A Very FRIENDS Recruitment

[bruinlove13]

I just went through rush week and I decided to write about my experience. For all you Friends fans out there, this is for you!

The 11 sororities at UCLA are:

Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Phi
Chi Omega
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Gamma
Gamma Phi Beta
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Pi Beta Phi

And in no particular order...

Monica
Phoebe
Rachel
Ross
Chandler
Joey
Gunther
Janice
Carol
Susan
Ben

On the first day, the first house we visited was Monica. The first girl was really nice and we talked about how she woke up at 3:30 AM to stand in line to get tickets for a singer we both loved. The second girl was also really great to talk to, and she talked about how she loves my home city and the food there, which made me feel good because you don’t find many people here who have been to my city. The third girl was really cool too because we talked about everything. She told me what cool stuff she was involved in at my school. Overall, the house is really nice, and this was a perfect start to my rush.

Next, we visited Phoebe. To be honest, this house really lacked a sparkle I was looking for. The girls were extremely nice so don’t get me wrong. However, I feel like it lacked the easy conversation that I had in the first house. The girls I talked to were really sweet and seemed to be truly passionate about their sorority, but I still felt a little forced when talking to her. The house was actually really beautiful, but this visit was just average for me.

Rachel was next. The first girl was nice enough and kind of talked about why she loved this sorority so much. She explained that their sisterhood is really tight knit, and I did see that in the way the girls interacted with each other when they were bumping or just walking around. They would make silly faces at each other or call each other by their little nicknames, and I thought that was a nice touch. The second girl was really cute and I shared my experience of orientation with her. She thought it was pretty funny, which was kind of cool. The third girl was beautiful. I told her about how intense rush was from where I came from and how it was so different here than back home. Overall, I think Rachel has a close sisterhood, it impressed me.

Ross was actually a sorority I had really high hopes for just because of their reputation on campus and from what I’ve seen in pictures. I know it’s bad to be judgmental like that in the beginning, but I really did expect the girls to be at another level. However, when this gorgeous girl and me started talking, I realized that most of our conversation topics were introductory and not very natural. I didn’t feel like I was talking to a friend or a fellow student, but I felt like I was being thrown into this weird interview where I had to think really hard in advance what I was going to say next. Obviously, a bunch of other girls absolutely adored the house. Maybe they already knew a girl in the house and were actually just having a conversation like friends, but for me, I was not too impressed when I walked out.

Chandler was our next house. From what I had seen in the past, these girls seemed to be super fun and super awesome. They seemed down to earth, which is something I really wanted. The first girl I talked to was really cool. I talked to her about orientation and a funny story, and she was dying of laughter. The second girl was literally so beautiful. She was also from the South and we bonded over so many things. She called me her “soul mate” and seemed so genuinely interested in getting to know me better. The third girl laughed a lot with me, which is a good sign I think. We bonded over common TV shows that we both liked to watch. She told me a really funny story about her friend’s dad and I was laughing so hard. I walked out of this house feeling really great about rush and I knew immediately that this was my number 1 house so far.

The last house of the day that we visited was Joey. I also had extremely high hopes for this house since the lady who wrote my recommendation letter had raved about her experience with her chapter in college. They were also really strong on my campus, so I was really hoping I would like them and vice versa. Well, the first girl I talked to was really cool. We talked a little bit about her background with martial arts. The second girl was also really nice but I just didn’t feel as natural talking to her as I did with the first. It was just kind of more forced and I didn’t laugh as much with her. The third girl had a nice conversation with me. We talked about all kinds of things but I’m not confident that we clicked very well. But all in all, they were ok.

Overall, I had a great first day. I was a little disappointed in the two houses that I was looking forward to that ended up being just ok. But I can’t wait to see what the other 5 houses have to offer!

[bruinlove13]

The second day, we went through the second part of Round 1. It was still the Open House Round, but we visited the last half of the houses.

Our first house that we visited today was Gunther. I hadn’t heard too much about this house, so I was assuming that they were moderately active on campus, and I had seen a lot of girls wearing their letters around the school. The first girl I talked to was really nice. We talked about boys, shopping, and getting to know the area. The second girl talked to me about the contrasting weather here versus my hometown and their amazing sisterhood. She seemed to really love her sorority. It was a nice house, but nothing about it really truly stood out. Their door chant at the end was so cute, and they did seem to have a great bond so I would consider going back to them.

