Beachgirl's Recruitment!

beachgirl87 · #1 12-29-2006, 01:36 AM

Hi Everyone! I am a sophomore and I'm going to be going through formal recruitment this spring at a smaller college in the Northeast. There are 3 sororities on my campus and I know a few members from each one. I didn't go through recruitment before this because I didn't really know what it was all about, but many of my friends joined one of the sororities this past fall (they took a HUGE pledge class) and now that I know more, I think I'd like to check it out. My only concern is hurt feelings for the friends I have in each sorority if I were to receive a bid to one that is not theirs... I know that everyone says that you can keep your friends outside of the groups, but I've definitely seen less of all of the girls that pledged this fall...

But I'm going in with an open mind that I'm going find myself a home and not choose a group based on where my friends found their home.

The three sororities had a pizza party the week before finals, but I was swamped with school work (procrastination doesn't pay!) so I couldn't attend. After talking to one of the Gamma Rho Chis, she filled me in on the details:

January 30th: Info Night and Registration
January 31st: Round I
Feb. 1st: Round 2
Feb. 2nd: Preference Night
Feb. 3rd Bid Night

I've decided to give the sororities nicknames based on my country favorite groups/singers:

Tim McGraw
Kenny Chesney
Sugarland

Wish me luck! Here we go!

REE1993 · #2 12-29-2006, 03:09 PM

Who knows... being in different sororities may be a new "common thread" that you share in terms of types of experiences you go through. If you are NPC sororitities, many campuses now have NPC spirit days - "we are all sisters together" - where you celebrate being a woman, a Greek, your extended family. It might bring you closer.

DeltaBetaBaby · #3 12-29-2006, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by REE1993

Who knows... being in different sororities may be a new "common thread" that you share in terms of types of experiences you go through. If you are NPC sororitities, many campuses now have NPC spirit days - "we are all sisters together" - where you celebrate being a woman, a Greek, your extended family. It might bring you closer.

I agree, when I pledged, I found it much easier to keep in touch with friends in other chapters than friends who did not go greek at all.

violetpretty · #4 12-29-2006, 07:05 PM

Do you have friends in each chapter or are all of your friends in the same chapter?

Good luck with recruitment!

lOaxO · #5 12-29-2006, 07:08 PM

I am VP of Programs for our Panhellenic council at my school and we just started a new event called greek fest where we had all the Greeks set up a carnival booth with a game. There was no compition, eventything was free it was just to be around fellow greeks as well as promote positive PR for the Greek community. As VP Programs for our Panhellenic council I strongly incourage all Greek events like that to build bonds with other houses.

lOaxO · #6 12-29-2006, 07:11 PM

ps I am a second year at my school and in sorority, we have 6 sosority chapters and i can say i have more than one friend in each house, its a great way to make more friends in a community where it is all about compition between houses to avoid enemies

Jill1228 · #7 12-30-2006, 02:23 AM

You are on the list

KSUViolet06 · #8 01-01-2007, 04:17 PM

Best of luck! Your friends, as sorority members, most likely understand that you will join the sorority that is the best fit for you. As long as they understand that, they will be happy with whatever group you end up joining.

twinkle555 · #9 01-01-2007, 11:48 PM

good luck to you dream!! i cant wait for your story!

ASUADPi · #10 01-06-2007, 12:44 PM

Good luck with recruitment!

AnatraAmore · #11 01-07-2007, 03:15 PM

Hey Beachgirl... I think we're at the same school...

I PM'ed you!!!

Jill1228 · #12 01-07-2007, 05:27 PM

Even though I am now agnostic, I grew up Catholic...it is all about the guilt!

Quote:

Originally Posted by dream*a*dream

while i realize no one has done anything wrong
every single time i see jill's notation that "you are on the list"
i immediately feel guilty...
like... "this is going on your permanent record!"
it is wonderful that "she is keeping a list and marking it twice"
but... i alway feel i have done something naughty and wasn't nice!

sweet dreams

beachgirl87 · #13 01-10-2007, 06:08 PM

Hi again! The countdown is on... 19 days! After reading the other recruitment threads, I'm getting even more excited!!! I've hung out with some of the girls who I lived with freshmen year who pledged this fall and I talked to them a little about how it's changed them - hanging out more with their sisters, etc. and it's really made me more excited and much more comfortable knowing that they understand that I'll end up where I fit best (although I know that at least a few of them are hoping that I end up in a certain place...)

