from smiling and my ears rang from all the loud talking at other parties. The house was gorgeous and was right across the street from student union. The girls came down the stairs and I tried to perk up a little bit. I really liked the color of their shirts (all of the sororities had the same shirts except in their colors). The sister and the girl I was paired up with were both visibly tired. I tried to work up the energy to talk and be cheerful. I don’t think I really succeeded. In the end, I didn’t feel much at this house until they did a cute song and dance at the end. I am a dancer so this does matter to me. I wouldn't mind coming back. So at the end we walked back to a lecture hall and scored our picks. Seven sororities get 1s then a 2 and a 3. 1. Beavers 1. Ducks 1. Huskies 1. Wildcats 1. Sun Devils 1. Bears 1. Cougars 2. Bruins 3. Trojans I felt okay about my descisions though I felt somewhat guilty about cutting the two chapters I had been familiar with. |
I look forward to hearing more!:)
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Day 3
Philanthropy Day
I felt so nervous. I hadn’t thought of it before this morning, but what if all the chapters hated me? Would my Rho Gamma call? I was nervous for most of the day. The four of us walked to the lecture hall in silence. I think we were all nervous. After about a few minutes of Panhellenic talking, we received our schedules. On a day where we had a maximun of 7, I had 5. I know that I should have been happy to be invited to any houses, but it still hurt to be cut by any houses. My houses: Wildcat Beavers Break Cougars Ducks break Huskies Not a bad schedule, though I had to wonder what happened at Sun Devils? I knew I was tired at Bears, but was I that bad? I shook it off and realized that I still had my favorites, and that I’ll be okay. Until I realized all my friends had more parties than me. Denver and Boston had one break each and Chicago had a full schedule of all but one of her favorites. Denver still had bears and Boston hadn’t lost any favorites, so neither one was too upset. It is a weird feeling to have of people choosing your friends over you. Maybe that is insecurity but it is a weird feeling to find yourself with. Wildcat: It ended up that Chicago and I both had wildcat first. This time we waited inside the house and instead of randomly grabbing us they called our names. The sister and I paired up with another sister/PNM group and did an activity. I did not like the activity much. It was too simple and took maybe a minute. I really hit it off with the other sister while the other girl hit it off with ‘my’ sister. I was really nervous from the cuts I had received and tried to act really enthusiastic with the activity and the house tour. I tried way too hard and I could tell during the house tour inparticular. Still liked the house though. Beavers: LONG WALK!!! Wildcat and Beavers were on complete opposite ends of Greek Row, but I was really happy to be there. I was not solo this time around, but I loved this sorority. The philanthropy was sweet and the house was great. This activity was a little better. I was able to do something and feel productive anyway. The girl who gave me the house tour made ice feel warm though. It was as if she hated the sight of me. I loved the house more and more even with the tour girl. I had a break at this time and my boyfriend met up with me for coffee. He isn’t at school but is working. He somehow happened to have this weekend off. Although he isn’t that into the idea of a sorority, (too many bad stereotypes, I think) he was willing to listen to me blab on and on and support me with the cuts. Cougars: I was grabbed by a new girl this time and paired with another PNM. I felt refreshed from the coffee and the support of my boyfriend, so I decided to try to get invites as much as possible. Cougars were going full force! It was a cute philanthropy activity, but again I felt uncomfortable. The house was cute but I think I was lead through the back way. It looked like the back entrance. It isn't a bad thing, but considering I had only seen the pretty side of the houses, it stuck in my mind. Who knows maybe they were trying to be more real and showing me the actual house. It was the second day and I still hadn’t met any girls I felt like I could be close to. One sister I had was definitely a new sister with how obvious she was with bumping. I am beginning to feel like a lot of the people do not want to be at this house. I love everything about this sorority, their philanthropy, symbols etc. I just wasn't feeling comfortable. I don’t know I still have a few days Ducks: I was picked up by someone new again, but was paired with one of the girls from yesterday who had known some of the sisters, which made me a little nervous. I was an early girl to be chosen and another sister who was waiting her turn saw me and said hi. She told the sister leading me to have me talk to a sister from my hometown. I felt so special that not only she remembered me on site, but she remembered my hometown as well! Eventually, the other PNM and I were split up as I went to talk to hometown sister. I loved her! She seemed so sad to have to give me to another sister for a house tour . I wanted her to come with me! The house was… amazing. I could see myself in any of the rooms, eating breakfast in the kitchen in pjs, brushing my teeth, just living here and being happy. I also saw an annex house, which I loved the idea of! I feel so silly for disliking the symbols yesterday. I don’t even know why that popped into my head! The philanthropy was also so sweet! I was more in love with this house today than yesterday! Break number two. This time I ate lunch with the boyfriend, who was sweet enough to meet up with me again and hear me talk. I was lucky to have a break at this time because we would be missing the dining hall dinners and the sororities were only giving us small snacks. Another little pep talk later and I was on my way. Huskies: I was called by name here and was solo. I learned about activities that the sorority puts on for fundraising and was really surprised by some. I did not do well at the craft but the sister seemed to want to move onto the house tour anyway. I loved the house! Although the downstairs was somewhat dark, the upstairs was roomy. On display were some of the letter shirts they have had over the past few years and I could definitely see myself wearing one. I was unable to cut any houses so I went home and promptly fell asleep. Everyone else followed suit, after ranking that is, I think we were all still tired from the day before. |
I'm waiting for more...
