An Unusual SEC Recruitment Story!

[gamecockgirl]

Hey everyone! First off I would like to say that sorority recruitment was the BEST decision I have EVER made, and I wouldn't change a thing if I had to. I've been lurking on this website for months, and thought I'd finally post my story!

Recruitment at my school is very competitive (being in the SEC, this is obvious) and I knew going into it that rushing as a sophomore would be difficult. Another disadvantage to my circumstance was that I had pre-conceived notions about each sorority which is usually not a good thing for girls going through recruitment. I believe the best way to go through it is with no knowledge about the reputations of each chapter. Anyway, my school's recruitment process went like this:

Round 1, Day 1 (5 houses)
Round 1, Day 2 (The other 5 houses)
Round 2 (Maximum of 8 houses)
Round 3 (Maximum of 5 houses)
Round 4 (Pref)(Maximum of 2 houses)

[Leslie Anne]

Yay! An SEC story. I'm looking forward to it.

[gamecockgirl]

In order to keep the sorority's identities protected, I’m going to be using names of animals. I’ll be using: Dog, Cat, Horse, Fish, Cow, Bunny, Dolphin, Zebra, Lion, and Flamingo. I know that some of the animals represent some sorority's mascots, but I promise they are random and do not mean anything!

Round 1, Day 1.

Today I saw Dog, Cat, Horse, Fish, and Cow.

Dog was my first house. I was nervous, didn’t know what to expect, but I was also very excited! A girl from my hall in my dorm last year picked me up at the door. She was always super sweet to me in the dorms last year, so I was excited to talk to her! The Dog girls seemed to be very excited about rush and they all seemed genuine and nice.

Cat is the sorority I knew I wanted. Two of my roommates are in Cat so I was excited to visit their house. I absolutely fell in LOVE with their chant. It was so catchy and upbeat! I had a rec letter for this house (from my roommates' mother) and I loved everything about this house. I had a really great connection with the girl I talked to, and I was hoping I could go back for Round 2!

Horse. This sorority is very well known in the south. The girls were all very nice and happy to be there, but they didn’t seem real to me. The conversation felt forced. I knew this wasn’t the house for me.

Fish. This sorority…well. EVERYONE wants to be a Fish. It’s HUGE in the South and a lot of girls from my high school are in Fish. I knew the girl that picked me up at the door from a class I had with her my freshman year, so it was nice to talk to her. Again, the girls were all very nice and classy-looking, and they all seemed happy to be there.

The last house of the day was Cow. My not-so-nice roommate from freshman year was a Cow, and I knew she wouldn’t say nice things about me so I knew I wouldn’t be getting asked back. I loved this sorority and I still had a great time at the house!



Round 1, Day 2. Today my Pi Chi visited the other 5 chapters that we didn't see yesterday.

Today I saw Bunny, Dolphin, Zebra, Lion, and Flamingo.

Bunny - I didn’t know much about this sorority, so I was eager to see what it was all about. The girls were beautiful and their house was decorated so nicely! The girl that picked me up at the door was so nice and we connected great! I was excited to see if this house would ask me back for Round 2.

The next house was Dolphin. I had a good friend in this sorority that I had met my freshman year, and I knew she loved it so I was also very excited! (notice that I was excited about every house haha). The girl was funny and sweet…but one thing I hated about this house was that the girls held on to my arm the entire time. It felt…too touchy. I wasn’t sure about this, even though the girls seemed really nice.

After Dolphin, I went to Zebra. This house doesn’t have the best reputation on campus, although it is a very well known sorority in the south. Despite the reputations, I walked into the house and was immediately in love. The girls seemed so excited to be there and the overall atmosphere was so uplifting!

Lion - My old suitemate from freshman year is a Lion and my Aunt is a Lion, so if you can imagine, I was extremely interested in this sorority. And lets just lay it flat on the ground— I FELL IN LOVE. Everything. The chants were amazing, the girls were beautiful..and again, a very well known sorority in the south. It is the newest sorority at our campus, and I was surprised at how far the chapter had come since its colonization.

The last house of the day was Flamingo - I only knew one girl in this chapter, but other than that I didn't know much about it. I didn't have much of a connection with the girl I spoke to that round, but the girls seemed nice.

After this round, we were told to rank the houses from our top choice to our last, leaving our bottom two choices at the bottom signifying those we would not like to return to. This was how I ranked them:

Lion
Cat
Zebra
Dog
Bunny
Horse
Fish
Flamingo
Dolphin
Cow

[amIblue?]

Your not so nice freshman roommate was a cow? More, please!

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by amIblue?

Your not so nice freshman roommate was a cow? More, please!

Between this line and the "Unusual" label in the title, I'm already about ready to call BS. "Unusual" is usually code for "read my story and validate me".

[gamecockgirl]

Round 2!
I was so excited to be returning for Round 2, but I was nervous to see my list.
Also, I forgot to mention that I have 3 roommates. Two are biological twin sisters in Cat, and the other was rushing with me -- and she was in my Pi Chi group! Rushing with my best friend was so much fun.

When I got my list, this is what I saw:
Cat
Zebra
Flamingo
Lion
Bunny

I was excited to be going to 5 houses out of a maximum of 8! For a sophomore, I was pleased with myself and I know many girls would have been thrilled to have my schedule.

