Well, to get started, here are some great links to some wonderful women's sororities.
http://www.npcwomen.org/
Just to let you know, some women's sororities are called "Women's Fraternities". No, this does not mean that men are allowed to join. For example, I am in a sorority but its correct name is "Delta Gamma Fraternity".
Why isn't Delta Gamma called a sorority officially? At the time of the founding of most of the older women's fraternities, the Greek derivative phratres of phratria, meaning tribes or groups of people with similar interests and backgrounds, was the basis for the title, fraternity. No doubt, because the women's organizations were modeled in many ways after the older men's groups, the women simply used the title fraternity, too.
This is a very good link about Sorority Recruitment:
http://panhellenic.tripod.com/FAQ.html
I think it is great that you want to learn about sororities already...you will be so well versed in Greeks by the time you get to college.
I also wanted to let you know that generally speaking, sororities are a lot more similar than they are different. We have initiation vows that are different in word and ritual, but identical in spirit and ideal. All have similar characteristics like colors, badges (a badge is the sorority pin that the initiated members are permitted to wear), a Founding history, philanthropy work etc.
This is awesome for information too:
http://www.atlantapanhellenic.org/rush.htm and also:
http://www.houston-panhellenic.org/rush/generalinfo.htm
http://www.phoenixpanhellenic.org/
http://www.phoenixpanhellenic.org/recruitment_faq.html
Be sure to check out the "Rush" forum as well....that's the old word for "Recruitment".....
Actually, it is ironic that your name is Hannah and you want to do rush at UCSB, because there is a Delta Gamma chapter at UCSB, and one of DG's symbols is "Hannah"!!! True story...click here: http://www.indiana.edu/~deltag/hannah.html and here:
http://www.unl.edu/dg/hannah.html