My Retro-ish UCLA Recruitment

[LAblondeGPhi]

Summertime, Summertime. Time for some retro recruitment stories!

I've already posted bits and pieces of my recruitment and collegiate experience throughout the boards, but I'm consolidating them here for your summer procrastination enjoyment.

You all obviously know what house I ended up in, and what school I went to. At the time of my recruitment, we had 11 chapters on campus. I knew I was interested in sorority recruitment, but had no real idea what it was like or what to expect – I was mostly interested because it looked girly and fun.

***EDIT***
I forgot to include the chapters on campus, for the curious:
Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Epsilon Phi
Alpha Phi
Gamma Phi Beta
Delta Gamma
Delta Delta Delta
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Pi Beta Phi
Chi Omega


I’m coding the chapters by city, because I’m not feeling very creative.
San Diego
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Denver
Seattle
Houston
Dallas
Washington DC
New York City
Atlanta
Chicago

I had some family members who were Greek at UCLA in the 80’s, but nothing to give me any legacy status or leg up. The only real advice that I got through the grapevine (via my mom), was to emphasize that she and step-dad lived in a nice part of town. I thought that was superficial, and that money couldn’t possibly have anything to do with how well my recruitment would go, so I ignored it.

I signed up for recruitment once I arrived on campus, and convinced some of my hallmates to come with me to the first couple of pre-recruitment events.

Other girls I knew going through:
“Sarah” – My roommate during orientation. Like me, she had been planning to go through recruitment. She was already partial to Houston, because her boyfriend’s cousin was a member at UCLA.

“Julia” – Literally the first person I met when moving into the dorms.

“Jessica” – My roommate. We were randomly assigned, but she seemed pretty cool.

“Jennifer” – Julia’s roommate, seemed very chill and sweet.

The first event we attended was basic meet-and-greet that used to be referred to as a Welcome BBQ. I don’t recall any food ever actually being served, though. PNMs would attend, and each chapter had about 10 members milling about chatting with them. It wasn’t mandatory and it was pretty informal.

I recall attending with Julia and Jennifer. We all had similar names, and it was funny to introduce our trio as such. We first talked to a member of Dallas who was petite, blonde and outgoing. I don’t recall what we talked about, but I remember we all had a very positive impression of her and her chapter after our conversation.

The only other house I remember talking to was Atlanta. We met two members, one rather petite, and the other quite tall. Our discussion centered on sisterhood events their chapter does, and I remember they emphasized a weekly viewing party of Dawson’s Creek. I vaguely remembered them mentioning their skit that year and how they were excited for it. I found both of these girls to be just a tad awkward, and I didn’t care for Dawson’s Creek, so I left unimpressed with them.

[LAblondeGPhi]

Orientation:

I don’t remember much from orientation, except that we were divided into Rho Chi groups according to last name, so Sarah and I were in the same group. Our Rho Chi’s had the same name – “Lisa” and “Lisa”, but they seemed to have very different personalities. Lisa A. was very laid-back, to the point that it put me off a little bit. I much preferred Lisa B., who was more enthusiastic and a bit goofy.

Jessica and Julia signed up for recruitment and were in the same Rho Chi group, but Jennifer decided not to rush.

[LAblondeGPhi]

First Round
We attended all 11 houses that day, for about 30 minutes each.

Los Angeles – The first house of recruitment! I had very few pre-conceived notions about sororities, but I did have an (unfounded) negative opinion of this chapter from some things I’d heard in high school. In retrospect, my preconception was totally ridiculous, and had nothing to do with the strength of this chapter at all. Still, I was 18, and I let my prejudices get the better of me.

The first real impression of this house was from the president and recruitment chair who greeted us out front. The recruitment chair had possibly the most irritating voice imaginable – exceedingly high-pitched, like nails on a chalk board.

Inside, I was a little overwhelmed, because I didn’t quite know what to expect. We were seated in lines of tables and were told that we’d be doing a little craft. I don’t recall what I talked about with my rusher, but I do remember being bumped after what seemed like only a few minutes, and it seemed pretty abrupt. The whole thing seemed odd, and I wasn’t a fan.


Houston – Sarah was very excited to see this house. I believe she had met with her boyfriend’s cousin over the summer, and already had a very good impression of this house. I remember basically nothing from this house, so it was a pretty neutral experience.


