Transfer Recruitment Story

[cinder1965]

Just adding my 2 cents..but it seems to me that we all know how much social media is used for research, etc. on anything and any topic. While I don't think PNMs should totally base any decision from what they see on the internet and FB, it seems sort of ridiculous that chapters and nationals wouldn't keep their sites updated and interesting, knowing that PNMs will be checking them out.

I don't fault this young lady for checking them out and starting to form opinions and use this as a piece of information to analyze. Candidly, I would.

[HQWest]

While sites can have useful information and certainly the national/international sites are kept up to date - I have to say the local sites are pretty hit or miss. They could be gorgeous sites but out of date because the chapter paid someone to make it and then it is not easy to update, or it could be simple but well updated because the Communications director took an interest. From my observations - a lot of "top" chapters dont always have a great site, because its just not a priority. They are out doing what they do that makes them great. If they have been great for a while they aren't really concerned about maximizing their web presence, they are recruiting targeting people they already know.

[ALynnJ]

Ok, so a month after starting this thread, recruitment has (semi) officially started!

We had orientation tonight and received our shirts. And now I'm rethinking most of the outfits I picked out. I thought our shirts were going to be blue like our counselors so I was going to wear red pants with them; unfortunately for me, they're red... so I'm just going to wear black shorts (but I don't know what to wear to make me stand out). Saturday morning's Philanthropy round is giving me the most trouble. We have to wear our group's color and I'm in the yellow group and I look terrible in yellow. I have a yellow shirt I can wear with a floral skirt or just go with a neutral outfit and a yellow scarf. And Preference round I'm debating between a strapless red and white floral dress with a red statement necklace or a red lace dress. Honestly, the decision maker will most likely be the weather. The only outfit I'm confident with is Saturday evening's Sisterhood round (it's business casual, so I'm going to wear a black dress).

During the orientation the Panhellenic officers and counselors did all of the chapter's cheers which got me really excited (which was the point). They also did a fashion show on what to and what not to wear (it was really funny). We were told that we are forbidden to drink or talk to fraternity men (or as one counselor said, "No boys, no booze, no bongs") and if we are found doing that we will be dropped from recruitment. They also told us that Daffodil (the new chapter) is holding a half hour presentation for all of the PNMs before first round tomorrow.

I think I mentioned this before, but we have two rounds on Saturday and Preference Sunday morning and Bid Day that afternoon. Because I live off campus I'm debating on whether to go back home or just stay on campus and bring a change of clothes. If I do go home I'll definitely give current updates on each round, if I stay on campus I'm not completely sure whether or not I'll update after every round because I don't know if I will bring my computer with me.

I'm excited and honestly, a little intimidated. Not by the girls in the sororities, but by the other PNMs. I have really low self confidence (as evidenced by the braces situation I mentioned before) and they're all really pretty. But I know that if I stick with it I'll end up where I'm meant to be regardless of how I look.

I also thought I was prepared, but now I'm freaking out about what to talk about during first round. I'm one of those people who are shy around new people, but really outgoing once I get comfortable around them. I think my strategy is to convince myself that I'm already best friend with the girls so I'll open up faster.

[cinder1965]

Best of luck and hope you have a lot of fun!

[ALynnJ]

Who knew that talking to people would be so exhausting? (Maybe it's because I only got 6 hours of sleep last night.)

I ended up wearing navy blue short and wedges, and the first thing I noticed was that I was probably over dressed because everyone was wearing jeans! Seriously about 95% of the girls were wearing jean pants or shorts and the others were wearing white pants and shorts and they were all pretty much wearing flats or sandals. At least I figured out how to make myself memorable!

First all of the PNMs went to a presentation from Daffodil and we found out that if you receive a bid from a sorority through formal, even if you deny the bid, you may not join any other sorority for another full calendar year, not even Daffodil. I've always heard that if you accept a bid, you can't join another one for a year. Maybe it's a campus by campus deal.

Then we went to the Meet & Greet rounds.

