A dog-eat-dog recruitment story

[ringpop]

Round 4 (& 4.5?) — Preference & Bid Day

This is where it gets a little spicy! Strap in, folks.
I got my schedule at the beginning of Pref and was heartbroken to see:
Labrador
Newfoundland

I was so sure I’d be a Great Dane. I had been doodling their chapter’s name in the margins of my notes and daydreaming of wearing their letters. I felt so discouraged when I saw my schedule that I ended up going to my Rho Gamma and withdrawing from recruitment altogether before Pref even started. I did feel a tinge of guilt thinking about the girl I’d liked in Labrador being disappointed not to talk to me during pref, but those feelings were completely overwhelmed by how upset I was at the loss of Great Dane. I went home, took off my makeup, and cried into my roommate’s shoulder for the rest of the night.

I knew with certainty I wasn't meant to be a Newfoundland. But, truthfully, if I had continued with recruitment and ended up in Labrador at that point in time, there is a very strong possibility I would’ve found a home in their sisterhood, but just as strong of a possibility that I wouldn't have let myself fully enjoy being a member of a “low-tier” chapter even if it had been a great fit for me. I know in my heart that, when I rushed, I absolutely had the wrong mentality and an awful attitude regarding Greek life; I was still super concerned with rank, popularity and selectivity, and I'm not sure if I could've come to terms with that without going through some disappointment to learn a hard lesson about superficiality. I know lots of PNMs left that night; many of them probably had the same mentality as I did.

The next morning (Bid Day), I finally slept in a little bit after an exhausting recruitment. When I woke up, I checked my phone and saw three missed calls and a text, all from the same number, about 50 minutes before. “This is [name], the Recruitment Chair for [Great Dane]. Call me back ASAP,” the text read. I called the number back immediately. Call declined. I gave it 10 minutes (maybe they’re just busy right now, I thought) and called again. Declined again. I texted the number politely, telling them they could call me back whenever, then texted my Rho Gamma, who instantly replied and told me it was likely a snap bid. Panic started to set in: why were they declining my calls if they wanted to offer a snap bid? Did I do something wrong? Should I still go to Bid Day?

The texts/calls had come in early in the morning and I had replied around the call time for Bid Day, so PNMs hadn’t started opening their bids yet, but my Rho Gamma very sadly informed me that I was probably too late nonetheless. They might’ve only needed one or two people to fill out their pledge class, she told me, and I was just a little too late to respond. Finally, that evening, the Great Dane Recruitment Chair finally replied and told me that, yes, I had responded too late; there was only a 10-minute window for me to respond. I was doubly heartbroken. I had been so intent on going Great Dane throughout recruitment, and while not being invited back to Pref stung, it stung even more that I could have received a snap bid if I had just woken up an hour earlier that morning. And the friend that I had been in line with from day one coincidentally ended up in Great Dane; I was excited and happy for her, although I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.