A very sweet Recruitment Story! (live!!)

[WestcoastWonder]

Hello everyone! My sister is a Sophomore at a large West coast school and decided she wanted to go through recruitment because she felt like she was missing out on lots of social, community service and sisterhood activities her freshman year.


Let me start this off by saying she has a 2.6 GPA. I know, pretty bad right? The "recommended" GPA that the Panhellenic office has at her school is a 2.8 for transfers/upperclassmen. But her Rho Gamma did not place her as a grade risk to the other chapters because she had a good HS GPA, a 3.6 her first semester of college last year and her grades dropped second semester because of medical reasons. She also had 10 rec letters. So she was reluctant to rush, but still chose to anyway.


Her school has 13 chapters which will be referred to as candy!:


Airheads
Blow Pops
Snickers
Laffy Taffys
M&M's
Red Vines
Skittles
Twix
Starbursts
Milky Ways
Mike N Ikes
Twizzlers
Sour Patch Kids


Day 1: House Tour Day
- She visited 6 of the 13 chapters this day. She went to Snickers, Laffy Taffy's, Red Vines, Twix, Twizzlers, M&M's.

Snickers: She expected a lot of from this house and wanted to like them because she had an old friend in this house. She said the conversations were dull and felt forced. She said she felt like they weren't interested.

Laffy Taffy: This house is considered a "bottom" house, but my sister didn't care about rankings. She said she loved their door song and chants. But when it came time for conversations, she said it was extremely awkward. They didn't make much conversation and there were lots of awkward pauses. There aren't very many girls in the house so there would be 2-3 PNM's per active girl. She said it was they were nice, but it just wasn't for her.

Red Vines: She loved this house! She had a girl on her cheer team in the house and she said they were amazing. She said the girls were nice and beautiful and seemed friendly and interested in conversation.

Twix: She hated this house. She said the girls she talked to weren't interested at all and the girl kept looking around as if she needed someone to save her from the conversation. And she said the girl seemed a little racist. (My sister is black.) She said she felt extremely uncomfortable in this house and couldn't wait to leave.

Twizzlers: She felt iffy about this house. She said she had good conversations and the girls seemed fun, but she just couldn't see them as her sisters.

M&M's: She liked this house. This was actually the first house she visited and she said they made her feel really welcome and excited for recruitment. She said were beautiful and nice, but they have a bad reputation on campus because they're always seen fighting at parties and one sister actually punched another sister in the face outside of the house.

Day 2: House Tour Day pt. 2
-This is the last day of house tours, she visited the remaining 7 chapters, Sour Patch Kids, Airheads, Mike N Ikes, Milky Way, Starbursts, Skittles and BlowPops


Sour Patch Kids: She loved this house! She said right when she walked in the girls chanted and yelled and hugged everyone and they seemed really open and nice! She said they were really chill and had great conversations, but when she left a girl accidently promised her. She said: "Oh have you met _____? Never mind, you'll definitely meet her tomorrow!" She really loved it there and wanted to go back.

Airheads: These girls are the smartest girls on campus. They've been #1 in grades for several consecutive semesters and they're a beautiful classy set. She said she loved them and they seemed really nice and classy. My sister was a bit weary going to this house since they're #1 in grades and my sister had a 2.6 GPA, but the girl she talked her told her not to worry about grades. She loved it there.

Mike N Ikes: She didn't really feel this house. She said when she was there it felt like they were fake and were trying so hard to make girls obsessed with them and mainly talked about themselves and didn't really care too much about talking to her or any of the other girls. She said they were pretty and nice, but they were trying too hard and she definitely couldn't see herself being apart of this house.

Milky Way: She adored this house. She said the girls there were really nice and funny and seemed to really liked her. She said she had great conversations and with everyone and could see herself in this house. These girls have the lowest grade on campus, so my sister felt like they wouldn't drop her. She really enjoyed it!

Starburst: She felt bad for this house. She thought they were awkward with everyone and seemed nervous. She thought the conversations she had were ok, but really couldn't see herself in the house.

Skittles: These girls are considered a "top" house at her school. All of her guy friends that are in fraternities told her about this house before recruitment and said they had the most gorgeous girls, but they were stuck up. She had three friends in the house and almost did informal with them last spring but wanted to do formal instead. Anyway, she said she really liked the house and they seemed to like her and she was hotboxed by girls in this house and felt a little bit uncomfortable, but still loved them.


Blow Pops: Her favorite of the 13 houses. She said they were so amazing, sweet and welcoming to her. They're considered a "top" houses because they are nice to everyone and very funny, bubbly and sweet. She was excited and didn't want to leave. She absolutely loved them!


So later that night, she preffed:

1. Blow Pops
1. Starburst
1. Milky Way
1. Airheads
1. M&M's
1. Red Vines
1. Sour Patch Kids
1. Mike N Ikes
1. Skittles
1. Twizzlers
2. Twix
3. Laffy Taffy's
4. Snickers


Next chapter of the story coming up!!

[Katmandu]

Hope it works out well for your sister. I didn't know that Rush Counsellors/Rho Gammas had the authority to determine whether someone was presented as a grade risk. Surely chapters can see her grades and decide for themselves?

