smiley90's fall '09 recruitment story

[smiley90]

so I've been reading recruitment stories for awhile and wanted to post my own! I just finished rushing last week (fall ’09!) and I wrote my story as I was going through it, but I wanted to wait until everything was over to actually post it.

Here is what I wrote going through recruitment last week, I'll just post it a little at a time:

I go to a medium-sized school in the midwest and my school has twelve sororities, I'll give them nicknames after fruits. I unfortunately had heard a lot of the stereotypes of the sororities just because in the week leading up to rush, that’s all anyone could talk about.

Mango
Strawberry
Peach
Pineapple
Apple
Banana
Kiwi
Blueberry
Orange
Raspberry
Lemon
Watermelon

I have my meeting with my Rho Chis and my rush group (and I found out that two of my really good friends are in my rush group and I know a few other girls in it also) on Thursday!

[twinkle555]

Sounds delicious!

[txchrissy]

Originally Posted by twinkle555

Sounds delicious!

lol.
I agree, nothing like adding a little flavor to a recruitment story.
Can't wait to hear it.

[smiley90]

so I just came back from round 1 and it was VERY exhausting but still really exciting. most of the girls I talked to were incredibly nice and it was such a fun day! I'll just talk about the houses in the order that I visited them:

Kiwi- This was the first house that my rush group visited and they are considered to be the "top" house on campus. It was really overwhelming because none of the girls in my group knew what was going on and when we entered the house there wasn't a girl to be seen and then they all ran down the stairs out of nowhere. I talked to three girls who were nice but they seemed really fake, and my conversations weren't great.

Blueberry- a ton of my friends went into rush really wanting this house, and I already knew four girls in it. When we were walking through the door and girls were grabbing us and bringing us to a chair my friend ran forward and grabbed my arm so I got to talk to her. the rest of the girls I talked to were really nice and overall I loved this house!

Mango- these girls were known to be really stuck up and selective but I was surprised when I actually got there because the girls were all actually really sweet. It wasn't my favorite out of the day, but it definitely wasn't my least favorite either

Peach- both of the girls I talked to in this house were really awkward and I had to initiate the conversations much more than they did. There were a lot of awkward pauses that I had to fill with random questions/comments. I did not really like this house, but the only problem is that one of my absolute favorite people is in the house and even though I didn't get to talk to her today I don't want to cut it because I know that the house does have some great girls (like my friend)

Strawberry- I know I shouldn't have favorites going in, but from what I heard I thought I would really like this house and I was right! The girls were so sweet and one girl who I already knew came up to say hi and give me a hug. Out of the houses I had visited so far today (the last 5 I've talked about) this and Blueberry were my favorites so far

Raspberry- I had pretty good conversations in this house as one of the sisters and I found out that we had a friend in common so we talked about her for awhile. It wasn't that memorable though and wasn't at the top of my list, but wasn't at the bottom either.

Orange- these girls were usually considered the next "top" house after Kiwi. When the sisters talked to my friends and I they had their faces literally RIGHT in front of ours and made it really uncomfortable. they also seemed really fake and I couldn't imagine myself being an Orange. apparently though a PNM walked into Orange and when a sister approached her she just said "I'm going to be a Kiwi, sorry"

Apple- I had met a few girls in this house prior to rush and I actually really liked these girls and everyone I talked to would tell me that they're bitches and that I shouldn't like them but I wanted to go into it with an open mind. However, once I got there some of the sisters were really rude to girls in my rush group and even turned to other sisters and said "can you talk to [PNM] now I don't want to talk to her anymore" and that really turned me off to them. my conversations at Apple were okay, but I didn't enjoy it all that much.

Banana- my friend had told me that I would be a Banana before I even knew anything about them, and I don't know if that will happen but I REALLY liked this house. the girls were so down to earth and chill and I had really good conversations here. the only problem is that every single girl I've talked to said that Banana is their absolute favorite house and so it's going to be really competitive

Lemon- I didn't really have any opinion of this house going into it although I heard they have some weird girls but the girls I talked to in it were really nice and I had some funny conversations here. the girls seemed really fun and I could imagine being a Lemon

Watermelon- the girls here were SO funny and sweet and after talking to a few it was definitely my favorite house of the day. However, like Banana, it was the top choice of everyone I talked to. literally everyone was going around saying "I only want to be a Banana or Watermelon" blahhh

Pineapple- these girls have always been considered the bottom house as they haven't made quota in who knows how many years but I wanted to go into it with an open mind. I only talked to two girls in this house and they were both so awkward and since this house has a reputation for not partying, one of the girls I talked to would ONLY talk to me about partying and alcohol and bars and whenever I tried to change the subject to normal rush topics she would somehow bring it back to drinking. (even though a lot of upperclassmen I know told me they hardly ever drink). it was just really bizarre because for the most part the houses who do actually party didn't talk about partying or just mentioned it and then changed the subject so it definitely seemed like Pineapple was trying way too hard.

