My (Slightly Old!) Recruitment Story

[MyPNMStory]

Hello GC'ers!

I'm usually active on this site under a different account, but I wanted to switch it up for my story to keep it anonymous. I went through recruitment a couple of years ago at a school with a big Greek Life. ... As always, if you think you know the school and want to guess, feel free to PM me, but please don't post it to the board!

Like most of the others who post here, I chose a theme of code names for myself, other people involved, and the houses themselves. The theme I chose is Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series! My school had 17 NPC sororities, and they will be referred to as:

Frank
Jamie
Claire
Brianna
Jonathan
Colum
Dougall
Geilie
Jocasta
Laoghaire
Roger
Rupert
Hamish
Brian
Jenny
Ian
Margaret

NOTE: The names have randomly been chosen to represent sororities, and any character traits in no way intentionally reflect traits or my perception of the sorority!

[DZsis&mom]

Yippeeeee .... A Recruitment Story!!!!!

Ohhhh... I vote for Margaret.. I want Margaret to win!!!

[FSUZeta]

cool!

[MyPNMStory]

Finally it was time to move into residence and begin my University experience! After moving into my room, I wandered over to meet my Rho Gammas (who I will call A, B, and C) and my RG group. I was a little nervous meeting everyone, after all, these girls were my competition!, but they were all very friendly. We were told what to expect and what was/was not appropriate forrecrutiment, before being told to meet back at Castle Leoch in the morning to find out which houses we would be visiting that day (Our Open House day actually took place over two days).

Back in the residence hall, I took a couple of hours to get to know some of the other girls staying on my floor. One of them was in my RG group, but none of the others were. Since we had an early start, I soon headed off to bed.

Before I go any further, I feel I should mention that Greek Life is a big deal in my family. My mother was a Frank, her two sisters were each a Jenny and an Ian, and my older sister was a Roger (she was a Junior at another school). I also had at least one recommendation for each of the groups on my campus.*

The next morning I went over to Castle Leoch with the girl from my floor and RG group, who will be known from now on as Lizzie. We met up with the rest of our group, and found out where we would be headed that day. Our group would be headed to nine houses that day! *Our schedule looked kind of like this:

Jamie
Claire
Brianna
Geilie
Laoghaire
Roger
BREAK
Ian
Hamish
Brian

We were told that we would be spending 20minutes at each house and that this was just an opportunity to get to meet all of the different houses on campus. Coming from out of state, I knew of many of the sororities' reputations at the National level (I'd done my research!) but I was looking forward to figuring out what each group was like on the local level.*

First stop was Jamie. This house was gorgeous! As we lined up outside, I remember being soo nervous, especially when the banging started inside. This is it, I thought. The girls burst through the door shouting a cheer, and they all looked so well-put together and polished. We went inside and I started off talking to this girl who was really sweet. All we really chatted about was what I had done over the summer, what I had been involved with through high school, what I thought of residence, etc. But she totally put me at ease and made me feel comfortable. Before I knew it, the 20 minutes were up!*
As I walked outside, I remember being worried that's had only spoken with the one girl - would that hurt me? I'd liked the chapter and really felt comfortable there.

We arrived at Claire a couple of minutes later. This time I was expecting the banging and cheering, so I wasn't so shocked. We went inside, and again, the house was gorgeous! This house must have been a little smaller, because we were assigned two PNMs per active here. I quickly decided that I was *not* a fan of this .. I didn't really care what this other PNM had done with her summer (I was selfish, I know..) But then I decided to make the most of it - I tried tie in things that she said to bring the conversation back around to me, but then the active would ask her another question. I felt that chances of me returning here were pretty slim, when we were "bumped" to another girl. This girl was really nice, and she did an awesome job of making both of us feel welcome without either of us feeling left out of the conversation. I left this house feeling so-so.*

Next we moved on to Brianna. I felt a little out of place at this house - all the girls were really tall, and I was constantly looking up to everyone I was talking to. I talked with three girls here, and although the conversations really seemed to flow, I still didn't like this house quite as much as Jamie.*

At this point, I was already starting to get tired, only three houses in. My feet were sore from walking, my cheeks hurt from smiling, and I was getting tired of the same questions with every single girl. We arrived at Geilie. Based on my research on the websites, I expected this house to be one of my favorites, and I was not disappointed. I spoke to only two girls here, but there were no awkward pauses in the conversation, it really seemed to flow. The second girl I spoke to even asked if I had any questions, so I asked a bit about their local philanthropy and their sisterhood events, and she was practically glowing while she was talking about it, which was really good to see. before I knew it, it was time to move on again.*

