The first round of recruitment was split over two days.
On the first day I visited
Fendi first. I had met two Fendis prior to rush because they lived across the hall from me. We watched Laguna together, talked, and so forth. I thought they were nice, but not girls I would be best friends with. Nevertheless, I went in with an open mind. The girls were very energetic here, almost like professional recruiters. They rotated very quickly, so I met about 7 sisters by the end of the round, but didn't get a feel for the house. I remember thinking that the girls were drop-dead gorgeous here. After I left, I marked in my book that I wasn't crazy about Fendi; they seemed too done-up... even for me.
Mulberry was my second house and we had to hoof it to get there. Their house was adorable, but I didn't like the feel of the house. The girls seemed as though they weren't trying to impress us or maybe they just didn't practice long enough. The first girl I spoke to admitted that she wasn't good at making small talk (awk!!), but it picked up with the last sister I met. She was also a transfer student, out-of-state, loved art, and horseback rode. Although I left not liking Mulberry, I did like this girl a lot.
Kooba was one of the houses I heard a ton about before getting to school. I had a number of friends at a neighboring school and knew this house very well. Kooba lived up to my expectations. The girls were very nice, very put-together, and seemed like they knew how to study hard, but still have fun. Kooba jumped to the top of my list.
Coach was the last house for the first evening. I loved it here! The girls I met were very nice and the type of girls I was friends with in high school. I was also smitten with their kitchen floor... weird I know, but it reminded me of the tiling in my favorite department store! I do remember feeling very uncomfortable at one point though. Hurricane Katrina had just hit and one of the sisters, whom I talked to, had obviously been crying all day. She revealed that she was from New Orleans and still hadn't heard from her parents. Kudos to her for going through recruitment I guess? (Her parents, I believe, were fine since I never heard anything after that.)
On the second day, I started out at
Longchamps. The girls seemed very Southern here, they just had that Southern beauty radiating from the house. I had a good time and definitely wanted to come back, but I didn't feel overwhelmingly in love with Longchamps.
Louis Vuitton was the other house I heard about before rush because of the same circumstances. Before the girls even came out I was in love. Talk about a gorgeous house, it looked like a compound! LV did an adorable song and you could tell the girls loved their house... after all, you'd have to love your house to jump around in at least 3" stilettos for two days of rounds! I liked all the sisters I met here and felt confident that I would fit in here.
After LV, we headed to
kate spade. I had a similar experience here like I did with Mulberry. I wasn't wow-ed by their song, although their door chant was very catch-y. I did meet a lot of sisters here, including their President. I thought the house was very athletic because everyone talked about the sports they played. This didn't completely turn me off, but I didn't feel like I was a good fit here. I was very disappointed by this because (sidenote alert!) at the school I transferred from, I was almost certain to go ks. The previous school had deferred rush and although there wasn't dirty rushing, you did get to know the houses and sisters very well. Almost every PNM knew prior to rush where she would get a bid from. Several kate spades at my previous school were hoping I would join this chapter so we could share the sisterhood. As a result, I was willing to put aside my initial impressions and try kate spade again if I had the opportunity.
Next up was
Marc Jacobs. All I thought was a big WTF here. If you knew the house, you could probably figure out why. I must stress, I mean a 'WTF' to a physical part of this house, not the sisters in anyway. This house was just alright, but I was willing to go back.
My final house was
Gucci. As I stood in front of Gucci, I thought 'Gosh, I hope this house sucks because I don't know which other house will be on my cut list.' (I was going to cut Fendi.) Of course, this was not the case. I fell hard for Gucci. I clicked with a sister who had grown up very close to me before moving to her current homestate. As I left Gucci, I called my best friend and told her I had just met my big sister. We also talked about the other houses before I arrived at the spot where we listed the houses.
At rankings we were asked to put down our top 7, and then our bottom 2, which would be cut if possible. I decided to put Fendi and Marc Jacobs on the chopping block.
I'll post my second round tomorrow!!