The second house was Janice. People have told me that they were one of the biggest groups on campus, which wasn’t necessarily good or bad, but it definitely gave me an idea of the number of people I would come into contact with and the diversity within that group. The first girl was really nice and had been to my hometown before. She was funny and seemed to genuinely like our conversation, which I appreciated since I know the girls have such a long day to go through. The second girl was pretty and funny. She was giving me advice on boys and how it was a bad to start a relationship with somebody on the floor. The third girl was in a contemporary dance group at the school, which I thought was really awesome. I felt like I really connected with her, and she seemed to really like me.

Carol was the third house we visited. I had heard some things about this house from my rush group, but I was trying so hard to keep an open mind. I tried so hard to act my best and still have a good conversation. It was hard, but I think I did an okay job of keeping my options open. I don’t even remember much of the house, but just that it was absolutely freezing in there. I really didn’t feel comfortable there, and the musty smell of the house made me feel a little nauseous. But the girls were super nice and they really seemed to care about what I was saying, which I appreciated.

Our next stop was Susan. I walked in and they were so welcoming and I was paired off immediately with a girl who was so bubbly and so sweet. I don’t really remember much of this house after my first conversation, which I took into consideration when I ranked my houses at the end of the night. Everyone here was super nice and they all seemed to like me, but the house was so incredibly loud that we were all literally yelling at the top of our lungs. I didn’t really notice this issue with other houses and I felt a little like I was blindly going through the conversations because I could never fully understand what they were saying, so I left feeling a little disoriented and confused.

We stopped at Ben as the last house of the day. The first girl and I talked about normal, non-introductory things such as boys, dance, shopping, and moving away from home. The second girl was also really nice, but I couldn’t really remember our conversation once she left, which I don’t think is a good sign. The third girl was a transfer and we kind of just talked about finding our place at the school. She kind of turned me off from this house though because she honestly did not seem to be like she was having fun or even loved it that much when I asked her how her experience was here. However, she did say that they had an amazing sisterhood and our conversation ended up flowing more naturally towards the end. I left this house feeling unsure about how I felt.

At the end of the day, we ranked 8 houses as our number 1, and 3 houses as our number 2, 3, and 4. Those are the ones we would prefer not to visit again.

My list looked like this:

Monica
Phoebe
Rachel
Ross
Chandler
Joey
Janice
Ben

And my 2, 3, and 4 respectively were:

Gunther
Susan
Carol

[aab225]

YAY! A UCLA story! I'm a SoCal gal, so I love this! Can't wait to hear where you ended up!

[Wynter]

Yay a new story! More more

[ChioLu]

And this episode is titled "The One About Recruitment".

We don't have UCLA stories that often, so looking forward to hearing more!

[bruinlove13]

The next morning, I woke up feeling a little anxious, but overall pretty good. I got ready and hurried down to our meeting spot to see what schedules our Rho Gamma, our rush counselor, had for us.

I opened my schedule and I was pretty surprised. I had gotten back:

Carol
Ben
Chandler
Janice
Rachel
Susan
Phoebe
Gunther

I was so sad that I didn’t get Monica back, but I took it all in stride. I was actually kind of relieved I wasn’t invited back to Ross or Joey even though they are both strong chapters. I just didn’t really feel like I fit in and I don’t think I would have been very happy at either because I couldn’t see myself fitting into their everyday life.

I went to Carol first. I really honestly did not want to be here and I still felt really uncomfortable when I walked into the house. We took a tour of the house today, and I felt even worse about the house than I did yesterday. It smelled so musty upstairs However, I was polite and made conversation. The girls were being nice and I felt bad that I couldn’t feel the same way about them. I left the house feeling a little down and not very spirited. But I didn’t let it get me down too much because I had a second house to get to right away so I didn’t have time to overthink things for too long.

Ben was a strange experience. After we went through the house tour, the girl started talking about how she loved going out and clubbing. Since I didn’t really have similar interests as her, I didn’t have much to talk about. Then, another girl came and they started grilling me about if I liked dressing up in different costumes, and it made me really uncomfortable. I was so caught off guard that I don’t even think I gave a coherent answer to their questions. I left feeling really confused and not sure what just happened. But their house was super nice and I really liked some of the girls I met before the conversation got weird.