Laoghaire was next. I had mixed feelings going in - based on their National website, their philanthropy was to one I felt as strongly about as some of the others, but they seemed to have a really strong emphasis on sisterhood. I was eager to learn more about this group, and was a little disappointed that none of the three girls I spoke to gave me a chance to ask any questions of my own. I wanted to have the chance to come back and find out more about this group, but knew I would not be heartbroken if it wasn't in the cards.*

Last up before lunch was Roger, the first of my legacy houses. My sister was a Roger at her school, so I was very excited to see how this chapter compared to what she had told me of her experience. The first girl I spoke to asked me about what I knew about Roger through my sister. It was really nice to talk about something other than my summer and my grades at this point! A second girl came over and introduced herself, asked me a few generic questions, and then explained that she was the Recruitment Chair, and took me over to meet the President. I was surprised to see how "ordinary" the President looked next to the other girls I had met, but glad to see that their criteria didn't seem to be as "fit the mold" as some of the others. I couldn't wait to come back here.*

Finally, it was lunch time! Time to take off my shoes, sit down, eat, and touch up my hair and makeup! I was already exhausted., and not looking forward to trekking around to three more houses. I took some time to "rank" the houses I had been to so far, with notes to help me remember which house was which - and I was already getting confused after only six houses! How was I ever going to choose just one?!

After a (not long enough!) lunch break, we made our way over to Ian. My aunt had been an Ian,so I was looking forward to seeing how the chapter stacked up compared to my research and what my aunt had told me about her chapter. I was impressed with what I saw, but not blown away. The first girl I talked to seemed to be really tired (at this point so was I, it had been a long day for everyone) so I tried not to take it personally. The second girl was really bubbly, but it was hard to get a word in edgewise! I felt like this was a great chapter, but maybe not the one for me..

Next was Hamish. Based on my research, this was one of the smaller sororities, so I was concerned that in terms of networking post-graduation that this house wouldn't have as much to offer. Then I went inside and felt instantly at home. All of the girls seemed so genuine, and all of my conversations seemed to flow. I felt like these girls really wanted to get to know me. I fell in love with this house.*

Last stop of the day (finally!) was Brian. The house itself, and all of the actives, were drop dead gorgeous. I spoke to four girls here, all but one of whom were super-friendly, and I remember thinking "this is exactly the kind of girl I want to be!" I don't really remember much else from this visit, except that I was ready to just go home and sleep!

After Brian, I headed back to my room, and took some time to finish my rankings from the day (even though we didn't rank until we were done all the tours) to help me figure out some kind of order, thinking I would just "slot in" the other houses the next day after visiting them. After day one, my order of preferred houses was:

Hamish
Roger
Jamie
Brian
Brianna
Geilie
Claire
Laoghaire
Ian

[MyPNMStory]

I'm not sure why all the asterisks are popping up in my text, so please ignore them!

[MyPNMStory]

Originally Posted by DZsis&mom

Yippeeeee .... A Recruitment Story!!!!!

Haha, yeah! I thought I would post one to get everyone ready for upcoming winter recruitment!

[ColdInCanada11]

Nice code choice, I love Outlander!

[MyPNMStory]

Thought I would finish off the Open House day for y'all, but then that'll be all til tomorrow, I can't spend my whole NYE workin on this :P hope y'all have a safe and blessed new years! PanhelLove <3

Day 2:
After way too short of a night, where many other PNMs had already begun the "tent talk" (which I tried not to listen to, but it's hard when it's all that's around you!), it was time for day 2.*
Our schedule for the day read:*

Frank
Margaret
Dougall
BREAK
Rupert
Jonathan
Colum
Jenny
Jocasta

So, our first stop was Frank. My mum had been a Frank, so I knew she would be hoping I would love it. I tried so hard to fall in love with this house, but I just couldn't do it. I liked it, but I didn't love it. The girls I talked to seemed kind of .. bland I guess. I was so disappointed, but I knew I would probably be going back at least once more,so it would get a second chance. I figured this house would be scored around a 7/10 for me.*

Next we went to Margaret. This was a house where I felt very connected to their philanthropy, and hoped I would feel as connected with the sisters. The actives at this house were the most varied yet. Some were tall, some were not, some were blonde, many were not ... It seemed like this was the kind of house where anyone could find a niche, and I really liked that. I spoke to I think three girls at this house, and I couldn't wait to come back and meet some more girls.*

After Margaret was Dougall. Here I could really tell how genuinely all the sisters cared about each other when watching them interact. I wasn't sure if this was because it was a smaller chapter, so everyone knew each other better, or if they did more sisterhood events; but I knew I wanted to find out! Their philanthropy is also one that I have a personal "bond" with, so I really realllly wanted to back here.*

