Looking back, were you right?

[SMUalphachi]

Not at all. Because we have deferred recruitment, I felt like I already knew the chapters on my campus. But a pledge class has a lot to do with the culture of the entire chapter, and looking back I feel I could have fit in with probably nearly every house on my campus. Luckily we have eight good chapters, so I feel a lot of girls feel the same way as I do. I definitely ended up in the right place for me, and though I feel as if I could probably fit in at a lot of the other houses, I am in the best fit for me.

Interestingly, on one day the two top houses I preffed were two I went into saying I would never join -- one was a top chapter and one was a "lower" one. While I didn't end up in either of those houses, I am glad I had an open mind during rush. I love both of those groups now... I just love mine more!

[Soliloquy]

All of these answers are so PC.

C'mon now, not everyone had a perfect experience and fit. There are a lot of girls who depledge and go through rush again!

[honeychile]

I don't believe in living in the land of "woulda coulda shoulda", but my regrets came in my sophmore year. Most of my favorite sisters had been seniors & graduated, or were in my pledge class but didn't live in the suite. I went through a real soul searching (should I have given XYZ more of a chance? what about ABC?) at that time.

Then, we had Initiation, and I realized I was where I was meant to be all along. I've never looked back since.

And quite frankly, I think quite a few people go through the "I'm not a pledge anymore & coddled; I'm a sister with responsibilities and that's hard!" phase. More than are willing to admit it.

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by Sedrick

You Idiot! My great grandfather and father died I'm the youngest one jeez for the love of gizmos!

Maybe you should let his username/memory on GC rest in peace with him...

And hey, at least you still have your grandfather, right?

[SMUalphachi]

Originally Posted by Soliloquy

All of these answers are so PC.

C'mon now, not everyone had a perfect experience and fit. There are a lot of girls who depledge and go through rush again!

I was one of them! Even though it was a hard year, I'm glad I did because I wouldn't have been in my chapter if I hadn't. But maybe it was because of that year that I opened my mind some of the other chapters that I said I would never be in.

I certainly didn't have a perfect experience the first time. My answer would have been different if you asked me after that week.

[Low C Sharp]

Yes. If anything, I became more convinced by the stereotypes as time went by and I knew more and more people who confirmed my impression of the group.
________
HOW TO ROLL A BLUNT

[KillarneyRose]

I rushed as a first semester freshman, but I had hung around on campus my last couple of years of high school and had ironclad preconceptions about the sororities. I would only consider three of them and cut the other nine after the first round. I was, um, quite impressed with myself back in those days

Freshman and Sophmore years, I pretty much agreed with, and perpetuated, the stereotype of my sorority. But later on, I was more active on campus and got to know members of houses that weren't top notch, so to speak. I found that the girls from the "fat" house weren't all fat, the girls from the "JAPpy" (not my phrasing) house weren't all princesses and the girls from the "troll" house weren't all short and roly-poly. I even tutored one of the "brainiac" house girls in statistics.

I'm sure at one point those houses had a preponderace of girls who fit the stereotype (which is how they got stereotyped in the first place), but gradually I think the actual make-up of the house can often change. Unfortunately, it's hard to lose the stereotype.

[PiPhiERDoc]

Originally Posted by Low C Sharp

Yes. If anything, I became more convinced by the stereotypes as time went by and I knew more and more people who confirmed my impression of the group.

My thoughts EXACTLY! Its funny now to go back as an alum and see how much of this is STILL true soooo many years after my rush experience...

[Zeta13Girl]

Originally Posted by skylark

Also, just because you pledge a group with a certain image, it doesn't mean that a lot can't change in four years. Once you join, it is up to you and others in the group to determine if you'll be a part of that stereotype continuing or not.

A common quote that is said on our campus by the greek organizations is

"the letters don't make you...you make the letters" and I think that says it all right there what your talking about.


I went through informal rush and didnt know anything about the reputations, but since I've pledged I know that going by my looks (i hope this doesnt sound conceded because i dont want it to!) I fit into many other sororities because fraternity boys that don't know me always ask me if im in some other sorority than Zeta Tau Alpha, but I know trying to hold conversations with other sorority girls only my sisters really "get" my personality. which could mean that I am just crazily weird lol, but I hope not!

[Scully]

Looking back, I was definitely influenced before I rushed Junior year. My ex-boyfriend joined a fraternity when we were freshmen. And I had absolutely no intentions of going Greek. However, as time went on, I befriended sorority girls who dated his brothers. And got to know them as individuals first. Not as a collective group. Honestly, I hadn't even heard of any reputations until after I pledged! In my head, I wanted to give each of the chapters on campus a fair shot, and I really could have seen myself in one or two other groups, but I was always drawn back to the girls I was comfortable with. And AEPhi welcomed me with open arms. I have never regretted it.

