I am finally back from round one here at Iowa! I am so tired that you would not believe it!
I started my day at 6:00 am to get dressed and ready for the 7:30 meeting with my Rho Chi. We then met with her in the lobby where she passed out name cards (so the sororities know we visited their chapters) and our nametags.
For those of you who want the full specs on what I wore I am total Express/Gap girl so I wore khaki-colored stretch capris with a light blue/aqua colored sleeveless blouse. It has a collar and criss-crosses in the front for a v-neck, and ties with a little string belt. I also wore some little heels that were about two inches high, they are a tannish color, which matches my purse. I wore no watch (which was hard!) silver big link bracelet, it almost looks like a mini belt, and a wire necklace with a aqua colored square glass pendant. You would not believe how many complements I got on this, ie. "My sister has that same necklace", "I like your necklace", and my PX even said that I was color coordinated.
We all rode the campus bus over to the central meeting area, which is a dorm. We then got back on a bus to go to the houses.
I was sort of scared a little before going in, not knowing what to say, how they will do things, but my recruitment counselor gave us tips and said that the girls that rush us will be sitting on the floor, so I knew a little of what to expect.
House #1) I immediately felt at ease with these girls, any aprehension that I had faded when I shook hands with the girl that first rushed me. She was really down to earth, and the girls in this house seemed to have it togeher. I asked TONS of questions from if the girls in their house were active on campus, to how they promote scholarship. A lot of the girls in the house here had similar majors to me (pre-med) or knew someone that did. I liked this because they seemed academically-minded and it seemed like they were really dedicated. We didn't get to spend the whole 30 minutes here because we had to walk to another chapter, so I didn't get to talk that much, but I definately got a warm feeling here, and it put me at ease because it was so easy to make conversation. Good mood maker for the rest of the day.
House #2) Outside of this house the Red Bull energy drink truck drove by and gave us all FREE Red Bulls. I drank some, and then we had to go inside, so I had to take it with me. The girls in this house didn't really talk about the sorority, but like what I did etc... and it seemed like there were many gaps in conversations. It was all about what I did, and not about the sorority, and they really just talked about activities and what I did in high school and over the summer. A girl passing by stopped and complemented me on my necklace. One girl was really nice, and the other were okay. One girl dropped the Red Bull and her water on the carpet there, so I felt bad for her, because that must have been embarrassing. Here it was a litter harder to make conversation, so it was okay.
House #3) This house was nice. I went inside and I immediately liked it. They seem really laid-back, and the first girl that rushed me I talked to for a while, and we talked about tons of things about the sorority. I really like it when they talk about the sorority, and answer questions rather than just small talk. I think I impressed her (hopefully) because she told the girl that rushed me second there that I had really good questions. I talked to three girls here, and we talked about so much. All of it was about the sorority here, so I was really impressed by these ladies. The reasons they were at the sorority also were good reasons.
House #4) This house I thought the girls were very well put together. The people that rushed me, however, all asked the same thing, so I didn't really get to make my mark here. Additionally, I didn't get a chance to ask questions or hear anything about the sorority or things like that. It was basically all small talk, so I don't think that I really connected all that well because my impression of them wasn't that good. I know that that's not the whole chapter though, because the girl sitting next to me was getting questions and answers like I wanted to have. I don't think I'll be invited back here because I probably wasn't that memorable and the conversation had some uncomfortable pauses.
House #5) Complements on my shirt here. The girls here were really nice, and the girl I had was down to earth. We talked about academics and sisterhood, and they seemed really close there. We chatted a lot about the philanthropy and the dance marathon, and how they are involved in campus activities. They also have a good GPA and and seemed like real girls. The girl that rushed me even said we are a house full of real girls. It was nice here, I got to talk to nice girls, but I this time was cut short too because we had to walk somewhere again.
House #6) Complements on the necklace here. This house had some very beautiful girls. The girls here were also some of the nicest. When I walked in I was paired up with one and we talked a lot about school, and then I asked her questions about the philanthropy and such. I like their philanthropy and one girl was strong about it. There were a lot of girls with my major here, and they have a strong scholarship/academic program from what the girl that rushed me said. Also they have a super strong sisterhood, and seemed totally down to earth and just like nice girls with common interests. I really was impressed here and really enjoyed my time.
House #7) Here we went into the union and saw a presentation on the new colony here at Iowa, AEPhi. The women speaking were very good and seemed very classy. I think it would be very nice to be about to start a chapter because you would be able to decide things and it sounds very appealing, but I don't know if I would drop out of rush. Things could happen in a week though.
House #8) This chapter was very nice. I had some very good and in-depth conversations here and they seem like an honest, nice, and tight-knit group of girls. I asked about their philanthropy and one girl was very involved and dedicated to it. I also asked about academics here and they are academically minded. I also asked about their new member period and what happened in that. I really liked these girls.
