Hey guys! I’ve been lurking on this site for years, and I decided that it’s time to tell my recruitment story. I read so many stories on this website before going through recruitment myself, so I considered myself a bit of a “recruitment expert” by the time I actually got there. Little did I know that no amount of expertise can prepare you for the experience that is recruitment!
Since I was obsessed with the show
Blue Bloods at the time I went through, I thought it would be fun to do a
Blue Bloods theme! There are 13 sororities at my school, and here are the names!
Frank
Jamie
Henry
Erin
Nikki
Linda
Danny
Eddie
Garrett
Maria
Jackie
Abigail
Renzulli
If you think you know where I went, please don’t post it on here. I want to try to be anonymous, but you can feel free to PM me if you have a guess.
For reference, I went through recruitment in the fall of 2018 (so I’m not sure if my story is old enough to be called retro, but I sure hope not!) at a D1 school in which Greek life was pretty popular and moderately competitive. I was a big believer in the Greek system, and I was a legacy to
Frank (one grandma),
Henry (other grandma), and
Garrett (mom). Additionally, I had a family member in
Henry at the time I was going through, and I also knew people in
Jamie and
Nikki. However, I already had my whole rush planned out before it even started, and I knew exactly what houses to release and which round to do it in. Advice to future PNMs – do NOT do this! It can absolutely ruin your experience. Just focus on finding the house where you feel like you fit in (and don’t stress if you don’t feel an immediate connection somewhere), and everything will fall into place.
I had been told that I didn’t seem like the “sorority type,” but I knew from my mom and grandmas that there was no such thing. I had been an excellent student in high school, with good grades, lots of activities, and academic and character-based awards. Because of this, I thought I would have a pretty fair shot at having a “perfect” recruitment, but I still firmly believed that anyone could find their place in a house if they just trusted the process, so I went into recruitment with an open mind just in case my rush didn’t go as I had planned. At the end of the day, I just wanted to be running home somewhere on Bid Day, even if it wasn’t where I planned. (I sound so ridiculous right now, but you’ll have to cut me some slack – I was only 18, after all!) For me, dropping out of recruitment mid-week was simply not an option. So, after a weekend of moving into my dorm with my roommate (who was a friend from high school and also going through rush), attending recruitment orientation, and meeting the girls in my gamma chi group, I readied myself to jump into the craziest week of my life!
The rounds were broken up into five days, with the sixth day being Bid Day.
Monday – Open House Round (visit 7 houses)
Tuesday – Open House Round (visit remaining 6 houses)
Wednesday – House Tour Round (visit up to 10)
Thursday – Philanthropy Round (visit up to 6)
Friday – Preference Round (visit up to 2)
At the moment, I can’t remember in what order exactly my group went to the houses, but I still remember enough details from each house to fill you all in.
The first house we visited was
Garrett. I was super nervous, but I was a legacy here, so I was excited to see what they had to offer. The first girl I talked to was nice and easy to have a conversation with. We talked about the basic stuff, but I also remember telling her about this one time when my brother tried to jump onto a moving golf cart, and it did not end well for him at all. It was nice because we got to laugh a little bit, which helped to break the tension. We were sitting on the floor, so my legs were starting to fall asleep, but I smiled the whole time because I didn’t want to leave a bad first impression. The sister that bumped her was a lot quieter, but I tried to ask lots of questions to keep the conversation flowing. I remember leaving while telling her about my brother and my other siblings. I was so glad to have the first party over with!
Next, we went to Eddie. Back in the spring, I had gone to Eddie for a mock recruitment event that was held for high school juniors and seniors who thought they would like to go through recruitment. I went to about 7 houses that day for mock recruitment events, but Eddie had really stood out to me because I absolutely loved the girl I talked to. I was hoping to talk to that same member even though I knew it was unlikely. Unfortunately, I did not talk to that girl. I don’t remember much about the conversation that I had at Eddie. The sisters I talked to were nice and one of them asked what I did for fun at my hometown, but I didn’t think that she was really listening to me. I left feeling not as “wowed” as I had at the mock event, but I still wanted to get to know the chapter better.
After that, we went to
Linda.
Linda was the newest house on campus. I knew that they were struggling to get members to stay, as they had only colonized a few years ago. Still, I remembered that I had really liked the girl I had talk to from
Linda during mock recruitment. However, I did not enjoy my conversation this time. The girl I talked to didn’t ask many questions and I had to lead most of the conversation, which I don’t like to do since I’m an introvert. I kept a smile on my face, but I felt relieved when the round was over, especially since the
Lindas did not appear to have enough sisters to bump.
Next up was
Danny. I really loved the girl I talked to from
Danny! She was a senior, and my favorite thing about her was that she was honest with me about her recruitment experience. She told me that she had had a rough recruitment week and that she ended up dropping out of formal recruitment and joining
Danny through COB later that spring. I really loved her candor with me. The sister that bumped her was also really down to earth, and I ended up being thoroughly impressed with
Danny.
