LIVE Ice Cream Recruitment Story!

[FreshmanPNM2013]

Our 16 Chapters!
Vanilla
Chocolate
Strawberry
Mint
Butterscotch
Cookies and Cream
Cotton Candy
Coffee
Cookie Dough
Rocky Road
Rainbow
Neapolitan
Sherbet
Cake Batter
Black Cherry
Dreamscicle


Today was the first day of rush! I go to a very large Southern school, so we had to split the first two rounds over four days. Today was super casual. We wore our recruitment t shirts and shorts. The first round you meet all of the houses. After this round you pick your 4 bottom houses to “drop”. The second round is skit day. This round you visit up to 12 houses and then “drop” five. The third round you watch a video and get a house tour from up to 7 houses. After this you will rank your top 3. Round 4 is preference round for up to 3 chapters. Then you will rank your remaining.

Vanilla: I was so nervous to go into this house first because it’s top tier. I had no idea what to expect. All of the PNM lined up in numerical order in front of the house. When it was time, each of us was greeted by a rusher with a cup of water and a guiding hand on the back. We were lead by our rusher into a room. The PNM sat on a couch or chair and the rusher was on her knees (this was the same in all of the houses I visited today) All of the girls in this sorority looked absolutely perfect! It was really intimidating. As soon as I started talking to my rusher I immediately started to relax. She and I went back and forth talking about the sorority and my hometown. My rusher also introduced me to her little, which I thought was really sweet. Although everyone looked like Barbies, I could potentially see myself with these girls. I am looking for a more involved sorority anyway.

Chocolate: This house was also known as a top tier. The rusher would not stop talking and seemed disinterested in me. She did tell me about all of the resources the sorority had in regards to my major, PR. The house seemed great, but I wasn’t sure if I could see myself here.

Strawberry: This house was much more relaxed. The interior was decorated in bright colors. My rusher seemed really nervous, but sweet. We chatted about how we both went to London this summer. She was also in my college. Still, this was the only conversation where there were awkward pauses and water sips. I was excited because I finished my water cup for the first time! The rusher and I had a lot in common, but I wished that the sorority were more involved. I may drop them tomorrow.

Mint: I absolutely loved this house! I would rank it right above Vanilla. I had a rec for this house. My rusher was pretty, but not intimidating. She asked all about me and I was relieved to have a more natural conversation compared to Chocolate and Strawberry. We talked all about my high school life and my family. She gave me some great advice about knowing where you fit and keeping an open mind. I really like it when the rusher sells Greek life as a whole and not just her specific sorority. I also loved their philanthropy. She introduced me to two of her friends that were sitting around us. I left this house completely beaming.

Butterscotch: I thought Mint was my favorite, until I went in here. My rusher was a junior and had clearly done this before. She was perky and adorable. We had so much in common! Her little went to my high school. After ten minutes or so she got up and I started saying my goodbye and thank you speech, but we were only going into another room so that the Recruitment chairs could welcome us. The room fit all of the PNM and their rusher so it was very difficult to hear. This did not stop us though, we chatted all the way to the door!

Cookies and Cream: This house was also considered top tier. The girls were pretty, but in a different way than Vanilla. It seemed to have a lot more diversity. Still, like in Chocolate, the rusher dominated the conversation. I will say that it was very difficult to hear in this house. It seemed a lot smaller and I had to sit on the floor. My rusher and I didn’t have very much in common. She seemed a lot less involved than I wanted to be. She said she barely went to any football games! Also, I saw other rushers introducing their PNM to different girls (I assume part of leadership in the house), but I wasn’t introduced. Maybe my rusher just forgot, but still I take that as a bad sign. The other girls in my rho gamma group said they great conversations with their rusher in this house, so I was hesitant to drop them just yet.