We had a quick break, time to rest and freshen up, (and again, make some notes about the houses I had visited) and then we were off to Rupert. I didn't really feel a bond with their philanthropy, but it wasn't one I felt disconnected from either. Here, again, we were paired up 2 PNMs per active. Again, I was not thrilled. Leaving this house, I knew I would be ok either going back or not, I had other houses I liked better, but if they wanted to invite me back, I would go with an open mind.*

We hurried over to Jonathan, and this house was huge! Not just the building itself, but the number of girls too. It was so overwhelming! The good thing about having a lot of actives is that each of the PNMs gets to meet a lot of girls, but I felt like we were getting bumped too often, almost as soon as we had found something beyond the basic questions to chat about. I knew that this would be one of the popular houses, so I didn't expect to be asked back,and that was fine by me.*

After *Jonathan was Colum, and this house I loved everything about going in. Their colors, their philanthropy, everything. I really enjoyed talking to all of the girls, and again I had that feeling of "these are exactly the kind of girl I want to be!"*

Next was Jenny, another house that one of my aunts had been a member of. This was also another house that I loved their colors, their open motto, their philanthropy, everything. I spoke to three girls here, and they were all so different to each other. One I spoke with about books we'd read recently, and I was glad that there was less emphasis on the basic questions we'd been asked everywhere else. I guess they knew we would be sick of it,and were probably getting sick of it themselves! I knew that this house was one of my top choices!*

Last house to visit was Jocasta. I don't remember too much about this house, except that the girls seemed friendly but tired, and I couldn't help but feel like they just wanted us out of their house ... I hoped I would get the chance to make a second impression, but knew I wouldn't be upset either way.*

Based on just my day 2 visits, my list went something like:*

Jenny
Dougall
Colum
Margaret
Frank
Jonathan
Jocasta
Rupert

Now came the hard part. My group had to return to Castle Leoch and rank all of the chapters. Next round is a maximum of 12 Chapters, so I put these as the ones I most wanted to go to again:*

Hamish
Roger
Jenny
Jamie
Dougall
Brian
Colum
Margaret
Frank
Brianna
Geilie
Claire

And the rest as the ones I would rather not return to:*
Jonathan
Laoghaire
Ian
Jocasta
Rupert

After submitting my rankings, I returned to silence with Lizzie. Now,here is where we started giving our opinions on the chapters. We had agreed to not influence each other at all until we had submitted our rankings. I learned that she had loved*Laoghaire and*Ian and hated*Jamie! Funny how the two of us had such opposite opinions and yet got along so well together!

The next day would be House Tours, with a max. Of 12 houses each. I headed to bed early-ish, knowing I needed to rest and would be up early in the morning.*

[AGDCanada11]

Ooooh, a recruitment story!! I love these since I never had a big recruitment lol

Originally Posted by ColdInCanada11

Nice code choice, I love Outlander!

I love the series too!

[IrishLake]

Ditto! I'm a huge Outlander fan, and a big Roger fan!

[ASUADPi]

Of course I'm rooting on my name, Brianna.
I am also rooting on Hamish, my dog Ginger's, doggie brother.

[Low C Sharp]

Hoping for more of this one!

[FleurGirl]

Loving this story... Can't wait to read more!

[MyPNMStory]

(Day 3) Round 2: House Tours

The next morning I woke up really early, and rushed over to meet my Rho Gamma and get my schedule. We could have up to 12 groups. This round was House Tours, and each roung was 20 minutes long. I ripped it open to see:
Frank
Dougall
Ian
BREAK
Roger
Rupert
Claire
BREAK
Laoghaire
Hamish
Jenny
Margaret
The first think I noticed us that I only had ten invitations out of twelve. I was a little disappointed because this meant that seven houses had cut me after the first day. That’s almost half! Then I realized that Lizzie had only seven invitations, and some of the other girls only had four!! Frank, Ian, Roger, and Jenny I had expected to see – after all, I had family involved with each of them, and 3-4 recs for each of them. But Rupert and Laoghaire?! I had ranked both of those as ones I would rather not see again, yet I was forced to go again anyways!!
I quickly made my way over to Frank. I was quite excited to come back here, since I hadn’t really loved it the day before, and I was hoping to see something to change my mind. Plus, this had been my mother’s sorority. I had an active I hadn’t met yet show me around. She was awesome at keeping the conversation, and the entire house was absolutely beautiful. Each room had its own color scheme and personality, and there were pictures of the sisters together in frames and on the walls in almost every bedroom. As we walked through the house, we talked about a lot of random things, including sports, school, and places we have travelled. I was so pleased to have returned here, I liked it a lot more than I had the day before.

