A long but DIFFERENT kind of story (I promise!)

[groovypq]

yes please! keep going!

The Phillies are my favorite team, so I'm hoping maybe there's still a chance for them! :-)

[agzg]

Just because we're not posting doesn't mean we're not reading!

Keep going!

[AOEforme]

yea for more updates!

[joliebelle]

I'm never able to figure out most of the schools anyway...unless I had too much time on my hands and wanted to do some research. And go Cubs!

[AXi1257]

I'm reading... and waiting!

[Katmandu]

I am reading!!! Post away!

[rcnjinterest]

Keep posting! We're reading!

[VeteranPNM]

ok so one more post for the night! AND ill post both days of the first round.... like i said im excited to share!! haha

Day 2 (again…)
So here I was again… standing in front of a sorority, anxiously awaiting to go in. This time though, I was going to be prepared for the one of a kind experience that is sorority recruitment…

Red Sox – Standing in front of Red Sox’s house was kind of like déjà vu. Just like last year with the Yankees, I thought they’re house was just so pretty from the outside! It made me want to come on in and make myself at home! I just couldn’t wait for them to open up the doors. Now the bad thing about rushing as a sophomore was that I had become familiar with the campus reputations of certain houses. But I knew I just had to ignore them (after all I witnessed a false stereotype first hand last year when I visited the Astros!) A GOOD thing about being a sophomore is I had heard how intense and loud Red Sox’s chant was. Needless to say, I was prepared and didn’t almost have a heart attack like the poor freshman next to me when the girls started cheering. I loved Red Sox’s energy! They were so upbeat and as soon as they started cheering, I was so happy I had chosen to go through recruitment again! After their little performance I talked with one sister for the rest of the time. Although I wish I would have gotten to meet a few more sisters, I loved the girl I talked with! I have to say I was a little intimidated at first, because Red Sox have a very good reputation on campus, but this girl made me feel so comfortable. Conversation was easy and I really enjoyed talking with her. Before I knew it, time was up and it was time for the next house! I really liked the Red Sox and wanted to come back for more!

Devil Rays – I had a friend who was in Devil Rays. She was a very energetic, fun loving girl, so that is what I expected to find at Devil Rays. While they weren’t as peppy as I thought they would be, they had a cute skit, which I really enjoyed. The sisters I talked to seemed down to earth and real, which I really liked. I mean they didn’t seem to be trying to hard to be overly friendly. They were just being themselves which made me feel like they were sincere, and I really liked that. The only problem I had with the Devil Rays was that our conversation was a bit forced towards the end of it—kind of ran out of things to say. Still, I would have liked to come back for more!

Royals – Ah, a house I had visited (and liked) last year! Again, when we arrived at Royals, I just gawked at house pretty their house was. We went in, and again they had a café like set up (no iced coffee though L) I wasn’t really surprised that I loved Royals like I did last year. The first girl I spoke with was awesome! We had great conversation—nothing was forced, and we didn’t run out of things to talk about. The second girl was great too. She seemed very outgoing, which I liked. Overall the girls just seemed really happy to be Royals, and it really made me want to be a Royal as well! I was REALLY hoping I would get invite back here!

Twins – Out of all the sororities on campus, this was probably the one I had heard least about. This made me skeptical. Was there nothing good to say about the Twins? Or was it good that I didn’t hear much? Usually the things you hear around campus are bad stereotypes—so did that mean that since they’re not talked about they are likeable and respected? I just didn’t know what to think! The Twins had a really cute house too! I loved their cheer and they too seemed so proud of being Twins! The two girls I met with were so genuine! They were definitely just being themselves and I felt so comfortable. It actually turns out that one of the sisters I was speaking to had just studied abroad with a girl who was my best friend growing up, who lived next door to me back home. Small world! Again, this was another house that I just felt so comfortable at, and I wanted to be asked back.

