Spring Recruitment-Northern school

[AlexMack]

I'll lay it out right now. I'm not a girly-girl. I prefer to wear hoodies and jeans most days, I wear minimal makeup, if at all, and I have a fairly sarcastic sense of humour (stems from being British I suppose).
But, for all this, I'm still interested in going Greek. My roommate last year, who is now one of my best friends, is girly, and a touch ditzy (which she openly admits!), and she's a sorority girl.
I met a lot of her sisters and really loved them. Being roommates with Ashley really helped to change my mind about greek life and made me realize that I might enjoy being a part of it.
I'm in the process of transferring to UMASS, and while I would like to go greek, I don't want to misrepresent myself during the recruitment process. I do like to dress well, but I don't do it everyday. Basically, I don't want to be judged on what I wear.
Are my worries unfounded, or should this be something I should be concerned with?
This may sound superficial, but I'm really uncomfortable with dressing up for recruitment, to try to make people think I'm something that I'm not. I'm not suggesting I want to look like a slob-I just don't want them to think I make that kind of effort everyday.
Maybe I'm blowing this out of proportion...I just need an opinion or three.

[kddani]

You can present yourself nicely without dressing like someone you're not.

It's not necessarily about wearing certain clothes, styles, etc. But you need to make a good impression. You wouldn't go to an interview at a law firm in a hoodie.

Being at a northern school, it is much more laid back, but still, what is wrong with presenting yourself in a put together manner? You need to dress for the occasion. And this is something you actually need to get used to doing to be successful in your future. You're not going to be able to wear hoodies to work forever (though how much fun would that be!).

If you've met a lot of the sisters, they know what you're like outside of recruitment. But recruitment is a special event, and you should treat it as such. Find something nice, but comfortable. Pay attention to fabrics and cuts. Recruitment isn't an every day event. It's a special event. No one wears "recruitment clothes" 365 days a year!

You won't necessarily be judged on what you wear, but if you show up looking sloppy, you will be judged negatively in that you couldn't put forth the extra effort for this special event. While you can be non-sloppy in jeans and a hoodie, it doesn't look as well coordinated as a nicer, put together outfit.

When you're dressed nicely, in clothes that fit and you're comfortable with, you'll feel more confident in yourself and will give a much better impression. If you wore jeans and a hoodie, you'd end up worrying that you didn't dress well enough and comparing yourself to the other rushees.

One thing i'm curious about in your post. Would you be rushing at your current school or the one that you're transferring too? If you're going to rush at your current school knowing that you will be transferring, I think that's more cause for concern than worrying about how to dress

[sugar and spice]

I don't think misrepresenting yourself will be a big problem. Basically, treat dressing up for recruitment as the way you would dress up to meet your boyfriend's parents, go on a job interview, or things like that. The sorority girls will know that you don't dress like that everyday, and they won't expect you to. The chances of them caring that you wear jeans and a hoodie to class everyday is pretty slim. In fact, if these girls are worth having as sisters, some of your best times with them are going to be when you're looking your worst -- no makeup and baggy pajamas and you're pigging out on ice cream and having an "O.C." marathon or when they're comforting you after a bad breakup and you look like hell because you've been crying for hours. Dressing up a little for rush is just a way to put your best foot forward, you know? (Plus, at UMass, I would bet that "dressing up" isn't too tough -- a nice pair of pants and a nice top would probably suffice for all but the last round of parties -- at a school like that I don't think you have to get all girly and bust out the ruffly pink sundresses or anything.)

[KSUViolet06]

Ditto to all of this. It's not so much about wearing the biggest girliest pink Lily Pulitzer dress as it is about looking put together. Basically treat it like going out to a nice dinner with your family or with your boyfriend.

I went through rush at a Northern school just this past year. I wore nice jeans and a blazer with a cute top for first round, khakis and a cardigan second round, and for pref night I wore a simple black cocktail dress. Everything pretty much came from Express. I wouldn't worry about it. For earlier rounds, just dress like you're going out to a casual restaurant in the city.