Denver – I had a girlfriend who had just pledged this house at another school, and she really loved it. It was one of the few houses that I could remember or differentiate before coming through. I was sat outside on this lovely patio, and remember having a really lovely conversation with the first sister. I don’t recall what we discussed, but I probably mentioned my friend who just joined. At one point, another sister was bumping, and I recall being in a really great 2-on-1 conversation with both of them for several minutes. I liked the second girl just as much, and I left loving this house.


Dallas – I was excited to see this house because I had really loved the one sister during the Welcome BBQ. The president and recruitment chair came out and greeted us, and I remember that they were both tall, thin, and very pretty. They did house tours, and I thoroughly loved their house – it was big and beautiful and seemed to have lots of character. I recall the conversation not being spectacular, but I still really liked them. I kept an eye out for the girl I met at the BBQ, and finally found her pounding on a wall with the rest of the girls as we were all leaving the house. I tried to catch her eye, but she didn’t see me.


Washington, DC – I don’t remember a whole lot about this chapter, but I do remember the décor was very primary-color inspired. I can’t remember if we did house tours or a craft, but I left feeling kind of blah about this house.


New York City – This chapter did house tours and then walked us through a room with lots of poster boards showing off their accomplishments and activities, so the entire party was mostly standing. I was paired with a girl who was very into soccer, and seemed inordinately excited that I ran track and cross country in high school (she did, too!!). She immediately then launched into how athletic their chapter is and all of the sorority tournaments they’ve won. Normally, I would have been all about talking about my athletic prowess in high school, but the conversation was really, really dominated by all things sports, and quickly veered into soccer and volleyball, two sports I had no interest in at all. I remember very little of the second girl I talked to, but I think it was a continuation of athletics. I left unimpressed.

[LAblondeGPhi]

Chicago – I had heard some of the sorority stereotypes over the summer. I couldn’t remember any of the chapter names associated with anything, but I did remember that there was “a popular blonde house”. When I walked into Chicago, I was struck by just how BLONDE this chapter was. I was seated in a very sunny, warm location that distracted me nearly the whole party. The first sister I spoke with seemed a bit nervous, overly excitable, and ditzy. I remember discussing that we were both in the honors program. The second sister (thankfully) moved us to a shady area when she noticed how bright it was in our location. All I recall from this conversation was discussing how I was from Orange County. Her response was that there were so many people at UCLA from Orange County, and that before she came to college, she thought Orange County was a city rather than a whole county. I was exceedingly unimpressed.


Seattle – We immediately launched into house tours at Seattle, and for the first time, I was in a group with a couple of other PNMs. Our rusher was blonde and pretty, and about half way through the tour we found out that she was president of the chapter. I really enjoyed seeing the house, and the president pointed out fun activities they did throughout the year, which I really enjoyed. After the tour, we were handed off to individual sisters for a traditional chat. I was somewhat entertaining the idea of getting back into cheer and dancing in college (which didn’t ever happen), and I really enjoyed my conversation with the sister who discussed how many sisters they had in cheer and dance.


San Diego – To this day, I remember almost nothing of this visit. But again, neutral is better than a negative impression.


San Francisco – It was getting late in the day, so it was already getting darker by this point. This house used a stand-up cocktail party type of rotation, so there was a house tour and no sitting. I was paired with a pretty blonde, and we later were joined by another sister. I didn’t particularly enjoy the conversation – it felt kind of blah and superficial.


Atlanta – the chapter that I already had an “eh” impression of from the Welcome BBQ. The first girl I was paired with was just ok, but I recall having to use some of my “backup PNM questions” that we were given at orientation, so I asked her why she chose Atlanta. To my shock, she replied that she had really wanted New York City on pref night, but didn’t get them on Bid Day, so she stuck it out with Atlanta. The second sister was much better – she had actually been my tour guide the previous spring at my honors department welcome day, and I had a really wonderful impression of her. This conversation went much better, and I remember leaving kind of confused by this whole chapter.


At the end of this round, we picked our top 8, and ranked then next three. My selections:

Favorites: Denver, Seattle, Dallas

Rounding out the Top: Houston, Washington DC, Atlanta, San Francisco, San Diego

#2: New York City
#3: Los Angeles
#4: Chicago

[Low D Flat]

Love it! More more !

[LAblondeGPhi]

Second Round

I had scheduled myself to work at my summer job this first weekend after school had started, before I knew that recruitment would also be scheduled that weekend. It was a seasonal amusement park with a lot of friends my age, and it was important to me to have a final day with everyone. I arranged to get the Saturday off to attend Round 1 and planned to go to work on Sunday during Round 2. I had mentioned this to my Rho Chis, and they indicated that it shouldn’t be a big deal – they’d write letters of excuse for me for Round 2.