Diamondbacks – Again, this was a house I knew little about. I knew one girl in Diamondbacks and she seemed like a funny, outgoing girl. I didn’t care much for the appearance of the house, and just wanted to get inside to meet the girls. Their little skit was unfortunately unmemorable, because I’m having trouble recalling it, and the sister I met was not much better. The girl I talked to must have been nervous or something because it was so difficult to talk to her. We literally had nothing to talk about. She was very quiet, and conversation often stopped. I didn’t know what to think of Diamondbacks. On one hand I knew one sister who was very outgoing and easy to talk to, but on the other hand the sister I just met was not talkative. I left Diamondbacks not wanting to come back because of the experience.

Angels – This was the other house on campus that had the reputation of being “Barbie dolls”. Still I had to remember how I witnessed the stereotypes being proven wrong at Astros! Two girls that I graduated with were members of Angels. I didn’t know High School Angel #1 very well, and even though she was nice to me in person, she just seemed a bit conceited. However, I got along great with High School Angel #2. We were on a sports team together one year, and she was always fun and easy to get along with. The outside of the house was sooo pretty and in an awesome location. I went in, I was a bit shocked to see that I was going to be paired with HSA #1. It was a bit awkward, but I just dealt with it because we were sitting in groups of four, 2 PNM’s and 2 sisters, anyways. I wasn’t comfortable here, because like I said, HSA #1 was nice enough, but I felt like she was silently looking down on me, if that makes any sense? Anyways, I just didn’t feel right… My negative feelings were soon confirmed when we were talking about working and I said that I worked at Cold Stone, and the other sister in our group said, “OMG How are you not fat?!” Now, any other time work was brought up at other chapters, I always got a reaction like, “Oh, I LOVE Birthday Cake Remix!” or “SWEET! Can you hook me up with some free ice cream?” or something else like that, you know something light and joking around. But the fact that she made a comment relating to body image just threw up a big red flag for me. I mean I’m not too self conscious about my body, but what if I was? I don’t know, that just left a bad taste in my mouth for Angels, and I did not want to come back. I do, however, have to say, that I loved they’re song they sang before we left…it seemed like it had been part of their history for a long time, and it was really pretty… I don’t know I’m just a sucker for things with a lot of tradition (which I know is strange, but its just one of the things that really appeals to me about Greek life lol)

Mets – Finally, my cousin’s chapter! I was so excited to be making it to Mets! My cousin was sad when she found out that I dropped out before seeing her house last year, but she supported my decision. I was so eager to go inside Mets (another cute house in a great location) because I always looked up to my cousin growing up, so I thought these would be a great group of girls. They had a very cute skit, and you could tell that they just like to have fun and they don’t take themselves too seriously, which I liked. However, I didn’t have a good experience with the first sister I met. I had mentioned to her how excited I was to be at this chapter because my cousin was a member her, and she graduated a few years back. She kind of gave me a puzzled look and asked who. She didn’t know my cousin, because she had graduated before she was a member, but she still just seemed thrown off by the fact that I had mentioned my cousin. In retrospect, it might have been because I don’t think my cousin wrote me a rec that year—she had wrote me a rec the previous year, but I decided to rush kind of last minute and didn’t tell her until after rush had began, therefore causing me to go recless for Mets. Anyways, conversation with this girl wasn’t great either. She really just seemed disinterested in what I had to say. But the next two girls I met were great! They seemed like fun and they were easy to talk to. I could definitely see myself getting along with THESE two girls, but that first girl just left me puzzled about Mets. I left a bit disappointed because of my first run-in. Still because I really admire my cousin, and I truly did like the other girls I met, I wanted to come back and meet some more girls.