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It sounds like you really like the Ducks, but I can't bring myself to root for them, so I'm sticking with Huskies!
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Its okay. I understand school spirit. My high school was split between Ducks and Huskies so it was always interesting when the games came up.
The names were randomly put actually so there is no school preference. I love the Mighty Duck movies! And the wait today is killing me. I only had one class and the reading I am suppose to do is making my eyes bleed. |
sounds like you are having fun! ;)
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Sounds like you're maintaining a great attitude! I also think it's cute your boyfriend is being supportive, even if he's not so comfortable with GL.
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OMG I love your Pac-10 names. Yeah for the Pac-10!
Since ASU isn't there anymore, I can't root for them :p Sooooooooo I guess I'm gonna have to go with the 2nd best AZ school (LOL, since I actually went there and joined my chapter there :D, just graduated for ASU though :D) U of A Wildcats. soooo. go Wildcats!!!!!!! |
Day 4
Sisterhood
My friends and I did some major tent talking after last night. I know its bad, but it is very hard to avoid. All three were against me even looking at Huskies though only Chicago had returned for a second look. Two still disliked Beavers, but all four of us had returned. All of us returned to Cougars. I had four invites that day Not horrible, but Wildcats cut me. I was disappointed, but still tried to be excited. Huskies: Now I loved this house, but did I love Beavers or Ducks more? With doubt in my head, I went inside. The evening started with a skit. The skit wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great. I barely remember what it was about. I was also having trouble paying attention because all my friend’s voices were going through my head. A sister, whom I had not met before picked me up. She seemed nice, but we really didn’t click. There were a lot of awkward silences. I feel like I could have tried harder to connect. Cougars: Their skit was very creative. I loved the idea and the skit, but a few hinted at stereotypes of other sororities. They didn’t name any outright, but I was able to guess. I know there are stereotypes and I know that some may be true. The idea of putting a group of girls in one category… well a little piece of me dies at the thought. I think I have decided that I dislike this house. I really feel like I do not fit and I do not feel comfortable, especially with the skit. I know that the skit actually sold a lot of the girls to the house. Ducks: I was feeling so good when I walked in. A lovely unfamiliar girl picked me and another girl up. We grabbed M&Ms and a Shirley Temple and sat down. I felt at home and very relaxed. The calm turned out to be the eye of the hurricane. The other girl opened her mouth and the storm hit. While I love where I am from, it is not considered a hotspot to travel like SF, NYC, Chicago etc. My hometown is great, but not that big of a tourist destination. So when the other PNM opens her mouth and says “I’m from California. I love this sorority. I am from this town and I want to be here horribly.” (or something of those lines) One would think “okay a little much” until the sister says “OMG I live a half hour from there! It’s my favorite spot! Where did you go to high school?!?!?!” Their conversation lasted the entire time and while I talked to the other sisters that walked over, none bumped or stayed around for very long. What was worse was I loved their skit. It was based off of one of my favorite movies. I was so disappointed and I know this was the last night at the Ducks. Beavers: Feeling a little defeated, I walked to Beavers. I didn’t like Cougars. I lost Ducks and possibly Huskies. NO way will I lose Beavers too! I jumped a little bit, shook my head, put some lip gloss on and walked in with a smile on my face. I was picked up and was solo again. I loved the first girl I was with. The second girl and I stared at each other for a while before we actually recognized each other. We had been part of a show a little while back, though we worked on different parts of the show. I ended up feeling so great about myself when I left that I couldn’t believe it. I finally got to cut one, which was Cougars. I know it probably didn’t really matter who I cut because I will probably be cut from Ducks and Huskies. Tomorrow will be a long day. |
Thanks for the responses!
Being from the west, I figured I should do something related to my side of the nation. I think my boyfriend is doing a great job. Thank you for noticing. I am a little surprised that he is doing so well. He actually came around to the idea before my father and brother. |
Keep your head up - you just never know what can or will happen! And yes, it's hard not to listen to tent talk, but try to follow your own intuition. Good luck!
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It may or may not be too late, but don't act like you're not good enough for a chapter. They might like you, and you don't want them to be turned off by you acting insecure.
