I could really use some advice!

[BraveMaroon]

Originally Posted by Titchou

Do not assume that you need a white dress. If it's Ole Miss, you definitely won't since their recruitment is after Labor Day. Check out the web sites for the school's Panhellenic and also the handbook they will give/mail you. It will have pictures of appropriate dress for each day of recruitment.

Actually, a white dress is a must for just about all ritual ceremonies - easier to find one now than to scramble...

Get recs for each sorority - not just Mom's. With a few exceptions, SEC schools live and die by them. While it's possible to get into a sorority in the SEC without them, it's an easy way to separate the Girls from the Girl Scouts when there are 1000 lovely, smart, talented women going through the first round.

Now, in what is pure dumb luck - I went through at UGA back in the 90's with one rec to the house where I was a legacy (through my sister), and I still got into my favorite sorority. I'd say that makes me an exception to the rule. And while I can't say that's why I got cut pretty hard after round one, it surely didn't help.

What I'm saying is, get the recs.

And you know the rest - brush up on your conversation skills, do some fun things worth talking about over the summer, clean up your facebook, etc.

SEC Rush is brutal but it's a good experience. Don't get to caught up in tent talk, have fun, etc.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by BraveMaroon

Now, in what is pure dumb luck - I went through at UGA back in the 90's with one rec to the house where I was a legacy (through my sister), and I still got into my favorite sorority. I'd say that makes me an exception to the rule. And while I can't say that's why I got cut pretty hard after round one, it surely didn't help.

You went through prior to RFM, so it's like apples and oranges.

[33girl]

Buy a MODEST white dress (no too tight, no too short - if you get a strapless or spaghetti strap dress get a white cardigan as well) and leave the tags on it. Better safe than sorry. The worst thing that happens is you have to return a dress.

Ditto on the don't friend randoms - guys OR girls. Also, don't join or like any sorority-specific groups. If there's a "wayoutwest's school recruitment 2011" group that is OFFICIAL through the school's panhellenic, that one's fine, but better to just observe rather than participate.

If you're thinking of changing up your hair, do it now, so if it sucks it can grow back by rush time. Same if you're getting contacts or lasik or you're going to start wearing fake nails/getting fills. Give yourself time to get used to it.

[pam713]

My daughter is an active member at an SEC school and I have two California nieces. The California girls' style is quite different from our Southern style. I would make sure that your dresses are not too far above the knee and no super-short shorts. Think church appropriate. Good luck and have fun shopping!

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by pam713

Think church appropriate.

Sadly (I think, anyway) lots and lots of people have no idea what this means.

[honeychile]

^ Sadly, I agree. But these are women who are supposedly intelligent enough to get into a college. Surely they could ask someone who knows what "church appropriate" means. A teacher, for example, would know.

[33girl]

The phrase "church appropriate/worship service appropriate" regarding rush clothes needs to die in a fire for multiple reasons.

1. The PC reason - many people have never or very rarely been to a worship service of any kind and have no clue what you would wear to one. Using this phraseology makes rushees uncomfortable.

2. The practical reason #1 - "church appropriate" is different everywhere. In some churches, the majority of the congregants wear suits and dresses to work on a daily basis and this is the one day they don't have to do it. They look at suits as "everyday" and not church wear. They wear nice polos and khakis, but obviously those don't work for pref parties.

3. Practical reason #2 - "God doesn't care what you wear" has gotten interpreted by "It's OK to go to church in the jeans you wore to milk the cow in." I honestly would be ashamed to go through the Taco Bell drive thru in some of the things I see, let alone to church. Don't get me started on the teenage girls whose parents obviously think it's ok for their daughter's tits to be hanging onto the communion rail.

I would never, EVER tell someone nowadays to wear "church attire" unless we were from the same congregation and I knew what I was talking about.