Nationals ­– I had made it to my friend/roommates sorority! Now, I really didn’t know what to think of Nationals. Since my good friend was in it, I ended up meeting a lot of other Nationals over freshman year. Most Nationals I met were really fun and down to earth. But there were a handful that were on the, well, flakey side. It was weird, and made me a little wary of Nationals but I guess I would have to see for myself! The girl I was paired at in Nationals didn’t really WOW me. We had the basic small talk, and while conversation was easy, I just didn’t feel any connection. They’re skit was cute, and you could definitely feel their Nationals pride. I was honestly pretty confused about Nationals at this point, but I still really want to give them a chance.

So that was day 2 of recruitment… day 3 we will be finishing up by seeing the last 10 houses, and then ranking our top 10 favorites. So far I loved it, and couldn’t wait to see where I could end up!

Day 3
Yankees – Day 3 I returned to many of the houses I had seen as a freshman. I was back at Yankees, a house I really liked last year. I was thinking I was still going to like them, but I did have one concern. Freshmen year, a girl across the hall from my dorm room was a Yankee. The first few weeks while everyone was introducing themselves and meeting each other, she was a bit rude to me and my roommate, for no real reason whatsoever. She just kinda always had this attitude like she thought she was better than us. She continued to be rude to me the whole year: for example, I’d give her a friendly wave or say hi if we were passing in the hall, and she would just BARELY look my way, give me a nod, and keep walking, nose turned up. I really don’t know what her problem was. She did however start talking to my roommate after she joined a sorority too. And wouldn’t you know it, the only thing she would talk to my roommate about was their sororities. Eh, whatever. Anyways, I was going to try to not let it bother me, especially since I had really liked Yankees the year before. So I went in, and they did a very similar skit to last years. They did a really cute dance (that my neighbor was in!) and they just had tons of energy and excitement! It made me happy to be visiting them again. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a great conversation with the sister who I talked to. We had found out we actually had some mutual friends, so we definitely did have things to talk about. But she was very…spazzy?.. lol I don’t know if that’s the right word but like I’d be talking and she’d be looking all over the room very quickly. I wouldn’t say she was acting like she was bored with me, but she was just too hyper, and I just didn’t know what to think. I left a bit disappointed, but because I really liked them last year…so I wanted to give them another chance.

Astros – Back to Astros. My time there was pleasant once again, they had a really cute song and outfits! They were easy to talk to, however, I just didn’t feel the connection with any of the girls I talked to. They were just a bit too much on the girly side for me, and I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but that’s just definitely not me. I left thinking that I probably would not want to go back to Astros.

Tigers – Tigers once again. I still really liked the house itself, but again I was unimpressed with them. The skit was nice, but nothing extra ordinary. Most of the girls I talked to were a bit shy, or we just didn’t seem to have much in common. There was one sister, however, who was very friendly and easy to talk to. Although I had a very good conversation with her, I just didn’t feel the connection once again, and left not wanting to go back.

Braves – I was hoping I would like Braves more than I did last year. I mean last year I didn’t hate them or anything, but I just would have liked to feel a stronger connection. However, I wasn’t as impressed with their skit this time. I just didn’t see their pride and spirit about being Braves like I did last year! The girl I talked to was so nice, but she just seemed to be too reserved for my taste. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go back to Braves again.

Reds – Again, I really hoped I would like Reds this time around, but my experience was way worse. The sister I was paired up with was very shy and difficult to speak with. We had quite a few awkward silences. I tried my best to come up with questions, but even when I did, she would answer them, and that was it. It was so hard to talk to her, and it just really left me with a bad impression of the Reds. So far, this had been one of the chapters I had liked the least.

Rockies – So even though I had technically visited Rockies last year, I was just going to go into their house with a clean slate since I missed some of my visit there because of my bathroom break. They had a very cute skit, and while I wasn’t in love with the outside of the house, the inside was just beautiful! Maybe it had something to do with the time of day it was and the fact that the sun was shining in the room we were in but it was just so pretty! I did like the two sisters I spoke with—I had a funny conversation with them. They were lively and also seemed to not take themselves too seriously, which was what I liked about the Mets as well. I’m not sure if there was a strong connection, but I liked what I saw, and wanted to see more!

