How do I begin preparing for fall rush now?
 

I went through spring rush this past week and was invited back to one house. I went to the event that they invited me to but I didn't connect with the girls and couldn't see myself there (of course, when I go through fall recruitment I will go back to them with an open mind!) I know for sure that I will be rushing in the fall because I think Greek life is definitely for me. How do I go about preparing for fall rush now? I am going to try my best to start getting recommendation letters immediately. What other things can I do? Thank you!

Read the thread linked in my signature for starters. Get a great GPA this year and don't embarrass yourself socially. Get involved in a few student organizations to meet people, develop new skills, and have fun. There's a good chance you can meet sorority women in other campus orgs and make a positive first impression.

Love your attitude! Definitely check out that thread and go ahead and take a look at all of the stickied posts under "sorority recruitment" (at least the ones relevant to you, whatever they may be).

P.S. Our usernames kind of match. :D

I definitely would suggest figuring out what you want from greek life! When I went through recruitment, some questions that always popped up were along the lines of:
why did you decide to rush, what are you looking for in a sorority, what do you most look forward to... you get it!

And of course, when you are asking questions while in the individual chapters, it's good to ask about those elements that you're looking for.
For example... when I went through, I really was hoping to find a close sisterhood and meet my best friends. So I asked stuff like, "how would you describe your sisterhood? what bonding activities do you participate in as new members?"

Obviously you don't want it to be like an 'interview' setting and sound scripted, but I think it's good to know what you're looking for and the sororities will notice your enthusiasm. Good luck with the process!

My daughter read the Rush Right book by Sunday Tollefson, which we had seen recommended here (some GCers like it, some don't). It has very good suggestions for back-and-forth conversational skills. I thought they'd be helpful for life in general and interviews, not just for recruitment. It also has good suggestions for handling the "drawbacks" PNMs have (and everyone has strengths and some issues they're worried about), such as being a sophomore.

Some GCers have said that there is some incorrect info in the book, which I'd agree with. I thought most of the explanation about how invitational rounds work was incorrect...she describes the process as receiving and declining invitations, instead of the computer-based ranking and matching process used today.

Most of the information is going to be known to sorority members and "grown" women, but there's quite a bit of helpful information for PNMs. She does portray a good attitude throughout the book as well: keep an open mind, seek a group you're comfortable with, etc. One aspect I thought was a little creepy was that she suggests really "clicking" with your rushers in later rounds by discovering what their biggest fear is and empathizing with them. She swears it "works," but I thought that was weird.

Can you imagine how bizarre it would be for sorority members if lots of PNMs see this and suddenly the members are all being asked about their greatest fears?:D

Seriously!

"Hey you talked to Fear girl right?

Can you imagine how depressing it would be? I think a lot of people's greatest fear is the loss of loved ones, illness, tragedy...everyone would be in tears by the time the party ended. Bad topic for sure. Of course, you'd probably get some interesting answers...like I still can't sleep with my arm draped over the bed for fear the meanie from Poltergeist will grab me like it did the son before hurling him into a tree outside his window. Then there are people with really bizarre fears like Billy Bob Thornton who is scared of antiques and anything old. Do we really want people to know these things about us, though?

The concept of Billy Bob Thornton at a sorority rush party makes me amazingly happy. :)

And then you'd get girls with really weird fears awkwardly trying to lie on the spot and think of something normal to say, because who wants to be in a sorority with the girl who's afraid of windmills?