Conversely, don't act like you're too good for a chapter (doesn't sound like a problem for you). Good luck with the rest! |
I don't post in recruitment threads too often, but I want to say this:
Keep in mind that you don't know who cut you until you have that list in your hand. Don't write groups off prematurely because you think they don't like you. You never know. |
Preference Night
I was tired and I wanted rush over with. Although I felt like I knew what my schedule would be, it still hurt to only see two. Yeah that’s right, Beavers and Cougars. I shook it off remembering I could still have a bid to Beavers and that’s all I needed. I was ready to go
Beavers: A girl whom I had apparently talked to the first day picked me up. I didn’t remember her at all, but looking back at the notes I think she was the second sister I met. She was really pretty and seemed nice. We went up to her room and she gave me a letter. The letter was really cool, telling me how I had been her first “rushee” and that she had been thinking of me all week. We had started to talk about random things, but nothing about the sorority. Eventually we started talking about boyfriends (there was a picture on the desk). She said her boyfriend was an independent and totally unsupportive of her being in Greek life. I was really sad about that especially since mine had been supportive. We moved onto a different topic rather quickly. She was the president of an interest fraternity as well. SF had tried to join but was not accepted. I kind of stuck my foot in my mouth, talking of how we handled her rejection with cookies and kind of played the whole thing off, not intentionally, but it was like a snowball down a mountain it just gets bigger until it takes out the ski lodge. I think that left a sour taste in her mouth. We went downstairs for the ceremony. It was beautiful and I wanted to cry, I really did, but I couldn’t get a tear out. I still left saying that I wanted to come back. Cougars: I had tried all week to be open-minded and I hoped that one day it might change. I could not see myself fitting in here. The girl who picked me up was someone I had not met. She had done informal recruitment and had only been part of the chapter for a few months. She didn’t have much to say, although I could tell she cared a lot about her chapter. The ceremony was really sweet, but to say I was feeling out of place would be an understatement. I could tell that some of the PNMs really were moved. I wanted to be moved. I couldn’t feel anything. We returned to the lecture hall in silence. The groups split up and sat in different halls to complete our final ranking. I felt like I was sitting on hot coals. Could I really only put down one house? I could not put down Cougars. I felt horrible. I had tried all week and I could not see myself in that house. I only wrote Beavers. |
While I'm a proponent of maximizing options, I think you did the right thing by not putting down a house you didn't feel a connection with and wouldn't have been happy in. I am crossing my fingers for you that you find a home with Beavers!
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The way it worked, for us anyway, was at night we would list our choices of who we want to ask us back. If we only got invites for say 6 out of a possible 7, our rankings would be ignored and we would go where we were invited. Our rankings were pointless unless we were invited to over the maximum total.
Think of it as the people who get their schedules in the morning and are able to choose which to keep. Those who have more circle the ones they wil go to for that day. We did it at night. Maybe this was to keep tent talking to a lower level. I don't know. I thought that was common. Is it? How do other schools have their PNM rank? |
[quote=WCsweet<3;1726128]If we only got invites for say 6 out of a possible 7, our rankings would be ignored and we would go where we were invited. Our rankings were pointless unless we were invited to over the maximum total.quote]
This didn't really answer my question. My question is, if YOU cut a group, or "suicide" (as I understand this to mean), why would you then go to that group again? When you said you cut Cougars, did you mean that you suicided? Or do you mean that you ranked them at the bottom of your list, with the other three in the #1 spot, so that if you were invited back to all of the chapters, Cougars would be left out, and you would attend the other three for Prefs (which is the maximum that you could attend)? |
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So from what I'm reading, yes to your last question. |
Some campuses have gone to the method of PNMs ranking their houses the night after parties. If they can return to 4 out of 6, then they would rank 4 as #1 and then they would rank the rest as #2, #3. Then, instead of panhellenic potentially issuing 6 invitations for the PNM then to decide, the PNM only gets 4. Sometimes it will be her top 4 (if she was invited to all of those parties). In that case, she would never know if whe was invited by her final 2 chapters or not. If she was NOT invited to all of her top 2, then she would have those where she was invited PLUS any from her bottom list in order to get as close to max as possible. In this way, no PNM receives more than the maximum number of invitations.
It is intended to minimize the impact of tent talk. It also cuts down the "she received 6 invitations, how come I only received 4?" sort of thing. I guess you could say it sort of equalizes recruitment. Plus, PNMs are really deciding based upon how they felt that night instead of what they hear from "everybody else". In our school, it seems to be very successful. We have combined it with the RFM and although the first year was a bit shaky, now it is doing really well, with most chapters at or over quota. |
I am anxiously awaiting to hear the ending to your story!
I don't know what it is about you, WCsweet, but you remind me of a gal who used to post here years ago by the name of newbie. Old timer GCers might remember her. She was accepted to USC and everyone hoped that she would rush. She was like the GC "little sister". (She did attend USC, but never rushed, she graduated, and now works in Silicon Valley.) |
Firstly, I would like to say that I am honored for everyone to be posting and keeping their interest! I am almost humbled. I didn't think many people would read my story.
What AlphaXi_Husky and Basketcase96 said is correct. When I said cut, I meant I ranked them last. Sorry for the misuse of terms, that is how the word cut is used here. I never knew the system was RFM. I will have to research that hmm... To ASTalumna06, I only "suicided" my last night. I maximized my options when I wrote Ducks, Huskies and Beavers saying that I would accept those invites over an invite to Cougars. I think we use the term cut as to cut them from our list? I don't know why we use it that way and I am sorry for any confusion. Hopefully all is clear now. |
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Anyway... keep going! We're all anxious to hear the end of the story! :) |
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