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  #1  
Old 02-11-2012, 07:44 PM
sophmorePNM sophmorePNM is offline
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west coast recruitment vs east coast?

Hey GCers,
I've been lurking for a while now and it occurred to me that a lot of the advice on GC seems like it is only relevant to recruitment in a certain area, most of it being for the south. While it's all great advice and I have no doubt that I am more prepared for recruitment now than I ever was, I was wondering if anybody had some west-coast specific advise. I just feel like some things are completely different in different parts of the US i.e. i doubt anybody on the west coast would even notice if you wore white after labor day, you would probably be ok in some short jean shorts on day 1, not very many people would even notice if you were wearing Lilly Pulitzer, etc. I could be completely wrong, I am just a PNM but it just seems like the styles and culture are really different. I was thinking we could start a thread where members can put west coast recruitment clothing and rush advice if anybody out there has any. If there is already a thread like this you can just direct me there although I did already search for one and it didn't seem like there was anything very recent. Thanks for any help!
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  #2  
Old 02-11-2012, 07:53 PM
Psi U MC Vito Psi U MC Vito is offline
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There have been multiple threads about recruitment in the West Coast, but I think the focus is more towards the South because of how competitive the systems are.

/lane swerve
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  #3  
Old 02-11-2012, 07:54 PM
KSUViolet06 KSUViolet06 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sophmorePNM View Post
Hey GCers,
I've been lurking for a while now and it occurred to me that a lot of the advice on GC seems like it is only relevant to recruitment in a certain area, most of it being for the south. While it's all great advice and I have no doubt that I am more prepared for recruitment now than I ever was, I was wondering if anybody had some west-coast specific advise. I just feel like some things are completely different in different parts of the US i.e. i doubt anybody on the west coast would even notice if you wore white after labor day, you would probably be ok in some short jean shorts on day 1, not very many people would even notice if you were wearing Lilly Pulitzer, etc. I could be completely wrong, I am just a PNM but it just seems like the styles and culture are really different. I was thinking we could start a thread where members can put west coast recruitment clothing and rush advice if anybody out there has any. If there is already a thread like this you can just direct me there although I did already search for one and it didn't seem like there was anything very recent. Thanks for any help!

Not all west coast recruitments are the same, though.

Ex: recruitment at SDSU is very different from USC. I might give different advice to PNMs at those schools.
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  #4  
Old 02-11-2012, 08:06 PM
Greek_or_Geek? Greek_or_Geek? is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KSUViolet06 View Post
Not all west coast recruitments are the same, though.

Ex: recruitment at SDSU is very different from USC. I might give different advice to PNMs at those schools.
So right. I think it's much more effective to search for the specific school.
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  #5  
Old 02-11-2012, 08:06 PM
AXOrushadvisor AXOrushadvisor is offline
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There are some threads on here. I did one on the University I advise at in the west at a PAC 12 (then PAC 10) school you can find it here. http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=115881
Regionally, a lot of things differ and you can guess that is true with recruitment. You are right about Lilly not being popular out west. I know of it but have never owned a piece myself. Things do tend to be a bit more casual out west but appearance is important for our recruitments too. You will find tradition also varies from school to school.
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  #6  
Old 02-11-2012, 09:21 PM
WCsweet<3 WCsweet<3 is offline
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There have been a couple threads (some in the past month) about PAC 12 recruitment. I know there is one about WSU right now and it is specifically about what to wear during recruitment. Some on here are about Oregon. Like everyone has said, there is a wide range of types of recruitment on the West Coast. I wouldn't recommend the same advice (or clothing) for UW that I would for UO. If you were willing to put your school (or hell just PM me) we could give better more specified advice. There are a number of us from the West.


