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  #1  
Old 07-27-2012, 05:27 PM
lunalovegood lunalovegood is offline
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A Shoe-In Recruitment

I've never really talked about my recruitment experience, and admittedly I'm just going to be a sophomore this year experiencing formal recruitment from the other side.

My school has four GLOs that participate in formal recruitment:Sperry's, Steve Madden, Jack Rogers, and Converse. It was five days long: two rotationals (one "get-to-know-us" type and the other being philanthropy), first invitational, house tour (second invitational), and preference. Bid day took place on the same day as preference. The first three days are set up in our alumni house and all of the PNMs are led from room to room by their Rho Chis. The other two days we were driven from house to house by Rho Chis.


DAY 1: ROTATIONAL
Jack Rogers: This house was the first house of the day. I hadn't heard much about them from other PNMs. I talked to a few girls, which was good -- the one I was first matched up with intimidated me a little bit! They seemed like a bunch of really fun, sweet girls and I liked them a lot. Their theme for the night was Hawaiian luau.

Sperry's: At first I was REALLY intimidated by these girls. I didn't know how many I talked to! They were all ridiculously pretty and I was honestly in shock for most of the time and kind of overwhelmed. I had heard rumors about them being a party house, but I tried to ignore that and they were really nice girls. I kept getting compliments on my leopard print rainboots! Overall I thought they were, to be honest, way too pretty for me. Their theme for the night focused on their colors and national symbols, but I spent so much time talking to girls that I didn't get a chance to check them out!

Converse: I knew right off the bat that this house wasn't the best fit for me. The girl who was matched with me was nice, but we didn't have a great connection. They weren't an NPC organization and were only open to certain majors. I probably wouldn't have minded, but they didn't emphasize their sisterhood enough to me, which turned me off from them.

Steve Madden: I was really excited to talk to these girls. My school does a mentoring program, and my mentor was a member here. I was so excited to talk to her! They were nice girls, but I was scared because it didn't feel like a good fit. But my mentor was sweet and I really wanted to give them another chance. Their theme was a winter wonderland theme.

At the end of the day we could rank two top choices, one second choice, and our last choice.

My order
1. Steve Madden
1. Jack Rogers
2. Sperry's
3. Converse

DAY 2: ROTATIONAL
(No cuts are made this early, to my knowledge)
This day was the philanthropy day!

Jack Rogers: I felt a huge connection with their philanthropy as it was something I considered close to my heart. We sat down and did a craft and I just got along so well with the girls I talked to. They just made me so smiley and I kept laughing and conversation wasn't awkward at all.

Sperry's: I felt a connection with their philanthropy as well, since I had a close friend affected by it. I enjoyed talking with these girls but still didn't feel a big of a connection as I did with JR.

Converse: I was still sure, especially after this day, that I was not meant for this house. I felt like I led the conversation with the sisters. I didn't feel any particular connection with the philanthropy, either. I was (to be completely honest) really hoping that I wasn't invited back.

Steve Madden: These girls were so cute in their philanthropy shirts! I thought these girls were really bubbly and nice. It wasn't as big of a connection as it was with JR. It was probably worse than Sperry's, too, because I think I was biased because of my mentor.

By the end of the day my rankings were the same as before:
1. Steve Madden / Jack Rogers
2. Sperry's
3. Converse

In the next post... cuts begin!
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Last edited by lunalovegood; 07-27-2012 at 06:12 PM.
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  #2  
Old 07-27-2012, 05:54 PM
FleurGirl FleurGirl is offline
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Loving this! Can't wait to read the rest!
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  #3  
Old 07-27-2012, 06:47 PM
ElizaB ElizaB is offline
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Yay! An Alpha Gam story!! Love it so far-- cannot wait for more!
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  #4  
Old 07-27-2012, 07:15 PM
FSUZeta FSUZeta is offline
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  #5  
Old 07-27-2012, 09:30 PM
lunalovegood lunalovegood is offline
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DAY 3: INVITATIONAL 1
Today we could be invited anywhere from 1-3 chapters. I was so nervous, I was really hoping I had three... at the time, it seemed to make us look like more "desirable" PNMs. We also weren't given cards/papers that told us where we were invited back; our Rho Chis kind of just led us around and we'd find out from there. (The groups weren't even divided by the number of invitationals you were invited to, either!)

Sperry's was the first house of the day I was invited to! They were all in these cute floral sundresses and had an "Alice in Wonderland" tea party event. I remember the first thing my rusher did was bring me to the cupcakes which had these gorgeous butterfly cookie-topped cupcakes, and I was so excited because I'm obsessed with butterflies. She and I chatted a while and another girl joined in as well. I got along really, really well with my rusher and we ended up having a serious conversation, sort of, about the true nature of people... it was fun, though. I left them feeling a lot better than I had before.