Next, I went on to Dougall. I was really excited to come back here since they seemed like they had an amazing sisterhood, and I felt really connected to their philanthropy. I had one of the girls I had spent time with the day before, so it was nice to see a familiar face. She came up and told me how excited she was to see me back, so I felt like she truly remembered me and wanted to get to know me better. Again, this house was gorgeous, but some of the bedrooms were a little too … pink and girly for my liking. The girl who showed me around, who I will call Faith, introduced me to many of her sisters as we passed them, which made me feel like she was showing me off to her sisters. I left this house so excited to come back the next day.
Next up was Ian. I was a little sceptical about coming back here, since I hadn’t really enjoyed it on my first visit; but then again, it had been the last house I visited on Day 1. Going back, this house was huge. I don’t just mean physically, I mean the chapter itself was enormous. I was paired up with the second girl I had spoken with on Day 1, a really bubbly girl. She seemed a lot more reserved today – maybe she had just been exhausted too? This house itself was … alright. I didn’t feel a strong connection with either the girl showing me around (who seemed more interested in showing off her house than talking to me) or the house itself. “Oh well,” I thought, “at least I gave it a second try.”
Finally, it was time for a break! I wanted to make sure I looked perfect going into Roger, so I spent time touching up my hair and makeup.
Finally, on to Roger! My sister was a Roger at her school, and I had fallen in love with this group myself on Day 1. Here again, I got shown around the house by a girl I had already met. The house, although once again gorgeous, was not my main focus here; I was more interested in having a conversation with the active, telling her how happy I was to be invited back to Roger. Hopefully I didn’t seem uninterested in the house, I just wanted to get to know her better.
Before I knew it, it was time to move on to Rupert. I had not been particularly looking forward to returning to this house. Here, I was quite upset to discover, that we would have one active showing three Of us around the house. THREE! This I was not happy about. I was also not thrilled with the house itself – each of the bedrooms here slept twice as many other girls as some of the other houses, and it seemed like privacy would be absolutely impossible (whereas elsewhere maybe only hard to come by). It was also hard to have a decent conversation with the active when she was trying to talk to three of us simultaneously. I knew that I did not really want to return to this house.
I was beginning to get a little tired at this point, but on to Claire I went! Here again I was paired up with an active and another PNM. I was paired up with the second girl I had been paired with here on day 1, and again she was really good at keeping the conversation flowing between all three of us. I loved the inside of this house. I felt like it was somewhere I could see myself living. The dining room was absolutely stunning!
Time for another break, which meant I had time to relax and freshen up for my last four houses of the day!
After a (way too short) break, I made my way over to Laoghaire. The active showing me around, Amy, told me she was really happy to see me again (again? I had absolutely no recollection of ever seeing this girl) and talked a lot about how living in the house made you really bond and connect with your sisters. After touring the house and talking to Amy, I still didn’t love Laoghaire. I didn’t hate it … I just didn’t really care if I was asked back or not.
Finally, after touring houses all day, I got to go to Hamish, my favorite house of all from round one. Showing me around here was a girl I hadn’t met last time, but she came up to me with a huge smile saying “X and Z told me so much about you! I’m so glad I get the chance to talk to you today!” This confirmed in my mind what I had felt last time I was here; that these girls had a very tight sisterhood. Maybe that was a benefit to a smaller chapter, truly being able to form friendships with each and every girl in your house, rather than simply getting along with many whom you don’t really know. This house was, again, nothing special, but it seemed more … natural. It felt lived in, not like a super-sized dollhouse. I really, really wanted to come back here again.
“Two more houses to go, and I am ready for bed!” I thought as I headed over to Jenny. Here I got to spend some more time with one of the girls I had met previously. We had a great conversation, and the house was absolutely beautiful. Having her show me around the house today sealed the deal – this was where I wanted to be. I was sure of it.
Finally, it was on to Margaret. Here I had the opportunity to speak with three different girls while touring the house. All the girls seemed to be really close – and they seemed so thrilled to see me. I wasn’t in love with this house yet, but I couldn’t wait to see more.
In choosing which houses to attend next round, I knew we would be able to attend up to six houses. It was really hard for me to pick only six that I wanted to spend more time with, but ultimately I decided I would most like to return to:
Jenny
Hamish
Frank
Claire
Roger
Dougall


And for the houses that I was not sure about, and preferred not to return to:
Margaret
Laoghaire
Ian
Rupert

Heading back to my residence, I wished I could have picked seven houses – I still wanted to go back to Margaret, but I didn’t feel as strongly about it as some of the others … Maybe this was a sign that this was not the house for me? I spent some time talking with some of the other girls on my floor, some of whom had only had four invitations that day, and one of those girls only really liked one of the houses she had returned to. I hoped she would get asked back for the next round, as she was such a sweet girl; I couldn`t figure out how she didn`t have a busier schedule! After spending an hour or so hanging out, I headed to bed. Tomorrow will be Philanthropy Round!