Cotton Candy: By the time I got to the final house I was completely exhausted. I really wasn’t interested in this sorority because their house wasn’t completely built yet. My rusher was nice and we had a natural conversation about sororities. This house didn’t seem that involved in Greek life as a whole and said that they pretty much keep to themselves. I see that as a negative thing. In the middle of the conversation my rusher introduced me to her friend then got up and left. I was left with her friend, who had a very distracting lazy eye. I didn’t really like not talking to one girl the entire time. Some of the PNM in my rho gamma group talked to three girls! This house was okay, but may get dropped depending on how tomorrow goes.

More to come tomorrow!

[justgo_withit]

Where does the "drop" terminology come from (hopefully not your recruitment counselor)? PNMs do not have the power to remove chapters from their schedules. Instead, you're putting the chapters in order of preference so panhellenic knows where to send you on the off chance you're invited back to more chapters than there are slots in the next round just a quick note for any future PNMs who may read this! No one wants to be that girl embarrassing herself complaining that she keeps having to go back to a chapter she claims she dropped/cut/etc.

[UNFPNM]

Yay! Good luck & follow your heart! Involvement in going to football games is very important to me too haha!

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by justgo_withit

Where does the "drop" terminology come from (hopefully not your recruitment counselor)? PNMs do not have the power to remove chapters from their schedules. Instead, you're putting the chapters in order of preference so panhellenic knows where to send you on the off chance you're invited back to more chapters than there are slots in the next round just a quick note for any future PNMs who may read this! No one wants to be that girl embarrassing herself complaining that she keeps having to go back to a chapter she claims she dropped/cut/etc.

I would guess that her putting "drop" in quotation marks indicates that she knows she's not really dropping these chapters. But clarification is always good for those who may read this and misinterpret what was said

[ComradesTrue]

Originally Posted by FreshmanPNM2013

I go to a very large Southern school

Originally Posted by FreshmanPNM2013

I had a rec for this house.

How many recs were you able to line up?

[TriDeltaC]

good luck to you! have fun and enjoy the process <3

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

I would guess that her putting "drop" in quotation marks indicates that she knows she's not really dropping these chapters. But clarification is always good for those who may read this and misinterpret what was said

Indeed. I like to think of it more like this: A PNM who has just visited 16 chapters during open houses chooses which 12 chapters she'd want to go back to if it were totally up to her. Then, suppose one of those 12 doesn't invite her back - which one of the other 4 would she like to go back to instead? That one becomes her first alternate. The PNM isn't dropping chapters, rather, she's listing 12 favorites, and 4 alternates in case her top choices don't invite her back.

FreshmanPNM2013 - good luck and I hope you find your home.

[FreshmanPNM2013]

Sorry! The terminology has been difficult to get a grasp on. What I meant by dropping was ranking the bottom four, but not any others.

[FreshmanPNM2013]

I probably should have said this in the original post! I was only able to get 3 recs: Cookies and Cream, Butterscotch, and Coffee

[amIblue?]

Good luck!

[FSUZeta]

Yes, good luck and can't wait to read more.

[AOII Angel]

Just remember that Cotton Candy and the other group without a house are at a disadvantage through no fault of their own thanks to the university and the contractor the UNIVERSITY chose. One year to wait for a new, beautiful house is not the end of the world.

[FreshmanPNM2013]

Day 2

Today we did the rest of the houses that we didn’t do the first day. Also, there is going to be a one-day posting delay because I was unable to post about day 2 last night.

Coffee: I really liked this house. I was able to have a conversation that wasn’t just about the sorority and my background. We chatted about reality tv (my guilty pleasure), our families, and oddly enough the teen pregnancy epidemic. These girls were as beautiful as they were real. They said they were very comfortable around the house not getting dressed up, which made me feel good. My rusher also commented that I look like a sorority girl (I was wearing a monogram necklace, gold watch, and pearl earrings) and I almost teared up! I had a great back and forth with these girls and could definitely see myself here!

Cookie Dough: At this house, I don’t remember our conversations to be honest. It was a usual conversation about the university and my summer trips. The conversation went really well and we talked all the way to the door. I left here really excited. The house seemed pretty chill, but their sisterhood was still prominent.

