It Has Begun.

[AXOrushadvisor]

I will eventually post my daughters recruitment thread sometime in the fall. In the meantime, I will fill you in on our doings leading up to the big start of recruitment. Not going to say what school she will be attending in the fall. Let’s just say it has been a journey that has had us from one end of the country and back and north and south. She was accepted to all of the schools she applied to except her long shot and was even accepted into a prestigious program of study that we also thought was a long shot. My daughter is a pretty average student on paper and not super involved like a lot of her friends are. Interesting that she got into a lot of schools they didn’t. Makes me wonder if admissions is not looking for the overachiever and is looking at more well rounded students. Don’t get me wrong, she is no dummy and works hard.

Once my daughter decided on her University we started to stalk the Chapters on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It is fun to see all the activities and events that the Chapters do. You definitely get a feel for the Chapters by the pictures they post and some are eye opening and should probably be more edited. I am continually saying keep an open mind and although you might be getting some preconceived notions you might really like the Chapter or not when you meet them. I’m a firm believer in the system for the most part. Tent talk has begun. At a graduation party a gal was talking about Chapters at a local school I’m familiar with. I had to remind her that not all she hears is true and that she should wait to form her own opinion not go by somebody else’s. We have also talked a lot about when a Chapter releases you, you move on. She said she thinks that recruitment will be a lot like club volleyball tryouts and she is probably right!

We have been thinking about clothing for several months now. We have a very good start on items and have firm outfits for Set 1 and Set 2. We are still messing with Set 3 and Preference. My daughter has a black dress that she wore for Homecoming that I think would be perfect for pref, but a lot of my friends have suggested staying away from black or white. Thoughts on this? We did have a darling eyelet dress that she wore to a different dance but my daughter is 6’ tall and the dress is looking a little on the short side to me. Is it possible she is still growing? UGH, I hope not the clothing bills are killing me. I will share more in detail on exactly what she picked for each round later, but let me just say there has been a lot of thought that has gone into it. I also did not go out and buy all new clothing just for this purpose. There have been a couple of new items, but most of the stuff she already has.

I cannot wait to share the registration process but will hold off on going into too many details because the process was interesting and different and might give away the school. The amount of information that they wanted was surprising and what they specifically wanted to know was, well, sort of weird. I actually thought perhaps it was part of a grad student project but when we got to the end it was clear it wasn’t. We had a big melt down filling out the registration. On one section they asked for the number of kids in my daughters graduating class. Easy, right? What they don’t tell you is that you have to use your arrow keys to get the number in instead of just filling in the field. We messed around with it and stared at it for 15 minutes before we finally figured it out. We were almost going to just leave it (it was populated with a 1) which gave my daughter the meltdown. The Chapters would think she was stupid ect… I think at this point she knows too much and it is scaring her.

We had finished my dd’s sorority resume some time ago but were waiting for final transcripts to come in before putting it into a PDF. About a quarter of the Chapters take the recommendations only electronically which is so much easier then hard copies. We had to make copies of pictures. I cannot tell you the last time I got a print out picture. Once we had the pictures we labeled each one in case they got separated from the resume or recommendation. Then there were thank you notes to write to each woman who was writing a rec. $30 worth of stamps later and they all went out in the mail. We had the second meltdown when my daughter thought she mailed a packet that is getting hand delivered. I had pulled it out prior to going to the post office, but was on the phone when she remembered it. My daughter commented that she didn’t know how normal people did this because she thought it was complicated. It also took us several hours to put the put the packets together. In the end, if all the rec writers actually write, we will have 2 recs for every Chapter. This part of the process took the most time securing the woman (started 6 months ago), writing the resume, labeling the pictures and addressing and stamping 2 envelopes for each Chapter. My daughter wanted to know why we wanted 2 and I told her for backup if someone didn’t write one. I’m hopeful they will all come through with a rec. I also kept a spread sheet of all 26 Chapters and who I knew was member. Depending on what University she picked I could rely on this information to obtain recommendations. Trust me I asked every one. Got a commitment from my Dental Hygienist, one from a woman at Senior BBQ the PTA puts on. You have to always ask. On a side note, I never thought about what a nice gesture it is to shoot off an e-mail to tell the Mom or PNM that the recommendation is completed. I have always done that but I’m not sure if other folks do?

[Sen's Revenge]

Do you find that most of the chapters have instagram accounts these days?

[FSUZeta]

Fabulous detail without going into detail! I hope that future PNMs and moms will look at your initial post to give them an idea of a proper timeline.

So excited for you and your daughter. Looking forward to reading more.

