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  #1  
Old 08-22-2012, 01:52 PM
vintagemizzou vintagemizzou is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2012
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Vintage Missouri Recruitment!

I went through Recruitment at Mizzou 12 years ago, so some of the memories are fuzzy, but I thought I would share my story anyway (in case anyone was interested) J It was a big recruitment (over 1000 girls) at a big Greek school, so parts of it are still relevant ( I think).
There were 13 sororities at Mizzou at the time (there will be 15 in recruitment 2013!):
Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Phi
Chi Omega
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Gamma
Gamma Phi Beta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Pi Beta Phi
Sigma Kappa
Zeta Tau Alpha
Phi Mu was colonizing, so they participated in the open house round. For the record, Phi Mu has now been at Mizzou for over ten years, has a beautiful house, wonderful sisters and is doing great!
I will call the chapters countries, to avoid any hurt feelings based on this naive young woman's impressions.

Italy
France
P
ortugal
Spain
England
Austria
Norway
Finland
Denmark
Belgium
Monaco
The Netherlands
Sweden
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  #2  
Old 08-22-2012, 03:25 PM
vintagemizzou vintagemizzou is offline
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Posts: 14
Background:
I was from a very not-Greek family. I had a great aunt who was an Italy at a school far, far away in the 60s. I didn’t even ask her for a rec. But I went into recruitment with recs to several sororities (mainly from women at my church). I had no idea really what rec letters were or why they were important. The only active sorority member I knew at mizzou was my brother’s girlfriend (now wife), who was a Spain. I loved her and knew that I wanted to join her sorority. Obviously, I wasn’t going in with preconceived notions of all the houses, but the only house I actually “knew” was Spain, which was why it was my favorite going in.
In my rush group, I definitely felt like a fish out of water. While I was a pretty outgoing, non-wallflower type of girl, with great grades, I felt like some of these women went into recruitment with so much preparation and information that I was a total weirdo! There was one girl in my group from a small town in Illinois who didn’t have much connection with Mizzou Greek Life either- and she and I became instant friends.
Also, all of the girls were talking about houses reputations, their legacies, etc. I was completely overwhelmed. And it didn’t help that in the alphabetical lineup, I was sandwiched between a Mizzou cheerleader and a Mizzou Golden Girl (the dance team). They were PERFECT “sorority girls” and seemed to know EVERYTHING about every house. They would often have conversations around me, because apparently, I was that useless at recruitment J Like I said, I had no idea what to expect from any of the chapters, except that I wanted to be with my future-sister-in-law in her chapter. But, my future sister-in-law was a recruitment counselor and wouldn’t be able to talk to me during recruitment at all!
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  #3  
Old 08-22-2012, 03:40 PM
vintagemizzou vintagemizzou is offline
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Day 1- Open House Day

Day 1:
On this day we visited every chapter, including Phi Mu’s colony presentation. For the record, Phi Mu has now been at Mizzou for over ten years, has a beautiful house, wonderful sisters and is doing great!

