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Ok, so continuing on...
I was extremely naive going into rush. I just had no idea how competitive it was at all. Because my campus has 19 chapters, I figured that if anything, you're almost guarenteed a bid somewhere. What was the competition based on? I really had no idea. Recommendations were completely optional and so I thought, ok why bother? If I could do it over again, I definitely would've put some thought into recommendations. I also thought that because I was from somewhere different, this would make me more unique. It turns out, this probably hurt me in some places.
My Rho Gamma was really sweet but from the start, she seemed a bit disorganized. She went over how rush worked and everything, but I kind of felt she could've been more thorough. She did explain the possibility of not receiving a bid. I was shocked at that idea. Wow, I thought, you probably have to be severely awkward and weird NOT to get a bid.
So the first party rolled around and our campus looked crazy-mobs of girls all dressed in black recruitment shirts and jeans coming in and out of the houses. Also, it was unseasonably FREEZING this weekend. It was over 2 days- 10 houses on Day 1, 9 houses on Day 2.
I'm naming the chapters after some desserts I found in a cookbook because I'm writing this while my blueberry cobbler is in the oven! The chapters are:
Blueberry Cobbler
Peach Pandowdy
Strawberry Shortcake
Rhubarb Crumble
Cranberry Grunt
Plum Kuchen
Apple Crisp
Blackberry Pie
Carrot Cake
Banana Bread
Boston Cream Pie
Frozen Fudge Cake
Indian Pudding
Lemon Tart
Oreo Cookie Cake
Gingerbread Muffin
Raspberry Brownie
Icebox Cookie
Hazlenut Macaroon
Blueberry Cobbler- This was my very first house of the day. Because it was very close to my dorm, I could walked instead of taking the bus. I wanted to be early but since the walk only took a few minutes, I saw I was the first person there! I waited a few minutes and a girl came out of the house and asked if I was a Rho Gamma. "Um, nope," I responded "I'm, um, just really early." After about 15 minutes, the Rho Gammas and more people started showing up. But, wow, embarassing! My RG forgot to mention the pre-yelling and screaming the houses do before opening their doors and I nearly jumped out of skin.
But once inside, I relaxed. Blueberry Cobbler was on a street where the most "top tier houses" were but Blueberry Cobbler, the least of the top-tier. I was trying to ignore stereotypes and keep an open-mind but because rush is deferred, I had heard so many things about houses back in the fall. I thought the girls were pretty and cute, but natural. It seemed somewhat diverse but very in-state. The second girl I talked to had the same major as me and I loved talking to her. We didn't get a tour of this house but the houses on the street were absolutely stunning and the formal room where I was rushed was gorgeous. I liked Blueberry Cobbler a lot, but since it was my first house, I didn't have much to base it on.
Peach Pandowdy-This house was considered the most top tier on campus. The girls were known to be gorgeous, rich, and partiers. The actual house was probably the most beautiful on campus but sadly, I didn't get a tour. It is rumoured that their bedrooms are tiny, so maybe that's why. The girls yelled even louder than at Blueberry Cobbler and when we were met at the door, they led us into their formal living room, sat us down, and had us watch them yell cheers. They were certainly spirited but it was so awkward just sitting on the ground watching them cheer for a good 5 minutes. The girl who picked me up at the door then found me and we talked. I didn't think she was stunningly beautiful but there definitely were girls who were. We chatted but she didn't seem all that friendly and she didn't really focus on what I was saying; she seemed to be conspiciously glancing at the labels on my coat and purse. The next girl was much more friendlier but very fake. I left Peach Pandowdy somewhat disappointed to discover the stereotypes seemed true.
Strawberry Shortcake-This house wasn't on the street where the top tier ones were located but the physical house was still amazingly grand. All I knew about this house was it had the top GPA. My best friend Katie had been invited to a pre-recruitment formal dinner there and when I asked her about it she said "I couldn't figure it out. Some girls were gorgeous and others look they were ran over by the ugly truck." Um, not exactly what I wanted to know. Obviously, I was not basing any opinion on that but I thought about her crude comment entering the house. The girls here had a preppy look, shirts all tucked in and everyone wearing pearls. I was double rushed here with a girl from New York, and as we talked to the girls, we kept talking to each other a lot as well. Not the best ettiquette but I really liked her and was glad to make a friend in my rush group. We talked to one girl from a tiny, rural town who told us that people drove tractors to school in her town. We were in shock because both of us were from huge cities. Strawberry Shortcake bumped really fast, and I "talked" to about 7 different girls, but very quick conversations. Strawberry Shortcake was diverse (they did seem very smart though) but overall, the house seemed sort of blah.
