What type of recruitment would you have preferred?
 

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The kind of recruitment I went through - structured informal - was perfect for me as a 1st semester sophomore. I didn't have to go back to the chapter that made me downright uncomfortable (between the hazing rumors and their not being nice at all during meet the Greeks), but I did get to check out all the other groups just to make sure that what I'd been thinking before rush began was really what was right for me. This went a long way towards my never really thinking "things would have been better if I'd joined XYZ."

If I would have had to go straight from HS to rush, I probably would never have made it into a sorority. I just didn't have the self confidence at the time.

Fully structured fall recruitment worked really well for me. I went through as a first semester freshman so I hadn't formed any opinions about the chapters. Informal rush wouldn't have been good for me. I was far too shy to just show up at a sorority without having to be required to be there.

I liked going through a structured, formal recruitment. The only thing I would have changed would be the timing; it's put at the end of September/beginning of October (which makes sense, because with campus total being 30, and each chapter at 10-12 going into recruitment, we need all the time we can get for PR). As a pnm, I would have loved if it was earlier, especially because I was already into 4th year honours seminars and by a month in, they're pretty heavy. However, from this side, the extra time is fantastic for those who are planning/preparing.

i experienced fully structured, total frills recruitment and i loved it.

Just curious, what constitutes total frills? Our entire recruitment (minus pref) is limited to $200 for 3 nights of 3 parties, so I'm always interested to hear what frills actually entails! *Jealousy*

My campus uses minimally structured recruitment. I think I would have preferred a more fully structured recruitment.

I liked the fully structured rush the week before school started, but I understand the slight delay some schools are using now. I still think STARTING it before school starts, if you have more than 8 or 10 chapters, is a good idea. It just seems so unnecessarily stressful otherwise. Once you get down to 5 parties or so, I think that's easier to squeeze into an evening or a weekend. I can imagine what MS must be like when you've got classes the next day.

But would I have been happy with an informal or COB rush environment? No. I would have felt forever like things could have been different. As it is, I wonder how things would have turned out differently if I'd have done this or that little thing differently. If I'd had 14 other sororities to think about "what if" my head would have exploded.

the chapters sang songs and performed what we called "yard dances" as they streamed out of their houses. our yard dances involved criss-crossing across the yard to your particular spot and then coordinated hand movements and/or foot movements, singing all the while. each party round you sang a different song and performed a different dance. we had double front doors, plus double french doors at the living room and the housemother's apartment, so girls streamed out of all the doorways(think of those old fashioned busby berkley musicals).

at the end of the party, you escorted your guest out. we had a fairly long winding sidewalk that led to a series of steps which led down to the street sidewalk, and you escorted your guest to the top of the steps, said good-bye and wished them well and then took your place on either side of our sidewalk and started singing the exit song, except on pref. party day.

during prefs., which were held at night, we lined up on the stairs in our foyer, sang a beautiful song very softly and individually descended the stairs when our guests name was called. at the conclusion of the pref. party, we walked our guest down our sidewalk, where lumenarias(sp?)had been carefully spaced to line our sidewalk, to the top of the steps, gave her a hug and took our place and sang a dreamy song until the last guest had descended to street level. we wore floor length black formals for this party.

a couple of days had skits-yes, more than one skit day. one skit was longer, with more elaborate costumes, props and decorations and was the official skit day. the other day where we performed a shorter skit, was also house tours.i believe that we served some sort of food and drink at all the rounds,except for ice water rounds, where we, of course, served only ice water(but in real glasses), but can't remember for sure.

we reported back to school 2 weeks before classes began. the first week was our work week, were we practiced our songs, dances, skits, made name tags, decorations, props, etc. and caught up on what had been going on in each other's lives over the summer. the 2nd week was rush, and then school started.

As a freshman, I would have preferred to have had formal recruitment beginning before classes.
I think that way you would hear less rumors & still meet wonderful women who are also going through recruitment. Especially since I feel like you make a large part of your friends in the first times on campus as a freshman.
I would have been much more inclined to go through that kind of formal recruitment as a freshman. That, and I would have actually been ABLE to, since I would have been able to get off work during the time before the fall semester actually begins.

But as an upperclassmen, very informal was the way to go the way my life worked out.

When I was at Arkansas, they had an awful rush--you had to be a sophomore plus it was a bed rush. According to several yearbooks, more than half the PNMs didn't get bids. I would've preferred a freshman rush because during freshman year, there was so much dirty rushing; it really got ugly.

If I had gone through earlier, I would have preferred the fully structured fall recruitment schedule, especially as a freshman because I knew nothing about Greek life then. When I was a sophomore, informal recruitment suited me better, because I had more of an idea where I belonged. By first semester junior year, I only really wanted Sigma. By that time I kind of knew where I was meant to be, and I just hoped that they would feel the same way. I really liked that during COB parties I could just be myself with Sigma, which is something that I think you can't get as much during formal because there are so many rules and regulations.

I had a frilly (though not quite as frilly as FSUZeta), prior to school, fully structured recruitment. It started 2 weeks before school, then you had a welcome week, then school started. It was great because it allowed you to be focused on just recruitment and not have to worry about school at the same time (I would NOT have been a very good student that week), plus have some time to get familiar with both the sorority and the campus before classes began.

Now to compare a bit to FSUZeta’s experience (because it’s fun to journey down memory lane a bit), we had door chants/songs all of the rounds except preference, where we piled in the doorway and screamed catchy tunes at the top of our lungs while either squatting or standing on a chair (depending on where you were placed in the door). We wore matching outfits, which were determined by the party chairs and bought prior to recruitment (the near-by GAP and J Crew loved us) – this included shoes.

The first round there was a mini skit type thing, where a small group of chapter members performed a song and coordinated dance, but changed the words to be about the sorority (songs varied each year, going from ABBA’s Take A Chance on Me to Nsync’s Bye Bye Bye). The second round was where you toured the house, and the third round was the full skit round, complete with decorations and props.

At each round we could serve a refreshment, usually water and one other thing. Sometimes it would be a pink lemonade, or iced tea, or sometimes it would be Coke – the ones in the little coke bottles to go with our 50s-themed skit that year, of course – it just depended on the round.

Preference was done pretty similarly to how the chapters at my alma mater do it now (and to how FSUZeta described it). People were called in by name individually, then we would have the party (where people would be served cute appetizers and drinks). At the end, we would walk them down the steps of our home, hug them at the sidewalk, then gracefully walk back to form a formation on the lawn while softly singing a song. Once the last girl left, we would sing one round, then walk back into the house in pairs, and close the door.

It was such a long week (well, two weeks if you count work week), but man I loved it. It’s funny to me though that about 8-10 years before I joined, it was even frillier. The skits used to have some intense decorations – including decor on the lawn and completely covering the room our skit was in with paper and balloons and flowers – even the ceiling was covered! And everyone wore these types of dresses for pref, in magenta and royal blue and a jade green. I wish I could have seen it then.

Sorry for the slight derailment there - I get so excited when recruitment season comes around each year.

I had fully structured, formal rush the week before school. I loved it because I came in knowing no reputations and made the decision on my own. It was pretty terrifying knowing only 2 girls in chapters though.

This year we'll have rush for 6 days before school, have a week of class, and then pref night the following Saturday. I hope it works out, but I'm a little bit scared to have the week break.

I've stated on the forums before why I despise formal structured "recruitment", so I won't go in to that now.

I would ask, though, about those women who have no experience with a Greek system. How on earth would one get them to register or come to school early for something they know nothing about? Is it ever an issue? I would imagine it is not at the competitive SEC schools, but others?????