It was a VERY long and hot day in Missouri in August
Austria- This was the first house I went to! When the horn sounded and they all marched out of their house, I am pretty sure my jaw hit the ground. Also, it doesn’t hurt that this ia one of the most BEAUTIFUL houses at Mizzou (in my opinion). It was honestly a blur, but I knew that I liked it- a lot.
France- There was a girl I knew from junior high who was in the chapter. She rushed me- HARD! It came off as a little desperate and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. At this point, I was still a little overwhelmed with the whole process and was trying to digest it all.
Sweden- The girls were very nice, very pretty and very laid back. I enjoyed my time here, but nothing made it stand out to me. I did note, however, that all of the girls I got bumped to said exactly the same thing. They seemed pretty rehearsed, but very sweet.
Italy- this was the house my great aunt was in. Even though I didn’t have a rec from her (and honestly saw her about once every four years), the idea of being in the same house as the ONLY other greek person in my entire family was comforting. The house was beautiful and I had good conversations with the girls- they seemed very similar to me in personality.
Denmark- These girls were nice and sweet, but my first impression of them was that they were sort of “so-so”. So-so in grades, looks, involvement. The girls were very nice, and I wouldn’t mind going back, but they weren’t exactly exciting me. (this was my first impression and is not, in fact, true about this house AT ALL)
England- The house was gorgeous and the girls were very easy to talk to. But, other than that, I honestly didn’t have much of an impression of this chapter, but I did enjoy that I only talked with one girl the entire time.
Monaco- My roommate's sister was an active in the house, so I definitely wanted to like them going in. The girls I talked to were very nice and I had a great time there- I felt very comfortable. It was definitely a house I wanted to go back to.
Norway- These girls came off very polished, but a little stuffy. I was sitting on a couch with two other PMs with two or three actives kneeling talking to us, and I was definitely the one on the couch they were the LEAST interested in. I almost left with my feelings hurt because it was so obvious that they weren’t interested in me. But, I am sure that was just my own insecurities clouding my judgment.
Portugal- A friend from high school’s girlfriend was in the house. She came over to talk to me. I felt comfortable there, but all of the girls were VERY pretty and very typically “sorority”. Even though I wasn’t exactly a cave troll, I was very intimidated. But, all of the girls were very nice.
Belgium- The sidewalk talk about this house was horrible! The girls were so rude about this chapter that I was determined to like them going in. The girl I talked to was very sweet, but didn’t come off as confident. It was almost as if I was intimidating her. I didn’t have a bad feeling about the house, but I wasn’t in love or anything.
Spain- My future sister-in-laws sorority!!! I was in LOVE with the girls I talked to and knew that I wanted to be in that house. I was very comfortable and actually had a good time. It didn’t feel forced or rushed or awkward at all. I didn’t know the girl I talked to, but we had a great conversation.
The Netherlands- I stood in the foyer of this house with a bunch of other PMs and their actives. It was very loud and I talked about my summer job (working at a fast food place). Looking back, this was probably NOT a topic of conversation that made me seem very desirable. I also remember that this was one of the only houses I had to stand at.
Finland- Gorgeous house and I liked the girl. I knew that I had a rec to this chapter from a woman in my church, so I remember thinking highly of them.
Basically, my ranking on this was something like :
1. Spain
2. Everyone else
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  #4  
Old 08-22-2012, 04:34 PM
annabella annabella is offline
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I'm reading! This was a few years before I went through, so I'm having fun guessing.
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  #5  
Old 08-22-2012, 05:12 PM
vintagemizzou vintagemizzou is offline
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Day 2- Skit Day!

Day 2:
We met with our recruitment counselors and were told that we would be going back to a maximum of 9 houses. “Back in the day” we were given a number of houses that invited you back and if you had more than the amount you could go to that day, you cut them there. I was asked back to exactly 9 houses, so I made no cuts.
Norway, Spain, The Netherlands and Austria had cut me. I figured my time talking about flipping burgers is probably what got me cut from The Netherlands. I knew that Norway was going to cut me and I was sad to see Austria go, but I was DEVASTATED to not be going back to Spain! I really didn't understand and was heartbroken. While my recruitment counselor tried to make me see how lucky I was to be going back to 9 houses, I was definitely in a foul mood when the parties started.

