An Emotional Rollercoaster Recruitment!

[birdlover29]

Hi everyone! I just had my bid day and I’m so excited to share my recruitment story. There are a lot of ups and downs, but overall I think I ended up where I belong!

The story starts last year, my freshman year of college. I went to college on the opposite side of my state at a school where I knew absolutely no one. After having a couple friends suggest I join a sorority, I decided to go through recruitment! I was absolutely ecstatic, but there was just one problem… my high school GPA. It was barely above the minimum requirement to sign up, and way under most of the sorority’s minimum requirements. I still gave it a try, though, and during the first round I fell in love with Greek life! I loved talking to all of the sorority women and I could definitely see myself being one of them. My GPA didn’t get me very far, though, and I ended up with only one house left out of 12 the next round. I can’t say I didn’t expect it, but I was still really upset by it! With advice from my rho gamma, I decided to drop so I could work on my grades and try again next recruitment. At the end of the year, I was incredibly happy with my college GPA but not so happy with my university. I transferred to a school closer to home, fell in love with my new college, and eagerly signed up for recruitment!

Since my recruitment journey was definitely an emotional rollercoaster, I decided to use famous rollercoasters as a code! (Even though I’m terrified of them)

Here are the seven sororities at my school, in no order:

Millenium Force
Top Thrill Dragster
Kingda Ka
Bizarro
Goliath
Fury 325
El Toro

Recruitment is done for me, so I’m not going to drag this story out! I’ll try to update later tonight or tomorrow if I can so stay tuned

[clemsongirl]

Excited to see where your story goes!

[amillionlights]

I'm so happy you found your home after struggling last year. I can't wait to see hear how your story goes!

[sigmagirl2000]

I'm thinking I can pinpoint the school. I can't wait to hear about how everything went for you!

[Benzgirl]

Yay. Ohio recruitment story.

[birdlover29]

DAY 1!

The first round was philanthropy round. We saw all seven sororities over three days, then after the third day, we would rank. I’d already met so many amazing girls in my rho gamma group, and now I was excited to meet the sororities!

The first sorority I saw on the first night was Kingda Ka. I already had a good impression of this sorority from pre-recruitment events, and I liked them again today! I only got to talk to one girl but she was super sweet. I don't have much more to say about them other than I really liked them and could see myself here.

Next we saw Bizarro. From outside of the door, I could hear them chanting and stomping and that made me so excited! I talked to five awesome girls and I felt like I clicked with all of them. This sorority has the highest GPA on campus and has won all kinds of awards, but all of the sisters were so sweet and down to earth! When we were watching their philanthropy video I started to tear up because it was so emotional, and I noticed a lot of the sisters were trying to hold back tears too. I could tell that they were really proud of their philanthropy and all of the hard work they did to support it. I knew immediately that this chapter was an absolute favorite.

By the time we got to El Toro, I was exhausted and I was starting to lose my voice. I don’t know if it was just my lack of energy, but I felt like my experience here was slightly awkward. The first girl I talked to didn’t really ask me a lot of questions about myself but she kept talking about herself and the chapter. The other girls couldn’t really keep a conversation and I felt like there were a lot of uncomfortable pauses. However, they’d only been on campus for a couple of years and they had definitely established themselves very well. Still, out of the three houses I went to this day, they were the house that I felt least comfortable at.

DAY 2!

First up we went to Top Thrill Dragster. I hate to admit it, but I wasn’t really excited to go here. I had met some of the girls at pre-recruitment events and they were nice, but I didn’t see myself fitting in with them. I had good conversations here and the girls were cool, but I still didn’t think I was the Dragster type.

We went to Fury 325 next and I was so excited to see them! A girl from my high school was a Fury and I really liked them. One of the girls I talked to was from my hometown which was so exciting because it’s a small town and all week nobody knew where it was! I had a personal connection with their philanthropy and I really felt like I fit in there. This chapter was another favorite.

DAY 3!

Finally the last day of philanthropy was here!

Goliath was the first house we went to and I fell in love. At sorority info nights, I met a Goliath that I really clicked with and that made this chapter an instant favorite. I met another Goliath this night that was practically my twin - we had so much in common! It was a major plus that their philanthropy was related to something my family recently went through so I felt connected to it. After this party, Goliath was my definite number one.

The very last house I went to for philanthropy round was Millenium Force. I knew a couple of girls in this chapter, including one of my best friends. In addition to that, my great aunt was in this chapter when she went to my school! My parents thought that I would join this chapter because of my best friend and my great aunt, but I wanted to go in unbiased. The girls here were really cool and laid back! They have a really close sisterhood and I know that my best friend has blossomed so much since joining Millenium Force. I liked them a lot, but they weren’t my absolute favorite.