[speedsters]

looking back, i couldn't see myself in either of the other chapters at my college. i went to a small college with 3 sororities and a deferred recruitmemt, where all fall semester you can get to know each of the sororities through panhel events, chapter informal events and general campus life.
i became friends with a few ZTA's through crew, and the social scene at my college and one of the girls i was friends with was recruitment chair, who suggested i attend the fall panhel day and from the fall panhel day (and the first three months of college) i knew the sorority i fit into was ZTA. during recruitment, you could really see how different the three chapters were from each other and i knew what chapter i fit into and even which pnm's were most likely to join, from events in the fall and also campus life.

i loved my collegiate experience and i don't regret one second of it

its funny, as a senior i could tell during recruitment which chapter a pnm would join, for some its obvious as they've spent all fall semester with xyz sisters or you can just tell with some girls.

and its hard to stereotype exactly what made each sorority different, but especially junior and senior years, i had many friends in the other two sororities, and one of my best friends was president of on of the other sororities. so it was a small greek campus, but friendly and noncompetitive.

[SWTXBelle]

It's been so long, it's hard to say. Some chapters I was spot-on; others, not so much. I have been amused by the stereotype of Gamma Phi on many (I'm sure not all) campuses - it is similiar enough that 2 of my sisters (from across the nation) and I correctly figured out a recruitment story code because of that stereotype of laid-back, friendly girls.

[ForeverRoses]

before I rushed (as a sophomore) I had my heart set on a chapter because of two women from my dorm that I adored. I even went to a few grab-a-dates with them when their boyfriends couldn't go. However one girl from my hs was also a member of this chapter and we never really got along. But based on the two that I loved I was set (so I thought). I even went so far as to buy a cross-stitch pattern book with their flower as the theme.

Then I went through rush, and ended up in a different house and noticed that one of the new members of the house I had wanted was a woman that I did not get along with at all.

So I grew up strong where I was planted even if it wasn't the flower garden I would have originally chosen!

[shadden]

When I went to college(a large southern campus) I knew little or nothing about sororities; kind of surprising since I grew up in a big city, and attended a large high school. I was an only child of older parents though who had not attended college, so I guess it was just never something I thought about. Right before I went to school, two of my mom's friends mentioned that their daughters had been in sororities at my campus and would do recs for me, but that really didn't mean anything to me, and I chose not to go through rush as a freshman. When my roomate and I checked in, we were in the dorm that had been used for rush, so I had a quick eye opening as at least half the girls on my hall had pledged houses. The girls next door were both in a certain house and I soon discovered that many girls from my high school had pledged there. I didn't really understand it at the time, but they rushed me informally all year - inviting me to pledge and spring formals, and I was convinced that I would pledge there as a sophomore. That spring Sigma Kappa recolonized at my campus and I rushed informally, never intending to pledge, but really loved it and ended up being a spring pledge. I have always had really good feelings about the other house though, and wonder if that is where I might have ended up had I waited until fall to pledge. I was fortunate to be on a campus where there were many houses that would have been great places to be - of course now I would never go anywhere else.

[srmom]

Long post, but on topic:

I can say (from talking to moms and now girls that have come home for the holidays) that most of the girls I know who rushed this fall are happy in their choices and feel that what was presented at Rush fits with their expectations and hopes - But one...

One very sweet and beautiful girl was rushed very hard by one of the "top" chapters at her school. After pledging, unfortunately, it has been down hill.

Downhill spiral started with a "clique" in the pledge class, it was made up of a group of girls who had known each other for years. They excluded all the other girls and kind of became the "power group" in the pledge class, which was a big bummer for the girls on the "outside". Add onto this the fact that, even though she really enjoyed rush and thought she had found the perfect house, she feels as if it was very much all "show". The actives just are not very involved with the pledges and she isn't feeling any "sisterhood".

Long story short, she's applying to transfer to another school that has her chapter, she has good friends from home that are actives in it and they, of course, rave about their experience, so she's hoping to affiliate. She is not the only new initiate who is unhappy and thinking of transferring, there are apparently a number of girls who might bail.

After talking to her and her mom, and hearing some of her concerns, I really feel like the leadership of the chapter is somewhat responsible (I hate to say blame, because they are probably doing the best they can). IMO, I believe that when the pledge class began to "splinter", something, whether it be more pledge/sister bonding events or what-have-you, should have been undertaken to try to bring the group together.

I also think that if girls, like the one I know, are so unhappy that they are transferring colleges, there is something wrong in the chapter and they might not be "top" for long if mass exoduses begin happening.