Cubs – The Cubs had the exact same song and dance as last year which I found a little puzzling. I mean their spirit was great, but I thought they would change it up a little? I only talked to one sister, and although she was nice enough and easy to talk to I just didn’t feel a connection. Still I liked the energy and the general vibe of the house so I wouldn’t mind being invited back. And if I was cut, I wouldn’t be heartbroken.

A’s – I had two impressions of the A’s right off the back. The first was that I thought I was going to really like them. My boyfriend is in a frat, and his pledge mom (my apologies in advance to whoever cringed at that, I know that the whole pledge mom thing is discouraged but its pretty big here still) was in A’s, and it was always a good time whenever she was around! My second thought was that I really disliked the outside of the house. In fact, it was probably my least favorite. Still, I went to find out for myself. The A’s gave us a house tour, which was different cause they were the first ones to do that on the first day. I was paired up with a girl was two years older than me, and had graduated from my grade school AND high school. So we knew each other, and immediately I was like…. Hey… you went to Generic Name High School, right? And she was like… oh yeah…you too… It was just immediately weird and uncomfortable between us. Luckily there was two sisters giving two PNM’s the tour at the same time, and I enjoyed talking with the other sister. I left not being crazy about the A’s. Again, I wouldn’t mind coming back, but I wouldn’t be too upset if I didn’t.

Indians – The Indians’ house was the furthest from campus. It was weird cause it kinda in a residential neighborhood (I mean, imagine having a large sorority house next to my home! Lol!) Still the actual house was actually very pretty, but the inside felt so small! They girls did a skit and I have to say it was probably the first skit I flat out did not like. They seemed a bit into themselves if that makes sense? One of the sisters I talked to was nice and I did enjoy talking to her. However, the other was yet ANOTHER person from my grade school?! Luckily, our conversation did not get awkward. It was pleasant, but just no connection. I didn’t want to revisit the Indians.

Giants – FINALLY the last house! I was tired, but still eager to see the sisters. I recognized a girl from a class when I walked in, which surprised me because I had no idea she was in Giants. They had a very energetic skit, which I was impressed that they still had energy! The girls seemed relaxed, and like they had a strong sisterhood, but for whatever reason I didn’t feel like I fit in with them. I left not wanting to revisit the Giants.

SO I WAS FINALLY DONE WITH THAT LONG FIRST ROUND! WOO HOO!!!
Now it was time to rank my favorites… Now I do not remember the EXACT order but I’ll do my best. We were allowed to rank 10 chapters as #1, then rank the remaining 8 from 11-18. (Remember, although there are 19 chapters on campus at this time, one of them doesn’t participate in formal recruitment!)

1. Royals
1. Red Sox
1. Mets
1. Twins
1. Rockies
1. Devil Rays
1. Nationals
1. Yankees
1. Cubs
1. A’s
11. Astros
12. Giants
13. Indians
14. Angels
15. Braves
16. Tigers
17. Diamondbacks
18. Reds

By now it was Sunday, so this meant I had to wait a whole week to find out where I would be invited back to for the next week! Surprisingly, I wasn’t too nervous. I felt pretty confident I would be asked back to at least SOME of the chapters that I liked…

[MerryGPhiB]

I'm ready to hear more..... anticipating and hoping there is more soon!

[VeteranPNM]

i'm extrememly busy today so here's an update for now and i'll try to get one in later

Friday finally rolled around and we received our list of invites. I was sooooo nervous to actually read it. We could be invited back to a maximum of 10, but our Gamma Chi’s warned us that this was rare, and to not be hurt if you don’t have the full 10. Obviously, I hoped I had a good amount of chapters…you know, maybe 7 or 8? I really wanted to make sure I would be making the right decision! The rest of my invites looked like this (I’m including my original rankings to give you an idea of who asked me back).





