1. Rose. I LOVED ROSE! At first I thought I would be the most awkward at the first sorority we went to, but I really liked their energy. I talked to four girls and I liked them all. Unfortunately, when we left I realized that I had accidentally name dropped! The first girl was talking to me about what I like to do and I mentioned that I coach a field hockey team and in my line of vision I saw a girl who coaches another team at the same school and I told her that and said, "She's over there." Oops.

2. Daisy was one of my questionable sororities. I had good conversations there (although the first girl was really in my face... literally), but I didn't get an "I belong here" vibe. The last girl I talked to went to my high school and I felt really comfortable with her.

3. Tulip was another one of my questionable sororities, but for the opposite reason as Daisy. I felt comfortable, but some of the conversations were a little awkward and I found myself to be the one pushing it along.

4. Magnolia was also questionable. Half of my conversations were good, and the other half were awkward. The vibe was ok, not super comfortable, but I didn't hate it. The first girl I talked to seemed really fake to me, but I LOVED the next girl who talked to me, it felt like she was already my best friend. The next girl I talked to I could barely hear so I did the "nod and say 'yeah'" thing. And the first thing the last girl I talked to asked was if I had any questions. This was the only sorority that I stuttered at, and I really don't remember anything meaningful that we talked about.

5. Lily. I also really liked Lily. The first girl I talked to was really nice but I felt like she was running the entire conversation, but she gave me all of the answers I was looking for: what she was looking for in a sorority when she rushed and how she got that in Lily. I loved the next girl that I talked to, I really want to be her sister. She was in the same situation as I am when she rushed. She's a transfer who is from the area and we kind of have the same philosophies on life and I just love her.

When I first went into recruitment I thought I'd love all of them and have trouble picking my least favorite. But I only loved two and was indifferent about three which made me really concerned. At first I thought I was going to cut Daisy because I didn't like the vibe, but as I started thinking about it, I didn't like how awkward the conversations were at Magnolia, so I ranked them last.

I should go to sleep soon because my next round is at 9 am tomorrow. I think I'm going with the neutral outfit with a yellow scarf and FLATS!

[TiareNoire]

Originally Posted by ALynnJ

3. Tulip was another one of my questionable sororities, but for the opposite reason as Daisy. I felt comfortable, but some of the conversations were a little awkward and I found myself to be the one pushing it along.

Ehhhh, oh no! I hope Tulip goes well for you tomorrow. Not going to lie: I want Tulip to be the one since I love tulips so much but I am rooting for you to find your new home wherever!

[Missouri Ivy]

When you sign your pref card, you are agreeing to accept a bid from any sorority you have listed. If you get a bid from your second or third choice and decline, you are still bound to them for a year. This is how it works almost everywhere, as far as I know. I almost always am against leaving off a group that you've preffed. However, if you know you will absolutely not accept a bid from a group, don't list them. You will have the option of looking at the colony (which is NOT going to take EVERYONE, no matter what you hear), and it saves a group the heartbreak of "making quota" but only having a portion of their new members show up. Been there, done that. It isn't a good feeling. Just my opinion though.

[ALynnJ]

I just got done with second round. I got invited back to two, Daisy and Tulip.

I liked Daisy so much more today. They were very excited which made me excited. I thought I had good conversations with the girls. I love their philanthropy and we would talk about it then relate it back to our own lives. But, what concerned me was that I talked to the same exact girls, and other girls said that they talked to completely different girls. When I asked my counselor about how they vote she said that with each round you talk to more and more girls who vouch for you and I said I only talked to the same girls and she said that wasn't supposed to happen (even though it does). I don't want to admit that I love them because the last time I did that I got cut from the ones I loved, but I want to be a Daisy. I left the room with goosebumps and wanted to cry because I'm terrified they'll cut me, especially because I heard they're picky, a lot of girls in my group liked them but got cut from them after first round.

I didn't like Tulip today. The entire time we were watching their philanthropy video I was thinking, "I don't belong here," and praying, "God, please let me get invited back to Daisy." I was also paired with another PNM and all of the girls we talked to focused most of their attention on her. I tried to seem like I was interested so I could get invited back, but it was hard. After this round I was disappointed that I didn't like them. I wanted to like them to keep my options open, but I don't know if I belong there.