I just had to rank the houses and out of the twelve, we had to keep 9 and cut 3. tomorrow we can be invited back to a max of 9 but I heard if you're asked back to more than 7 then that's considered "above average"
my order (the ones I kept aren't in an actual order just the ones I had to rank)

1 Watermelon
1 Banana
1 Blueberry
1 Strawberry
1 Raspberry
1 Lemon
1 Mango
1 Peach
1 Orange

2 Kiwi
3 Apple
4 Pineapple

[FSUZeta]

this is exciting and now i want a fruit salad!

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by smiley90

Apple- I had met a few girls in this house prior to rush and I actually really liked these girls and everyone I talked to would tell me that they're bitches and that I shouldn't like them but I wanted to go into it with an open mind. However, once I got there some of the sisters were really rude to girls in my rush group and even turned to other sisters and said "can you talk to [PNM] now I don't want to talk to her anymore" and that really turned me off to them. my conversations at Apple were okay, but I didn't enjoy it all that much.

Really?

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Really?

It seems odd that a group that rushed that poorly would still exist on campus year after year.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

It seems odd that a group that rushed that poorly would still exist on campus year after year.

Riiiight.

[smiley90]

at least two girls in my rush group said that happened to them at this house which is why I didn't feel the same way coming out of the house that I felt going into it

[smiley90]

today was round 2 and it was EXHAUSTING

I was really happy when I got my schedule and found that I was invited back to 9! There were a fair amount of people who also had a full schedule, but then there were also a decent amount of girls who had 5, 4, and even 1 or 2 so I guess I'm pretty thankful. the ones I got were (in the order I visited them):

Banana
Peach
Lemon
Strawberry
Apple
Raspberry
Blueberry
Kiwi
Watermelon

I was cut from Mango and Orange, but I wasn't at all upset about that because I had debated cutting them from my list the day before anyways. And since I was cut from them, Kiwi and Apple were taken from my list of houses I cut. I was really surprised to get asked back to Kiwi because I know tons of girls who weren't and Kiwi and I don't fit the blonde cheerleader stereotype but oh well. I was also happy that I did not have to return to Pineapple because I just felt like as nice as the girls were, I really did not connect with the girls in that house.



Anyways today was philanthropy round and all of the houses showed a video.

Banana- the philanthropy and the way the house was decorated were both SO cute and I loved the video but for some reason I didn't like them as much as yesterday. Maybe because the conversations were still the generic name, major, what are your spring break plans kind of thing but I still liked the house, just not as much as before.

Peach- the girls I talked to in this house were pretty awkward yesterday but today I actually really liked the girls I talked to. Also, I kept seeing my friend here and she would tell all the sisters I was talking to how I'm her favorite person ever and that she loved me and all this stuff and I had an amazing conversation with one of the sisters. I definitely liked this house more than yesterday

Lemon- the girls in this house were really nice yesterday and they were nice today as well, I think I'm just on the fence about this house though I don't really know how I feel about it. Overall I liked it though and the arts and crafts project they had us do was by far the best out of all the houses

Strawberry- i LOVED this house today and I'm going to be so sad if I'm not asked back for the next round. all the girls I've talked to there are amazing and we didn't talk about typical rush things like majors. when we watched their video, I knew this was the house I wanted and ahh I feel like I shouldn't pick a favorite at only round 2 but I really really like these girls!

Apple- these girls were the ones who were rude yesterday and I was kind of mad that I had to go back, but my opinion of Apple changed COMPLETELY today. I spent the entire party talking with one girl and she was so much sweeter than the girls I talked to the day before. Apple decorated their house in a theme and the theme was adorable. I'm really glad that I got Apple back and gave them a second chance. There was so much energy in this house and the sisters all seemed to really care about each other.

Raspberry- the girls in this house were really nice and I loved this one too! when I did the arts and crafts activity for Raspberry's philanthropy the sisters actually did it with me and helped me decorate instead of the previous houses which all just watched me do it. Overall, this house wasn't as memorable as some of them but I liked the sisters and could see myself in it.