1. Red Sox (Technically my number 2)
1. Twins (Technically number 4)
15. Braves
16. Tigers
18. Reds

Ok so my honest feelings off the bat: only five?! At the time I was a bit disheartened to see that 3 of my 4 least favorites wanted me back. I knew I didn’t feel a connection there, so why did they want me back? My second thought: Where’s Royals?! I really felt so natural and comfortable there, I couldn’t help but wonder what went wrong… Third thought: Well I’m a sophomore. I knew this could potentially count against me during rush…(Little did I know at the time… that my not so hot GPA probably had MUCH more to do with it)…and finally after my initial shock, I snapped out of it, found my maturity again and started focusing on the positives: First of all, I really, really liked Twins and Red Sox so YAY!! I was going to be seeing them again! Red Sox was a very sought after house also, so I was so flattered that they liked me enough to want me to come back. And then I thought about the other three houses… okay there are girls who are more shy and nervous about rush in every house…hopefully I would go back and meet some great girls and my opinions would change!

Oh and a side note… my friend who was in my Gamma Chi group… she got asked back to 10 chapters, including Angels and Astros, which many people on our campus consider to be “top” two houses, even thought she had cut them! I just thought that was pretty interesting…

So on I went to Red Sox!

Red Sox – They had the FUNNIEST skit that was put on by their sophomores. It was very clever and I could tell they put a lot of work into it. After the skit, we went into different rooms of the house to meet more sisters. I was in a room with 4 PNM’s and 4 sisters. However, we only each talked with one, and unfortunately I did not click with the girl I was paired with. She must have had one too many Red Bulls because she was going about 100 miles per hour. I kept trying to ask questions about the Red Sox and just get in some general conversation but she just kept talking and talking and talking!!! I left still really liking them because they seemed to have great, fun loving personalities and I had just such a great experience the week before but I did not get my hopes up… I just knew I wasn’t going to be asked back after today’s experience.

Twins – Okay, so I still had a chance with another chapter I really liked. I was not as impressed with their skit as I was with Red Sox’s. I know these things a supposed to be goofy and fun, but it was just a bit too cheesy and predictable. I wasn’t too let down by this however. I was just eager to meet more sisters! I was led into a room with 3 PNM’s and two sisters. The two other PNM’s started the conversation and ran away with it. Again, I just could not get a word in. Finally, their philanthropy was brought up and I was really excited to learn it was something that I had already been working with! I knew I had my chance I jumped into the conversation for a little bit. *Phew* This might have saved me. After a few minutes of talking about the philanthropy, however, the focus was back on the other two. Still, I felt I had left a good impression, and thought I had a good shot of being invited back.

Tigers – The Tigers were up next. They’re skit wasn’t outstanding either. However, there was one very talented, and funny girl, and if it wasn’t for her the skit might have been a flop! I give her a lot of credit! To be honest, I wish I would have gotten the chance to speak with her! 3 PNM’s talked with 3 sisters, and again, I did not have a great time there. I felt like they were almost trying to bribe us into wanting to come back. Okay, maybe bribe was not the right word but something felt off. They kept asking what our interests were, and if someone said, “Sports” for example they were like “OH!!! Well we do this intramural and that intramural!” I don’t know, they were trying to prove that they were worth coming back to. It was just off to me for some reason.

Reds – I was not looking forward to going back into Reds after last week. Their skit was cute, I liked it’s originality…it did have a really annoying song, but I didn’t let that ruin my opinion of the skit, lol. My opinion of this house improved after meeting some more sisters. They were a lot more enthusiastic and eager to talk, which was great! They were very nice girls and it was very easy to talk to them. I definitely felt more comfortable this time around, but I just didn’t feel at home. I just didn’t know what to think of them.

