My LIVE Recruitment Story!!!!

[LittleCareBear]

Hey I've been lurking since I decided to rush and now I'm finally starting my own thread. I know some of you can investigate and find out which colleges have deferred recruitment, and if you feel the need to do this and guess mine please don't post it here! I'm going to be pretty honest about how I'm feeling through all of this, but I'll be careful not to post anything compromising! Rush isn't until after Christmas but I have a couple of things to post before.

I’m a freshman who has formal rush this January, no one in my family has ever even rushed before, much less pledged. And I’m not just talking my immediate family, I have no Greeks among my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents or anything. So I’m basically clueless! I’m really wanting to join a sorority because in high school I had huge group of friends, and I like having a bunch of people to hang out with and want really good friends that I consider to be my sisters! I’m a pretty shy person when I’m not around my friends, but once I get to know the people around me I become much more confident.

Initial Reactions After Open Houses
In September all of the sororities have an open house (and again in October) for house tours. This is not part of recruitment and is not required of PNMs. So I wrote my reactions to all of those and added what I had heard about the sororities. With rush not starting until January, it is hard not to hear things about each sorority, even though I tried. Still, I'm reserving all judgement because I know opinions can radically change during rush.

Britney Spears: One of the last houses I went to so I was already tired, but I got a good vibe from them and really liked the house itself. Was contacted on Facebook to set up a lunch visit. I heard the girls in this house were super-religious.

Michael Jackson: One of my favorites, had the best rooms and my tour guides were really nice. Was invited to lunch here as well. They don’t really seem that big into Homecoming because they didn’t really decorate too much, but they seemed involved in most things.

Tara Reid: I am in love with their philanthropy and all of the girls seemed really excited about being a Tara Reid. Received a hand written card from my tour guides and an invitation to lunch. I heard that this is seen as the “slutty” sorority.

K-Fed: The house is really pretty, but I don’t know if I’d fit in. The girls didn’t seem very fun and the conversation was awkward. Lots of silences. I’ve heard that these aren’t the type of girls who are fun to “hang at the mall with,” whatever that means.

Paris Hilton: My tour guides were super personable and sincere. The house wasn’t one of my favorites but I’m choosing house based on the sisters, not the house. I have heard that this is the “rich girl” sorority. This and Tara Reid are supposedly the most popular sororities.

Tom Cruise: Not too memorable, I know a couple of girls in Tom Cruise but I can’t remember anything specific about how I felt about it. Was contacted for a lunch invite but the only times PNMs can come are times I can’t make it. I love the Tom Cruises I know.

Lindsay Lohan: I remember really liking this house, but not why! Was invited through e-mail to visit for lunch. I heard that this is where girls go if they don’t get into Tom Cruise, Paris Hilton, or Britney Spears.

I'll post lunch visits later!!

[ree-Xi]

When I rushed, NO ONE in my family had been Greek. In fact, on both my parents' sides, my sisters and I were the first to go to college (out of over 4 dozen first cousins). This had more to do with the fact that we were first generation born Americans.

I think that if you can secure RECs, try your darndest. Use SEARCH and learn as much about the process as possible. I knew nothing, knew no one, and still received a bid. Honestly, when people say to "be yourself", recruitment is a place where this phrase is very appropriate- you have to be able to see yourself with these girls.

Don't pay attention to what other people say, about where girls end up as a "safety". Keep and OPEN mind, have fun, and keep us updated!

[violetpretty]

I can't wait to hear about the lunch dates! I'm impressed with your school's Panhellenic Association, since they have organized times for PNMs to visit all chapters. The fact that there are two opportunities would help for some PNMs to convince their friends to also sign up for recruitment. Plus the lunch dates are great for PNMs and chapter members to get to know each other in a more authentic way than formal recruitment! This sounds like a great place to be Greek!

[Benzgirl]

I know DePauw does the lunch dates too. I think that is a great idea. Beats the 20 minute first impressions.

[Leslie Anne]

This should be an interesting story. Best wishes to you for a happy ending.


(Just wondering why you chose such vile people to represent the chapters....no offense.)

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

(Just wondering why you chose such vile people to represent the chapters....no offense.)

I think when someone else was going to do a retro thread, people were suggesting themes for the code names, and one of the ideas was celebrity disasters. Maybe she got the idea there?

[BabyPiNK_FL]

Is anyone else dying of laughter that "Britney Spears" is "super-religious"??

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by BabyPiNK_FL

Is anyone else dying of laughter that "Britney Spears" is "super-religious"??

ROFLMOA

[SWTXBelle]

I second the "don't listen to what people say a house's reputation is" idea. Keep an open mind and look for where you will fit in - that's what is most important.

[violetpretty]

Often times, a chapter's "reputation" is just based on what stupid nicknames/phrases people can come up with.

For example, before I went through recruitment, I thought Tri Delt was slutty because my dumb friend was like,"Try Delta, who hasn't?"

Once I actually met them, I realized that couldn't be farther from the truth.

[SigKapCoug]

haha hahahahahah at these code names. I don't even know who to root for!

[Leslie Anne]

I hope LittleCareBear is enjoying her Recruitment experience!

I also hope we didn't scare her off with the silly comments about her code names --and I started it! I'm sorry, sweetie.

[Benzgirl]

I love her code names. Go Wacko Jacko!

[LittleCareBear]

Yeah, I go my code names from that thread, I couldn't believe no one else used it! I think it is hysterical.

After open houses, some of the sororities send some girls invites to come over for a meal to get a better picture of the sorority and meet some new members. This is also not a part of rush and it isn’t required.

Meal Visits
Michael Jackson: Conversation was okay at lunch, there were some kind of silent parts, but the girl who invited me did a good job of including me in conversations and everyone I met during the mini-tour was really nice and funny. I really really love the room set ups.

Tara Reid: I really adored all of the girls I talked to, and it was not really ever awkward. Everyone seemed very close in this house. A girl I met while eating saw me about a half an hour later and remembered me and said hi, so that made me feel good, like they were actually paying attention.

K-Fed: Everyone was extremely friendly to me. However, the girl in charge of me started talking bad about our cafeteria staff, which kind of made me uncomfortable, and I heard another girl telling some other freshmen that “You don’t have to pretend to be someone else at our sorority unlike the others. We aren’t judgmental like them.” It is all well and fine to be proud of your sorority and think your is the best (they all do) but to actually say mean things about the others just made me think twice.

Lindsay Lohan: I really liked that the girl who invited me met me at the dorm and walked me over to the house because I’m still not so confident about where all of the houses are and it was really nice to not have to worry about it. The food was really good, but conversation didn’t flow as well as I would have liked. The girl’s little was actually the one who talked to me the most and she made me feel much more comfortable.

Britney Spears: So I wasn’t at this house very long at all, the girl who invited me kept saying that she would let me get back to my homework and stuff, when I didn’t even tell her that I had any. Of course my first instinct was that she was just trying to get rid of me, but she was really nice besides that and invited me to come back, so I don’t really know what to think. I didn’t find this house to be as pretty as the others on the inside.

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by LittleCareBear

K-Fed: Everyone was extremely friendly to me. However, the girl in charge of me started talking bad about our cafeteria staff, which kind of made me uncomfortable, and I heard another girl telling some other freshmen that “You don’t have to pretend to be someone else at our sorority unlike the others. We aren’t judgmental like them.” It is all well and fine to be proud of your sorority and think your is the best (they all do) but to actually say mean things about the others just made me think twice.

Maybe what the K-Fed girls meant was that they are different than the sorority stereotype. Then again, you were there, so you'd know better than I the context of "them".