Recruitment can be a ZOO!
 

A Zoo of Recruitment!
Please, if you know what school I attend, PM me instead of posting on here! I have 15 sororities at my school. Our recruitment is delayed until the spring semester, which is great because I came in the spring instead of fall. From here on out, the sororities will be known as different zoo animals (with no association to possible chapter mascots.)

They are:
Tiger
Lion
Polar Bear
Penguin
Zebra
Cheetah
Kangaroo
Camel
Turtle
Dolphin
Shark
Giraffe
Otter
Seal
Monkey

I'm rooting for Tiger, of course :) And I love the rainbow you made out of all the names!

I'm going with Turtle. I also like the rainbow!

I'm cheering for Kangaroo and Shark.

Yes, I can pick 2 :p

ROYGBIV!

House and Values Tours
 

I was always excited to join a sorority. No one in my family is Greek, but I had known from sophomore year of high school that it would be something perfect for me. I was extremely nervous (and excited) for recruitment to kick off. Even though we have so many chapters, only about 18% of my school is Greek. A lot of the girls in my hall were going through recruitment as well, so it was tough to observe the strict silence rules! Our first round (house and values tours) are split over a period of two days (mainly because there are so many houses to see! I started school in the spring semester (which is when recruitment begins) so I was lucky enough to not hear tooooo many stereotypes before recruitment began.

The first day of house and values tours:

Lion- I was really nervous. The girl I spoke with was extremely nice and helped me remember why I was going through recruitment. Nothing special, but it was nice kick off with a friendly host!

Camel- It turns out I already had this sorority’s symbol as a tattoo, which was interesting to see! The house was nice, but the only thing I really remembered was getting stuck on a house tour. An active and I came downstairs and there was a completely new group of PNMs downstairs, super scary. I had to run to the next house and was extremely flustered.

Polar Bear- Every active here took two PNMS. It is a nationally Jewish sorority, and both the other PNM and our active were Jewish. They talked about birthright the whole time which I just kind of sat there, which made it awkward for me. Left here knowing that I should have at least gotten a few words in, and it wasn’t the place for me.

Zebra- This is the first house I really liked a lot. This chapter is known on my campus to not have a reputation that I would typically “fit into” but I really felt like I clicked with the girl I spoke with. I knew a girl from high school who was in this chapter, so it was nice to see a friendly face.

Turtle- This chapter was having their house re-done, so recruitment was held in a fraternity house (which sort of defeats the “house” tours) but the girls were still extremely welcoming and made it feel like home. They also showed plans for their new house. One thing that stuck out in my mind was one of the actives introduced another as “This is my sister, J” which really stuck out in my mind.

Tiger- The girls in this house were very sweet to me and the house was very old fashioned, but extremely pretty. Didn’t feel any specific connections though.

Cheetah- I was very tired by the time I got to this house. I had class all day, and then 7 houses to see. I still kept a smile on my face though and was polite. The girl I talked to was nice, but I really didn’t remember too much about it after walking out the door.

DAY 2:

Otter- The girls in this chapter were nice, but nothing more. I had a good time, but felt like I had to force conversation. The girl I talked to was just a little awkward. I also didn’t see more than the first floor of their house.

Kangaroo- Really liked everyone I talked to here. The house was very pretty and many parts were centered around their symbol. We had a big conversation with 3 PNMs and 3 actives which really helped conversation flow, which I liked a lot. I also didn’t get a house tour here because I got so caught up talking to the girl that I was with, which I guess was good! Would totally want to come back.

Shark- This chapter was extremely welcoming, but I knew from the start that I could not afford the dues here. I kept an open mind, but didn’t fall in love because I wouldn’t let myself. The girls definitely impressed me though.

Seal- This house was absolutely gorgeous. If anyone figures out my school, they would also be able to figure out this chapter. The active who rushed me planned on studying abroad the same place I would be in a few years, we also had the same major. The girls were very nice and super put-together.

Monkey- This house was also very pretty, but I didn’t click well with the girl who rushed me. We had a joking conversation about liking rival football teams and it made the conversation really awkward for the rest of the party. She joined another PNM and active and kept a convo going with them which I just followed them around like a lost puppy. I knew my rho gam was a sister of this chapter, which disappointed me because she was so sweet. I decided I would want to give it another try if they would have me.

Penguin- Really bonded with the girl who rushed me in this house. Their décor was by far my favorite. The active and I shared the fact that we both had a father with cancer (I have a tattoo on my foot representing it that she asked about), so I immediately felt a connection here. Really looked forward to coming back here.

