A Taylor Swift Themed Recruitment

[STEMsister]

So, I made this account awhile ago and completely forgot about it. I joined my chapter during COVID lockdowns last fall as a Junior Transfer from my local community college and I figured I'd tell my recruitment story.

Being that it happened during the pandemic, my school did the infamous "video round" thing for Round One/Open House. Luckily, each group had several Meet The Sisters / Girls Night Out pre-recruitment events where we got to visit their tables each evening during the days before recruitment on campus (masked, outdoors) to learn a bit about the chapter, so I already had a vague idea about each sorority. Don't worry, this wasn't any type of "dirty rush" or breaking of the strict silence rules, it was merely an information thing - similar to how my school has Organization Fairs to highlight each sporting / interest-based / academic / etc. group, the Sororities also did this!

My school has seven sororities that participate in formal recruitment- Fearless, Speak Now, Red, Reputation, Lover, Folklore, and Evermore.

I liked each sorority that I met during the pre-rush events. Some I liked more than others, but there was no sorority that I hated. I started to do things like research their philanthropy and symbols, and other public info listed on their websites. I was a bit nervous going through a virtual recruitment as a junior/transfer, but I was mostly excited. I had an open mind, and I could only hope they'd have an open mind for me!

Round One - Videos. I met with my Rho Gamma group via Zoom to watch each video. Each video more or less had the same format - chapter officers and "regular" members speaking about their time in the chapter, what they loved about it, and going over basic info such as GPA and philanthropy events that they do. Cute themed "aesthetic" videos of the sisters all together as a group, almost like mini-music videos. My school has no official sorority houses, but sisters do tend to live together, and some of the videos consisted of mini room tours to show off the lettered merch that they have!

In my own video, I discussed the fact that I'm a transfer. I talked about my major and hobbies, and about what I did during community college, what I do to give back to the community, about the honor society I was in during CC, why I want to be in a sorority, etc.

We could get invited back to a total of 5 chapters after Round One, so we had 5 houses ranked as #1 and then two others that we ranked by order of preference.

After watching Fearless's video, I have to admit, I was unsure if I could see myself in that chapter. Don't get me wrong, the women were amazing, but we seemed to have a completely different "vibe". I decided to rank this chapter last. The chapter didn't seem very diverse and I just didn't know if I could find a home there.

Speak Now's video was cute. They're a smaller chapter. A good number of women that I went to HS with are in that chapter. I didn't have anything negative to say about them, but I also didn't have anything overtly positive. I ranked them second to last, meaning my top five were Red, Reputation, Lover, Folklore, and Evermore.

Red had been one of my favorite sororities pre-rush (although I tried hard NOT to judge based off the pre-rush events, of course), and they were also one of my favorites based off of their philanthropy, which is something I'm passionate about. I also loved the sound of all of the events they talked about and they seemed like a loving, welcoming, diverse, sisterhood. No doubt in mind, they were one of my top houses. It's important to note that Red is still somewhat new on campus and when I went through recruitment some Alphas were still there as seniors. There were even founder (charter) members who still attend the university as graduate students and are involved at alumnae events!

Reputation is another sorority with a national philanthropy that means a lot to me. But I'll admit, after watching their video I was unsure of how much I'd thrive in my school's chapter. And, as hard as I was trying to rank based on the videos only, I couldn't help but remember that I did feel a bit awkward at their pre-rush events. I didn't want to treat pre-rush as Round One, and I did want to give these women a chance. I have friends who are members of this group at different schools. Although I'm not a legacy to anywhere, this is the sorority that I was most familiar with pre-recruitment due to my friends, so I decided to rank Reputation as a top house.

Lover was another one of my dream houses. I didn't connect with them quite as much as I did with Red, but I do have a few friends in the chapter and I really love their philanthropy and, quite superficially, their symbols. They were another diverse and close-knit group. I seemed to have a lot of similar interests and hobbies as they did.

Folklore was another group I felt kinda awkward with pre-rush, but their video was so beautiful and they all seemed so sweet! I didn't have any connection to their philanthropy, but after researching it I could see myself working with (working for?) it. So I ranked them as another #1.

Evermore was another newer group and the only non-NPC group. I cant say much more about what "non-NPC" entails bc I want to keep it anonymous, but they weren't NPHC / Multicultural either. I really liked them! I think they were the smallest chapter, which I had mixed feelings about. On one hand, I'd get close to all of the sisters, but on the other hand, it might limit my social opportunities a bit. Still, I really liked the women and what their group stood for. Most of the women in this sorority were STEM majors and they really emphasized things like study hours and academics (if you can't tell from my username I am a woman in STEM, ha). All this considered, I happily ranked Evermore as a #1 house.

