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The very first sorority I ever stepped into, which will always have a special place in my heart, was Red Delicious. I was so terrified I could have barfed right there on their sidewalk. I knew what to do, what to expect, but the social anxiety got the best of me. What if I couldn't hold the conversation? What if I said something dumb? What if they judged me? Before I walked in, I apparently gave my recruitment counselor a very terrified look. But when I walked out, she said I was all smiles. Well, it went great. It was so much easier than I expected. I was so worried that I would have to carry the conversation, something I wasn't very good at. But I of course didn't have to at all. We chatted and laughed, and before I knew it, the time was up.
The second house was Gala. Another house full of beautiful women. I felt so frumpy compared to these dolled up girls. Now, I'm not an ugly or frumpy girl by any means. But seeing these girls who looked literally flawless to me was very intimidating. Thankfully, the conversations weren't that stellar, otherwise I would have been completely overwhelmed by how amazing they were.
Next was Honeycrisp, a house I was so excited to go to. A women who wrote me a rec for this house got me very excited about it. And they definitely lived up to the hype. They were gorgeous (obviously) but I had some decent down to earth conversations as well.I left the house feeling pretty damn good.
Braeburn was the next house. I knew this was one of the "bottom" houses, so I finally felt like I could relax and not "put on a show" as I was doing at the other houses. Not that I wasn't being genuine, but after awhile its hard to force a smile and feign interest and excitement for the same questions over and over. I knew Braeburn wouldn't be judging me as much as the other houses were, so I just let loose a little bit. And to be honest, the conversations flowed more naturally. They weren't as exciting and peppy, but it felt like an actual realistic conversation with a person I just met.
The next house, Golden Delicious, was another house I was extremely excited about. Another women who wrote me a rec for this house gave me some amazing advice about recruitment in general, and she got me really excited but also more relaxed about the process. So I was really looking forward to visiting her house. And it was awesome. I also loved their philanthropy. The girls were drop dead gorgeous and seemed down to earth as well. They really knew how to carry a conversation and make it fun as well. It was easily one of my favorite houses. I left this house feeling dazzled.
Granny Smith was the next house. They were known as the "smart girls" who supposedly cut anyone who didn't have at least a 3.5 gpa. And with my very average 3.0 gpa, I assumed I would not be a contender. Nonetheless, I let myself have a great time and we had some easy, fun conversations. It was a lot like Braeburn in the sense that I felt like I didn't feel like I really needed to put my best foot forward in this house.
Fuji was another house similar to Granny Smith and Braeburn. I really loved this house. When I was inside, I felt like I was standing amongst girls who were just like me. I really felt like I belonged. The conversations were easy and I had something in common with every girl I talked to. To top it off, the girls were cute and their door song was stuck in my head the rest of the day.
Pink Crisp was a "top" house with a bad reputation, according to the girl standing next to me in line. I didn't let her comment get to me though, and I had a decent time inside. I remember the girl telling me a little bit about her recruitment experience, which was a bit different from mine because she was a legacy, and also knew many active sisters in several of the houses at the time. It made me nervous because I felt like I needed to have more connections than I already had.
Next was McIntosh, and holy cow were they loud. They were by far the loudest and peppiest girls of the bunch. And my recruitment group and so many other PNMs were absolutely obsessed with them. To be honest, I don't remember understanding what the big fuss was. It didn't seem genuine at all. Yes the girls were gorgeous. They were all tan, blonde and skinny. The house was stunning. The song was catchy. Their smiles were blindingly white, and everything looked adorable. But the conversations were completely forced and not fun at all. I didn't see what other people saw in this house other than superficial things.
Ginger Gold was the next house. I tried really hard to like them but I just didn't. I remember one of the girls who talked to me was 50% awkward and 50% rude. I don't exactly remember why, but I do remember that. They definitely weren't a house I was interested in going back to, even though I really wanted to like them.
My last house was Ambrosia. They were a lot like McIntosh except I actually enjoyed my conversation. One of the girls I talked to was so tall that I felt very intimidated. It was a good time though. I really like their house. It was adorable and definitely my style. The girls seemed nice, and were pretty without a doubt but it wasn't as memorable as some of the others.
And that was it! I was so exhausted, I couldn't wait to rank my choices and get back to my dorm. Unfortunately I encountered a lot of tent talk. We had to stand around a table and rank our houses and there were hundreds of girls chatting everywhere.
This is how I ranked them:
Top 8 (in no particular order):
Fuji
Golden Delicious
Braeburn
Honeycrisp
Red Delicious
Ambrosia
Gala
McIntosh
Bottom 3:
Ginger Gold
Granny Smith
Pink Crisp
Originally I had McIntosh and Pink Crisp switched. But some girl saw that I was ranking McIntosh in my bottom 3 and literally gasped. Then another girl asked me why I would rank them in my bottom when I "totally looked like a McIntosh girl" and the other girl agreed that she could totally picture me in that house.
So at the last minute I switched McIntosh and Pink Crisp. A big mistake, but will it affect my schedule the next day?
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