[WestcoastWonder]

Originally Posted by Katmandu

Hope it works out well for your sister. I didn't know that Rush Counsellors/Rho Gammas had the authority to determine whether someone was presented as a grade risk. Surely chapters can see her grades and decide for themselves?

Well the way she explained it, everyone with under a 2.8 (for upperclassmen) or a 3.0 (for freshmen) was automatically marked as a grade risk for chapters, unless they had special circumstances. But each chapter has their own GPA cutoff and they can do what they choose with this information.

[littlesquirrel]

I don't want to hijack the thread too much, but what does a "grade risk" mean exactly? I always just assumed eligible/ineligible.

[WestcoastWonder]

Originally Posted by littlesquirrel

I don't want to hijack the thread too much, but what does a "grade risk" mean exactly? I always just assumed eligible/ineligible.

I'm assuming it means that their GPA is below the school Panhellenic Council's recommendation and giving bids to girls with bad grades could be risky.

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by Katmandu

Hope it works out well for your sister. I didn't know that Rush Counsellors/Rho Gammas had the authority to determine whether someone was presented as a grade risk. Surely chapters can see her grades and decide for themselves?

This seems like a strangely unnecessary level of power to place in the hands of the Rho Gammas. I'm thinking that perhaps there is a certain level of misunderstanding along the way.

[WestcoastWonder]

Day 3: Philanthrophy

She got invited back to:

-Blow Pops
-M&M's
-Red Vines
-Skittles
-Starbursts

She was really shocked she didn't get invited back to Sour Patch Kids or Milky Way and so was I. They seemed really compatible with them. But she wasn't really surprised at the rest, nor was she that bothered considering her low grades and she wasn't really interested.


Day 3: Philanthropy Day

Blow Pops: She loved them AGAIN! She loved their philanthropy and had even more great conversations with the girls. She really felt a connection.

M&M's: The house was OK. She didn't like them as much as she thought she did before, but still thought they were a cool group of girls to be around, but not as sisters.

Red Vines: She had fun at their house. She had a good time with the other girls and thought they were funny.

Skittles: She was surprised they asked her back. She really liked them and their philanthropy and thought they girls loved her.

Starbursts: Still didn't really like the house and the only reason she preffed them was because she really didn't like three other houses. She said the conversations were alright.


Since she only had 5 houses, she had to pref them all. But the next day, she got invites from:

-Blow Pops
-Starbursts
-Red Vines

She was dropped from Skittles and M&M's. She didn't really care too much about getting dropped from M&M's, but felt kinda bad about Skittles.

[Griffins&Quills]

Originally Posted by WestcoastWonder

I'm assuming it means that their GPA is below the school Panhellenic Council's recommendation and giving bids to girls with bad grades could be risky.

They way I understand it, it can mean the PNM has grades close to either NPC or individual chapter requirements. i.e. if a chapter has a minimum of 2.5, and Low Grades Lena has a 2.6 (or 2.54, 2.57 etc) she is considered a grade risk because her grades aren't good and by the next semester she could drop below the minimum and need to be put on academic probation by the chapter.

[AXOmom]

Originally Posted by amIblue?

This seems like a strangely unnecessary level of power to place in the hands of the Rho Gammas. I'm thinking that perhaps there is a certain level of misunderstanding along the way.

I'm 99.9% certain I know which campus this is, and yes, I think either someone has explained it to her sister incorrectly, sister has misunderstood something she was told, or the OP has misunderstood what her sister told her.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the story WestCoastWonder, and I hope your sister is having a great time. I'm going to root for M&M's. Lately, I'm addicted to the peanut butter version.

Edit: Just realized M&M's is gone. I'll go with Starburst. I like those too.

[wsucalsigmakapp]

Originally Posted by AXOmom

I'm 99.9% certain I know which campus this is, and yes, I think either someone has explained it to her sister incorrectly, sister has misunderstood something she was told, or the OP has misunderstood what her sister told her.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the story WestCoastWonder, and I hope your sister is having a great time. I'm going to root for M&M's. Lately, I'm addicted to the peanut butter version.

I think I know too, although I am ok being wrong!!!! Best of luck to your sister! =)

[WestcoastWonder]

Originally Posted by wsucalsigmakapp

I think I know too, although I am ok being wrong!!!! Best of luck to your sister! =)

I know exactly what you're guessing and I'm not sure if it would be appropriate to name names, but I'm sure you're correct

[WCsweet<3]

I think I know as well, but hey, there aren't that many big greek schools out here. Always happy to hear west coast stories! Personally I'm a big skittles fan.

[WestcoastWonder]

UPDATE!

So today is Pref day and they went to get their schedules for today and she was dropped by her favorite, Blow Pops

She really loved them and felt she had the strongest connection with these girls and feels lukewarm about Red Vines and doesn't really like Starbursts at all.

She's in the bathroom bawling and i'm not exactly sure what to do

[AZTheta]

Reality check: she is a sophomore with a low GPA. If she wants to be in a sorority, she'll attend those two pref parties. Those are the only two houses for her. And there are many threads on GC that talk about not being in love with a chapter, not getting your first choice, etc. That's the best I can come up with, given the facts.

[sdtennisgal]

Tell her to get composed, get dressed, and head to her pref's. There are plenty of stories on this site about women who did not get their top choice (often with a rough pref round), but who LOVED LOVED LOVED the chapter they got.

She is your sister. Be the voice of reason for her.