By the end of the day I'd say that my true dream houses were Red, Lover, and Evermore, but I really did like every group, even the ones I ranked as a bottom, and I'd be happy to give them another chance if I were to get invited back.

By the end of Round One, most of my fears had diminished. I was feeling pretty confident that I'd find a home by the end of the week!

Since this is a throwback/retro story I'm going to try to get the rest of it up today/tomorrow so I don't look like I'm trying hard to mimic a real-time recruitment, lol. I just don't want my initial post to be too long, so I'll pause here.

[STEMsister]

Moving on to the next day: Philanthropy Round! I'll have to be vague talking about this one 'cause obviously if I go into too much detail about the philanthropies it'll be easy to find what organization I'm talking about.

As I mentioned before, we could get invited back to 5 chapters. I woke up to find that three had invited me back. At first I was a little disappointed, but I had to remember that I was a junior and that this type of recruitment was new to all of us. AND, two of the chapters that invited me back were Red and Evermore! 2/3 of my dream houses! The other house that invited me back was Folklore.

If I can be honest, did I wish I had gotten invited back to 5 houses? Yes. But was I going to let that get me down? No! Three amazing groups of women were interested in talking philanthropy with me.

Folklore was the first group that I zoomed with. As I mentioned earlier, they were one of the groups whose philanthropy I wasn't super familiar with prior to rush. But as I got to talk to the sisters about it, as well as about the own philanthropy work I do (by myself, for completely different causes) I really grew to like this group a lot. They also asked me about what else I plan to get involved with on campus and we had a fun and brief - though slightly off topic - conversation about the environmental activist group I was planning to join. I will admit that there were a few awkward pauses and whatnot during the conversations, which had me feeling nervous.

But there was no time to beat myself up over it, because shortly after my conversation with Folklore, it was time to talk to Red! I couldn't wait to talk to this group about their philanthropy that was already dear to me. I'd worked for similar causes in the past and I had a great conversation with them about that. I really felt as if I was impressing them, and they also were impressing me!


Evermore was the last group that I talked to. I was pretty familiar with their philanthropy too, but not as much as I was with Red's philanthropy. So basically, with Red I was talking to them about something I already held dear to me and loved working with, and with Evermore I was talking to them about something that I didn't have much experience with, but it was something I DID want to gain experience with. Ha I don't know if that makes sense, but like I said, I'm trying hard to be vague.

We could get invited back to four houses for day three, sisterhood day. Since I only had three houses that day, it didn't impact me much.

Sure enough, I woke up the next day to invites from the same three houses. Awesome!

Red was my first house of the day. They started off by showing different photos of things like formals and sisterhood vacations/retreats. As I mentioned, they're a new sorority on campus, so they also talked about things that they do with their alumnae sisters, and a few women from the Alpha class talked about what it was like essentially building the chapter. They also showed videos of a couple of Big/Little reveals throughout the years. Overall it was a very cute and heartwarming round, and it solidified my love for this particular chapter even more. They then asked me about what I want in a sisterhood, why I'm rushing, etc - but in ways that were way more meaningful than the answers I gave during my Round One video. I got to talk about the friendships I already had, about how lonely I was during the lockdowns, about how I don't have any biological sisters and always wanted one. I talked about how I've been involved in women's groups since I was a kid - Girl Scouts, Girl Action Team in High School, a Women in STEM club at CC, etc. In addition to talking about their sisterhood as a whole, they also talked about other friendships they cultivate, and how they balance them with the sorority. A few of the women started up an intramural volleyball team at the school. Several women in the sorority were biological sisters or cousins (I don't mean that there, were, like, a dozen women all in the same blood family, but rather there were a handful of groups of two or three women who happened to share a bloodline). I had a great conversation with a woman whose older bio-sister was one of the original charter members, so they got to be both Sorority sisters AND familial sisters. (I know that legacies have become a bit of a controversial topic but it did warm my heart to hear that.)

Next, I had Evermore. I talked to one sister who had been a member of Evermore at a different school, then she transferred and joined this chapter. The other school actually isn't too far from the one I attend, and some of her sisters from each chapter got to know each other through her and became friends! There was another sister who designs artsy things (stickers, jewelry, etc) with letters and gives them to her sisters, and she showed off some of those things.