Giraffe- This was definitely not the house for me. I don’t know what about it, but I just felt that I didn’t fit in with the girls here. While waiting for the party to start, we were supposed to observe strict silence, but I listened to the girl in front of me talk about how she knew this was her house, then proceeded to mock another house!! She did end up in giraffe, and I just could never imagine having a sister that was blatantly rude.

Dolphin- I realllllly liked the girls here. Their philanthropy hit very close to home for me. My roommates biological sister was here, and she was one of the girls who helped me get acclimated to my school, so I knew that if a lot of the girls were like here, I could see myself as a sister of dolphin. I looked forward to coming back for sure!


We don’t rank our top ten, rather just pick a top ten and rank the bottom 5, so the top 10 are in no specific order!

Dolphin
Penguin
Seal
Kangaroo
Tiger
Turtle
Zebra
Lion
Monkey
Cheetah

Ones I wouldn't want to return to:
1. Polar Bear
2. Camel
3. Otter
4. Shark
5. Giraffe

You changed the color for kangaroo. I totally don't like them anymore.



...Ok, no.. just kidding. Kangaroos rock. :D

(can't wait to read the rest of your story!)

Oops! Didn't realize how tough this color coding thing was! Props to everyone who's ever written a recruitment story. Also sorry for this being so long, 15 chapters will do you in!

I don't know how anyone even keeps track of all of those chapters through recruitment. I only had 3 at my school. Props to you!

Go Dolphin!

Go Zebra!

Notes! Carry a little notebook or something and jot down a few notes between parties.;)

Philanthropy Round
 

Without my rush pamphalet, I don’t know what I would have done! Our rho gams give us a book to write down info about each chapter after every round. It was awesome to go back and read what I had written about one specific house the whole way through, but that’s coming up!

The next round was philanthropy! This is very important to me (I’m very involved in service) so this was an important day. I got my schedule back, and out of a max of 10 houses….. I had 9! No complaints here, some girls were already down to 5! Some of my bottom brought be back (to my dismay), but everything happens for a reason, right!?

My schedule was:
Camel
Tiger
Otter
Penguin
Zebra
Turtle
Giraffe
Kangaroo
Dolphin

Camel- Time to give this house another try! Their philanthropy was really cool. The girls looked extremely well put together, and I liked this house much more after the second round. Mistakes happen with the house tour, nothing that I should’ve cut them for, but still didn’t really feel anything special!

Tiger- I got to meet their President today, who was really sweet to me and really seemed knowledgeable about their philanthropy. It was nice to hear because I did want to be involved. Didn’t feel any specific connections though!

Otter- The “craft” we did here was optional, which was nice. I had a new active member to speak with, but still felt the conversation was really awkward and forced. I have a friend in this chapter at another school that was part of the colony class that absolutely loved it, but I was feeling like this just wasn’t the house for me.

Penguin- I was paired with the same active that I had for house/values tours (YAY!) I was so excited! We got to talk more and it felt like we were just picking up where we had left off. I really liked being in this house, I felt welcomed and super comfortable.

Zebra- I was sadly disappointed with this house. I liked them sooo much the first round, but we did nothing related to their philanthropy. This was really heartbreaking for me, because I thought I could see myself as a sister her, the active who I spoke with didn’t have the spark that the first sister did, which originally attracted me there.

Turtle- Absolutely LOVED the philanthropy round here. I cried when one of the sisters shared her experiences with it. Even though I was disappointed by the fact that they wouldn’t have a house for my pledge period, I still saw the possibility of this being my home.

Giraffe- I was disappointed that I would be returning to this house. Like Zebra, there was no talk of philanthropy. They had yummy hot chocolate, but that was the only thing I remembered. I stayed polite, but conversation was forced and awkard. I just wanted to move on. I really didn’t understand why they had brought me back because I really didn’t feel like I fit in.

Kangaroo- Loved this house again! Their philanthropy is very dear to them. I really appreciated this. I had the same major as the first active I spoke with. The second was a graduating senior. She was one of the nicest people I talked to during recruitment, and I looked forward to coming back to Kangaroo just so I could talk to her!

Dolphin- The philanthropy round here was special to me because it hits very close to home. The active I spoke with had the same connection with their philanthropy, so it was nice to bond over that. The girls here, like always, were welcoming and friendly. I love their house as well as the sisters and saw this as a definite possibility!

At the end of the day it was a top 6 (in no order) and bottom 3!
Dolphin
Kangaroo
Turtle
Penguin
Tiger
Camel

1. Zebra
2. Otter
3. Giraffe

I was excited for Skits round because my Rho Gam said this was the round where she made up her mind!

oooh see how Camel moved up to one she would like to go back to after philanthropy and Zebra moved down....

LOL.

Am I missing something here? In my neck of the woods, "Birthright" is an anti-abortion organization that has zero to do with Judaism.