House #9) This group was okay. One of the girls was really easy to talk to, and the others were good conversationalists but I kind of felt I didn't like them. They kind of were like "You don't know what our philanthropy does?" like I was dumb, and also I asked about the sisterhood there and a girl flat out told me "We have probably the best sisterhood because we don't fight. All other houses fight, and if you join there, you probably won't get along because everyone fights. I won't tell you which ones, because I'm not supposed to, but all do. I have friends that are jealous of me because my sorority gets along so well, so you don't want to go anywhere else." Okay... I thought that trash talking other chapters was taboo, so I was really not impressed with that house.
House #10) At this house I felt like the girls didn't like me. They rushed us three to two people and pairs and stuff, and that was a little awkward. They really didn't talk about their sorority, and the girl really didn't know much about the philanthropy, so we talked about animals and camping and stuff. They did most of the talking and barely asked questions, but they were very down to earth. I kind of yawned toward the end so she probably thought I was bored, but I did refrain from yawning the rest of the day.
House #11) This house was very nice. I really really felt comfortable talking with the girls here. They are really involved within the sorority and the school, and said that they have new opportunities, etc... They were involved in philanthropy heavily, which was cool and they were super down to earth and we had such easy conversations.
House #12) I was really impressed with this house. It felt warm to be here and I just smiled because I was happy to be here. I got another complement, too. Here another girl and I were rushed by one girl. I really liked this girl and her reasons for wanting to join a sorority were so real, honest, genuine. She was such a nice woman. I really liked it here and I learned a ton of stuff about the sorority, the philanthropy, alums, scholarship, and everything I wanted to know. The girl was also down to earth, so we talked about Iowa, and how we liked it, and I was totally comfortable here. The woman was so knowledgable and her reasons behind everything were so altruistic. I was really impressed and like it here, it was very nice; I felt there was a connection between me and the girl here because we talked so well.
House #13) I liked this house, and they seemed really nice and down to earth. There were a variety of girls here and they all seemed good-intentioned. One girl that rushed me said so many positive things about the philanthropy and I could tell it was very important to her and the chapter, and I liked that. They also were very involved on campus. They didn't have a lot of rules for GPA and stuff, so that kind of was the only bad thing because they didn't seem well-rounded, but they were definatley a great bunch of girls.
House #14) This was my last house and I thought that I would be tired but I wasn't. My feet killed because 12+ hours in heels is not my idea of fun. My Rho Chi was like "Aren't you dying?" but by that time my feet were just numb so it didn't matter anymore. The girl that rushed me here was very nice and she and I talked about a lot of things so I felt like I found out about a lot. There were a lot of girls sitting around in the sorority, so I could tell that the sisters were tired and wanted to be out of there, but I could understand that. Things felt a little rushed after a while, and the girl kept telling me how tired she was and that her butt was numb from sitting all day. My feet were numb! She was nice though. The girls here seemed honest, but I didn't get the impression of strong sisterhood here because something the girl said about them doing their own thing except when at sorority functions and stuff put me off. Overall, it was nice, and I was impressed here too. One thing here worried me, it seemed like a lot of girls knew other girls here from friends and school and such, and had sisters etc... in the sorority, so I felt like maybe I didn't know them as well, and because I didn't, they wouldn't like me or something, but my girls were nice.
Finally, I got back on the campus bus and had to stand and ride back to campus. I got bus sick because of standing, and I got back into my room in time to throw up
but I am better now that I am stationary!
The girls in my rush group are nice, and I made some new friends. One girl reminds me of Carrie from Sex and the City so much that her voice makes me turn my head and go is that Sarah Jessica Parker!? She kinda looks like her too, and she is funny. There are a few other girls that are cool, too, and my suitemate is rushing and seems really outgoing and cool as well.
I was nervous this morning because everyone is so drop-dead gorgeous. Some girls are like supermodels, and so beautiful! Also, people really dressed up. My PX said that we should wear jeans and tennis shoes, and of course I didn't, it was like I fashion contest though because some girls were wearing strapless sundresses and one girl was wearing a really nice buisnessy outfit that was so cute. I felt really dressed up, but the girl in the dress made me feel not so dressed up and that was good because I was a little nervous at looking "too put-together".
A lot of times they asked if I had an questions on sorority life in general and rush procedure, and sometimes I had a hard time thinking of some because I learned so much on Greek Chat!
Anyway, tomorrow I get up at 7:00 am to see who invited me back, and I will post that and where I am going. Then I go to five skit parties at 11:30!
Lauren
Fewdfreak's Rush Thread!
, and then the parties start at nine, and last till nine. We visit all 14 sororities for like a half and hour. I really liked today and thought was very informative and well-presented. The only thing that bothered me were some kind of rude PNM's, they answered their cell phones during the speaker, and kind of joked around. Also, some girls talked about drinking and partying, and how they wished that they had more parties, and they wanted to ask the sorority members about that because that was the reason they wanted to join and such. They must have been watching Sorority Life too much because that was all they thought sororities were! Hopefully they will see what they really are about.
Anybody have a 12-step program developed yet?
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