Next, I went to Chandler, and I was so excited to come here. I think my energy really showed through because I hit it off with every single girl. One girl and I swapped embarrassing stories and we were both laughing so hard. When the second girl came to talk to me, all three of us ended up laughing and talking about our embarrassing moments. With the second girl, we talked about our passion for eating hot dogs and going to baseball games just for the food. I loved talking to her, and once again I left feeling so happy and glowing. I just wanted to be in this house so bad already. Plus, they have a really cool house with so many amazing traditions and I could just really see myself here.

My next visit was with Janice. I saw the girl from yesterday again and again we had such a great conversation. Their house is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It’s so big and they have so many cute decorations that I absolutely loved and reminded me of my own room back home. I talked to this other girl too and we just bonded over our similar taste in jewelry. To be honest, everyone I talked to in this house was just so personable and I could definitely see myself being their sister. However, I was so in love with the previous house that it was hard for me to fully give my heart to this house.

Rachel was the next house I had a party at. I absolutely loved them. I met a girl from my state and we ended up sitting in one of the many beautiful bedrooms and just talking about how we missed so many things about home. We had so many things in common that it was really just like looking in a mirror. We honestly talked for so long that we had messed up her bump schedule! When we went downstairs, I saw a girl from the previous day and we had a nice conversation too. I talked to a third girl, and her boyfriend actually goes to school in my home state, so we bonded over that too. These girls are so genuine, and I could really see myself fitting in here just because everyone is so down to earth and they don’t try to put up a front by pretending to be something they’re not. I wanted to come back here.

I went to Susan next, and it was just a really strange experience. I was double rushed with another girl in my group, and it really seemed like the two of them hit it off much better than I did. The house was pretty nice but when we were standing outside waiting to go inside, we definitely saw one or two rats running around in their front yard, which really freaked a lot of us out. I really didn’t have the best time at this party, but I was glad that I got to see them again.

Phoebe was my next house tour. Honestly, their house was pretty nice but I had the most awkward conversation with the girl who was telling me about their philanthropy. Even though we both liked country music, she didn’t ever have much to say about anything, so I felt like I was the one guiding the conversation the whole time. Their philanthropy presentation was really cute, and I loved how it really hit home for me. I left this house feeling unsure, because I loved the house, just not the conversation I had today.

The last house of the day was Gunther. To be honest, I was so tired already and I found myself really trying to make conversation with the girl giving me house tours. She seemed tired as well, which I could understand. After she left me, another girl who was from my home state came and started talking to me. I thought that was pretty cool and we did have some things in common to talk about. Even though I was tired, that got me through the party and I left liking them a little more than I did last night.

When we went to go rank, my five number 1’s were:

Phoebe
Rachel
Chandler
Ben
Janice

And my 2, 3, and 4 respectively were:

Gunther
Susan
Carol

[FSUZeta]

I am really enjoying reading about your recruitment experience.

[OldOleMiss]

I burst out laughing over the girl at Ben asking you about dressing up in costumes!!! How bizarre!! Really enjoying this and can't wait to hear where you end up!

[Wynter]

I am loving this story! I'm rooting for Chandler because I can tell you are so in love with them, BUT you have such great options and it's awesome to see you're keeping an open mind.

Han in there, you're doing great!

[ASTalumna06]

I'm just rooting for Chandler because he's my favorite character on the show

Can't wait to see how things turn out!

[Nittanyville]

Best of luck! I'm partial to Phoebe!

[FSUZeta]

Originally Posted by OldOleMiss

I burst out laughing over the girl at Ben asking you about dressing up in costumes!!! How bizarre!! Really enjoying this and can't wait to hear where you end up!

That is bizarre. I was wanting the OP to tell us that she replied ,"Why yes, I love dressing up in costumes. My two favorites are Elmo and Elvira, the Mistress of Dark!"

[groovypq]

I have to wonder if Rachel is Kappa Delta or Kappa Kappa Gamma because once on the show, Rachel says she was a "Kappa Kappa Delta." :-)

LOVE a Friends theme! Hoping the right chapter "gets off the plane" for you! :-)

[aab225]

Originally Posted by groovypq

LOVE a Friends theme! Hoping the right chapter "gets off the plane" for you! :-)

Too cute.

[DG Illinois]

I'm loving your story as well and cannot wait for your next post!