When we voted, I accepted them both. But I came to a decision: If I don't get invited back to Daisy, I'm giving Tulip one more chance and if I don't like them again, I'm dropping and if I get invited back to Daisy the next two rounds, I'm suiciding them (even though it's kind of dumb to do so). If I don't get a bid at all, I'll try for Daffodil and will hopefully do well there.

But, again, I am absolutely terrified.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by ALynnJ

Who knew that talking to people would be so exhausting? (Maybe it's because I only got 6 hours of sleep last night.)

I ended up wearing navy blue short and wedges, and the first thing I noticed was that I was probably over dressed because everyone was wearing jeans! Seriously about 95% of the girls were wearing jean pants or shorts and the others were wearing white pants and shorts and they were all pretty much wearing flats or sandals. At least I figured out how to make myself memorable!

First all of the PNMs went to a presentation from Daffodil and we found out that if you receive a bid from a sorority through formal, even if you deny the bid, you may not join any other sorority for another full calendar year, not even Daffodil. I've always heard that if you accept a bid, you can't join another one for a year. Maybe it's a campus by campus deal.

Then we went to the Meet & Greet rounds.

1. Rose. I LOVED ROSE! At first I thought I would be the most awkward at the first sorority we went to, but I really liked their energy. I talked to four girls and I liked them all. Unfortunately, when we left I realized that I had accidentally name dropped! The first girl was talking to me about what I like to do and I mentioned that I coach a field hockey team and in my line of vision I saw a girl who coaches another team at the same school and I told her that and said, "She's over there." Oops.

2. Daisy was one of my questionable sororities. I had good conversations there (although the first girl was really in my face... literally), but I didn't get an "I belong here" vibe. The last girl I talked to went to my high school and I felt really comfortable with her.

3. Tulip was another one of my questionable sororities, but for the opposite reason as Daisy. I felt comfortable, but some of the conversations were a little awkward and I found myself to be the one pushing it along.

4. Magnolia was also questionable. Half of my conversations were good, and the other half were awkward. The vibe was ok, not super comfortable, but I didn't hate it. The first girl I talked to seemed really fake to me, but I LOVED the next girl who talked to me, it felt like she was already my best friend. The next girl I talked to I could barely hear so I did the "nod and say 'yeah'" thing. And the first thing the last girl I talked to asked was if I had any questions. This was the only sorority that I stuttered at, and I really don't remember anything meaningful that we talked about.

5. Lily. I also really liked Lily. The first girl I talked to was really nice but I felt like she was running the entire conversation, but she gave me all of the answers I was looking for: what she was looking for in a sorority when she rushed and how she got that in Lily. I loved the next girl that I talked to, I really want to be her sister. She was in the same situation as I am when she rushed. She's a transfer who is from the area and we kind of have the same philosophies on life and I just love her.

When I first went into recruitment I thought I'd love all of them and have trouble picking my least favorite. But I only loved two and was indifferent about three which made me really concerned. At first I thought I was going to cut Daisy because I didn't like the vibe, but as I started thinking about it, I didn't like how awkward the conversations were at Magnolia, so I ranked them last.

I should go to sleep soon because my next round is at 9 am tomorrow. I think I'm going with the neutral outfit with a yellow scarf and FLATS!

There are five sororities at your school, and three of them were "questionable" before you even started?

[ALynnJ]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

There are five sororities at your school, and three of them were "questionable" before you even started?

That was my opinion after first round... And by questionable I meant I didn't have a solid opinion of them right after I visited them. I had to think about them to decide whether I liked them or not.

[Leslie Anne]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

There are five sororities at your school, and three of them were "questionable" before you even started?

That's what I thought too.

Originally Posted by ALynnJ

That was my opinion after first round... And by questionable I meant I didn't have a solid opinion of them right after I visited them. I had to think about them to decide whether I liked them or not.

That's not what "questionable" means.