[AGDee]

Just curious... is your sorority represented at this school? If you don't want to answer here, shoot me a PM

[WCsweet<3]

Originally Posted by AXOrushadvisor

I also kept a spread sheet of all 26 Chapters and who I knew was member. Depending on what University she picked I could rely on this information to obtain recommendations. Trust me I asked every one. Got a commitment from my Dental Hygienist, one from a woman at Senior BBQ the PTA puts on. You have to always ask.

I really like this idea. If this was pinterest, I'd put it on my future kids board.

Originally Posted by AXOrushadvisor

On a side note, I never thought about what a nice gesture it is to shoot off an e-mail to tell the Mom or PNM that the recommendation is completed. I have always done that but I’m not sure if other folks do?

I do, but when I went through recruitment, I think only a couple of the women sent a confirmation. I know more sent letters than told me they had.

[NutBrnHair]

I'm excited!

And I would definitely have her go with the black dress for pref. I think it's more important to go with something she knows she feels comfortable in and looks good in, rather than buy something new or wear the other dress that looks too short.

[HQWest]

About the black dress - if it is her favorite dress, I would say go with it. If you are not sure, this is really school specific. Some of the bigger schools say the LBD is perfect, other schools have in their recommended "what-to-wear" pamphlet to stay away from black or white because the girls in the chapter will very likely be wearing all black or all white for prefs. A color would make you stand out more, and it would help members remember you when making final invitation decisions.

Here is Auburn's very thorough "what-to-wear"
https://fp.auburn.edu/greek/schedule.htm

Alabama's and Texas A&M are similar --
http://www.uapanhellenic.com/index.p...d=14&Itemid=31
http://cpc.tamu.edu/node/58

But Georgia's is a little vague ?http://panhellenic.uga.edu/fall-2013-recruitment.html
"What do I wear?
Casual skirts and dresses are appropriate for rounds one and three. Round two will be t-shirt day. All the participants will wear their recruitment t-shirt. Cool, lightweight fabrics are a necessity because of the hot weather. You will be walking a lot so comfortable footwear is essential. Heels are discouraged for Round 1-3. Nice dresses, skirts or pants that you would wear to a wedding or religious service are appropriate for Pref Round. Pref events are more formal, therefore many women choose to wear black dresses and heels although please note that this is not a requirement. The most important thing during all rounds is to make sure you feel comfortable."
I think they are recommending an LBD for prefs.

If you have a nice black dress - you should still take it with you. You might need it later for rituals or a party.

[Titchou]

I keep a running list of contacts for all 26 groups....you just never know when you'll need it.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by AXOrushadvisor

My daughter has a black dress that she wore for Homecoming that I think would be perfect for pref, but a lot of my friends have suggested staying away from black or white. Thoughts on this?

Having been through a pretty big recruitment, by the time pref rolls around, I don't think women are "getting lost in the crowd", so to speak. In the first round, when a rusher might meet 50 women (all wearing the same t-shirt) in a single day, a unique accessory or something might help job someone's memory, but by pref, nobody's going to forget a PNM because she was wearing black.

[Kevin]

I read all of the OP in the name of morbid curiosity. I'm stunned as to how much work goes into that application process. We hear bits and pieces and I'm sure I've forgotten some equally good threads which have occurred over the years, but now I can see why some parents have simply hired consultants to get their kids into sororities.

[barbino]

I'm curious: What color is the eyelet dress; and how "dressy" is it? Is it so short that she can't wear it with flats for an earlier round?

Also; I too second wearing the black dress. It's classic. I suggest a pair of bright color heels with the LBD and some piece of bright/unusual jewelry so that she could be remembered for that. She could also then wear both heels & jewelry later in school. She'd have some nice items for special events. Good luck to you & your daughter!

[AXOrushadvisor]

I'll try to answer all these questions. Sen's yes surprisingly, almost all the groups at the University I volunteer at and the one dd is going to have Instagrams.

AGDee, I am going to keep that information to myself right now. Of the schools that she was accepted to some had AXO and some didn't.

Kevin my husband is a SN and he thinks this whole thing is NUTS. He keeps telling me how much easier it is doing it the Fraternity way. And haha on your morbid curiosity it is like a train wreck.

For Barbino and all others. The eyelet dress is white and was picked specifically for the dance and to be worn again for set 3. It is darling and she would wear it with flats. She is not going to pull out the heals until pref because of her height. I agree that the black dress is always classic and it looks darling on her. She also has a very cute and memorable pair of shoes she can wear with it.

[FSUZeta]

Perhaps the white dress could be used as her ritual dress if her sorority requires white for rituals.

[amIblue?]

So excited for your daughter! I wish her all the best (and you too)! I know you'll keep us posted, and I'm looking forward to hearing her story.

[Sciencewoman]

Originally Posted by amIblue?

So excited for your daughter! I wish her all the best (and you too)! I know you'll keep us posted, and I'm looking forward to hearing her story.

Me, too!