suzieQ's Fall 2006 Rush @ UW!

While formal fall recruitment at the University of Washington is from September 10-16th, "Greek Weekend" was this past weekend! Greek Weekend is where girls stay for a day and a night at a sorority house, and also visit four other houses.

There are 16 sororities at the UW! Sooo many names to keep track of.

Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Phi
Alpha Xi Delta
Chi Omega
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Gamma
Delta Zeta
Gamma Phi Beta
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Pi Beta Phi
Sigma Kappa
Zeta Tau Alpha

I have decided to use the names of flowers to be discrete.

Carnation
Daffodil
Daisy
Forget-Me-Not
Holly
Iris
Lavender
Lilac
Lily
Orchid
Peony
Primrose
Rose
Sunflower
Tulip
Violet

This weekend I stayed with the Peonies. Almost everyone this weekend at all of the houses was a freshman. The other years had vacated the houses for the weekend. I really really liked the Peonies. Not only do they have a huge, beautiful house, but they have really great girls. I also like how all 90+ girls stay in the house together (no one lives out or in an annex). Three Peonies hosted me and another Greek Weekender. They seemed sweet and fun and smart, and this was probably my favorite house. After we had lunch and saw part of an off-season football game (Huskies vs. Huskies, purple vs. gold) we went on house tours.

We started out at the Sunflower house, who I believe have had one of the highest GPAs for the last year or something. It turns out I went with elementary school with the Sunflower who gave me the house tour! And, she let me know that one of my best friends from elementary school was there and after the party I saw her walking down the street and said hi! Anyway, that was cool. The Sunflowers also had a beautiful house. It wasn't as elegant and classic-looking as the Peony house, but it had just been remodeled and it looked great. They had huge closets, so that was a plus! This party was much like recruitment would be, after the tour we sat down and talked, and then a few more girls rotated in and talked to me. Very structured, but the girls seemed nice. All in all, I really liked this house.

Then I went to the Primrose house. We had a house tour and then had apetizers and talked. The house was not as nice as the others I saw. The are about to start a remodel so I'm not quite sure I would like to be in this house during college. (I hate construction! My high school is undergoing like a 40 million dollar remodel and it looks horrible right now). Also, only about 40 girls lived in the house. And the juniors and seniors live in an annex. I'm not too crazy about that. I'll keep an open mind though, because I had a great conversation with the girls I ate with. It was super laid back... not organized like interview after interview. It's sad but at the UW some of the members of the chapters look alike. Many chapters have no overweight members, while the Primrose house was more diverse.

Next I went to dinner at the Lavender house! Oooh it was soo pretty and it was one of the houses that didn't have a website so I was glad to finally see them. They were really nice and the girl I was with even let me stay and have seconds instead of going on a house tour! I was told that they have a beautiful house. I only got to talk to one girl, but from what little I know about the house I like it.

Finally I had dinner at the Daffodil house. I was greeted by a girl whom I didn't like in middle school, which kind of ruinned it. I really didn't feel like I would fit in with the girls here at all. Desert was good and they had a cute fashion show about what to wear and not wear during recruitment week. They also had such a big and beautiful house. I was freezing though... I think they had their windows open after it got cold. Anyway, I'll keep an open mind but this was my least favorite house so far.

After the weekend, I would rank them:

Peonies
Sunflowers/Lavender tie
Primroses
Daffodils

Sorry to remind you, but there won't be another update on rush until Septmember! I just knew I would forget all of this if I waited that long. I can't wait for the real recruitment to begin!

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

You still have a LOT of the houses to see and most of the houses there have annexes due to the size of the houses and the fact that most members have to live in.

I'd be careful what you say too. There are a number of women on here who are pretty familiar with the UW Greek system. I have no idea what house is being remodeled but it would be real easy for me to find out...........

[Jill1228]

Glad to see a soon to be recruitment story from U Dub! Representin' the Pacific NW
(waving from Whatcom County, WA)

But I gotta agree with SmartBlonde here...be careful about what ya say! It is still pretty early to make snap judgements



Best of luck

Originally posted by SmartBlondeGPhB
You still have a LOT of the houses to see and most of the houses there have annexes due to the size of the houses and the fact that most members have to live in.

I'd be careful what you say too. There are a number of women on here who are pretty familiar with the UW Greek system. I have no idea what house is being remodeled but it would be real easy for me to find out...........

[KunjaPrincess]

Originally posted by JocelynC
At this stage it would be really easy for a WSU sorority member to figure out who you were and that you didn't like her house b/c of the construction. That could negatively affect you during recruitment.

ooohh, it's UW not WSU. Major rivals LOL.

Listen to Jill 1228 and Smrtblnde though. WE are all from around here and I think I could figure out most of the houses from your descriptions in about 30 minutes. I didn't got to UW either!!!
Anyway, have fun at rush in September and BE DISCREET. It may seem like a big greek system but the girls will all know each other. Don't rank the sororities on how the houses themselves look, rank them on how the girls who are members are. The houses are just a place to sleep, the girls will be your sisters.

Anyway, WAVING HELLO FROM PIERCE COUNTY.

[VandalSquirrel]

I'm over at Idaho and I already know some of the chapters you're speaking of without names. We're people who are open with our locations and affiliations, but this isn't a private board and anyone can read it. Keep that in mind and also realize that when it comes to recruitment, even though you've been to the houses and chapters, people leave, graduate, move out and join between now and then. The chapters may not be the same when you come back, so when you go into recruitment this fall keep that in mind.

As an aside our former greek advisor is now at UW she is an alum of WSU, talk about working for the rivalries.

