Why not hop on the bandwagon? Mine's alot different!

[ΣΣΣMagan]

So, I am new to GC and I read a couple of retro recruitment stories and loved each of them. My recruitment experience is COMPLETELY different and it's probably because I go to a small school with a newer greek system. So, here we go.

Well, I'm not gonna sugar coat it, (my username speaks it all), I am a Sigma Sigma Sigma. I will not reveal the name of the other 'house' on campus, because that would not be very panhellenic. We don't have a house because both NPC sororities were chartered in 2005 and are too new to afford a house. We have to work on getting our numbers up first.

I grew up in a very small town in southern Georgia and ended up going to a community college my first two years of college. I transferred to a University (which I will call University) the beginning of my Junior year. (Spring 06).

During spring 06, I was a commuter student and didn't know anyone. I only commuted twice a week, so I was never on campus. During the summer, I used the all-knowing facebook to do a search of people who had the same birthday as me (June 21) that went to University. I found plenty!! I also found this one girl who was the same major as me (Biology) and after messaging back and forth, we signed up for three of the same classes that fall. (Fall 06). I also was invited to join the Universities NPC group on facebook. So, I joined... why not?

The girl with the same major and birthday and I met the first day of class. We immediately hit it off. She was an employee of the University, so she took me on a tour. (I didn't even know we had a cafeteria!!!!) Then, we both saw a big sign on the wall promoting the University's NPC recruitment week. I casually mentioned that I might want to go through recruitment, and she said she was too along with her roommate.

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More to come later - I have to go cook dinner.

[LOVEinZTA]

YAY! Entertainment! haha, thank you for sharing your story here!

[tld221]

im reading!

[ΣΣΣMagan]

Cont'd.

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I was still on the fence about the whole thing. I mean, all through high school I hated the cliche sorority girl. In my county, we had a high school sorority who were known for their drinking, bad behaviors, and occasional philanthropy services. My maternal grandmother was a part of this high school sorority so I could have walked on as a legacy, but decided not to.

But, I decided to go through Fall 2006 University NPC Recruitment at the last minute. I had heard stories about how hush hush recruitment was and how selective they were. I was prepared for anything. Going into recruitment, I knew one girl from each sorority. One was in my Microbiology class with me and the other was a girl from the same county as me. I think that's pretty fair.

***Our recruitment 'week' is only three days long***

Open House
This was held on Wednesday during the lunch period where no classes are scheduled. Normally I wear a tshirt and jeans to class, but that day, I wore jeans and a nice shirt (ie not made of cotton). I got my name badge from the NPC desk and waited for it to begin. There were about 35 pnm's going through recruitment. (Remember, small school, new greek system!) The room was split into two by birthdays and each group was sent to a different sorority.

When I arrived at the first set of tables, I met many girls. I looked through their scrapbook of members and their trifold board of all their information. (Philanthropy, financial obligations, etc.) I chit chatted with most of the girls since there were only about 25 members. I felt welcomed and at home. One thing that really interested me was the fact that their chapter meetings are on Monday nights. I was and still am a commuter student traveling an hour away to attend class, so why not attend a meeting when I was already up there? (By this point, I had classes five days a week) The other sorority held their chapter meetings on Sundays. Time was up, I said my good-byes and proceeded over to the other side of the room.

When I arrived at this set of tables, I was immediately whisked away by girls. I was shown their scrapbook and their trifold board with their obigations and such. I met the current president who was a sophomore! This floored me!!! Why did a sophomore have so much respect? It was at this point I realized that maybe as a junior I had a shot in getting a bid.

I left open house very impressed with both sororities and very eager to embark on one of the greatest journeys of my life.

[Senusret I]

I'm not trying to figure out where you go to school, but curious as to the make-up of the campus.... is it mostly commuter? Or were you in the minority?

[ΣΣΣMagan]

I am most definately a minority. My job is in my hometown and I was not going to quit just to attend college. My job was willing to work around my school schedule and it has actually worked out great. I'm a bio major, and I work for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. I knew that once I completed college, I would have a full time position waiting for me. But I am the only 'nut job' in my chapter who commutes. But, I also recruited two girls from my hometown to go Sigma, so it has worked out for the best!

[howtheSunrose]

Another story! Looking forward to it.