Sweden- This was my first house of the day and I had a lot of fun watching the skit. I had no idea what skit day was going to be like, so being crammed into the dining room of the house with approximately 90 PMs and 100 actives was pretty intense. I remember I really liked their skit and again really liked the chapter, but couldn't stop being upset that I wasn't going to Spain.
Monaco- I wasn’t as in love with this house today as I had been the first day. Although some of may have been that my roommate was starting to get on my nerves (I actually wound up moving in with another girl a few weeks later). The girl that rushed me was very sweet and seemed happy to see me again. I had a good time, but wasn’t bowled over. And, of course, I am sure I wasn't a really lovely PM with my perpetual scowl on my face about Spain.
Denmark- The girl that got me on the sidewalk made it very clear that she was VERY excited to see me back that day- which made me feel very good about myself. Their skit was super cute (and they had great snacks) and I was pretty happy there, despite my piss-poor overall attitude this morning.
Finland- I had the same girl meet me on the sidewalk as the day before, but she acted like she didn’t know me at all! Knowing how things work, I know this couldn’t have been an accident, but I was definitely a little offended that she had the exact same conversation with me today as we had had the day before. I left a little down becuase I really WANTED to like this house, but I was having the worst conversations there!
After these four, we had a lunch break. All of the girls were talking about the houses they went back to. I was so upset to hear girls talking about the great time they had at Spain. I’m sure it was exhaustion, home sickness and general over-dramatic behavior, but I started to cry and went and found my sister-in-law (even though she really wasn't supposed to talk to me about things like this). I asked her how it could be that I was cut from HER chapter. She said she wasn’t sure and that it wasn’t a reflection on who I was at all. I told her I wanted to drop out of recruitment because if I couldn’t be in Spain I didn’t want to be in any sorority. She was wonderful and told me to just be myself that any chapter would be lucky to have me and that her chapter had made a big mistake in not choosing me as a member. She also asked me to not drop out of recruitment and that if I got a bid from a sorority I didn’t want to be in, I could refuse the bid, but that I really should stay in recruitment. She told me that all of the houses were great and that I should give them all a chance before deciding not to go greek. it was a great talk, but I was still heartbroken as I headed to my next chapter.
England- I walked in here with a bad attitude. I am pretty sure I told the girl something like “I got cut from my brother’s girlfriend’s house and I am really upset about it”. She then told me “listen, recruitment is absolutely crazy. People get cut from houses they shouldn’t and girls wind up getting bids to houses that other girls would have been better fits for. Just watch our skit and try and enjoy yourself and we can talk more after the skit.” I watched the skit (which was pretty terrible, to be honest) but I did smile and laugh. I talked more with my girl afterwards about how I was feeling. She told me that she understood my feelings but that she was really glad I was there and that she wanted me to give all of the chapters, especially theirs, a closer look now that Spain wasn’t an option. I left feeling very comforted and with a new lease on recruitment.
Italy- with my new attitude I walked in to my next house and I loved their skit! They also did a mini-house tour and seeing those rooms made me imagine myself living there. I was rushed in a group with some other PMs, but I had a great time. I definitely wanted to go back. My attitude had drastically changed and I was ready to find my new home, and thought this might be it!
France- the awkward girl from middle school rushed me again. She talked more about her ex-boyfriend (who I was friends with) than her sorority. She also made it sound like her sorority was just something she did for fun- not that it meant a lot to her (she actually wound up dropping that year). Overall, I left with luke warm feelings.
Belgium- These girls really put on a good show and talked a lot about sisterhood and the relationship they found with each other. It was a really good day and I was very impressed with the girl I talked to (she was the president). I left liking the chapter, but not feeling like it was the right fit for me.
Portugal- My last house of the day and I was exhausted, but I had a great time at this house. The skit was hilarious and the girls were really sweet. Any intimidation from the day before was gone and I was really happy to be there- and really hoping to get to go back the next day!

We could go back to five houses the next day. I was really hoping to be invited to:
Sweden
England
Italy
Portugal
Denmark
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  #6  
Old 08-22-2012, 05:19 PM
tigerivy tigerivy is offline
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Posts: 55
As a fellow Tiger- I can't wait to see where you ended up.
Also, how can we move this threat to "Recruitment Stories"?
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  #7  
Old 08-22-2012, 05:22 PM
TriDeltaSallie TriDeltaSallie is offline
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Enjoying your story!
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My recruitment story: My sorority membership changed my life.
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  #8  
Old 08-22-2012, 05:24 PM
vintagemizzou vintagemizzou is offline
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I'm trying to move this thread to the "recruitment stories" thread...
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  #9  
Old 08-23-2012, 09:35 AM
vintagemizzou vintagemizzou is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 14
In case anyone is on the edge of their seat wondering how my recruitment (12 years ago) went... here is the next installment
Day 3:
We could go to five houses this day. I got asked back to 7- Italy and Austria had released me. I really liked both houses and was a little sad, especially about Italy because this was the only house that I had really started to imagine joining (after the whole Spain debacle….) I was now feeling like any house I loved was bound to release me. But, being asked back to seven was wonderful and meant that I had to drop two houses from my schedule. I chose to drop France (bye Awkward girl from Middle School!) and Belgium, deciding to give Finland another chance to remember me J