Sidenote: I think we have at least someone from every "west" state. I know we have at least one person from Washington, Idaho, Colorado, California, Arizona and Oregon. IMHO that is kind of cool.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AXOrushadvisor View Post
Regionally, a lot of things differ and you can guess that is true with recruitment. You are right about Lilly not being popular out west. I know of it but have never owned a piece myself. Things do tend to be a bit more casual out west but appearance is important for our recruitments too. You will find tradition also varies from school to school.
Oddly enough Lilly is getting to be popular on my campus. I know my chapter in particular has gone heads over heels for it.
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Last edited by WCsweet<3; 02-11-2012 at 09:26 PM.
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  #7  
Old 02-11-2012, 11:23 PM
SoCalGirl SoCalGirl is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KSUViolet06 View Post
Not all west coast recruitments are the same, though.

Ex: recruitment at SDSU is very different from USC. I might give different advice to PNMs at those schools.
West Coast schools aren't consistent across the board, like KSU said.

Even within San Diego, I'd give very different advice to a girl going SDSU vs USD vs UCSD. Same county, each very different.
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  #8  
Old 02-12-2012, 10:44 PM
LAblondeGPhi LAblondeGPhi is offline
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I just replied to AXOrushadvisor's thread with information about UCLA recruitment, in case the OP, or others, wanted more west coast specific information.

In general, though, I don't think being over prepared will hurt you. Greek Chat has a lot of information for the most intense scenarios (SEC schools), but that advice will be applicable to all schools to some degree. Do you NEED letters of rec at your particular school? Maybe not. Will it hurt you? Pretty much never. In fact, regardless of your school, it will probably always help.

The other information about conversation skills is good. Clothing will vary by region, but as long as you are wearing something fashionable, appropriate and that makes you feel fantastic, you can't go wrong.

Referencing the Panhellenic website and any literature they provide is always going to be your best guideline for your particular campus. I would recommend, however, to be one step more conservative than what your campus Panhellenic recommends: if they say letters of rec are encouraged but not required, act as if they ARE required. If they say shorts and sandals are good for Round 1, wear nice sandals and a skirt.

That being said, note that some west coast schools are very competitive. USC always comes to mind as a very traditional/competitive campus. In general (please note: gross generalization to follow), private and/or conservative schools will tend to attract more PNMs from out of state, have more PNMs from backgrounds familiar with Greek life, and will be more traditional/competitive in their recruitment style.
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  #9  
Old 02-13-2012, 12:12 AM
sophmorePNM sophmorePNM is offline
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Hm, I don't want to post my school publicly but it's not in Oregon, Washington, Arizona, or so cal. I mean that's a pretty big clue but I don't want to make it too easy. Thanks for the input, I know the schools vary I just feel like there's a really big difference between west coast and SEC schools. I'll check out some more threads, I haven't been able to find anything specific for my school yet but I'll keep my eyes open. It appears there's no easy answer..
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  #10  
Old 02-13-2012, 01:25 AM
DubaiSis DubaiSis is offline
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What we're trying to tell you is there's not as much difference as you think. Girls going through rush during the same season will be dressed similarly all over the country, with varying levels of fancy, but still similar. Rush conversation is rush conversation everywhere. It starts out boring and superficial and transitions to personal and intense over the course of the week. There are songs and chants and tears and sore feet, all to varying degrees, all over the country. What varies tremendously is the physical structures, and even that is less regional and more about the size and style of the school than geography. If there were that big of differences, the sororities wouldn't be inter/national. Although some sororities are distinctly stronger in a particular region of the US, all of the NPC sororities are represented all over the country and are trained by the same national officers (which by the way are almost all clustered in two or 3 cities in the Midwest).