Last, I (virtually) headed over to Folklore. My school isn't the type of school that is known for doing sorority chants / songs, but Folklore opened this round with a song written by their Song Chair and some other sisters! It was really fun to listen to! Then, things got a bit more serious. Not, like, "serious" serious, but the conversation switched to topics such as how they kept their sisterhood strong when they couldn't see each other in person. Then things got more lighthearted again as they shared memories from when they WERE in person. I really liked them, but honestly I didn't connect to or relate to them as much as I did the other two.

We could only get invited back to two houses at Pref, so I ranked Red and Evermore as #1, although I still would've been happy with an invite from Folklore. But I'll admit - not near as happy as I would from the other two, since they were my favorite houses. Regardless, I could not wait for preference round, and virtual recruitment was going way better than I thought it would.

[ASTalumna06]

Following! Looking forward to hearing the end

[Cookiez17]

I'm excited to see what happens!

[STEMsister]

Pref night! I woke up to find an invite back to Folklore and Red. I have to admit, I was surprised and maybe a bit disappointed that Evermore dropped me. I thought I connected with them, and they with me, much better than myself and Folklore. Still, I was honored to get invited back to Folklore and Red!

I attended Red first. I've heard so many stories about PNMs crying at pref night, and obviously I was expecting it to be emotional, but I didn't expect to be one of the women who cried! But I was! Only a few sisters spoke to us all as a group, sharing very personal struggles that this chapter / their sisters helped them to overcome. Then we went into the breakout rooms and talked to sisters as individuals, and they'd share their own stories and then talk to us. I was brutally honest and talked about how much the speeches made me tear up. Things then lightened up a bit, and I talked more about how beautiful I found their sisterhood to be and once again emphasized all of the reasons I want to be in a sorority. I only got to talk to two sisters, and had long conversations with each of them, most of which involved their favorite memories of the chapter. I'm slightly ashamed to say I don't remember more of the conversation.

Folklore's pref round was pretty similar. One sister talked about a health-related hardship that the sorority helped her with, and again, I got misty. In breakout rooms I talked to one sister for the whole time, instead of two. She talked to me about her own recruitment process and talked about how she's still close with her bid day buddy, and how although she was not best friends with every single sister, she loved and cared about every single one, and they for her, and how she was lonely before she joined her chapter but now she had dozens and dozens of women who were there for her, and I talked about how that was EXACTLY what I wanted. Although I still preferred Red, I had warmed up to Folklore more and more with each round. I ultimately ranked Red as my number one and Folklore as number two, knowing that even though I'd still slightly prefer Red, I truly would be happy in either sorority.

[LouisaMay]

It sounds like a beautiful pref experience! I can't wait to hear more!

[STEMsister]

Now on to Bid Day! Sorry for dragging this out so much, it was not my original intention, I was just busy with schoolwork and couldn't go on "fun" websites.

All of Bid Day was virtual, just like all of Recruitment was, so my bid card actually came in the form of an email. The bid in question was from Red, my favorite house, and Nationally known as...



























































ALPHA SIGMA TAU!


Like I said, Bid Day was virtual, but we DID get to go and pick up Bid Day Baskets from the off-campus House that the President and her little (as well as some other sisters) lived in! That was my first time, besides from the Meet The Sisters events, where I met my Sisters in person!
Our actual bid day celebration though, was virtual, over Zoom. We all changed into our bid day shirts and wore them on the video call. I actually didn't get to meet the majority of my sisters in-person until this semester, a year later! But looking back, I wouldn't change any of this for the world. I was able to form a strong sisterhood when, technically speaking, the only people I really met face-to-face prior to Initiation were my Big, G-Big, Twin, President and her roommates, and our New Member Educator. And now, we're almost completely in-person, and I'm living with several members of my Tree! The fact that I was able to form such strong bonds with my sisters, even when I didn't get to meet them in person, means the world to me. And our first Chapter of this semester - basically the first time every single one of us was together since Initiation - was one of the most beautiful and emotional things I've ever witnessed! (The Fall that I joined, we were almost completely virtual. That Spring was a hybrid-semester, where only students with in-person labs were living on campus. This fall, however, almost a year later, we're completely back in business!)

I will forever be honored to be a part of this sisterhood, and I'm proud to say that this semester's recruitment was in person and went beautifully.

[FSUZeta]

Congratulations! Was your initiation in person or virtual?

[honeychile]

Congratulations to you and Alpha Sigma Tau!

[ASTalumna06]

Congrats! We rarely get AST endings here on Greekchat, so this was a pleasant surprise. Welcome to the sisterhood! TLAM