[pinksequins]

hank you for clarifying that the uncertainty was post-party. Good for you for taking a further look at Tulip. Now look at your post for Magnolia: so much turns on the person with whom you interact. Magnolia's first sister did not "click" with you, but the second one did. Keep that in mind with Tulip -- you might not have yet met the sisters who are your style. You might at Pref. Good luck!

[DubaiSis]

Originally Posted by ALynnJ

When I asked my counselor about how they vote she said that with each round you talk to more and more girls who vouch for you and I said I only talked to the same girls and she said that wasn't supposed to happen (even though it does).

While your counselor may have been trying to help, she doesn't actually know what she's talking about. The way that voting happens from sorority to sorority varies, and can vary WIDELY.

I can think of a few reasons why you were rushed by the same girls twice. The first is coincidence. The way bumping works is you are met at the door by a girl who is part of a fixed group. So in group 1 you have sister 1, 2, 3 and 4 (assuming a 4 person bump group). If they don't pre-choose who gets rushed by whom, you could have gotten picked up by girl 1 on day 1 and girl 2 on day 2. You'd still be in the same bump group and meet the same girls, even though it wasn't such a massive coincidence that you were met at the door by the same girl. The bump groups (as far as I ever saw anyway) don't get reshuffled every day. I always had my same group of 3 sisters in my group and we prepared our conversations based on our own similarities and differences. Putting me in a different bump group tomorrow would have been very stressful and likely would have ended up with me not finding my bump girl in an efficient period of time.

Another possibility is these girls really did their homework on you and felt like this bump group would be such a good fit for you that they wanted the same group of girls really working on you heavy duty. I wouldn't have recommended this as a rush technique, but who knows? Maybe there's history to say it works.

So in summary, don't read too much into it.

[ALynnJ]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

That's not what "questionable" means.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/questionable Definition 3. Yes that's what it means. Maybe I should've worded it "I was questionable about them." Y'all are seriously going to get down my throat about word choice now?

Anyway, I got invited back to both Daisy and Tulip. These two have been flip-flopping with me all weekend. One round I'll really like Daisy and feel "meh" towards Tulip, this round was the opposite.

I was so nervous I wouldn't get invited back to Daisy, that I dropped my invite sheet when my counselor gave it to me, but it landed face up and I saw Daisy and I was able to breathe again.

I went to Daisy first and I was so excited. Their chant has been stuck in my head all weekend and I went in there with a huge smile on my face. I was rushed by a different girl this time, and she brought up the topic of being rushed by the same girls twice because apparently it had been accidentally happening in Daisy this year. This girl was ok, she wasn't as warm as the other Daisies I talked to. But I accidentally gushed about them. She asked me how my recruitment was going and I just blabbed out something along the lines of, "I'm so excited to be here! I love your philanthropy and all of the activities you do to support it! They're things that I'm so interested in doing!" So either I looked desperate or I sounded like if I get a bid I'll be really involved in the sorority. Then we watched a sisterhood slideshow and then went around the table and picked questions out of a fishbowl and we all answered them. It was fun, but I really liked the Daisy who was rushing the girl sitting next to me more than the girl who was rushing me.

Then I went to Tulip and I really liked the girl who rushed me. She was easy to talk to. When we watched the sisterhood slideshow the Tulips kept talking to the PNMs, unlike at Daisy. Instead of pulling questions from a fishbowl, we played Jenga and the blocks had questions on them. Going around the table it felt like just playing a game with friends. I was very comfortable. This was also the first time I continued to talk to the girl while she walked me out of the room.

I'm really excited that I like both of my options now. I still like Daisy a little more because I've felt comfortable with them for more rounds than I have with Tulip and like I said I love their philanthropy and all of the activities they do to support it. I preffed them both. I'm still nervous I won't get invited back to Daisy, but at least now I'd be fine with Tulip.

Preference is tomorrow morning followed by Bid Day that afternoon!

[greekxgal]

Honestly, I think that either one would be a good fit your you. I know that you say you keep "flip-flopping", but I woud say keep an open mind. Recruitment is hardly ever representative of what the sorority is really like. It's hard because you are judging on just a few things/people, but I truly believe either would be OK for you. I am hoping that you will get invited back to both for pref!