At this point, I was going through recruitment because I said I would to my sister-in-law. I wasn’t sure I was really “drinking the PHA kool-aid” at this point. No place had made me feel absolutely at home and I wasn’t sure I could really commit to any chapter like these actives were. I decided to go into with an open mind, but was also thinking that this seemed like a huge commitment and that if I didn’t find a place I loved, maybe it would be better to not be Greek at all.

Finland was my first house of the day- A new girl picked me up on the sidewalk, but I was bumped to the girl from the previous two days. While she did act like she knew me this time, she asked a lot of the same things. I was really not feeling it. I had to keep the conversation going. Looking back, I fell victim to a major issue with recruitment- I judged the house based on my rusher alone. I now know that this is a wonderful chapter with great girls, but I just had a poor impression of the house and knew that, if I had the chance, I would drop them from my schedule.

Monaco- We had our house tour and the girls were great- they seemed to really like living in house, but, for some reason, I wasn’t warm and fuzzy. Looking around the rooms, I wasn’t excited to live there (and it had nothing to do with the structure of the house, as all of the houses at Mizzou are beautiful). I had a good time, but wasn’t overjoyed.

Denmark- By this point, this chapter was making it clear that they really wanted me. They kept saying things like “this could be your room” on the house tour. While I know it was sweet, I was still a little weary of sorority life in general, and they came on a bit strong. I felt like joining would be signing my life away to this house or something. They all seemed really dedicated, and I wasn’t sure I was able to give that commitment to a chapter.

Portugal- On this day, I started getting a “party girl” vibe from the girl that rushed me. Although I decided that I actually liked that vibe more than the “I eat, live, breath my chapter” vibe I had gotten from the previous house (again, let me state that these were my impressions and I later learned that I was wrong on nearly all of them). I loved their house- it had sort of a haunted mansion feel to it and was very cozy feeling. I decided I would like to go back to them the next day.

England- This is the house that had basically comforted me the day before when I was a total mess. I had a tour of the house (which was beautiful) and sat down to talk to an upper classman. She hadn’t rushed me before, but we hit it off instantly. I voiced my concern that it seemed like I was joining in the army or something, in terms of commitment and dedication. She assured me that one of the best parts of sorority life was that you could be as involved as you wanted- that there were always ways to get more involved, but you didn’t HAVE to do everything. I just felt relaxed and at peace while I was there. It was a good feeling.
My ranking
1.Tied between England and Portugal
3. Monaco
4&5- Tied between Finland and Denmark
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  #10  
Old 08-23-2012, 10:38 AM
Ladybugmom Ladybugmom is offline
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I am loving your story and the fact that you are willing to say that your impressions might have been wrong....I hope all of the future PNM's out there are reading this!
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  #11  
Old 08-23-2012, 01:07 PM
vintagemizzou vintagemizzou is offline
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Day 4- Pref Day