[ΣΣΣMagan]

Cont'd

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So, I went home that Wednesday and told my mom all about it. Come to find out, not only was my maternal grandmother in the high school sorority, she was also an Alpha Gamma Delta at University of Georgia. WOW! She passed away five years before I was born, and I had never ever thought to ask. Too bad there wasn't an Alpha Gamma Delta at my school. My mom really didn't want me to drive up there just for a meeting on Sunday and told me she would prefer if I joined the sorority that met on Monday. I told her that I would join whichever sorority I felt I belonged to.

I immediately got on the computer (surprise surprise) and went to both sororities national websites and read just about everything on both. (I was under the preconceived notion that we had a to take a test over the founders and philanthropy and such BEFORE we got our bid) Haha. I was very naive to greek life.

I barely slept that night, very excited about theme night the next night.

Theme Night
FINALLY, it was here! I was super excited about theme night. I loved all the girls right off the bat from both sororities. All the pnm's met in one room at the University and each of the sororities had their own room. We were separated again into two groups and each group visited a sorority then after a while, we switched.

***Side bar***
I see all these things about Rho Chis and rush leaders or whatnot... that's really all foreign to me. We were just split into two groups and two members from the University's panhellenic escorted us from one room to another. (The universities panhellenic was composed of two girls from each sorority who were of course disaffiliated during the time of recruitment.)

Anywho...

I walked into my first room. They had different corners set up. First, the pnms were split up into groups and each pnm group decorated a clay pot with paint. That was a lot of fun! The girls then just kinda chatted with us and time was up.

Then I was escorted into another room with the other sorority and it was a super cute candy land theme. They had us paint onto children's aprons. Each pnm was then whisked away by a current member. I am not good with names... which is why none are included. =/ Little did I know that the members were using rotation groups on me... sneaky sneaky. So, I learned about everything! (Not that I didn't already read and memorize it all via their national websites! =) ) Time was up and we all returned back to the original room.

We were informed about the party the next night and how it would go. We were explained how the pref cards worked and then the greek advisor took questions.

I drove back home very excited about everything! I felt so close to both groups and I knew that it would be super hard to choose one over the other!

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To be continued tomorrow! =)

[tld221]

***Side bar***
I see all these things about Rho Chis and rush leaders or whatnot... that's really all foreign to me. We were just split into two groups and two members from the University's panhellenic escorted us from one room to another. (The universities panhellenic was composed of two girls from each sorority who were of course disaffiliated during the time of recruitment.)


that must be awkward: a Rho Chi from XYZ escorting PNMs to ABC's rush parties and vice versa. its different when you've got a bunch of orgs to see, but when it's just one other, its like you're leading your consumer to the competition.

[/hijack] carry on! i want more!

[exlurker]

Originally Posted by ΣΣΣMagan

. . . My mom really didn't want me to drive up there just for a meeting on Sunday and told me she would prefer if I joined the sorority that met on Monday. I told her that I would join whichever sorority I felt I belonged to. . . .

To any and all parents who read this ^ : See? It isn't just your child; when they're young adults a lot of them act that way.

Just kidding, Magan -- thank you for your story. It's interesting to learn about recruitment in a small Panhellenic system.

[mdobson621]

So, after a few years off and a new screen name (I completely forgot what my last one was) I'm back. Yup, I was ΣΣΣMagan andI'm now mdobson621!It was funny because I actually forgot I had posted my recruitment story. I'm so glad I did though because it's the small details I had forgotten over time.

For those of you who wanted an update...

I became President of my chapter for 2008. I am a charter member of the Greater Savannah Area Alumnae Chapter of Tri Sigma. I became a member of the Chapter Advisory Board in 2010. I now hold the fundraising and community service chair for the alum chapter.

Oh and as for my mother, she recently just became a Tri Sigma through our alum initiate program. She loves Tri Sigma as much as I do

[KSUViolet06]

I updated mine with some after graduation stuff too. Wish other people would do the same *hint hint for all the people who have rush threads lol*

[FSUZeta]

YAY!!! i loved your recruitment story and am loving your update!

[mdobson621]

Oh, and I got married last June and three Sigma's were bridesmaids including my MOH. I'm so glad for the decisions I made almost 6 years ago! I received more than I ever thought was possible and I know that I'm going to receive even more as the years go by.

[DubaiSis]

And how are the chapters doing? They were very new when you joined. Since it isn't too hard to figure out what school, I checked to see what quota is, and it looks like it's pretty stable. Are the chapters still thinking of getting houses? As a grown up now you may have changed your mind on whether that's a good idea, and this site may have given you lots of ideas about housing alternatives (dorm floors, etc.).