Hiya,
I'm new to this site and to Alpha Chi, but I'll tell you about my rush experience.
My name is Shainna, and I was recently initiated into the Gamma Omicron chapter at Marshall University.
I always thought I might want to be in a sorority, so when I decided on a college, I checked out the websites. I really liked what I read about Alpha Chi. It also turned out that my uncle's new wife's daughter is an Alpha Chi. Before "strict silence", she talked a lot about her sisters and stuff, but she never tried to pressure me to join AXO or even rush.
This fall, my freshman year, I signed up for rush (well, here it's called "recruitment"). There are 5 sororities on my campus, and I was a legacy to one of them. I decided that I would keep an open mind, and see where I liked it best.
I'm really glad I went through recruitment, because I got to see that we have great organizations on our campus. I liked the girls I met at each house, but Alpha Chi was the one I didn't want to leave. The girls are so diverse and friendly, and I just feel like I click there.
One thing that impressed me about my chapter during rush was the involvement of the chapter advisors. I saw them constantly during the "parties". That was a good sign to me - it meant that they liked AXO enough to be actively involved as alums. I was also interested in the philanthropy (domestic violence), and since joining, I've enjoyed the work we've done at a local shelter.
When it came time to figure out where I wanted to go, I put down Alpha Chi as my only choice on my bid card. I decided that I didn't want to join a sorority just to join one, and that Alpha Chi had stolen my heart, so that's the only place I wanted to go...
...and they picked me too and the rest is history!
My advice is to go in with and open mind and choose where YOU fit. You might be surprised. One girl in my rush group was die hard Alpha Chi all the way through and ended up going Sigma Sigma Sigma, and she's loving it... So who knows what might happen.
Like my recruitment counselor (who turned out to be one of my sisters said)... Pick a house where if you had to show up sick in sweats, no make up, messy hair, no shower... You wouldn't be embarassed.
I haven't, but I wouldn't be.