Rhubarb Crumble- On every campus, there is a struggling chapter trying so so hard to recruit, still knowing they won't meet quota. This was Rhubarb Crumble. Before going in, girls were making remarks about how this was " the weird house". I had heard this but really wanted to go in with an open mind. As we walked in, I saw some women cheering that were a lot older, obviously alums. I was triple rushed here. The house was beautiful and every girl had a single room because of the low number of girls in the house. Unfortunately, I found them to be very awkward. Our first girl asked ridiculous questions like "Who would star in the movie of your life?"- not even major, hometown, etc. The next girl seemed to be trying too hard saying she partied all the time and what bars were her favorites but then adding- "oh oops, I can't really talk about this, right?" I tried to be polite even though I felt uncomfortable but the girls I was being rushed with were downright rude. They refused to answer questions and looked around the room. I felt so bad for Rhubarb Crumble but I have to admit, when it was time to go, I was as relieved as everyone else.
Cranberry Grunt- I knew little about this house but for some reason, I liked it before even entering it. I was met by a girl with an eyebrow ring and this made me happy, I'm not really sure why but maybe because it wasn't a "typical" sorority girl thing to have. I didn't really get a chance to talk to her because she was giving me a tour of the house-again, sooo beautiful but very big because this was one of the largest chapters. It seemed to have such a mix of girls-I had heard it was kind of a "random" house. But the second girl I talked to was from my home state! We had even gone to camp together...so weird and she said there were other Northerners as well. As we were walking out I heard a lot of girls saying they didn't have a good experience but I really liked Cranberry Grunt.
Plum Kuchen- This was another big chapter on campus with of course, a stunning house (I know I keep saying this but to this day, I still can't pick a prettiest house on campus!) They had ran in article the previous fall about the renovations done on Plum Kuchen. The first girl I talked to was so warm and friendly-it was only the first round but nothing was awkward, we just bonded. I was sad to stop talking to her and unfortunately, a really weird girl started talking to me who gave off just the opposite vibe. The house as a whole seemed the same way, some really down-to-earth girls and some really awkward ones. But I enjoyed the first girl so much so I hoped to go back to get another look.
Apple Crisp-I had gone to a formal dinner here before recruitment because a recent alum was my mom's friend daughter (had I been smart about recommendations, I would've had her write me one). I had enjoyed the dinner and found the girls to be friendly and cute, but at the dinner a lot of talk was about where to party that night, where to pregame, who was going to get the most drunk. I remember thinking "wow, these girls are fun!" The house had an unusual shape with a pretty courtyard but the rooms were absolutely tiny. Their colors are my favorite though and seeing them made me really like the house (sounds weird, but seriously, I LOVE these colors). The first girl I talked to had the most monotone voice and sounded so bored but seemed to really like me. We talked about music and we both like jambands and so she said "Oh, so you smoke weed. We're allowed to smoke in the house...we basically run it like a frat." Now, I was weirded out. It was so weird that she just assumed I smoke and second, that conversation was SO inappropiate. At some point she mentioned "I'd think you'd fit in well here." What??? The second girl and I had a very fake, somewhat awkward conversation. I had no idea what to think about Apple Crisp. I had heard it was a good house. Did I just manage to end up with the weirdo? And I knew my mom's friend daughter had a very positive experience here.
Blackberry Pie-I had heard that this house was highest among GPAs, along with with Strawberry Shortcake. I was met by this hilarious girl-she messed up the route of the tour she gave me and was so funny about it-"Um, I don't think I'm supposed to show you this part of the house...just don't tell anyone." She had a tongue ring, again for some reason piercings=cool girl to me. We had such a good time talking to each other, it was the first time that day that I felt comfortable to crack some jokes. The next girl and I talked about languages and studying abroad. When I told her I was taking Hebrew, she said "Now is that still spoken?" I was a little taken aback. Highest GPA and you ask that? This house seemed a little blah and the girls weren't very energetic but I loved my time talking to the funny girl.
Carrot Cake- These girls were so loud and energetic. Their actual house was pretty but kind of austere and bleak-maybe because it was new. This was considered a top-tier house and the girls were gorgeous-not one seemed to look unpolished. My conversations here were really smooth and I felt really comfortable, but there was something telling me I wouldn't fit very well here.
Banana Bread- So as I explained in my first post, this was one of the houses some people thought I'd end up in. I'll explain more later. I knew a few girls in this chapter, attended two pre-recruitment formal dinners here, and attended their philanthropy. The actual house was not at all aesthetically pleasing like most of the others, it was smaller, and it had a more "lived-in" look, not dollhouse perfect like others I had seen. My conversations were okay, but since it was the last house of the evening, I was exhausted and I didn't really care that it showed. The girls were very warm though. My best friend "Katie"'s mom had been a Banana Bread at this chapter and her mom was constantly telling her that she would be a Banana Bread. Katie was going to make sure she wasn't a Banana Bread just because her mother always said it. I obviously was not enamored by any means with Banana Bread and liked other houses I'd seen way more but it wasn't as bad as a house as I had heard rumours make it out to be.
So that was my first day of the first round. I was exhausted, my feet ached, and I had lost my favorite scarf at one of the houses. I had to go back and sleep to get ready for the deluge the next day!
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