Spring Informal Recruitment Question
 

At my school, formal recruitment only occurs once in the fall. In the spring, they allow sororities that did not meet quota to continue recruiting in the spring. In the fall, there are organized visits to each chapter, formal processes etc.

This spring, several houses are participating in recruitment for 3 days. The third night is by invitation only. The houses are scheduled for events about 1 1/2hrs long. Since it is informal recruitment, there is no schedule for potential members to visit each house. They are free to make their own schedule and choose the houses they want to visit. I wanted to know, how do I make an impression if I am only given 2nights and less than 2 hours to meet the chapter?

Also, if I wanted to go to more than one house per night, that means I have even less time to meet people! Should I only focus on one house?

How many sororities are participating? Is each house open for only 1 1/2 hours each night or is that the longest a rushee can stay at each place?

Try meeting members of the sororities outside of rush, like during classes, extracurriculars, etc. That is part of the whole point of open rush.

There are five houses open and each house is only open for 1 1/2hrs at the same time each night

Ooh that's tough. If you try to hit all five houses, you'll be spreading yourself too thin, spending 30-45 minutes at each house, and that's not enough time for you to get a good feel for the house or for them to get an idea of whether you'd be a good sister.

Use the time leading up to rush to maximum advantage. Get to know women in all the sororities holding informal rush. Maybe that will help you pick two or three groups to really concentrate your efforts on.

Good luck! :)

My school doesn't have tables set up to meet the houses before rush begins. I don't really see anyone in my classes wearing letters so I'm not really sure how else I can try to meet people before the rush starts.

Do you think spring rush will be more competitive because there are only a few spots open for each house?

Quote:

Do you think spring rush will be more competitive because there are only a few spots open for each house?

Without knowing what school you attend, I'd say yes. I would expect that spring recruitment would be rather competitive.

Have you checked out the local and national/international websites of the sororities on your campus? That may be a good place to find some more info on the chapters there. aephi alum gave you some great advice, definitely see who know already know in these chapters and get to know some others between now and recruitment.

Good luck!

Does anyone else find this way unfair on the PNMs? The least that they could do is have a quick Open House first, then bring on the two nights of parties!

I just don't see how anyone could be expected to make a rational Pref decision - either the PNM or the Chapter - based on a total of 3 hours of recruitment!

If you really have no clue which group you are interested in and there are NO sisters in your classes, dorm, etc - try going to each house for 15 minutes the first night just to get a feel of each group. You can learn more in 15 minutes than you think! The next day, you might realize you do know some sorority women. (It is hard to know if you don't go to a letter-wearin, jacket-wearin school like some of us did.)

The second night, go back to the one or two houses you liked best. I know this doesn't sound like much time but in formal rush you often have even less time and are in a group with dozens of other women!!

How far below total are the participating chapters? That could tell us how competitive things will be.

PM me if you want...

It sounds to me like the sororities for the most part are looking at informal as a way to pick up women they already know. Of course, I could be totally wrong.

That's what worries me. A lot of good PNMs could get lost in the shuffle like this!

Is that like dirty rushing or giving them an unfair advantage over other potential members?

No...

The first place most sorority members would look to start recruiting members would be to contact the awesome unaffiliated women that they know and already have a connection with.

All 33girl is saying is that if you don't already know women in sororities, that informal rush may not be structured to enable you to meet a lot of women in the groups. It seems that informal at your school is structured for people who already know sorority women and have somewhat of an idea where they want to go.

While this might put you at a disadvantage, I wouldn't say that it is an unfair one. And it's definately not dirty rushing.

Formal recruitment is usually structured so that you can meet many women in all the chapters.

*Bump*

Did you join a sorority spring04??