Cat - I was absolutely THRILLED to be going back to one of my top houses! I absoutely fell in love with the girl that I talked to that day. I know that PNM's are matched by similarities they have with initiated sisters, but I really felt like this girl and I could be best friends. Each sorority played a video this round highlighting their sorority. Their video was amazing. So wonderfully made and produced, but mostly, it made me fall in love with their sorority even more. They seemed like they had such a tight sisterhood! I left the house feeling confident I'd be asked back for Round 3.

Zebra - Again, thrilled to be going back to another house I liked! I had an amazing time at this house. Their video was really funny and had all the PNM's in the room laughing. The girls seemed like they were laid back and easy to get along with, and I had a fabulous conversation with two girls.

Flamingo - Wasn't exactly thrilled with this house after Round 1, and Round 2 didn't knock my socks off either. Don't get me wrong, they all seemed like nice girls, but I just didn't think it was for me.

Lion - This was my top house coming out of Round 1, and I was disappointed after Round 2. It just didn't seem like the right fit for me, and I was confused. How could a house I loved so much Round 1 be so different Round 2? The conversations felt very forced.

Bunny - Let's just say, I walked out of this house crying. And not in a bad way. It wasn't even pref night..and this house already had me in tears. Their video was precious. The video showcased different members telling us what their chapter meant to them. The one line that really got me to tears was when a girl in the video said, "***** is everything." To me, that girl seemed to have everything I wanted out of a sorority.

After Round 2, we were told to narrow down the houses to just 5 chapters. I got lucky since I had only been asked to 5 houses that day. I ranked them anyway, and this is what I put.

Bunny
Cat
Zebra
Lion
Flamingo

[gamecockgirl]

Originally Posted by amIblue?

Your not so nice freshman roommate was a cow? More, please!

I totally didn't even think about that when I gave that sorority that name. No, my roommate is not a cow and that is not what I think of that chapter! To be honest...Cow's are some of my favorite animals haha.

[gamecockgirl]

Round 3. Our Pi Chi's warned us that heavy cuts were made. I sat next to my roommate in the holding room as we awaited our lists. She got hers first, and she got asked back to her top 5. I was so excited for her! And then I got my list.

Flamingo.

To be honest, I was devastated. My self esteem was shot, and I really considered dropping out of recruitment. I had a lot of time before my party started, so I found a friend from high school to go sit with while I tried to make a decision. She helped me decide to go to the party, and make a decision afterwards.

Flamingo - As the group outside of the house was filing in, I saw a girl inside that I knew from my hometown that I loved. I knew she was going to pick me up at the door, and I've known her for years. I knew that talking to her would make me really confused about how I felt about this chapter, and it nearly put me in tears. Through the entire party, I was holding back tears and it was hard to decide how I felt. All along, I had negative feelings about this chapter, but now, a girl I loved? Way to throw me off, recruitment Gods!

So I walked back to the holding room and wrote Flamingo down for pref round.

[amIblue?]

I think I know how this is going to turn out, but carry on, my dear!

[Sciencewoman]

Hmmmm...colonization?

[ASUADPi]

Either she preffed Flamingo and received a bid or she went through the colonization process with AGD.

Hey at least I can guess it's one of those two. I rock. LOL.

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by ASUADPi

Either she preffed Flamingo and received a bid or she went through the colonization process with AGD.

Hey at least I can guess it's one of those two. I rock. LOL.

Yes, but I think I know who Flamingo is.

[gamecockgirl]

Hey everyone! So to finish up my story, I talked a lot with the friend who helped me decide to continue with Round 3. I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I didn't want to make the wrong decision and then wonder what might have been if I had done it differently. I wasn't sure how I would know if Flamingo was me, but my friend told me to go anyway. So I went into pref night almost 90% sure I wouldn't take a bid from Flamingo, but I went anyway.


PREF NIGHT.
I walked into Flamingo not nervous at all. I was almost sure I wouldn't accept a bid. The girl who picked me up at the door was beautiful, sweet, and hilarious. We talked and talked for the entire hour long party and there was not one awkward moment or a time where one of us didn't know what to say. The pref stories brought me to tears, and I'm not even an emotional person (that was the SECOND time I cried during rush LOL). I walked out of the house and walked straight over to the holding room and signed my name on the dotted line without thinking twice. The woman helping out with the voting process told me when I signed my name that it meant I would be accepting a bid from Flamingo, and I had no second thoughts. My Pi Chi even came up to me and asked if I was okay with my decision.

I went back to my room later that night and when I had time to review my day I literally thought to myself OH CRAP. What have I done? Am I really fit for this sorority, or was I just overcome with emotions from pref night, or just wanted to be in a sorority no matter which one?



Anyway...bid day rolled around, and I was so excited. My bid day buddy and I got along incredibly well (she ended up being my big)



And I am so happy and lucky to say that I am a.......










GAMMA PHI BETA!!!!


I can't express how happy I am that I made the decision that I did. The reason that I named my story an "unusual" one is because many girls who don't get asked back to their top houses drop out of recruitment and don't give their bottom choices a chance. Gamma Phi Beta is and will always be the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I would not change a thing if I had to.The moral of my story is that everything truly does happen for a reason. And to give everything a chance, because you never know what will happen. I hope this story will remind future PNM's to not give up when the going gets tough. And in the wise words of one of my beautiful Pi Chi's, "Recruitment sucks, but it works."

My Pi Chi's ended up being Bunny and Zebra, and this makes sense because I loved these two sororities and I was OBSESSED with my Pi Chis.


Thanks everyone!!!

[AZTheta]

Congratulations to you, and to Gamma Phi Beta!

[ASUADPi]

Congrats to you and Gamma Phi....



Proof to other PNM's it only takes ONE!