If you're concerned about rush and want to learn as much as possible, read ALL of the rush threads. If you find anything about your school, then great. But then you might focus too much on which sororities that poster preferred, and that's not good either.
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  #11  
Old 02-13-2012, 08:45 AM
LAblondeGPhi LAblondeGPhi is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sophmorePNM View Post
Hm, I don't want to post my school publicly but it's not in Oregon, Washington, Arizona, or so cal. I mean that's a pretty big clue but I don't want to make it too easy. Thanks for the input, I know the schools vary I just feel like there's a really big difference between west coast and SEC schools. I'll check out some more threads, I haven't been able to find anything specific for my school yet but I'll keep my eyes open. It appears there's no easy answer..
It sounds like what you want isn't so much "more information about west coast recruitment", but more information about recruitment at your school in particular. I've seen recruitment at UCLA, USC, Pepperdine, SDSU and USD, and the main difference among those is the structure and details, like DubaiSis said. All the advice on conversation, recommendations, dress and preparation will stand for ALL of those campuses, and for many others I'm familiar with.

Some campuses will host recruitment parties in the chapter's house, some in a random room on campus, some will have on-campus suites dedicated to the chapter. Some schools will start recruitment before school starts, others will start a few weeks after school starts, or in the second semester. The rooms might be decorated minimally, or absolutely covered in balloons. Details will vary in regards to some of the rules of physical contact between PNMs and actives (some campuses won't allow shaking hands or hugs, some will), how much interaction can happen between PNMs and actives outside of recruitment, the door songs and rotation structures, and if the campus has an upperclassman quota (and it might work differently at different schools).

Bottom line: don't let the fact that you're attending a west coast school lull you into thinking that none of the information on GreekChat applies to your school or your situation. Don't take for granted that your recruitment experience is going to be much more relaxed than what you see here. If you want all the details and nitty-gritty of your campus, then find folks who know, or inquire about that school. Check the Panhellenic website. Talk to Greeks on your campus. Go to the pre-recruitment meetings. If there's no information on GreekChat about your campus, then it'd be lovely if you could recap your recruitment experience at your school. It would benefit future GreekChat readers like yourself!
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Last edited by LAblondeGPhi; 02-13-2012 at 08:49 AM.
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  #12  
Old 02-13-2012, 08:57 AM
AOII Angel AOII Angel is offline
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Seriously, just come out and say what school you go to. What have you said about yourself? Nothing. Get the information you want and quit fishing. It's so tiresome. If you want to post something later that might out you, get another GC account, and don't include the fact that you're a sophomore.
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  #13  
Old 02-13-2012, 09:46 AM
Greek_or_Geek? Greek_or_Geek? is offline
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Or you could try to do something really revolutionary like talking to someone. In person. At your school. Radical, I know, but not everything can be found and spoon fed to you on the internet.

This seems to be the season of the vague questioner looking for specific answers and it's getting a little repetitive.
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  #14  
Old 02-13-2012, 09:47 AM
AOII Angel AOII Angel is offline
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Maybe we just have vague troll starting a bunch of threads trying to annoy us.
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  #15  
Old 02-13-2012, 11:56 AM
sophmorePNM sophmorePNM is offline
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Whoa, I'm not trying to annoy you guys, and ya I have asked some people at my school it's just tough because I'm transferring there, I don't go there now or live near it. I had no idea this would turn into such a train wreck thread, just forget about it. I'll just keep getting "spoon fed" by the Internet. You guys just assume that I'm some anti social weirdo trying to piss off the GCers but I'm seriously just seeing if there's some info out there that I haven't read yet. No alterior motives, I'm just a girl whose nervous about rush. Now if youre going to mock me or just make fun of the thread fine, but those of you who actually had something helpful to say like telling me that rush is more or less the same at all campuses (yes, pnms with no Greek background or experience actually don't know that) or suggesting threads, thank you. The rest of you can seriously calm down, Greek or geek, thanks for that really eye opening comment there, it never occurred to me to talk to people who have actually done it before. I am getting all the info I can from all the sources I have available to me. Don't make assumptions.
I'll be going to University of Nevada, Reno. There you go.

Wow, now I feel like the sweet valley high thread OP.. Like I said, I'm just new to this I'm not trying to piss anybody off. Doesn't anybody remember how clueless they were about Greek life before recruitment?

Last edited by sophmorePNM; 02-13-2012 at 12:00 PM.
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