Sophomore Rushing
 

Hello! Ummm where to start, I am currently a freshman at Purdue and did rush this fall...however on the third day of rush I got an extremely nasty case of food poisoning and couldn't finish recruitment...This however did not impede my getting a bid from a house! I did not take the bid because a) it was not my fav house and 2) I felt like I should go through recruitment to really find my place...Well as fall continues I feel extremely sad that I don't have a house and want to be a sister so bad! I would love to pledge!
BUT my question is, is it wise to rush as a sophomore? I mean will this hurt me entirely and not get me into any of the houses I actually would like? Do I, as a sophomore, have no chance?
If I do have a chance, another question would be should I get recs this time around? (I didn't last time) And if I fall in love with a house during the year, should I attempt to find a sponsor?
I need advice! and help!

I am almost 95% sure I wanna rush next fall...because I feel like I would totally miss out on great opportunities if I wasn't greek! (I'm the only the girl in my fam and want sisters!)
Do you know if it would mean that since I'm a sophomore like say half the houses won't even attempt to keep me?
A friend said I should find someone to sponsor me, but I don't even understand what it really means!
I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find recs, at least I'll do my best. (I don't really know any greeks, so I'll have to check around)

And thank you for the other thread!

There is no sponsorship; you get recs. Since I don't know where you are from, see if there is a local Panhellenic association from your home town. Or, as we tell everyone, ask your teachers from High School, women from church, parents of your friends, etc. If you find one woman who was Greek, chances are they know other Greeks, who you may know too.

Where I grew up, being a Greek was no big deal so it was hard to tell if others were Greek. Plus, this was the 70s when Greeks had fallen out of vogue. When I was in High School, I didn't think I knew any Greeks. Once I finished college, I found out that so many parents of friends were Greek.

it sounds like you really want to join a sorority. many girls have a successful recruitment as sophomores(i am speaking generally, not about purdue specifically). some get their #1 choice, others have to be a bit more flexible and fall in love later with the house that offers them a bid.

i would suggest that you keep an open mind and accept all invitations to parties that you are offered. in the mean time, if you have not already done so, get involved in a club or activity on campus. you will not be able to stand on your h.s. accomplishments and activities, you should broaden your horizons when you are in college, and you might meet some sorority members in the orgs. that you join-if they know you and like you it might aid you in formal recruitment next fall.

also, you might contact the greek life office and see if there is going to be a spring recruitment. some of the sororities might have a few spots opening up after december graduation, and you wouldn't have to wait until fall. if after attending some spring rush parties you think that you should wait until fall to join, that is okay. you do not have to accept a bid from the sororities rushing in the spring.

I went through recruitment at Purdue as a junior during the mid-90s, and the majority of sophomores who went through formal received bids. Sophomores generally do very well at formal recruitment if they keep an open mind and maximize their options. To my knowledge, this is still the case at Purdue.

Definitely get to know as many Greek women as possible, keep your grades high and get involved on campus. Even though you will not be the only sophomore going through recruitment next year, it never hurts to have those things on your recruitment application to help you stand out.

Best of luck to you, and Boiler Up!

Thank you for the all the great advice! I was however wondering how it would be better to get to know other greeks...do I want to party with them? Or do I want to actually be more of a formal situation when I meet them? I am involved with three clubs and a large school association...I am at college with scholarships that I have won...I am doing my best to keep my grades up...but do you guys suggest any other activities? or anything in specific? I don't think any of the houses I am really interested in do have any spring recruitment...so I probably won't be doing spring...any other advice??

This is your problem. You're focusing on certain chapters and dismissing others (ie. ones that may be doing spring). How long have you interacted with members of these chapters? How many women have you met? How do you know these chapters are not for you?

My advice is to attend the parties of any and all chapters participating in spring recruitment. You have nothing to lose opening your mind and getting to know women from participating chapters.

Think about your favorite chapters. Ask yourself if you would still want to be Greek if you couldn't be in your current favorites.

The best way to meet any new friends is in class and through other activities or through mutual friends. If you see them at a party that you HAPPEN to be at, you can chat. But do not, do not, DO NOT make a habit of partying at the (random example) Beta house if you know that a lot of Pi Phis hang out there and you want to be a Pi Phi, if you don't give a crap about or outright dislike the Betas. This is among the surest ways to NOT get a bid. Unless you are truly close with many of the brothers or seriously dating one of them, I would recommend against hanging out exclusively at one fraternity house in general. You can get a "groupie" reputation.

And yeah, open your mind and go through spring recruitment.

So today I looked at the possibility of spring recruitment and there is a clause here at Purdue that if you go through fall, obtain a bid and do not go through with the bid then you are not allowed to participate in the spring recruitment...anyway, my way of mostly making greek friends is to usually study with them and such so with them I have no partying rep...is that good? Or should I at least get around to some of the parties where my friends are at?

This is an NPC policy - not just a Purdue policy. There is a possibility you may be able to go through informal recruitment in the spring; it's hard to discern what your situation is through your posts. Did you drop out of recruitment completely? Was the bid you were offered an informal or snap bid or did you attend any preference night events/sign a pref card? Did you sign anything regarding the bid? Those facts will determine whether or not you can participate in spring informal recruitment.

It's up to you if you want to socialize/go to parties with your friends that are currently Greek. If you do, realize that anything you do can affect your chances of receiving a bid later on - good or bad.

What happened was I went through the second day of recruitment entirely and when it was time for the third day I got food poisoning. I told my Gamma Chi what happened, as soon as I stopped puking for a minute. She told me that it was ok and that she would continue to move my houses. On pref day I was still unable to attend and asked my Gamma Chi for advice. I never officially dropped recruitment...because my Gamma Chi told me that it would be ok to continue. On bid night I was working on a project and totally forgot about recruitment because I thought since I didn't finish there would be no chance for me to get a house and therefore I just thought that I would do it my sophomore year. At around 7 my Gamma Chi calls and tells me I have a bid, but I felt really unsure because I hadn't attended the rest of recruitment and didn't really feel like I knew what the house would be like. I never signed any bid night card or anything. Instead I told her I was completely unsure and asked for her advice. She told me to go to bid night and try it out. I didn't do what she said and instead just decided that it wouldn't be fair for me to go to a house that I had no idea of and neither did they know much about me...(I didn't even see skit day) so I just hope for the best next year

Something is really screwy here. If you never signed a bid card, your Gamma Chi should not have called and told you that you had a bid. Your not showing up or signing in effect means that you DID drop out of rush.

I would tell them they need to produce a bid card with your signature on it - it almost sounds like they forged a card or something.