Ah, to be young and naïve. Of course missing all of Round 2 was going to be detrimental! I touched base with my Rho Chi (Lisa B – my favorite) at the end of Sunday to hear which chapters I’d been invited back to:

Denver
Seattle
Houston
Dallas
Washington, DC
Atlanta
San Francisco
San Diego

After a minute flipping through my recruitment booklet, I realized that they were the top 8 chapters I wanted to visit. Woo-Hoo.

For this round, we were to give our top 4 spots, and then rank #2-#4. I gave her my ranking for the next round based on my Round 1 experiences, but I can only remember who I ranked in the top three spots:

Top 4: Denver, Seattle, Dallas, ???
#2 – 4: Everyone else.

[LAblondeGPhi]

Round 3:
Round 3 was a mixture of activities: some chapters did skits, some did house tours. This was scheduled for Monday evening after classes, and when I reached my Rho Chi group, I was excited to see my schedule and see what was in store for today.

When I got my schedule, I tore it open and immediately saw four houses listed in my time slots, and was super excited. “Full Schedule!” I thought. But then, I took a look at the names, and my excitement immediately waned:
San Diego
Houston
Atlanta
San Francisco

I was crushed. Denver, Dallas and Seattle all dropped me. I was left with chapters that I felt pretty blah about. I tried to pull myself together and go off to have a good time.


San Diego – I remembered very little of this chapter from Round 1, and I recall that Round 3 was dominated by chatting with a sister at a small cocktail table. I can’t recall what we discussed, but I was not feeling it. I left with the sinking feeling that I would feel very uncomfortable in that house.


Houston – Well, my friend Sarah was still incredibly gung-ho on this chapter, and I tried to make the best of it. They did a house tour this round, and I really enjoyed chatting with the sister who took me on the tour. At one point, she showed me a large bedroom and described how half the house could be found there changing and getting ready for social events. In that moment, I could really feel myself being a member of this chapter. Later during conversation, I found out that my rusher and I were in the same class and had the same TA section, scheduled for the next day. I left this house feeling MUCH better about my rush prospects.


Atlanta – I was still not so hot on this chapter, but I had really adored my campus tour guide from Honors day. I was paired with a girl who I had a really lovely conversation with, and again, my spirits were picked up about the choices I still had. Their skit was based on a contemporary TV show and was actually really adorable. The short girl I met at the Welcome BBQ played the lead, so even if I didn’t like her at first blush, I remember thinking that her sisters must really like her to cast her in the lead role. I left really liking Atlanta.


San Francisco – I had a pretty blah experience with them on Round 1, but it was also one of the last houses I had had that day. This round, I was paired with a lovely girl, and we talked almost exclusively about break ups. I had broken up with my high school boyfriend earlier in the summer, and I was still affected by it, so I really enjoyed this conversation. I don’t remember if there was an activity, but I remember really liking this house after today.


For preference, we would rank our top two, and then rank #2 and #3.
Top Two: San Francisco and Houston
#2: Atlanta
#3: San Diego

[FSUZeta]

Really fun to read! Hope you finish posting before the soccer match starts at 3:30!

[LAblondeGPhi]

Preference:

Early in the day, I had my class with the girl who rushed me from Houston. We each kept our distance, despite it being a small group of 20 students.

I had been chatting with my girlfriends about the chapters we liked. Sarah was still excited about Houston. Julia and I had really liked Dallas after the Welcome BBQ, but neither of us had them in our later schedules. Julia also really liked Denver, and still had them in her schedule.

By this time, I had done some Googling to get more information on the various chapters, and had found out that Rho Chi Lisa B was a member of San Francisco. This made me excited because she was my favorite Rho Chi and I now liked that chapter.

After arriving to meet our Rho Chi groups, I opened my preference schedule to reveal:
Houston
San Francisco

Woo-hoo! My top two choices! I felt back in the game and was excited to attend my pref parties. Since Sarah was in my group, I learned that she had Houston and San Diego, and was thrilled with her schedule. We both had Houston first, so we’d be attending together.



