[M.Pennybags]

The first day was upon us. I met with my GRC group where we got our schedule for the day. At my school sororities do not live in sorority houses, the recruitment events were held in different places around the campus. Our first event was held in the gym, so my GRC group headed down there. By the time we walked over there I was getting very nervous. Our GRC got us lined up in alphabetical order and once we were all lined up outside the door, we heard VERY loud chanting and yelling coming from the gym, one of the sisters opened up the door and the chanting got even louder. Our GRC pushed our line of girls through the door. As we walked in there was a tunnel of girls all matching in their jerseys. When I got to the end of the tunnel one of the sisters grabbed my arm and handed me a cup of water with MY name paint penned on it. I was pretty impressed by this but didn’t have much time to think about it because the yelling/singing had stopped and it was time to talk. Throughout the day I was impressed with how at each sorority (except Racecar) I was given a cup of water with my name paint penned on it and how easily I was transitioned from talking to one sister to the next. (The Magic of Rush).
Now it’s been a few years and I can’t remember every sister I talked to and every detail from each party. I’m going to talk about what I can remember from each sorority and what my perceptions of each sorority were (at that time). Top Hat was the first party I went to and Scottie Dog was the last one, I can’t remember the order I went to the rest of the houses so they aren’t in a particular order.

Top Hat- As I said this sorority was the first party I went too. I was very nervous and I’m pretty sure my conversations at this party were not that great. Additionally, I was following the advice of my friend Jail and tried to talk about shopping and fashion because that’s what I thought the sisters would want to talk about. Top Hat was considered one of the most popular sororities on campus. Their sisters were pretty and they were known as the “rich daddy’s girls”. They reinforced this noting when one of the sisters I was talking to asked me what my father did for a living and how much he made. (Seriously)

Race Car- This sorority was my favorite going into recruitment. They had just started on campus the year before and didn’t have a set reputation yet. I liked the idea of being part of something new and not being set into a stereotype right away. This was Race Car’s first time doing formal recruitment and since Race Car had just started the year before they were not as big as the other groups. Race Car had brought in sisters from other chapters to help them handle all the PNMs coming through recruitment. I spent almost the whole party talking to a senior Race Car from another school. I had a really hard time relating to her because she didn’t go to my school and obviously her experience in Race Car would be very different then a sister at my school. The last 5 minutes a sister of Race car from my school finally came to talk to me, unfortunately talking to her was like pulling teeth. She was obviously not an experienced rusher and didn’t ask me any questions. I was glad to leave Race car, however, I wasn’t going to let one negative experience ruin how I felt. I still thought I belonged in Race car and knew I would come back the next day if they asked me.

Train- Train was known on campus as the good and nice girls. I knew one Train from playing club lacrosse. I really liked her and thought she was really funny. She was part of the philanthropy skit the sorority did so I didn’t get a chance to talk to her during the party. During the party I also realized I knew another train. When making my decision to go to Monopoly University, I came to visit right around graduation, when no tours were going on. One of the ladies in the admissions office had her daughter give me a tour of the campus, her love for the school was one of the reasons I made my decision to go there. And there she was at the recruitment party, I had no idea she was a train. We had tried to get together during the first semester to do lunch a few times, but I had been too busy. (silly me she was pre-rushing me). She just came over to say Hi and I wish I had gotten to talk to her longer. I felt comfortable at Train and could see myself here.

Boot- This sorority was known as the biggest partiers. It was said that they only took girls that liked to party. I had done some going out and having fun my first semester. Whenever I saw sisters of Boot out they always seemed like they were having fun. I thought it would be fun to be a Boot. They were also a diverse group of girls and I could see myself fitting in because of that. The first sister I talked to at boot was kind of soft spoken and the room was incredibly loud. I really couldn’t hear what she was saying and thought it was rude to keep having to say WHAT? So I just asked her a lot of questions and nodded pretending I understood her. The second sister I talked about was louder and we moved to an area of a room that wasn’t quite so noisy. Jail had given me advice about Boot too. So I decided to talk to this sister about how my dorm was the new party dorm this year. I think I may have even asked her what fraternities she thought threw the best parties.

Thimble- This sorority didn’t have the best reputation on campus. They were known as the nice but fat girls. On Day 1 looking around the room it did seem like that had a few more bigger girls than some of the other groups, but they also had a bunch of regular sized girls like the other groups. I knew a few Thimbles including my resident advisor. I think I was the least nervous at this party because most people said Thimbles don’t make a lot of cuts. I also think I had one of the most interesting conversations of the day at this party. At most parties I didn’t get a chance to get beyond the basic of “what dorm do you live in” “what’s your major” “where are you from etc”. Instead I talked to one sister about our similar taste in music. She was involved in the radio station on campus and so were a few of the other sisters, which I thought was very cool.

Iron- This sorority was also considered to be one of the top sororities on campus. The women in this group were all very beautiful and many of them were on the dance or cheerleading squad. They also had a reputation for being very friendly with the boys if you know what I mean. I honestly don’t remember a lot about this party. I felt like I didn’t fit the image that they were probably looking for. (I’m not saying I’m ugly, I am a cute girl, I am just not that beautiful)

Scottie Dog- It was finally the end of the day! I remember being so wiped out by the time I got to this party. Also, those shoes I thought were so cute… they were making my feet throbbed with pain (This is a serious caution to PNMS, WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES, DO NOT WEAR BRAND NEW SHOES TO RUSH.. end rant). I don’t remember a lot about my conversation here, my brain had turned to mush. I did get to talk to one sister who was on the crew team and knew my best guy friend. I remember having a pleasant conversation with her and we were able to laugh about how tired we both were. Scottie Dog wasn’t a top sorority but was considered a solid group of girls. They were known as sporty and fun. I considered myself a sporty and fun person. It was another group I could see myself fitting into well.

When the day was finally over I headed back to the dorm to talk with my friends how the day had gone. On my return I found out that Jail was no longer allowed to participate in recruitment. She was so upset, she really wanted to be in a sorority. However, Panhel had found out about her incompletes in her classes and therefore was no longer an eligible PNM. Then there were 3…