[1964Alum]

Back in the Stone Age when I rushed, our rush was deferred for a year. Had I rushed as a Freshman immediately coming to a large university and rushing at that time, my experience would quite likely have been different. But I had a year to look over the six Panhellenic sororities as they also had that time to look over perspective members. Ialso researched carefully the activities outside their sororities that the various members were involved in. I did also look at the national reputations that all six groups had. This for life after college. I had also already met many of the girls and had a pretty good idea of their reputations on campus and what their priorities were. Mine were high standards of academic achievement, high standards of reputation, diversity within the groups in terms of majors, interests, and the like, and well-rounded members. I decided that I would likely be happy in any of my top three groups, and indeed all three invited me to their preference. Chi Omega was my first choice from the get-go, and I felt very fortunate that they extended me a bid. But my other pref group was a close second. And the group that I declined their invitation to for pref was right up there. Honestly, any of these would have been a good group for me. BUT!!!!! I also kept a very open mind, knowing I was in a very competitive situation and took nothing for granted! There were many, many high quality young women rushing and very few slots to fill. That was before the days of RFM and a very high likelihood of being placed. I did not assume anything and think that it is a very bad idea to do so, both then and now. IMO it is very important to know who you are in terms of your values and what you hope to have in a sorority experience. I wish you the best!