Inquisitive Sorority Rushee

[Mandelion]

Hey guys! I've been a member of GreekChat for a little while just trying to get a feel for greek life. This forum in particular has been really reassuring as far as my decision to rush, but now I have a few questions.

I'm currently a freshman, but I'm planning on attending informal rush in the fall and I was wondering...

-During informal rush, how many sororities do you reccommend rushing at once (assuming they don't have conflicting activities). I don't have an affinity for any one yet; we have 7 on campus.

-Generally, how does informal rush differ from formal rush as far as the bid process. (I know this can vary from school to school, but if you could give me an idea that would be great )

-I heard that some of our sororities don't accept new members in the fall because they haven't lost too many members the previous semester. Is this common?

I think thats all for now ^_^
Thanks so much for any help you can give me!
<3 ~ Manda

[trisigmaAtl]

My advice comes as a person who went through informal recruitment this spring, there are other people on this board who can probably give you more seasoned advice about the particulars. I think that if you don't have a particular sorority in mind you should rush as many houses that are having open informal recruitment. How informal works varies form school to school, and sometimes not every house has informal. Ususally, if a house did not make quota during formal or are still under total they can choose to have informal (this is where my knowledge is shaky). In my experience, two of the three sororities were having informal, but I already knew that one wasn't for me. However, if you don't have a favorite you could research the national organizations online, or try and meet some sisters from the different houses before hand. A good idea would be to contact your school's Greek life office and ask about the hows and whens of informal at your school, and keep your eyes open for fliers. Informal was an awesome time for me, it's much more relaxed than formal recruitment and can be a little less pressured. However, i did only rush one house, so it might be different if there are three or four. Either way, i hope you have a good time and (as is so often spoken here in the rush forum) keep an open mind!!!

[Mandelion]

Thanks trisigmaAtl!

I think its actually agreed upon that fall is informal, and spring is formal. That makes things a lot less complicated

[sugar and spice]

Out of curiosity, what school do you go to? There may be actives or alums from that particular school that can help you with more specific advice.

I would recommend going to at least one rush event for each of the different sororities that is rushing in the fall, just to get a feel for what each house is like. Some schools will have open house parties where you can visit each of the sororities that are participating in informal rush -- these are very helpful. After that, I would recommend rushing as many as you feel comfortable with and can possibly see yourself joining, the more the better. Of course, if you can't see yourself in a certain house at all, you shouldn't go back, but if you're uncertain about whether or not you'd fit in, you should keep your options open -- maybe they just had an off night, and the next you go back you might love it.

It depends on the school as to whether or not most of the sororities will be participating in informal rush. Like you said, often sororities will meet quota (the number of girls they are allowed to take) during formal rush and then don't need to do formal rush. At some schools, only one or two sororities out of ten will participate in informal rush; at other schools it's over half or maybe even all. At my school, for example, 6 out of our 11 NPC sororities were participating in informal rush this year, with another participating only in COB (continuous open bidding) . . . which means that only 4 sororities were not taking girls in the spring. This number could be higher or much lower, depending on your school.

The biggest difference between formal and informal is that during informal rush you can receive multiple bids, whereas in formal you can only receive one. Informal rush usually doesn't (and in many cases, can't) make use of skits, costumes, excessive decorating, singing, cheers . . . Formal usually does. Informal rush parties are usually longer than formal ones. And then, of course, there is the fact that informal is generally just a lot more laid back than formal. It's a lot more like sitting back and having a real conversation with someone you want to get to know, rather than a job interview -- you usually have more margin for error in informal rush.

[Mandelion]

I attend Radford University btw.

To sugar and spice,
Thats what I always assumed informal rush would be like, and thats the kind of atmosphere I would feel more at ease in ^_^
I'm glad I'm waiting for the fall...
I guess what I'm afraid of is, that without all the structured activities that I wouldn't find out as much about the sorority. But what did you mean by there being a larger margin for error?

Sorry, I'm still new to all this.

[sugar and spice]

Basically, what I meant by that is this: in formal rush, you basically have one chance to make a good impression. If they don't like you at the first rush party, they cut you -- and often at the first rush party, there is so much going on that you'll only get to talk to three different girls for five minutes each, and there's not much time to go beyond the basics -- where are you from?, what's your major?, what classes are you taking?, etc. During informal rush, you will usually talk to more girls, for a longer duration, and about more in-depth subjects. Also, lots of times, sororities won't start cutting girls until after a couple parties in informal rush, because they want to have a chance to get to know the girls as well as they can -- so it benefits everyone. You have a lot more chances to let them get to know you.

(Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be negative about formal rush -- it has its benefits too. I joined through formal rush, it is TONS of fun, and I wouldn't trade that experience for anything in the world. But if you think you're the kind of person who would feel more comfortable in the informal rush environment, you'll probably do better with informal, just because formal rush can be so intimidating!)

I think there may be a Radford student or two on the boards; maybe one of them will respond to this post.

Good luck with rush, and make sure to ask if you have any more questions -- there are tons of people here who LOVE talking about rush, me included, so don't ever hesitate to ask us anything. And make sure to stick around and let us know how rush goes this fall!

[Peaches-n-Cream]

I suggest that you attend as many rush parties as possible at least for first round. Keep your options open. You never know what you might like until you see it up close. I went through informal first semester freshman year. I attended several sororities first parties, then I dropped the ones I didn't like. I was fond of two groups. Luckily, the feeling was mutual. I was glad that I met sisters of several groups including the ones I was uncertain of. I wound up knowing sisters in every sorority as a result. Good luck!

[aephi alum]

I second everyone's advice about visiting every sorority participating in informal rush. During formal rush, you have to visit every house; during informal rush, you don't, but it's still a good idea to take a look at everyone. After that, if you have two or three favorites, it's fine to focus on them.

Use the rest of your freshman year to your advantage. Get to know some sorority women - this way, they'll know who you are before you ever walk into a rush party, and when you do go to parties there will be some familiar faces.

Good luck - and keep us posted - we love rush stories

[ilovemyglo]

THe 7 sororities at Radford are

Alpha Sigma Alpha

Alpha Sigma Tau

Delta Zeta

Phi Sigma Sigma

Sigma Kappa

Sigma Sigma Sigma

Zeta Tau Alpha

just for anyone's interest!!!!

[Mandelion]

I only have one month left to my freshman year..but luckily I've met quite a few sorority women in my major, mostly upperclassmen, but I really looked up to them in the beginning so they've been a big influence in my decision to rush.

To be honest I've never thought of going to all their rush parties to begin with, but you all are right, I might be missing the group thats just right for me!

From what I remember from friends who were elgible to rush last Fall some sororities had interest parties before rush started, altough it may have been during too. I will definitely go to these to find at least how they operate.

Thanks again guys! You've given me some important things to think about!

[trisigmaAtl]

You should definately keep us posted when fall rolls around, or when you get any new info about who is doing informal. I hope that you get through finals ok (God, knows I'll barely be alive)!!! and it's nice to have something to look forward to during the summer. if you have any other questions please feel free!!!

[CutiePie2000]

I think Billy (Optimist Prime) goes to Radford.

[Optimist Prime]

yeah I go to Radford. Good luck.

PM me if you want to discuss anything.

[DZHBrown]

Mandelion, are you still considering recruitment in the fall?

[Mandelion]

Yep ^_^, I'm looking more forward to it than ever! School starts in 2.5 weeks!