Rocky Road: I was not a fan of this house. The girls seemed too relaxed and I didn’t get the impression that they were very involved in this house. I had to do most of the question asking. The girls were sweet, but nothing about this house stood out to me.

Rainbow: When I stepped into the house, I saw my rusher and knew she looked familiar. It turned out she went to my small private school! It was so nice being able to reminisce about my hometown and high school. We didn’t talk much about the sorority, but then my rusher switched with another girl. This girl seemed very enthusiastic about her chapter. It was contagious! Overall, I really liked this house.

Neapolitan: I had heard great things about this house and they did not disappoint! I had two great rushers that seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say! We had great conversations. The girls were beautiful and all seemed to have a personality. It was so easy to talk to these girls. I would love to go back here because I felt right at home.

Sherbet: I was not feeling this house. A senior, who rushed as a junior, rushed me. She came from the nearby community college and didn’t seem to know a lot about my university yet. She gave some good advice about rushing and to keep an open mind. I didn’t feel a connection.

Batter: I absolutely loved this house! My rusher was beautiful and I was ecstatic to be rushed by this girl the entire time. We had a long conversation about my life living in England and she seemed genuinely awed by my whole experience. She wanted to hear all about it and I was happy to tell! I felt a connection here because we were both really into each other.

Black Cherry: I don’t remember much about this house either, but the conversation flowed naturally. We talked about the usual sorority things, my family, and the university. The girls at this house were beautiful, but not intimidating at all. Overall, this chapter was great.

Dreamsicile: As the last house of the day, I was losing wind. I’ll be honest, I was not excited to go inside at all. My rusher turned out to be a total sweetheart. We shared the same first name and talked about that a lot. The girl was great, but I couldn’t picture myself here. They didn’t seem involved enough for my taste.
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[FreshmanPNM2013]

Tonight we ranked our bottom 4. #1 is the house I would mind going back to the least and #4 is the worst house in my opinion.
1. Rocky Road
2. Strawberry
3. Dreamsicle
4. Cotton Candy

[FreshmanPNM2013]

This is skit round, where we were able to get a max of 12 houses. I got 8, meaning the other 8 dropped me. The only ones that I was really sad about were Neapolitan and Black Cherry. It hurt because both chapters seemed genuinely interested in me and now I realize that they were being completely fake. I feel like a poor judge of character.

Out of the 8 I got back, I can really see myself at 5! This round is split into two days, so today I only went to three houses.

The one’s I got today are:
Coffee
Cookie Dough
Butterscotch

Tomorrow I go to:
Cotton Candy
Strawberry Cake Batter
Rainbow
Dreamsicle

Coffee: I LOVED this chapter! I liked that they did their skit first, so it gave us something to talk about after. I even teared up a little when they all started singing! I was completely blown away by their skit! It was hilarious and really well done. They highlighted all of their favorite activities and events, which was great information. Just like last time the conversation flowed so easily. I felt right at home. I don’t remember what we talked about, but I know it was a good conversation.

Cookie Dough: I loved this chapter the previous day, but honestly after seeing how amazing Coffee was I was let down. Their skit was not as funny, but you could still see the sisterhood. My second rusher was a little awkward so the conversation didn’t flow as much as some of the others. She was a sophomore and seemed more focused on getting me to the right place than learning about me. This was only the second party of the day so I understood she was still getting into the swing of things.

Butterscotch: After having a rusher that could practically be my soul mate on day 1, I knew another rusher wouldn’t compare. Still, this girl did her best. We talked about my experience living abroad and all about her philanthropy. The rusher and I didn’t have that much in common, but she seemed really sweet. My second rusher was a lot more laid back and seemed more normal. This girl was hilarious and we talked about their skit and country music. This was also the first rusher I had who was also in the skit, so I felt like I had a good one. The skit was funny, but didn’t give any information until the last minute or so. Also the skit ended awkwardly with everyone free dancing (which consisted of mostly sways and claps). My second rusher was amazing, so I still had a good feeling about this house. Still, this house is considered top so I don’t want to get my hopes up too high.