I went to rank and was really confident about my order. It was….

Goliath
Bizarro
Fury 325
Kingda Ka
Millenium Force
Top Thrill Dragster
El Toro

Next up was house tours

[mumomm]

Great theme considering all the "ups and downs" of recruitment! Can't wait to see where you finally land!

[Wynter]

More more!

[birdlover29]

HOUSE TOURS!

I was so anxious to get my schedule for house tours! We could get invited back to up to five sororities and I crossed my fingers for Goliath and Bizarro. My parents came up to take me out to lunch this day and I told them all about how recruitment was going. I told them that I had a couple of favorites and couldn’t wait to get my schedule for the day!

After my parents left, I headed to the student center kind of early because I was so excited to find out who invited me back. My rho gamma handed me my schedule, and I anticipated seeing my top houses. Instead, I saw…

Millennium Force
El Toro
Top Thrill Dragster

I was shocked. Those were my bottom three! What happened with my favorite houses? I thought that I had such good conversations! At first, I didn’t handle the shock of my schedule that well. I shed a few tears (okay, a lot of tears...) and got some great advice from my beautiful rho gamma, and then I put on my game face and got excited. I got to see my best friend at Millennium Force, and I got to give El Toro and Top Thrill Dragster another chance!

Millenium Force was the first house I visited and I LOVED their house. It was cute and charming. A friend from high school picked me up at the door and I was so surprised to see her! I got to talk to some other sisters, including my best friend’s big, and they were all wonderful. I was definitely starting to see myself here.

I went to El Toro next. Since they’re newer on campus they don’t have a house yet, so they used one of the fraternity houses. It was so nicely decorated that you would have never guessed! My conversations here were a lot better than they were during philanthropy round, and I felt really comfortable with them! I could tell that their sisterhood is strong and they love El Toro. I might be able to see myself here.

Last was Top Thrill Dragster. It kind of seemed like nobody was that excited to come here. Other PNMs were saying that the Dragsters only invited girls back because they needed numbers and were at risk of losing their house. I'd even heard girls say that it was the "reject" chapter and that they took anyone. I tried to ignore the gossip and keep an open mind during the tour. I really liked the sister who gave me the tour, but I was paired up with another PNM and I felt like she kind of dominated the conversation. I really liked their house but I still wasn’t quite sure about them. I didn't know if I would fit in.

At the end of the night, I felt a lot better about being cut from my previous favorites. It still hurt a little bit, especially when I saw other girls going back to those houses and heard them complain about having a full schedule. But I realized that if I hadn’t gotten cut from those four houses, I might not have been able to go to the three wonderful chapters that welcomed me into their homes!

My rankings for the night were…

Millenium Force
El Toro
Top Thrill Dragster

I was hoping to pref at Millenium Force and El Toro.

[ChioLu]

Great attitude birdlover29!
Looking forward to the next update!

[Benzgirl]

Pulling for El Toro!

[KSUViolet06]

Excited to see where you end up!

[LIXO]

So glad you are looking for the good in each house! Everyone has something to give so just ignore the tent talk and think about where you feel most comfortable. So excited for you!

[birdlover29]

PREFERENCE

Finally it was the last day of recruitment! It had been a long and tiring week and I was eager to meet my new sisters, whoever they were. This round we could go back to two houses. I got my schedule in the morning and it said -

Top Thrill Dragster
Millennium Force

Okay, so El Toro didn’t ask me back, but I still had Millennium Force, which was my top choice!

At Top Thrill Dragster, the sisters did a ritual and sang us a song. It really gave me an inside look into how much these girls really love each other. Afterwards, I chatted with a sister and she completely changed my views of the Dragsters. She told me that she was so excited to pref me because of how sweet and funny her sisters said I was. When she told me that, it made me so happy and made me completely forget about the rumor I had heard earlier about them only needing members so they wouldn’t lose their house. She was so genuine and friendly and we really clicked.

But then I fell in love with Millennium Force. I got chills when the bus pulled up to the house. I was so excited to be here again! My best friend’s roommate picked me up at the door, which made me so happy! We had a great chat and I got to talk to some other amazing girls too, including my best friend and my friend from high school. I was so comfortable and happy here. I teared up during their ritual and I knew that I wanted to be a Millennium Force more than anything.

I ranked

Millennium Force
Top Thrill Dragster

It was impossible to sleep that night! Stay tuned for BID DAY!

[andthen]

Very exciting, it sounds like both houses are equally wonderful!