Blueberry- I did not like this house as much as yesterday but I still really enjoyed it. I talked to the EXACT same sisters who I had yesterday which was weird but it was nice because we didn't have to start with the generic major and where you're from conversations. Blueberry's video was definitely the best as it was hilarious and even a sister in another house asked me if I'd seen Blueberry's video yet because she heard it was so funny.

Kiwi- This is the house that I was surprised to get back and that I didn't enjoy yesterday as a lot of the sisters seemed really fake. I even caught two of the sisters making fun of another sister behind her back. Today though my opinion changed of them COMPLETELY as the girls I talked to were so sweet. As much as I liked this house today though I don't know if I could imagine myself actually being a part of it.

Watermelon- This was my all-time favorite house yesterday but I was kind of disappointed today because I did not like it as much. I did find a sister who is really good friends with one of my really good friends but I still didn't even feel like I clicked with her. I still like this house and I LOVED it yesterday but ah i just don't know.

At the end of the day, I had NO idea which houses to cut. I called my mom because I really really liked all 9 houses and she told me to just go with my gut and even if I liked all 9 houses just pick the ones I could most see myself being in. So ahh I just had to make my cuts, we had to keep 6 and cut 3 because next time we can only get invited back to a maximum of 6. I have no idea if I was making a mistake but here's what I wound up doing:

1 Strawberry
1 Watermelon
1 Peach
1 Blueberry
1 Banana
1 Lemon

2 Kiwi
3 Raspberry
4 Apple

Now I have to wait five whole days to figure out what houses I get invited back to AHHH this is stressful!

[CougarGrad]

Originally Posted by smiley90

Now I have to wait five whole days to figure out what houses I get invited back to AHHH this is stressful!

You know, I understand that sometimes this just has to be done due to the college's schedule and whatever other factors come into play, but the "now you have to wait 5 days/a week/until next month/until next semester" thing just has a whole "Nanny nanny boo boo!" feel to it. Good luck getting through the stress this week!

[OPhiAGinger]

But since this is not a live thread, we don't have to wait five days for an update, do we? DO WE???

[smiley90]

So we got our list of houses back and we could get invited back to a maximum of 6. I got 4 back, which seemed to be about average since I know some girls who got 6 but also some who only got 1 or none. I was a little upset because Strawberry cut me; the four I got were:

Peach
Lemon
Kiwi
Apple

At least I still have Peach on my list, and I also really liked Lemon as well. I just don’t understand why Kiwi keeps asking me back because I definitely don’t fit the blonde cheerleader stereotype. I didn’t cry like many of the other girls, though, because I know I’ll just make a new favorite and if I wasn’t meant to be in the other houses that cut me, then oh well.

Today was house tour round, and I was excited to get to see what all of the houses look like.

Apple- Today I definitely did not like Apple as much as second round. It seemed like the girls were trying hard, but the conversations were just awkward and I felt like I did not have much to say to the girls. I was thankful when it came time for the tour; the house was actually really pretty! Even with the beautiful house, though, I did not feel like I wanted to be a part of this house.

Lemon- I had a few really sweet girls and a few really awkward girls in this house and I’m not quite sure what to make of it. The rooms were all super nice and I could definitely see myself hanging out there, I just didn’t know if I liked Lemon more than the rest of the houses I had left. I guess I’ll wait and see if I get it back tomorrow, and then decide.

Kiwi- this house was GORGEOUS. It was definitely the most beautiful house out of all of them and it reminded me of a five-star hotel with the fountains and decorations and flowers. The girl that I talked to at Kiwi and I got along really well and all of the pictures showed that the girls looked like a ton of fun, but I still don’t know if I could actually see myself being in this house. Walking into this house, I feel like I might break something and I’m not so sure that’s a feeling I should have going into my own house.

Peach- At Peach, I talked to the exact same girls who I talked to second round, which was fine because I really liked all of them. However, me and one of my best friends at school were doubled up and talking to the same girls, and since I had talked to all of these sisters before they all paid much more attention to me than my friend and I felt bad. I really liked the girls though, and then on the house tour I realized that the house is actually gigantic, which I would not have realized before. The rooms weren’t as nice as in some of the other houses, but it felt like an actual home compared to a place where I might break anything I touch. I left Peach with the feeling that I would definitely not mind being in this house as the girls were so genuine and sweet.

At the end of the day, I ranked
1 Peach
1 Kiwi
1 Lemon
2 Apple

[marshmallowmags]

good luck! i can't wait to see how it all turns out!

[bostongreek]

this story/writing style sounds kind of familiar...