Welcome to the boards!
For the best advice about going throught recruitment, here's a check-list for you.
1) Go to your university's Greek Life web site and check out the sororities.
2) Go those sororities' national web sites, and look at those, too, to familiarize yourself with things such as where the sorority was founded and when, the colors, symbols, etc., signature events they might hold (ie: Delta Gamma's Anchor Splash, Lambda Chi Alpha Watermelon Bust-- ok, LXA is a fraternity!), and most of all their philanthropy. Each sorority has a pet project or charity they contribute to with fundraisers or awareness campaigns, both nationally and locally.
3) Enroll in recruitment and contact the office of Greek Life at your school for information about what recruitment is like, what the attire for each day is, etc. Prior to the start of recruitment, you will be assigned a recruitment counselor-- a sorority woman who has disaffiliated from her chapter during the recruitment period in order to be your objective and unbiased tour guide and source of information through the week. There will be a group of Potential New Members assigned to each counselor-- so you will get to meet a lot of women-- both sorority sisters and potential sisters! It is a great week to make new friends!
4) Contact the Alumnae Panhellenic in your area and ask to be given the contact information for the alumnae delegates of the sororities that have chapters at your school, so you can meet with the alumnae and secure a letter of recommendation. You can also visit the Alumni Involvement pages at Greek Chat-- there is a thread with postings of alumnae who are willing to write recs. A recommendation is not a guarantee of a bid, but it is the equivalent of an introduction of you prior to recruitment--- and this means your name will be remembered b/c an alumna has taken the time to recognize you to the chapter.
5) Do things to make you feel your personal best-- if you want to whiten your teeth, get a hair cut, a manicure, eyebrow wax, massage, join a gym-- do it-- just do it a little before recruitment so if you don't like your new hair color or manicure, you have time to change back. You want to feel comfortable and the best possible you! These things aren't necessary, but if they will make you feel more confident about meeting new people, go for it!
6) Figure out your recruitment wardrobe. A piece of signature, tasteful unique jewelry can make a wonderful conversation piece. Try to avoid jewelry with a possible sorority connotation (dolphin, lion, fleur de lis, etc--- another chapter might interpret that as you having your mind made up about what sorority you want to join and it not being the case at all!). For clothes-- you want comfy classy shoes and tasteful clothing-- you are dressing for women, not for boys, so leave the short hemlines and the plunging necklines for the night club scene. Dress like a lady. Also bring blotting papers b/c the southern sun can make you sweat-- drink plenty of water and stay hydrated!
7) At recruitment, make an effort to meet as many sisters as you can at each party. (As you go into each sorority house, the sorority will immediately pair you with a sister to talk to, so you're not on your own! She'll introduce you to lots of people, too.) Try to find a common bond with each sister you meet (hometown, favorite TV shows or food, major, etc.) Ask good questions like Are members required to live in the house at some point? How do you help sisters balance sorority life with school work? How long is your new member period? What was your new member period like and what is your favorite memory? Make sure to work into the conversation your interest in greek life, your academics and interests, campus involvement, hs involvement, community service history, etc. Demonstrate you have done your homework on the sorority-- IE "I understand your philantrhopy is Save the Sea Lions. I love Sea Lions; I grew up near a Sea Lion Beach. How does the chapter support Save the Sea Lions?" Then the sister can tell you about their philanthropy events.
8) Most of all, remember that recruitment is a lot like an interview process--- you are learning about the sorority and its members, and they are learning about you. Make an effort to make it less of a question-answer session and more of a conversation. Go into it thinking, "I am going to make a new friend today" and treat each sister as you would someone your best friend might introduce you to as a new member of your group of friends.
9) During recruitment, smile-- you'll maintain a look of interest by doing so and appear enthusiastic. The parties and the days can seem long, so by smiling, you keep yourself upbeat and pumped!
Good luck and please read through our Rush Forum-- there is some great advice!
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