A Taylor Swift Themed Recruitment

[STEMsister]

So, I made this account awhile ago and completely forgot about it. I joined my chapter during COVID lockdowns last fall as a Junior Transfer from my local community college and I figured I'd tell my recruitment story.

Being that it happened during the pandemic, my school did the infamous "video round" thing for Round One/Open House. Luckily, each group had several Meet The Sisters / Girls Night Out pre-recruitment events where we got to visit their tables each evening during the days before recruitment on campus (masked, outdoors) to learn a bit about the chapter, so I already had a vague idea about each sorority. Don't worry, this wasn't any type of "dirty rush" or breaking of the strict silence rules, it was merely an information thing - similar to how my school has Organization Fairs to highlight each sporting / interest-based / academic / etc. group, the Sororities also did this!

My school has seven sororities that participate in formal recruitment- Fearless, Speak Now, Red, Reputation, Lover, Folklore, and Evermore.

I liked each sorority that I met during the pre-rush events. Some I liked more than others, but there was no sorority that I hated. I started to do things like research their philanthropy and symbols, and other public info listed on their websites. I was a bit nervous going through a virtual recruitment as a junior/transfer, but I was mostly excited. I had an open mind, and I could only hope they'd have an open mind for me!

Round One - Videos. I met with my Rho Gamma group via Zoom to watch each video. Each video more or less had the same format - chapter officers and "regular" members speaking about their time in the chapter, what they loved about it, and going over basic info such as GPA and philanthropy events that they do. Cute themed "aesthetic" videos of the sisters all together as a group, almost like mini-music videos. My school has no official sorority houses, but sisters do tend to live together, and some of the videos consisted of mini room tours to show off the lettered merch that they have!

In my own video, I discussed the fact that I'm a transfer. I talked about my major and hobbies, and about what I did during community college, what I do to give back to the community, about the honor society I was in during CC, why I want to be in a sorority, etc.

We could get invited back to a total of 5 chapters after Round One, so we had 5 houses ranked as #1 and then two others that we ranked by order of preference.

After watching Fearless's video, I have to admit, I was unsure if I could see myself in that chapter. Don't get me wrong, the women were amazing, but we seemed to have a completely different "vibe". I decided to rank this chapter last. The chapter didn't seem very diverse and I just didn't know if I could find a home there.

Speak Now's video was cute. They're a smaller chapter. A good number of women that I went to HS with are in that chapter. I didn't have anything negative to say about them, but I also didn't have anything overtly positive. I ranked them second to last, meaning my top five were Red, Reputation, Lover, Folklore, and Evermore.

Red had been one of my favorite sororities pre-rush (although I tried hard NOT to judge based off the pre-rush events, of course), and they were also one of my favorites based off of their philanthropy, which is something I'm passionate about. I also loved the sound of all of the events they talked about and they seemed like a loving, welcoming, diverse, sisterhood. No doubt in mind, they were one of my top houses. It's important to note that Red is still somewhat new on campus and when I went through recruitment some Alphas were still there as seniors. There were even founder (charter) members who still attend the university as graduate students and are involved at alumnae events!

Reputation is another sorority with a national philanthropy that means a lot to me. But I'll admit, after watching their video I was unsure of how much I'd thrive in my school's chapter. And, as hard as I was trying to rank based on the videos only, I couldn't help but remember that I did feel a bit awkward at their pre-rush events. I didn't want to treat pre-rush as Round One, and I did want to give these women a chance. I have friends who are members of this group at different schools. Although I'm not a legacy to anywhere, this is the sorority that I was most familiar with pre-recruitment due to my friends, so I decided to rank Reputation as a top house.

Lover was another one of my dream houses. I didn't connect with them quite as much as I did with Red, but I do have a few friends in the chapter and I really love their philanthropy and, quite superficially, their symbols. They were another diverse and close-knit group. I seemed to have a lot of similar interests and hobbies as they did.

Folklore was another group I felt kinda awkward with pre-rush, but their video was so beautiful and they all seemed so sweet! I didn't have any connection to their philanthropy, but after researching it I could see myself working with (working for?) it. So I ranked them as another #1.

Evermore was another newer group and the only non-NPC group. I cant say much more about what "non-NPC" entails bc I want to keep it anonymous, but they weren't NPHC / Multicultural either. I really liked them! I think they were the smallest chapter, which I had mixed feelings about. On one hand, I'd get close to all of the sisters, but on the other hand, it might limit my social opportunities a bit. Still, I really liked the women and what their group stood for. Most of the women in this sorority were STEM majors and they really emphasized things like study hours and academics (if you can't tell from my username I am a woman in STEM, ha). All this considered, I happily ranked Evermore as a #1 house.

By the end of the day I'd say that my true dream houses were Red, Lover, and Evermore, but I really did like every group, even the ones I ranked as a bottom, and I'd be happy to give them another chance if I were to get invited back.

By the end of Round One, most of my fears had diminished. I was feeling pretty confident that I'd find a home by the end of the week!

Since this is a throwback/retro story I'm going to try to get the rest of it up today/tomorrow so I don't look like I'm trying hard to mimic a real-time recruitment, lol. I just don't want my initial post to be too long, so I'll pause here.