At this point, I think we took a break for lunch. It had been a whirlwind of a morning, but we were all getting into a routine. I was less nervous, but still intimidated all the same.
After lunch, we went to
Maria. According to my notes, the first girl I talked to here was awkward, and I had to lead the conversation. The second girl was a little better, but overall, I was not that impressed.
Next up was
Nikki. This house was the only house that I didn’t struggle to hear in because they have quite a bit of carpeting. This house is elegant on the inside. The first member I talked to was a little awkward. The second conversation was a little better. By the time we got to
Nikki, it was almost the last round of the day, so I was tired also, and I’m sure the girls rushing me were as well. I was glad the day was almost over!
Our last house of the day was
Henry. I was hoping that I would talk to my cousin because she was a current member here, but I didn’t. The first two girls I talked to were all right and we had decent conversations, but the third girl I talked to was really outgoing. I mentioned my cousin to her and she said she really loved her. In fact, when we were on the way out of the house, she actually pulled my cousin out of the conversation she was having so she could hug me. Now that I’ve been on the other side of recruitment, I realize that that was probably a really big infraction, but at the time, it was nice to see a familiar face.
With that, the first half of open round was done! It started raining when we left
Henry, so we hurried to the student center to eat dinner. I’m pretty sure that none of the girls in my group had trouble sleeping that night! The next morning, we were up bright and early to go to
Jackie.
I don’t remember anything about the first conversation I had at
Jackie, but according to my notes, we just talked about the normal generic things. However, the second girl I talked to told me that
Jackie’s house would be getting torn down within the next two years. Their house was pretty, but very old. I talked to another girl there, but I don’t remember much about the conversation.
Next up was
Renzulli. I really liked both the girls I talked to here. We talked about living in house and how grades are important to me. The
Renzulli house is very pretty and open on the inside, so I hoped that I could go back for House Tour round so that I could see more of it.
Our third house of the day was
Jamie. I knew two girls in
Jamie because they had gone to my high school. The
Jamies were known for always being first in grades, and academics were important to me, so I thought I could really fit in here. I had also been told that they had a very competitive recruitment. I didn’t talk to either of the girls I knew, but I was bumped 5 times! In my notes, I have that I liked all of the girls I talked to, especially since one of them shared my major, but that I didn’t get to talk to any of them for that long.
I believe that our last house before lunch was
Erin. I loved the first girl I talked to at
Erin. We had the same major, but besides that, she was really down to earth, and I felt like she understood me. I also liked the next girl I talked to. I really wanted to go back to
Erin the next day, but I didn’t have my hopes up because I knew their recruitment was competitive, and I didn’t know anyone there, so I didn’t see it happening.
After
Erin was
Abigail. The
Abigail house was really close to campus, which was nice. The first girl I talked to mentioned that she was shy, but that she had found her place in
Abigail. I really liked that because I was shy, and I wanted to find a place where I would be accepted anyway. The next girl I talked to was a senior, so we talked about how she felt about graduating and the friends that she found in
Abigail. I left liking the house overall.
Our final house of the day was
Frank. It was the last of my legacy houses.
Frank hadn’t been on campus for a super long time, but their house was absolutely beautiful. I had seen it at Bid Day in years prior, and I was always enthralled. The first girl I talked to was very sweet and bubbly. I really liked the next girl I talked to because she seemed very grounded, and I felt more relaxed talking to her.
It was time to do our rankings. Now, as I said earlier, I already planned my recruitment out, so I had absolutely no problems deciding which houses I wanted to release and who I wanted to keep. Again, PNMs, don’t do this! Even though I had liked some of the houses that I planned on releasing, it didn’t matter. I wanted to follow my plan; therefore, I ranked
1.
Garrett
1. Eddie
1.
Danny
1.
Nikki
1.
Henry
1.
Renzulli
1.
Jamie
1.
Erin
1.
Abigail
1.
Frank
11.
Jackie
12.
Maria
13.
Linda
After submitting our rankings, we went to dinner. Later that night, my group met up in our dorm to have a meeting. I’m pretty sure the meeting was about the mutual selection process, which I already understood because I’d heard about it for years from my mom. I remember that people were asking a lot of questions about how it worked, but that I just wanted to go to bed and get to the next morning because I was so nervous about getting my schedule. Our Gamma Chis warned all of us that getting a full schedule of 10 houses back was rare. I knew that I was guaranteed invites back to
Frank,
Garrett, and
Henry because of their legacy policies, but other than that, I didn’t know what to expect.
That's it for the first round! Don't worry, I will have the next round up tomorrow. I have already prewritten this story, so hopefully there won't be too much suspense.
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