So You Wanna Tell Your Recruitment Story...

[AlphaFrog]

Pointers, as to not annoy the GC rush thread junkies:

1. Don't ask if we want to read it. Those that do will, and those that don't will ignore your thread. If you need that kind of reinforcement and hand holding, GC is not the place for you.
2. If it's a retro story, go ahead and type it all out in a word doc FIRST. It's ok to posts separate days in separate posts, but just post it all at once. We don't need to relive it in real time. Give us the DVR version.
3. If you refuse to follow #2, don't START a story if you don't have time in your busy social life to update it. It makes you look like a drama queen.
4. Use easy to read colors for your codes. Do it.
5. Honestly, if you're a newbie, we barely care about your story - we don't need to hear about your roomate's rush, your hallmate's rush, your new bestest4ever friend in your Gamma Chi group's rush, or your friend from back home's sister's cousin's dog groomer's half sister's rush unless they are relevant to your story.
6. This is not a fanfic site, so leave your sequin pink tights and "that thing" stories for other sites. We've gotten pretty dang good at spotting the fakes.

What did I miss?

Also, there's a good chance a thread like this exists. I may have even started it. I didn't search. I didn't feel like it. Deal with it.

[KKGCaroline]

This is where GC needs either a "like it" or "love it" button!

[amIblue?]

hearted.

[KSUViolet06]

Sidenote: Don't be all "well, to protect my anonymity, I'm going to add chapters that don't exist or make stuff up or add people who didn't exist." That doesn't make you more anonymous. It makes your story fake. And people are not really going to want to read it, because what's the point if most of it is fake?

You can be anon. without having totally made up details.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Sidenote: Don't be all "well, to protect my anonymity, I'm going to add chapters that don't exist or make stuff up or add people who didn't exist." That doesn't make you more anonymous. It makes your story fake. And people are not really going to want to read it, because what's the point if most of it is fake?

You can be anon. without having totally made up details.

Hint: Don't include how you felt as though you would not be accepted because you were the only curly-afro-redhead-with-a-lime-green-Jesus-bracelet going through recruitment for 2011.

/lane swerve

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Sidenote: Don't be all "well, to protect my anonymity, I'm going to add chapters that don't exist or make stuff up or add people who didn't exist." That doesn't make you more anonymous. It makes your story fake. And people are not really going to want to read it, because what's the point if most of it is fake?

You can be anon. without having totally made up details.

Yep. It's usually the HUGE recruitment schools that are the easiest to figure out, so if you feel you must change the amount of chapters, leave off the one that you half don't remember because you'd already been to 57865 parties that day and you never went back again after Round 1 anyway.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

What did I miss?

Don't say stuff like "This house all has women of a certain type, and I am not that type" or other stuff that is obviously code for "the Jewish house". You can say that, it's okay.

Don't get angry if your thread gets hijacked (see: discussion of unique pets**). It happens, and it probably means you should just post the next installment.

Don't ask us if we want to hear more, or to guess where you ended up, or any other stuff like that. I don't come to GC to play "choose your own adventure".

Don't expect us to ooze sympathy if you your story didn't work out because you refused to accept a bid from the least popular chapter.

**Not that the poster got angry, just that the rest of us hijacked for several pages.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Yep. It's usually the HUGE recruitment schools that are the easiest to figure out, so if you feel you must change the amount of chapters, leave off the one that you half don't remember because you'd already been to 57865 parties that day and you never went back again after Round 1 anyway.

I seem to recall a poster who started her recruitment story with the 2nd or 3rd round. She knew people might be able to figure out her school – or at least narrow it down - based on the number of chapters in the open house round.

I thought that was an excellent way to "hide" which school she attended. And it made her story a lot shorter too.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by TSteven

I seem to recall a poster who started her recruitment story with the 2nd or 3rd round. She knew people might be able to figure out her school – or at least narrow it down - based on the number of chapters in the open house round.

I thought that was an excellent way to "hide" which school she attended. And it made her story a lot shorter too.

It really doesn't matter that much if you conceal your school in this manner. If it is retro, nobody really cares that much, and if it's live, we all know what school it is based on the dates, and often many of the chapters are obvious, too. As long as you aren't saying ridiculous sh*t, nobody cares. It's best not to name the school so that the thread doesn't come up when someone googles "Illinois sorority rush" or something, but unless you are being a terrible person in your descriptions, we've seen it all around here.

[ComradesTrue]

I like it when the thread title has some sort of memorable reference. That way, if your story does wind up good and beneficial for future PNMs to read then it is easy for us to search for and find. Those that are titled "My awesome recruitment story" rarely live up to such billing.

[KKGCaroline]

Originally Posted by Blondie93

I like it when the thread title has some sort of memorable reference. That way, if your story does wind up good and beneficial for future PNMs to read then it is easy for us to search for and find. Those that are titled "My awesome recruitment story" rarely live up to such billing.

Yep I agree, however my most favourite of Recruitment Stories was Chuck Norris's Recruitment

[Sciencewoman]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

4. Use easy to read colors for your codes. Do it.

What did I miss?

Except yellow. That just looks like a blur.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

Except yellow. That just looks like a blur.

Yellow is not easy to read. Do not use yellow.

[SWTXBelle]

So much TRUTH - we need it stickied.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

So much TRUTH - we need it stickied.

It is.