A Muggle Recruitment #itsnotwhatyouthink

[mumom]

Hello All!

My Darling Daughter #2 went through recruitment as a junior at her small University. She was an athlete for her first two years and was unable to go Greek. DD1 was in a house at a different U and loved every minute of her sisterhood, so although DD2 suffered a career ending injury, she was thrilled with the prospect of having a more normal college life for her last two years. The only people she really had time to associate with her first two years were other athletes as she had very limited time to mix with “regular” students. With workouts, travel, missing classes and studying to make up for what you miss, it’s insanity! She loved it, but now it was over and she was looking for something to fill the void and ready to actually meet more Muggles, or NARPs (Non Athletic Regular People) lol and be more social!
So, after leaving her beloved sport, she was ready to begin a new chapter by joining a chapter!

She has stellar grades and two very difficult major areas of study. Her school has 6 sororities and one colonizing this fall. Recruitment is not overly competitive and rec letters are not really needed. Her sister’s (and mine) house is not on her campus. She has a few greek friends and they let her know that rushing as a junior is not a problem at all. Recruitment didn’t begin until several weeks after school started so she was not very patiently waiting for it to start. Recruitment began on a Friday afternoon with each pnm visiting all 6 houses day 1, day two up to 4 houses, day three is preference round with up to 2 houses and bid day is day 4 at 5pm.

Houses are:
Gamma Phi Beta
Kappa Delta
Alpha Delta Pi
Kappa Alpha Theta
Zeta Tau Alpha
Delta Gamma


Since my daughter is an athlete I’ll name the houses after sports!

Volleyball
Soccer
Softball
Swimming
Track and Field
Basketball


Each house’s president gave a short speech at an informational session the week before Recruitment. According to DD, from that session her thoughts were:

Volleyball: Really like them

Soccer: Seemed tense and uptight. Lots of awards to brag about. Little bit of a turn off

Softball: Loved! Has many Softball friends and the President made a great speech.

Swimming: Like a lot!

Track and Field: No, seem pretentious, bragged on awards and gpa. DD knows some track and field women.

Basketball: Thinks they are nice, but wasn’t very impressed.

I thought her impressions after the info session were interesting, because I knew they could change drastically from just this one short event where they didn’t get to talk to anyone personally.

There are no houses on this campus, so one of the buildings was used for recruitment with each house having a room of their own. It was HOT so that was great not having to worry about the elements.

They were given t-shirts to wear for the first two days. We (DD1, myself and DD2) decided to pair them with some cute black shorts from JCrew for day one, and a skirt for day 2. DD2 has a very simple classic style. She doesn’t like to be flashy or too trendy. She said many girls were wearing printed shorts. That’s just not her. She chose to curl her long hair for day one.

Finally recruitment began! Phones were taken away but they were given note pads. She had her first round and took copious notes. She was prepared to be open to all the houses, because she didn’t really know much about them. She wanted to keep her mind open to what each house had to offer and what she can offer them. She really had a great attitude, perhaps due to the fact that she is a little older.

First house she went to was Volleyball.

Prior to recruitment, friends told her that she seemed like a Volleyball. She found that interesting until she was on the court with them. She felt so comfortable there and talked to a woman that lived on her dorm floor with freshman year who remembered her and her beautiful hair! DD2 really liked her and the other three people she talked with. She remembered to ask questions herself including asking one of her rushers why she chose Volleyball. Rusher told her that the sisterhood was everything to her and she had made such special friends in Volleyball. DD2 really liked that answer as that is the reason she wants to join too. DD2 left the court feeling like she would love to return to play another set with them. LOVES them, and wants to be on their team.

Up next was Swimming. DD2 had been a swimmer growing up and just loved being in the water. She talked to a woman who had a lot in common with her including her love of a certain NHL franchise my DD2 loves too. DD2 found the swimmers to be personable, funny, and witty. She appreciates a sense of humor. She was told that the Swimming actives aren’t required to participate as much, but do so when/if they want to so it’s a little less time if they choose. She left really loving that idea and wanted to be on their free relay team. She would love to “just keep swimming” with them!

Third was Track and Field. DD2 is a great sprinter and had a lot in common with Track and Field. Her rusher was someone she liked and connected with but was a little too enthusiastic. DD2 wasn’t sure what to make of that, but she did like them and hoped to be asked back to learn more.

Soccer came next. DD2 played soccer too and was pretty good with a ball. She found that the Soccer women had the highest GPA on campus and they talked a lot about academics. DD2 loves that because she is a pretty smart lady and this is very important to her. She liked them and hoped to go back to kick the ball around a little more.

Basketball was 5th. She was never very interested in basketball but played around a little for fun. She found that although she wanted to like basketball, she just doesn’t fit in and isn’t very interested in learning the game. Conversation was poor and she didn’t feel at home. Not really the sport for her.

Last was Softball. DD2 played softball and always loved it. She knew several softball women and some that she didn’t realize were part of the team. So many women came over to say hello that she felt really special. These women seemed more social and had many social activities. She felt that they had a very diverse group. She loves them and knows she would fit in there. Looking forward to her next chance up to bat!

After day 1, she ranked her top four with 1’s and then 2 and 3
She ranked them this way with 1’s in no particular order.

1 Volleyball
1 Soccer
1 Softball
1 Swimming
2 Track and Field
3 Basketball

She struggled with where to put Soccer and Track and Field. She like them both but could only give one of them a 1 ranking. After discussing it with her RC she chose to rank Track and Field #2. She liked all the houses except Basketball, so she felt good about who might invite her back. A full schedule would be 4 houses and she wouldn’t know until 2 pm the next day. She had a great time overall and was enjoying the process of meeting everyone. Said she could see herself in any one of the houses and be happy.