[AOEforme]

First Rounds:

AOEforme Jr. and the other four girls on her floor head out and meet their Rho Gammas by 1 PM. The booklets are handed out and AOEforme Jr flips through hers rapidly. She knows Sarah is a legacy to Ohio State and Illinois, and even though Ohio State is considered a "top" house here, Sarah is determined to cut them. Her family is very greek and she wants a different house than her sisters, mom, aunts, and grandmother.

Addie, who knows very little about Greek Life, surprises AOEforme Jr. by swearing up and down that she won't be in Iowa. She wants to end up in either Michigan or Ohio State, as all the girls on her floor and men at fraternity parties say these are the best. They tell her not to be caught dead in Iowa. She also tells AOEforme Jr that both of them will be cut from 4 of the 11 sororities because they are the wrong religion. The Rho Gamma overhears this and quickly assures them this is not the truth!

They head up to the first house, Ohio State, and wait anxiously outside the front door.

Ohio State- Once again, AOEforme Jr thinks her eardrums have exploded as beautiful women pour out of the front door, screaming and clapping. She is stunned by the noise and the sheer amount of women in this house. Even though all women are supposed to want this house, she feels incredibly uncomfortable and just wants to leave. There are too many women who are too perfect. She is glad when time is up and heads for the door, knowing she'll be cut. She is surprised about how little she cares, especially because everyone else in her group is in love with Ohio State.

Illinois- This is one of Sarah's legacy houses and AOEforme Jr. loves it. Her dad always used to park his car outside Illinois when they were picking up AOEforme (that's me!) to go home for the weekend. It struck her as a beautiful house from the outside and the inside is even more lovely and the women inside match that. They are also smart and she feels comfortable with them.

Wisconsin- This was a group she hadn't heard any tent talk and wasn't quite sure what to expect. She really liked Wisconsin. She was first paired with another Biology major and found they had tons to talk about. She was sad to leave Wisconsin.

Iowa- The dreaded house all women were supposed to drop! She, however, really liked it here. She was surprised by the ease of conversation and didn't feel she needed to impress these women or pretend to be someone she wasn't. All in all, Iowa was one of her favorites. Addie felt the same way: she couldn't believe that was the same group everyone said to drop! Sarah, on the other hand, had hated Iowa and agreed with the tent talk. She said she'd rather drop out than be an Iowa.

Michigan- Here, AOEforme falls truely in love. This, she feels, is where she is meant to be. (The majority of our conversation about first rounds was focused on Michigan!). Their house is big and beautiful. Their girls are smart, poised, and classy. They have perfect jeans and shoes. Everything is decorated to a tea. The conversation flows. She knows she is meant to be a Michigan.

Michigan State- She is tiring and it shows in her recollection of events. She doesn't remember anything really noteworthy about Michigan State except that she was in need of a break!

Northwestern- "The house was beautiful," AOEforme Jr. said when telling me about recruitment. "And?" I asked. "I don't know," she said, "I just didn't get a good feeling from it. Maybe it was because I was tired." She admits to not remembering a great deal about Northwestern. "It was just a blur," she said. She did tell me the same legend that goes around every rush group: that the Northwesterns have three rooms for recruitment. Apparently, there is one room that all the pretty PNMs go in. They are all advanced to the second rounds. There is a room for ugly PNMs who are all automatically cut. Finally, there is a room for in-between PNMs who are judged on conversation before it is decided whether they are cut or invited to the next round. "Everyone was talking about it before we went in," she said, "It made a lot of girls really nervous!"

-Break- (Finally! She got Chipotle and sat with Addie and Sarah and discussed the houses).

Alpha Omega Epsilon- This, she said, was the most comfortable she felt all day. (I reminded her it was because she actually knew these girls!) "It made me think about trying to join your chapter," she said, "I guess if recruitment doesn't work out I might do that." (This was a surprise to me!)

Penn State- She said the girl rushing her at this house was super spacy and seemed totally disinterested in her. She couldn't wait to leave Penn State.

Minnesota- They were polite girls, but she felt they were trying too hard. "I would have liked them, I think. They were just trying too hard to be overly classy and perfect. I wish they would have relaxed."

Purdue- She said she had no strong feelings either way about this house. She felt indifferent about both girls rushing her.

Indiana- The last house of the day! She really enjoyed it and said she would not mind being an Indiana.

AOEforme Jr went back to the Red Gym and was glad that her big sister had impressed upon her the importance of taking notes.

Her rank:

1. Michigan
1. Indiana
1. Iowa
1. Purdue
1. Illinois
1. Wisconsin
1. Minnesota
8. Northwestern
9. Michigan State
10. Penn State.
11. Ohio State ("They were going to cut me anyways!")