On the other side of recruitment: What impressed you most?
 

Considering I am preparing for my spring (okay, it's really winter) recruitment in about a month (as a PNM) and I'm sure many other GC readers are as well, I thought it'd be nice to start a thread about what you all really found impressive among particular PNM's when you were on the other side of recruitment, whether you're an active or an alumna.

Some suggestions:
(1) A question she asked that really impressed you.
(2) An extra curricular that stood out.
(3) Something about her disposition that made you want to have her in your sorority.

Or even something she wore that made you remember her! Anything at all. Every girl about to undergo recruitment is wondering what she can do to make herself memorable. We want to be the best, most sincere versions of ourselves, and of course, we want you to love us. :)

You know, I can't really think of something like that. We were really more interested in the total package.

It's different for every sister and every rushee and every chapter and every campus. There is no "magic bullet."

The thing that made me have a rush crush was the completely NORMAL conversation. We were insty-friends. Unfortunately that's not something you can prepare for; it's just organic. The best you can do by way of preparation is be ready with good answers to the obvious questions so you can move on to more interesting subjects. You can also help that process along by giving narrative answers instead of closed ones. What's your major can be the world's most boring question OR it can be a gateway to a really interesting conversation about your goals and/or expressing your potential. Or what you really love to do in life.

The other thing you can do to make yourself appealing is to carry at least your half of the conversation. For as exhausted and stressed out as you, as a rushee, are feeling, the sorority women have all of that plus HOURS of work before and after all of the parties. And just like you they also have class. If you encounter what feels like a dud, keep that in mind and work at being more engaging. It's hard, but if you can perk up a sister, that can go a long way toward being remembered later.

For me, I was really drawn by the fact that the sisters in my chapter appreciated my military service. I had just returned from Iraq the year prior and I was still drilling in the Army. Some chapters gave me the look of, "Oh no. You could get deployed again. Why waste a bid on you?" These ladies were genuinely interested and didn't make me feel like I was "too old" (I had just turned 21 when I went through rush due to deployment and military commitments with schools) or that I should have never joined the military. They asked me questions and were really interested to hear about my deployment experience. It was also nice that no one asked, "So, did you kill anyone?" Ugh. I hate that question. When we were doing crafts, the President had me sit at her table and the ladies all knew my name (not realizing at the time that's part of how recruitment works). They made me feel really wanted. I was also impressed with the full package and to learn that my chapter raises the most overall for our national philanthropy out of all the Phi Mu chapters nationwide, thanks to THON. All the chapters are great at my campus but, I'm always glad that I went Phi Mu!

Thanks for the responses, guys! My recruitment is three weeks away and I'm really excited, and you've been so helpful.

Good luck! While GCers will be interested in your story, to help ensure as smooth a recruitment as possible, you may want to post following recruitment. If you have a specific question during recruitment for which you would like a view in addition to that of your Pi Chi/Rho Chi, just be discreet (as you have been thus far). Hope 2014 is good to you!

Yeah, I was planning to write down a little each day for myself (it'll help me remember things and keep my thoughts organized) and share the entire experience after recruitment concludes. I'll likely be too exhausted to provide entirely coherent, cohesive posts during the actual process anyway!