Houston: I was greeted by the same girl from the previous round and was excited to see her. She told me how she was excited all day to see who was coming to Pref, and she was so nervous during our class because she didn’t yet know if I was coming to their chapter that night. This chapter was celebrating a big anniversary, and that was one of the major themes of their night. We discussed some of the Houston themes, and mottos, and generally had some chit-chat. Because of the long time for conversation, our conversation wandered, and at one point I asked her a random question that I had been wondering about: My Rho Chi Lisa A had offhandedly mentioned that when she went through recruitment several years before, there were only 10 chapters on campus. I used the discussion about Houston’s anniversary to ask who the new chapter was. This was probably a faux-pas on my part, but my rusher answered anyway that it was San Francisco. She did a pretty good job of re-directing, saying that she was really proud of her chapter to have such a long, uninterrupted tenure at UCLA.

The formal ceremony itself was very lovely afterward – we sat in a circle of chairs, and I remember seeing Sarah weepy-eyed and eying me knowingly. She had always had her heart set on Houston, and I think she really wanted me to love them, too. There was some singing and we were given some kind of flower to throw in a wishing well when we left. It was lovely, but I knew I wasn’t as moved by it as Sarah was.


San Francisco: I was greeted by the girl who had rushed me the previous evening, and I was happy to see her. We had had a really great conversation, and I was looking forward to seeing her again. I was taken to a cozy part of the house to have a nice conversation with her, which I don’t remember much of. It probably involved the sorority creed and themes, and I recall that she told me how several girls wanted to preference me. By this time, my mind was already made up in favor of San Francisco., so the conversation didn’t much matter to me, in fact, I recall that it was a little boring at times.

The ceremony was lovely, and rather than sitting, we all stood in their courtyard during songs and speeches. I don’t remember much about it, but I enjoyed it more than Houston's.



At bid ranking, we waited in long lines to approach a Rho Chi who would show us our bid card to sign. When I finally got up to the front of the line, I saw a card with the four houses that I attended in Round 3. I was told that all four had invited me to Preference, and that I could rank all four.

So I ranked them:
#1 – San Francisco.
#2 – Atlanta
#3 – Houston
#4 – San Diego

You may be thinking, but wait, you didn’t attend Atlanta's preference! Yes, in retrospect, this ranking looks ridiculous, and I’m sure I was nowhere on Atlanta's bid lists. But at the time, I had had a change of heart about Houston after their preference ceremony, and felt that I would have preferred Atlanta over Houston. Who knows – maybe I totally misunderstood the instructions I was given!

Outside, I saw Lisa B talking to some of the other PNMs. I told her with a sly remark that I found out what chapter she was in from their website. She was shocked and confused, because she had personally removed what she thought were all of the references to Rho Chis from their website. Well, she forgot a spot. When the other PNMs were out of earshot, I told her that I had picked San Francisco. first.

[MaryPoppins]

I can't wait!

[LAblondeGPhi]

Later that night, I found where Julia and Jessica attended:

Julia – San Francisco and Denver

Jessica – San Francisco

I was thrilled with the prospect that I could end up in the same chapter with them.














Bid Day!





I opened my envelope to find:



…





...






…







San Francisco aka Gamma Phi Beta!!

When I arrived at the Gamma Phi house with the other girls from my Rho Chi group, I saw Julia standing in the foyer, crying happy tears to see me! Jessica was also a new member of Gamma Phi, while Sarah became a member of Houston, just like she wanted from day one.

It was only the second fall recruitment that Gamma Phi had held since it’s recolonization in 2000, and our pledge class was one of the largest that year. Jessica eventually dropped out before initiation, but Julia and I remain friends to this day. Sarah eventually became president of Houston, and I believe her boyfriend’s cousin became her big sis.

[Sciencewoman]

It was fun to read your story, sister! I was also taken away to a quiet part of the house (it ended up being my room the next year), and I remember that the sister who preffed me showed me her badge and let me hold it. That sealed the deal.

[FSUZeta]

Wonderful, sweet, story. Thanks for sharing!

[LAblondeGPhi]

Thank you so much, ladies! Happy to share while I had some time to type it all up.

Sciencewoman - our cozy spot was called the Oak Room, it featured dark wood paneling on almost every surface of the room, and was a favorite study place! Looking back, the wood probably wasn't even oak, but names have a tendency to stick.

[MaryPoppins]

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

It was fun to read your story, sister! I was also taken away to a quiet part of the house (it ended up being my room the next year), and I remember that the sister who preffed me showed me her badge and let me hold it. That sealed the deal.

Yes, thank you for sharing! Love your detail.

And it must have been a thing at one time for "the sister who preffed me showed me her badge and let me hold it." It happened to me at Theta Pref, my legacy chapter.