Braves – Braves was last of the day. As I walked in I saw that I would be paired with the same girl from yesterday. I guess she had really felt a connection with me because her face lit up when she saw me. Although she was a really nice girl, I was hoping to meet someone new. Oh well. They had a cute skit as well, and even though their Braves pride that I saw last year was missing from the first round, it was back this round! You could tell they loved their sisterhood, but I really just didn’t feel like I fit into that sisterhood. I had more pleasant conversation with the same girl from the last round, but still, just no connection for me.

So at the end of the day we had to rank our top 6… since I only had 5 I had to rank them all lol! My opinions didn’t change much, except for my lesser favorite houses...

1. Red Sox
1. Twins
1. Reds
1. Braves
1. Tigers

[ASTalumna06]

Yea Red Sox!

And Sox fans always cheer the loudest. It just makes sense that they'd be the most energetic chapter.

[WCsweet<3]

Hey Veteran
I know how you feel about the thread not taking off, though that seems to be resolved now. Mine isn't getting that much of a response either.

Oh! and go RED SOX

[Ch2tf]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Yea Red Sox!

And Sox fans always cheer the loudest. It just makes sense that they'd be the most energetic chapter.

I can definitely attest to that. Go SOX!

[TriDPrincess]

I know they're not doing so well in your rankings but go REDS!!

[VeteranPNM]

in case you're reading this, stunnedgirl, i wont leave ya hanging! ha!




Next day was the third round, where we would be spending a longer time at each house, and doing philanthropy projects. Again, we could go back to a maximum of 6, and since I only had 5 at this point, I was hoping I would return to all 5. I was really nervous waiting to get my invites. I had loved Red Sox and Twins and knew I would accept a bid from either of the two (I was hoping that that this round and pref round would help me decide which one I would let better). As far as Reds, who were my new #3, I just didn’t feel at home. They had definitely improved in my opinion from the open house round, but there wasn’t anything special about it. I thought I wouldn’t mind learning more about them, but if I was cut, I was definitely not going to be disappointed. As for Braves and Tigers, I really felt that I knew my home was not going to be with either of them. They were nice girls, but I could tell they were not for me. There wasn’t that excitement I felt at Red Sox and Twins. I almost hoped I didn’t have to visit either of them again. So there I was waiting to get my invites…it was finally my turn, and I nervously read my invites…


















1. Reds
1. Tigers
1. Braves

Crap.

Well I knew that things had not gone well at Red Sox the day before, so I had been preparing myself to get dropped by them, even though I really, really, REALLY hoped they wouldn’t. But I had felt good about Twins, and was sooooo upset not to see them on my list. I wanted to drop out right there, but I decided that since my parties were the last 3 parties of the day, I had about 3 hours to make my decision about what I wanted to do. (I mean if I decided that these houses weren’t for me, was I really going to waste my time going to their parties?)

So after receiving my invites, I went home for a 3 hours break to weigh my options. Of the three I had left I knew that the only one I would consider giving another chance would be the Reds. Although I had a bad experience with them the first round, they had turned it around, and I had liked them a bit more. Still something was missing, so I did not have good feelings about them. As for Tigers and Braves, I just had never felt any kind of connection. They were all nice girls, but I didn’t feel like myself. I felt I had too almost, pull my personality back, because every girl I met seemed very reserved and shy. So although they were nice, what’s the point if I didn’t feel like myself when I was around them? None of the houses I had left even had my excited about recruitment. And since I felt my heart was no longer there, I decided to drop out. Now I know I’m making so many of you cringe by not giving them a chance until the very end. But like I said, I knew where my heart was...Although I still loved the idea of being in a sorority, I had just lost all excitment and passion for it...So I just decided that I would be one of those people that is just not fit for Greek life.

So again, you’re thinking, “Well, that’s a crappy ending…” But still, this is far from the end…

Oh and if you’re wondering about my friend from my Gamma Chi group—although she continued to have a full schedule and get asked back by her favorite houses, she ended up dropping out as well. She said it just wasn’t for her…