Jack Rogers also invited me back. They did a Victoria's Secret theme with lots of pink and they had VS shopping bags with the label covered by ribbon with their organization. This was a sit-down "speed dating" round which was super fun! Some of the questions were really funny, but it also helped me get to know the sisters better, since we went back and forth asking questions. I felt really comfortable with the girls there, and felt like these girls could be my sisters.

Lastly, I was invited to Steve Madden!!! Woohoo! They were one of my top two, and I was paired with my mentor's best friend, whom she had spoken highly of. It was so exciting! (Said friend knew who I was as well, so she gave me a huge hug.) I don't remember what their theme was... but I remember starting to feel like this might not be the house. Although I got along with those two girls, I wasn't really connecting with some of the others. But all the girls seemed so sweet, and I still wanted to give them another chance.

After this we had to rank our top two (no order) and then our last choice.
My rankings were now...
Steve Madden and Jack Rogers
Sperry's

I remember walking out of recruitment and talking to other PNMs... Sperry's seemed to be the most popular house. One girl I remember in particular didn't get invited back there, but did get invited back to Converse. She was very disappointed. A lot of the seemingly "prettier" girls really wanted Sperry's as well, including a girl I had gotten to know a bit over the summer and didn't really like. I was like, "Oh god, I really don't want to be in the same house as her." She came off as really immature and ditzy to me. Another girl I knew, who had a brother in a "top tier" fraternity, really wanted to go to Sperry's as well.

I knew I would have to wait until I saw the sorority houses to make a decision, but in the mean time, I was VERY grateful to be cut from Converse!!!
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Last edited by lunalovegood; 07-27-2012 at 09:37 PM.
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  #6  
Old 07-29-2012, 10:15 AM
lunalovegood lunalovegood is offline
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I think I'm going to mention my mindset and preparation in going into recruitment at my school. My school isn't known for its sorority life, and girls aren't expected to prepare like they do at other schools. I knew my mentor was in Steve Madden, and she gave me some general advice, especially to dress kind of nicely. People get really involved in everything at my school, so girls came to recruitment rounds straight from sports practices or things like that. I had never been on GreekChat or anything like that. I essentially was just going into it like, "Eh, we'll see what happens." Anyone going to a school where recruitment is taken seriously: DON'T DO ANYTHING I DID.

Day 4: Invitational 2
Few, if any, cuts were made between today and yesterday.
Today we went to each house!

Today we all had to meet in the student union instead of the alumni house so that the rho chis could drive us to the various houses. There was one girl, who I'll call A, that had the curliest hair I had ever seen. She complimented me on my outfit: we were both wearing flare skirts with loose shirts tucked in. She looked so pretty and put together that I was immediately envious.

First on my list today was Sperry's. As soon as I saw their house, I was just like, "WOW!" Compared to some of the houses I've seen online it was definitely far from "beautiful", but there was something about it that clicked as soon as I saw it. Their inside was so pretty! I remember their living room couches and dining room walls were both their colors. They did an "around the world" theme which was so cute! My group was divided up and we were brought from room to room for various mini treats depending on the theme -- Italian, Asian, Mexican. I remember feeling a little nervous and overwhelmed, but I was SO excited because something just felt at HOME about the house. In one of the upstairs rooms we were going through and I was talking to a sister I hadn't spoken to yet, and it turned out that she had gone to my high school's rival high school! It was really funny since we knew some of the same people from back home. I left Sperry's with a really good feeling that I hadn't experienced before.

Next on the list was Steve Madden. They lived in school housing -- basically a set of apartments that had been combined. I loved how there were a bunch of small common areas with different themes! One of them was Vera Bradley, which I think every girl obsessed over! When we were first greeted by these girls, they did a cute skit and gave us each a certain flower to hold. I talked to quite a few girls and I loved how much sisterhood was in that house. It really did feel like a home with so many things around the house that showed how much their sisterhood meant to them.

Finally we went to Jack Rogers. For the first time, I was unimpressed. Beyond unimpressed. After all the presentation that had gone into their first few rounds… their house was awful. I know I was being judgmental at the time, and I'll be honest here: I was really turned off that a lot of their furniture was fold-out chairs and tables, something I hadn't seen at either of the other houses. They had a huge TV system and one of the sisters brought up that they'd all sit down and watch games together, which was also a turn off: I'm not really a sports person. But what shocked me the most is that they had the same theme as Sperry's: "around the world" where we were each brought to a room with a different multicultural theme. (I think their Mexican food was overall better, though.) I don't know if I was letting my disappointment get to me, but I wasn't clicking as well with the sisters, either. At the end of the "mini rounds" they sat us down and did a skit to "California Girls" and it was really funny! One of the girls was a really good singer, too.