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

Originally posted by VandalSquirrel
As an aside our former greek advisor is now at UW she is an alum of WSU, talk about working for the rivalries.

I heard about her from a friend of mine.....my friend's comments were interesting.

[FSUZeta]

good luck in the fall suzieq. it was nice of you to come on board and share your experience with us. while i loved all the information you shared, i agree with the other ladies, please be a little more discreet when you post in the fall. for instance, i could with a little digging, figure out which chapter has the highest gpa on campus, as well as find out which house or houses do not have annexes.and i live in florida!!

i know it can be hard to keep an open mind, when you have had such a great experience this past weekend, but do try to do so. there are a lot of chapters on your campus, and you would be doing yourself a disservice if you made your mind up right now. the peonies might just be the group for you, but you won't know for sure until you meet all the groups.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally posted by SmartBlondeGPhB
I heard about her from a friend of mine.....my friend's comments were interesting.

I attempted to PM you, but your mailbox was full.

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

Originally posted by VandalSquirrel
I attempted to PM you, but your mailbox was full.

Yah, I got the message that it was full. All clean now!

[CallieQ]

Originally posted by SmartBlondeGPhB
You still have a LOT of the houses to see and most of the houses there have annexes due to the size of the houses and the fact that most members have to live in.

I'd be careful what you say too. There are a number of women on here who are pretty familiar with the UW Greek system. I have no idea what house is being remodeled but it would be real easy for me to find out...........

i'm rushing in august, and my sister said not to say a word until afterwards. i really hope it goes well (my rush).

[oceanphi01]

Originally posted by CallieQ
i'm rushing in august, and my sister said not to say a word until afterwards. i really hope it goes well (my rush).

You can still talk about recruitment, but what everyone is saying is to be as discreet as possible. The fun part for us is the mystery! Hehehe...

Originally posted by JocelynC
It's a little early on for you to be "ranking" chapters. You haven't even met them all.

At this stage it would be really easy for a WSU sorority member to figure out who you were and that you didn't like her house b/c of the construction. That could negatively affect you during recruitment.

I know it's early to be ranking chapters, but I just want to be able to remember my initial impressions.

I would be surprised that my not liking the idea of being in a house that was going to have construction done would affect me negatively during recruitment. I'm just being honest. And honestly, I bet a lot of other people think the same thing. I'm disappointed to hear that chapters might cut you for saying something negative about the house even if they themselves share the opinion. Even my dad, after attending the partent Q&A told me I might want to consider that as a factor. I don't think it would be a major part of my desicion, I'm just telling you guys what was going through my mind.

Perhaps I shouldn't be talking so much about the houses, because I might give off the impression that I care about them as much as the women who live in them. But it's just hard not to say anything when you visit five mansions! And if you think that's an overstatement, it's not. I think all of the houses are beautiful, and it would definately be neat to live in any one of them.

Anyway, I'll try to be more discreet, but honestly, if a chapter wouldn't want me based on my honest opinions, I'm not sure how I feel about that. I don't think I said anything mean-spirited towards any of the houses.

ETA: Thank you for all the "hello"s people from the NW! And thank you everyone for the advice!

[FSUZeta]

you are right!! you did not say anything out of line about any of the sororities, and what you did say was what you felt.

however, we have seen a time of two, a young womans recruitment come crashing down around her ears, because she shared too much information .for instance,"on the first day of recruitment i wore a lilly sundress with the blue crowns on it because i know that i want to pledge zeta tau alpha.all the fraternity guys say they are the best on campus. the girl i had at the abc house was nice, but they are known as the dogs on campus, so i am dropping them! the def's are the brains on campus, but they seem too caught up in their grades. i want to make good grades, but i also want to party."from this little diatribe, we know what the girl wore and the impressions she had of some of the houses. since she has told us her mind is settled on zta, we can assume some of the houses will not waste an invitation on her. they want girls coming back who want to be there. the abc's will drop her because she told us they are dogs, as will the def's because of the opinion she shared with us. all because of too much info!! she has set her sites on one sorority, and if for whatever reason she does not receive a bid from them, she has missed out on the fun and sisterhood (on many campuses for a whole year).

we gcers try our best to help the uninitiated (no pun intended) get thru their recruitment unscathed, and each end up in the house of their dreams. we share our knowledge, as collegians, alumnae , advisors and national officers with those who might be experiencing greek life for the first time.

best wishes to you.

[adpiucf]

SuzyQ, your honest opinions are your honest opinions, but it already appears like you have written off the chapter whose house is under renovation. That could mean they would write you off because you have indicated you're not interested... I would guarantee there are women from your school on this board who know who you are and can report back to their sororities what you have posted. It may not be fair, and while we all want honest members, we also want members who know when to be discreet.

In recruitment, it is so important to maximize every option available, because you may not get invitations to your favorites every day, and with each day of recruitment, a chapter that may have not been high on your list of interests may swoop in and capture your heart (making things like home repairs totally irrelevant).

Good luck with recruitment! This post is in no way meant to be unkind, but you may want to consider recording such intimate observations and preferences offline in a journal rather than posting them online for the world to see. As others have mentioned, it is not hard to figure out who a PNM is... and your comments on GC or other sites can affect your recruitment negatively. We don't want to see you come into your first day of recruitment with houses already having a bias against you!

I hope you'll consider deleting your thread or editing it so any bias is removed. We want you to have a productive and successful recruitment, and all the posters in this thread are only trying to help you achieve your goal! Good luck.

[33girl]

Are these "annexes" she speaks of attached to the main houses or are they in a different location altogether? Is living in the annex good (i.e. more low key than the main house) or is it someplace that people get "stuck" when they are low woman on the totem pole?