Day 4- Pref
This day we could go to three houses, I got my list and I had been cut by Portugal. I was a little disappointed because they were definitely in my top two, but I was very happy to be retuning to England and was glad that Monaco hadn't released me. I still had a tough decision to make Finland or Denmark? I decided to release Finland over Denmark because I had just had such rough conversations there all week and I knew that Denmark at least really wanted me.
First up was Denmark. They had scared me a bit with their over-zealous ness during the week, I really felt a true bond between the girls and knew that they wanted me to be in their sisterhood. I was very happy there and thought that I could probably be very happy there.
Next up- Monaco. Monaco was lovely, but I really felt like I was going through the motions, smiling, talking, etc. I knew that it wasn’t really making my heart sing to be there.
At both Denmark and Monaco, I was really impressed by the ritual and beauty of their ceremonies. Both houses made it clear that I would be a good addition to their houses and that they wanted me. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be one of them. They were both wonderful houses, but I wasn’t swept away with desire to be a member. Also, both of the ceremonies were beautiful and meaningful, but I wasn’t quite understanding why the girls in the house, especially seniors, were crying. I vividly remember sitting there thinking “you still have your entire senior year together- why are you all upset?”.
I had England last. This was the house that had comforted me and had seemed the most “real” during the week. At the pref ceremony, the president talked about sisterhood and shared some funny stories. The fact that this ceremony was a little more lighthearted and not filled with tears and a somber attitude was exactly what I needed. I talked to the same girl as the day before. I knew that I wanted to be in this house. I wasn’t feeling like I was having to put on a show or project myself to be the type of person I thought they wanted… I knew that they wanted me for me. At this point the words of my sister-in-law “you will just know when you have found your home” came true. I really wanted to be in England.
It was easy for me to pref my houses.
England
Denmark
Monaco
I talked to my mom that night and told her that I loved England and really only wanted to join it. She asked me why I had put the other two on the card at all and I explained that suiciding a house was a very bad idea, but I knew she was right. If I didn’t get England, I wasn’t sure I would be able to join the other two houses.
Again, looking back this was a silly outlook. I would have been VERY happy at any of the sororities at Mizzou, but I am just trying to explain how I felt in that moment.
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  #12  
Old 08-23-2012, 03:00 PM
FSUZeta FSUZeta is offline
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more, please!
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  #13  
Old 08-23-2012, 03:53 PM
APhi4Ever APhi4Ever is offline
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I agree, such a great story!
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  #14  
Old 08-23-2012, 04:23 PM
tigerivy tigerivy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vintagemizzou View Post
Day 4- Pref
This day we could go to three houses, I got my list and I had been cut by Portugal. I was a little disappointed because they were definitely in my top two, but I was very happy to be retuning to England and was glad that Monaco hadn't released me. I still had a tough decision to make Finland or Denmark? I decided to release Finland over Denmark because I had just had such rough conversations there all week and I knew that Denmark at least really wanted me.
First up was Denmark. They had scared me a bit with their over-zealous ness during the week, I really felt a true bond between the girls and knew that they wanted me to be in their sisterhood. I was very happy there and thought that I could probably be very happy there.
Next up- Monaco. Monaco was lovely, but I really felt like I was going through the motions, smiling, talking, etc. I knew that it wasn’t really making my heart sing to be there.
At both Denmark and Monaco, I was really impressed by the ritual and beauty of their ceremonies. Both houses made it clear that I would be a good addition to their houses and that they wanted me. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be one of them. They were both wonderful houses, but I wasn’t swept away with desire to be a member. Also, both of the ceremonies were beautiful and meaningful, but I wasn’t quite understanding why the girls in the house, especially seniors, were crying. I vividly remember sitting there thinking “you still have your entire senior year together- why are you all upset?”.
I had England last. This was the house that had comforted me and had seemed the most “real” during the week. At the pref ceremony, the president talked about sisterhood and shared some funny stories. The fact that this ceremony was a little more lighthearted and not filled with tears and a somber attitude was exactly what I needed. I talked to the same girl as the day before. I knew that I wanted to be in this house. I wasn’t feeling like I was having to put on a show or project myself to be the type of person I thought they wanted… I knew that they wanted me for me. At this point the words of my sister-in-law “you will just know when you have found your home” came true. I really wanted to be in England.
It was easy for me to pref my houses.
England
Denmark
Monaco
I talked to my mom that night and told her that I loved England and really only wanted to join it. She asked me why I had put the other two on the card at all and I explained that suiciding a house was a very bad idea, but I knew she was right. If I didn’t get England, I wasn’t sure I would be able to join the other two houses.
Again, looking back this was a silly outlook. I would have been VERY happy at any of the sororities at Mizzou, but I am just trying to explain how I felt in that moment.

Bolded part- I remember thinking the same thing. I was like "we aren't at a funeral!" But then when I was a senior going through recruitment, I got all teary eyed too!
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  #15  
Old 08-24-2012, 10:53 AM
AGDAlum AGDAlum is offline
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Ah, Mizzou memories! 12 years for Ms. Vintage, 42 (yikes!) for me.
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