[MyPNMStory]

Round Three: Philanthropy Day!

This was the day I had been looking forward to the most, and it was finally here! I couldn’t wait to hear all about what each of the sororities did to contribute to their philanthropies. I also knew that this was the last round before Prefs, so I had to put my best foot forward.
Lizzie and I rushed over to our Rho Gamma, eager to grab my schedule for the day. We could have up to six parties. B handed me my envelope. I tore into it to see:

Ian
Margaret
Hamish
Jenny
Claire
Dougall

“…..What?!” I thought. “Frank and Roger are both gone?! Two of my favorites, my legacies, are gone??!” B came over at that point, and took me aside. She explained to me that my legacies had been doing me a favor – they were required to invite me back to one round, but if they really didn’t see me fitting in there, it was best for them to let me go today so that I still had a chance to fall in love with another house. I understood what she was saying, but it didn’t make sense. I loved Roger. Why didn’t they love me too? Why was my sister always so much better than me? B came to the bathroom with me, and helped me redo my makeup after I’d finished crying, and even pointed out to me that although two houses I’d thought were for me had let me go, I still had a full schedule for the day, and that was more than most people had right now. I pulled myself together and headed over to Ian.

At Ian we started off watching a skit. It wasn’t super well put together, but it was cute and I could tell that the girls were having so much fun up there together. Then we watched a short video about their philanthropy. I was a little disappointed that it seemed to focus mostly on their national philanthropy, with about two minutes at the end listing things they did the past couple of years without really going into any detail. I thought to myself that this was a place that I could be happy – everyone was so friendly and seemed to be so close to each other, but I really really wanted to do the Philanthropy too. I left Ian with mixed feelings.

Next I moved on to Margaret. This skit was again really cute! And I was thrilled that their video was a slideshow of what they had done for their community the past year. We even had about ten-fifteen minutes to chat with a couple of sisters about what their favorite event had been since they had become involved with Margaret. It was great to see some of them get excited talking about what they had done for their community. I was starting to like this house more and more.

After Margaret it was on to Hamish. This was one of my favorite houses left. This skit was the best one up to this point, it was obvious that the girls had put a lot of time and effort into perfecting it. Their video was good, but again seemed to focus more on the national level than chapter-specific. I was relieved when after the video I had the opportunity to speak to a sister I hadn’t met yet, and she told me about three events they had done that she had loved the past year, so that made me feel a lot better! I definitely wanted to pref at this house.

On to Jenny! My favorite house! My aunt had told me that the Jennys did a lot of philanthropy at her school, and their video proved that they were very involved in the community. Their philanthropy is one that I felt a bit of personal dedication to, and I was already thinking of events I would want to plan if I joined the Jennys. I had the chance to speak with a few sisters, and it made me so happy to see other young women as dedicated to this philanthropy as I was.

Claire was next. I was getting a little drained at this point, partly because of the emotions running through my head after discussing some of the philanthropies. Claire’s skit was absolutely adorable, and all of us were laughing throughout. Their video was great, but I just didn’t feel a bond with their philanthropy. I spoke to a couple of girls, and although they were super sweet, I just didn’t feel a “click”. I knew that these were girls I could become friends with, but not sisters.

Last visit before Prefs! Dougall! This was another philanthropy that I was dedicated to. I was really excited to see their skit and video, but I felt let down, the girls just didn’t really seem into their philanthropy at all. I realized that as much as I loved this philanthropy, I wouldn’t be able to devote myself if the rest of my chapter was uninterested and would rather plan mixers and socials than philanthropy events. I left this house realizing that although it looked great on paper, and the girls were all great, this wasn’t the group for me. I was starting to understand what my sister had said about each chapter having their own identity, and how XYZ could be one type of person in NY, it could be a complete 180 in Cali.

We had to rank top and bottom three. I spent a really long time considering, and even had to talk to B about it (no, she didn’t tell me what to do! I just needed someone to bounce ideas off of). I ended up ranking at the top:
Margaret
Hamish
Jenny

And at the bottom:
Ian
Claire
Dougall