Bump, for what I feel is excellent advice.

thanks blondie93. this is a great thread.

pnms, if you feel that you are shy, or for any reason need to hone your conversation skills, summer is just starting, so there is ample time to practice. Buying some groceries?strike up a conversation with the clerk as you check out. Borrowing a book from the library? practice your convo. skills on the librarian.

a HUGE opportunity for honing those skills will be at your college orientation. you will be meeting new people from all over the country and from overseas, too. often they don't know you (and you may not see them again after your orientation, depending on the size of school you are going to) so you can practice, practice, practice. try not to hang out exclusively with old friends if they will be attending your orientation. branch out. and think about it-if you get to know some really interesting student from abu dabi, there is one more topic of conversation during recruitment!

I think this is absolutly the best advice I have read! As a incoming freshman and a pnm I found this advice really helpful. It was different then most of the same old advice and it is something that I now can work on. Thank you for such a great, helpful post! :)!

Something else that keeps coming up - is that if you have a connection to the house or know someone in house that really helps a lot. That is one of the reasons why out of state girls are at a bit of a disadvantage in the the super-competitive schools even if they are Miss Wonderful with a 4.0 and rec letters. It is also why a sophomore transfer student with ok grades can still get a bid to an "Old Row" chapter.
We have a couple of chapters here that have so many legacies going through that not surprisingly their pledge class is mostly freshmen legacies - but really - would you want to be the one girl who isn't a legacy in that case? The one girl who doesn't have a mom or older sister there on Bid Day or Initiation Day?
Also - with the new computer systems I have noticed that we have big cuts in the early rounds - this is so we don't have big cuts pref night. If you do get cut from several houses early on - please don't get discouraged. I guess what I am trying to say is don't be mad at the whole system because one group you liked liked someone else more or knew her better? The ladies that did invite you back would love to see you!

Great advice! Thanks :D

Two of my daughters are rather shy so the summer before recruitment, I practiced conversations with them at random times. We'd be driving somewhere and I'd toss out, "So, Patty PNM. Why did you decide to major in __?" and wait for them to grab the conversational ball. They would groan but pick up on it and it seemed to help, especially when I'd throw out really random topics.

See if you can get someone to practice with you.

Another option could be just practicing while driving in your car. It sounds weird, but think of questions you'll likely be asked and try to answer them. I also suggest this kind of practice for job interviews. It also helps even if you are a good conversationalist, because it helps you 'own' your answers and still sound natural and not rush your speech when the question is asked. It's worked for me while practicing for the other side of recruitment as well as for job interviews. Best of luck!

Read the Newspaper and be up on current events, especially if you're majoring in a social science. You could easily get paired up with someone who shares your major and if they open the current event can of worms, you really should have a general idea of what is going on in the world. It is really easy to get wrapped up in the "rush" bubble the week or so before, but realize there is a big world out there.

Yes.

Quote:

Let's say someone has a past, but has changed and has a clean record since entering college. Should they disclose that information if asked?

Hard to say. Really depends on what the past includes.

I really don't know the answer to your question. The most important thing is turning your life around.

I don't have any good advice except to expect both understanding and disappointment from people when/if they find out. You can't really control how others will react. It's your choice whether or not to tell people. We don't know how serious it was, your likelihood to return to that environment, if you're still surrounding yourself with poor influences, what the people you would be telling are like, the organization's policies, etc.

Good luck.

It also really depends on the type of school you're rushing at and the backgrounds of the students.