I think I posted my rush story on that old thread, but here goes:
I didn't plan to rush when I got to school. But my school had freshmen arrive 2 weeks before classes started, and for that first week, literally the only thing to do is rush, so I decided to give it a shot.
There were 4 national sororities and 1 local at the time:
Alpha Phi
Alpha Chi Omega
Sigma Kappa
Kappa Alpha Theta
Sigma Iota Phi
Sigma Iota Phi did not participate in formal rush.
The first round of formal rush is structured a little oddly at my school. You go to each chapter's rush room for 10 minutes for a little conversation and a skit. Then there are two long "open house" parties where you go back to whichever sororities you choose and stay for as long or short a time as you like.
During tours, I got the immediate impression about two of the sororities that they were full of stereotypically ditzy sorority chicks. (I later worked with members of these sororities via Panhel and learned that they're definitely not ditzes, but first impressions, yada yada yada.) I liked the other two sororities, so I only returned to them during open house. Both invited me back to round 2, so I went.
After round 2, I decided two things - 1. I liked the idea of being in a sisterhood, and 2. neither sorority was right for me. I knew Sigma Iota Phi was holding rush the following week, so I dropped out of rush and decided to visit them.
Within 5 minutes of entering their rush room, I knew I'd found my sisters.
I stayed and chatted with them for an hour past the stated end time of their party. By the time I'd received my bid, I knew the names of all the sisters and all my pledge sisters, and something about each of them.
Later, we went national, hence my username.
I do believe you end up where you are meant to, but sometimes you have to make some hard decisions along the way.