As we were walking back, I caught up with Fraternity Brother's sister… turns out she had been dropped from Sperry's and had only been invited back to Jack Rogers and Converse! I was so shocked. From my uneducated judgmental PNM viewpoint, I thought she'd be a guaranteed Sperry's. It gave me a bit of hope that I'd have a chance of making it into Sperry's. (She ended up dropping out of recruitment all together.)

I sat down to make my rankings for preference, and I had to be honest with myself. I knew that Steve Madden felt so full of sisterhood, but something felt "off" about it. But being in all the houses really helped a lot, because it showed how the girls lived -- not just the buildings itself, but how they interacted with each other. I knew I just couldn't really see myself as a sister at Jack Rogers. And, if I had to be completely honest about myself… I was really starting to think that Sperry's was the one. All the PNMs I had talked to that wanted [COLOR="rgb(154, 205, 50)"]Sperry's[/COLOR] seemed a bit stuck up and "popular" for me. That wasn't me in high school. I was such a loner. It was hard for me to admit that I felt comfortable there. So in the end, I wrote down...

Sperry's / Steve Madden
Jack Rogers

As we were walking back, I was talking with Rho Chi's sister and another girl on her floor and told them that I think I belonged in Sperry's (because we all tent-talked and I had made it adamant that they were my third choice). They both thought I'd fit in there and were really excited for me. RC's sister even said, "I could see you as a sister there from the beginning." She was stuck between Sperry's and Steve Madden like me, and we were excitedly talking about the possibility of us being sisters!
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  #7  
Old 08-02-2012, 12:23 PM
lunalovegood lunalovegood is offline
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Sorry for slacking in updating, my boyfriend and I just broke up so it's been kind of crazy. I have the story completely written out and I've been editing it by chunk so I'll try to post another part tonight.
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  #8  
Old 08-03-2012, 11:31 AM
UGAalum94 UGAalum94 is offline
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Sorry about the breakup.

I was enjoying your story, so if you get back to posting it, I'll be reading.
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  #9  
Old 08-04-2012, 09:48 AM
arrowlady arrowlady is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UGAalum94 View Post
Sorry about the breakup.

I was enjoying your story, so if you get back to posting it, I'll be reading.
ditto on all of the above!
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  #10  
Old 08-10-2012, 12:11 PM
lunalovegood lunalovegood is offline
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Okay, I'm going to post the next part. It's been a really long week and a half... I've also been finishing up my summer psychology class and preparing to move into the sorority house... NEXT WEEK! Ahhh!


DAY FIVE: PREFERENCE ROUND
Once again, we all met up at the student union to be driven to various houses. One of the girls in my group showed up late -- partway through our first round of the day!

I had been invited back to… Sperry's and Jack Rogers. What? I'm going to be flat out honest. I was SO PISSED that I had been invited back by Jack Rogers. I ranked them last! Were they even allowed to do that?! I RANKED THEM LAST, GOSH DARNIT!!! Obviously now I know how it works. But I really was happy to have two parties to go to.

Sperry's ceremony was so sweet. The girls sang us a song and then led us down to the basement. As our rho chi groups were significantly smaller, each PNM was matched with two or three sisters. I was with the girl I had conversed with during the first invitational (I'll call her K), who I really got along with. We chatted for a while and then they showed us a part of their ritual which I'm going to keep secret out of respect. I asked the two girls who preffed me why they joined Sperry's. K started telling me the story of her recruitment when she was a freshman… she had gone all the way through formal recruitment and was waiting for her bid when she and five or six other girls were called out of the room and told they didn't receive a bid! She was so devastated and upset but ended up being offered a snap bid afterwards. I felt something odd at that moment… like a sense of déjà vu. But I knew by the end of the ceremony that Sperry's house was perfect for me.

I went back to Jack Rogers trying to keep an open mind, because I knew that I had ranked them highly beforehand. They had several of their girls sing and then did a ritual ceremony, but it seemed to drag a little and I saw other girls getting bored. The two girls who preffed me asked where else I went, and when I told them Sperry's, they started trash-talking that house! My opinion of these girls hadn't risen much from the day before.