AND, I've met my first real, live Greekchat member in person!!! She's actually from the same town as I am AND goes to the same college which is exciting... and since I didn't know many girls from that sorority it's nice to have another familiar face going into recruitment. We were introduced previously by another non-greek friend and she PM'ed me and surprise! I'm learning how small a world is it - and that discretion will be important during recruitment!

We move back into the dorms this weekend and then we meet our Gamma Rho Chi's on Monday 1/29 and parties will start on Tuesday! Wooooo!!! I hope that I end up as happy as the other PNM's I've read about!!! I can't wait!!!

Stef the Pef · #14 01-14-2007, 05:01 AM

Good luck, beachgirl! I hope you're very happy by the end of the week, too!

beachgirl87 · #15 01-31-2007, 03:37 AM

Wow! What a night!!! I had no idea what tonight was going to be like, but it was fun. Tonight we visited all three chapters for a 30 minutes each.

First, I went to Sugarland. Out of all of the sororities, I knew the fewest girls in this group. I had heard that they were the smallest group and that they tend to keep to themselves, but after seeing them tonite - I really, really liked this group. They were friendly, the room was beautiful and all of the members I spoke with were attentive and very nice. Their theme was a Hollywood kind of feel. We started by doing an ice breaker and then I was shown around the room by two sisters who I had never met. There were 5 tables set up with tri-fold boards and lots of stuffed animals, scrapbook pages, letters, etc. Each table had a different theme. One had financial information on it (dues and fundraising stuff), another had scholarship and philanthopy information, another with information about the pledge sister process, one about the history, and one more about sisterhood/social events. Even though it's early, I already feel like this is a place I could see myself. I can't wait to go back tomorrow!

*One more note: this was also the only group that actually had nametags on! We (the PNM's) had to wear these hideous plastic around-the-neck nametags, but only this group had any kind of name tags on. Theirs were very simple, but they served the purpose.

Next, I went to Kenny. This is the group that 4 of my friends joined last fall. I thought I would really enjoy this group, but I didn't. I don't know if it was because I was comparing them to the group before them or that I really just didn't click with them, but something just wasn't right. I felt like the group was very divided and cliquey. Also, (and I know it's silly) but their t-shirts and decorations seemed very thrown together. We watched a fashion show and then several girls talked to us about their positions and the sorority. I wish I had time to talk with the girls outside of the few minutes of introduction time we had at the beginning. I never had a chance to ask many of the questions that were already answered for me at Sugarland on their tables. I hope that tomorrow night we can do more socializing and that I have the chance to meet some sisters from this group.

Finally, I went to Tim McGraw. This is the group I knew the most about. They are very involved on campus and were the group that most of the other PNM's in my group were excited to see. In this room, similar to Sugarland, we played an ice breaker and then were shown around to different tables where a member of the sorority was standing. At each table, one of the two sisters that we were with, disappeared and a new one appeared. So, each time you moved to a different table, you met two new girls. I really liked this, but it was very intimidating too. This group is the largest of the three. They were very prepared, but I almost felt like they were just reading from a script while talking to me. The girl who was with me for the whole time seemed very fake and never stopped smiling. (Not that I have a problem with people who smile - it's just that it was kind of awkward...) Overall, I really enjoyed this group too.

Tomorrow night we visit all three sororities again, except in a different order. We are going to be making something for each group's philanthopy. It sounds like lots of fun. Dress is going to be a little bit more dressy, but my Gamma Rho Chis said that nice jeans and a cute sweater would be perfect. I can't wait!

PS: My Gamma Rho Chis are awesome! There are 9 other girls in my Gamma Rho Chi group. All of them are freshmen, many of them know lots of girls at Tim McGraw and are really set on that one group. I'm open to them all, although I really feel like I need lots more information before I can say for sure...