When we got back to the student union, we had to fill out our preference cards -- a binding agreement, before we could run back to our dorms for homework or other things to do while bids were matched via computer. I sat there for a long time, debating what to do. We could list two houses: our first and second choices. If we suicide-bid, there was no guarantee that it would work out and we were discouraged from doing this. I thought about this as I contemplated my rounds with Jack Rogers. Overall I was unsure that they were the right house for me, and that I would be comfortable with receiving a bid from them. So…

I decided to suicide bid Sperry's.
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  #11  
Old 08-10-2012, 09:51 PM
UGAalum94 UGAalum94 is offline
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I'm glad you are back posting!
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  #12  
Old 08-11-2012, 08:32 AM
sigmagirl2000 sigmagirl2000 is offline
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ooh glad to see more of the story. Hope all is looking up after the break up, etc. Can't wait to read the ending!
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Old 08-15-2012, 09:50 AM
lunalovegood lunalovegood is offline
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It's so great to hear all these wonderful comments from you GCers! Breakup ended up being very rough in the end, but definitely opened my eyes to what kind of people we both were. Treated myself to an Alex & Ani bracelet for a new start! And now onto more of the story!


BID DAY
So all of us hopeful PNMs ran back to our dorms to change from our preference outfits to something more comfortable before the three-hour long wait for bids. The way it's done at my school is that all the PNMs who sign a preference card go to the alumni house to do homework, chat, read, go online, whatever until bids are distributed. The small group of us sat downstairs in the alumni house and chatted… it seemed quite a few girls I talked to suicide-bid, mostly for Sperry's and then Steve Madden. Immature Ditzy girl was one of them, along with another girl I had befriended. We all sat around, doing homework or watching Youtube videos or otherwise chatting. And somehow, I just couldn't get this nagging, anxious feeling out of my chest.

It's fairly close to five or six when a rho chi enters the room and says she needs to talk to a couple girls. I know what's going to happen next. I'm sure of it. I'm somehow grateful for all the tent talk that's occurred during the week, because the last thing I'd want to feel right now is clueless. She calls out a couple girls by their first names… and of course I hear mine. But wait! There is another girl who has my first name that stands up! (She had suicide-bid Steve Madden.) I'm off the hook!

But just to be sure, I pipe up, "Wait, she and I have the same name. Which of us is it?"

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

And the rho chi says my name.

I'm screwed. Of course, the rho chi leads me and two other girls (one of who knew exactly what was going to happen as well) upstairs to where the Greek Dean of students is waiting, and he informs me that I did not receive a bid to any (meaning one) of the houses I preffed. However, I did have an open bid to Converse, should I chose to accept it. I can also go through COB and am eligible for snap bidding after 24 hours.

Honestly, the open bid from Converse was, in my opinion, awkward and even kind of insulting. Not on the part of the dean, but the fact that those girls didn't really know who I was, but yet were willing to make me a part of their sisterhood. I easily declined and left -- why would I chose to be a part of a group that I didn't like from the beginning just to be in a sorority? I had to pass by the room full of new sorority sisters, holding back my tears as it was the only way out of the room.

I sat alone for a while outside in a secluded part of campus and cried. I couldn't believe it had actually happened. I felt so disappointed, like I had failed in some way to make it so far. I knew it had been a risk, but so many other girls had suicide-bid… what made them better than me? Better yet, why had Immature Ditzy Girl gotten a bid to that house?! I was almost more upset about that than not getting a bid! Why her over me? Was it the blonde streaks in my hair? Was I too awkward? Was my major too unusual for a sorority girl?

I don't really remember most of that night. My Steve Madden mentor had texted me saying she had heard what happened from Rho Chi's sister (who received a bid from Steve Madden) and was so sad that she didn't see me at pref and that I was welcome to come to their open recruitment events. I was open to it at this point… maybe I'd get to know the sisters better this way. Maybe right now wasn't the time for me to be a sorority girl.

Or maybe I just wasn't meant to be one.




SO WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?! How do I end up in Alpha Gamma Delta? Did the system make a mistake? Was the other girl supposed to be left bidless and not me? Did Immature Ditzy Girl eat my bid card?! Time will only tell...
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Old 08-15-2012, 10:55 AM
chi-o_cat chi-o_cat is offline
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Great story- I'm looking forward to the rest. I have one question, though. At the end of Day 3 (first invitational) you ranked your Two #1s and then your second choice. But then for Day 4 (second invitational), you went back to three chapters. Why did they have you rank a Top 2 if you could still visit up to 3 chapters the next round?
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Old 08-15-2012, 10:57 AM
amIblue? amIblue? is offline
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Ooooooo.....this is getting good. More, please!
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