[AlexMack]

You'll have to excuse my post, it may have been misleading (I'm on percocet right now, so it may be somewhat disjointed).
I like to dress nicely-sometimes. And like most normal people, I like to look somewhat put together, and not appear in public looking a total mess.
I certainly like to look nice when occasion calls for it, but I just don't want people to think that I wear makeup all the time (I have sensitive skin, so there are more days where I don't, than where I do wear makeup).
As for working? I'm a nursing major. A great thing about nursing is the ability to wear comfortable clothing (scrubs) to work and have no one think anything of it.
I'm tomboyish, but at the same time, there's nothing I like more than dress shopping
I don't plan on showing up looking sloppy, but I just don't want people to get used to me in what I do wear
As to your other question-I COB'd this fall at my wonderful ex-roommate's sorority (there is no sarcasm there; I love Ashley, she's one of my best friends, and helped change my opinion of Greek life in general.) There were 3 events, I showed up for two, and they ultimately decided that only girls who showed up for 3 would be voted on, as they couldn't make a decision on girls they'd talked to for maybe 3 hours. I felt this was fair.
Because I'm transferring, I won't be going for Spring recruitment here, as I hope to be elsewhere for the spring semester. Otherwise, I'm considering rush for the spring if I stay here.
I hope I was not in any way insulting or insinuating towards sororities in my original post. I just want to maintain a strong sense of personal identity and I don't want to compromise that by misrepresenting myself. I understand this doesn't mean I can't dress up a little.
Thanks for your answer

[AlexMack]

You've helped alleviate a lot of my fears. Thanks I've only recently started to develop a more feminine side, but most of the time the tomboy in me takes over.

[aephi alum]

Where to begin...

You say "I certainly like to look nice when occasion calls for it". I'd say recruitment calls for it. Pick out a couple of nice tops and some slacks or a skirt, a pref dress, maybe just some lip gloss if you're not that into makeup, and you're set. Probably some of the sisters you're going to meet would also prefer to be lounging around in casual clothes, but they're going to put those clothes aside in favor of their recruitment outfits.

I went to a northern school too, and recruitment (even formal recruitment) is more laid back than it is in the south. Still stressful, but maybe not as stressful as recruitment at, say, LSU or Ole Miss.

One other thing: Discretion is important. The internet is a lot smaller place than you might think. Just something to keep in mind.

Good luck!

[PhoenixAzul]

Hehe, I go to a midwestern school, so recruitment is really laid back as well. I'm not a girlie girl otherwise. I'm usually comeing or going to crew practice so my life is spent in spandex, socks and sandles, and a bandana tied around my head. Either that or I've just come from riding my bike (I'm training for a triathlon) so I'm in spandex and have mud or road grime all over me (not to mention the pungent odor that accompanies cyclists).

When I went through recruitment last year, it was during the winter, so your "what to wear" options were kinda cut down to pants or you could brave it in a skirt. During our open house round, girls are encouraged to wear comfortable clothes (note: comfortable meaning clean, not wrinkled, jeans and a pair of sturdy shoes and your recruitment shirt). For novelties, most girls wore jeans or slacks and a nice sweater or shirt. Some novelty activities might be "messy" (my house decorated brownies, did limbo, and had a local band play) so there was a lot of moving/shaking. So my suggestion there is nothing that is too fussy or that you'll fall out of . For final parties, I'd say definitely dress it up. In spring you can wear a dress. If you ask me, conservative is def. better, 1) because it will probably be a little chilly still 2) in order to focus on your potential sisters, you shouldn't be worried about your "girls" or other such dress hazards. When in doubt, a simple black dress and heels will do you well. If you're like me and hate dresses with a passion, again nice clean pressed pants and a dressier top (perhaps a blazer too, if you're so inclined) will do just fine.

Also, the girls will be having conversations with you and you with them. I'm sure that you'll have so many qualities they'll like, they won't care if you're naked. Just be honest, don't give them the answers you think they want to hear...chances are that 6000 other girls have given them that answer. Hopefully soon you'll be wearing jeans and hoodies with letters on them

good luck.

[AlexMack]

Heh...it's nice to know there are other tomboys out there who went greek. My only problem is trying to fit it in between swimming, taekwondo and studying
I had a great time reading the weird rush stories thread, and I realize that all I have to do is act normal. I don't think I have any social quirks, and I certainly don't threaten people with forks or screwdrivers
I will probably just try to find a couple of dressy outfits (no skirts...new england in the winter is quite frigid). Thanks for the suggestions.

[AlexMack]

Originally posted by aephi alum


One other thing: Discretion is important. The internet is a lot smaller place than you might think. Just something to keep in mind.

Good luck!

Thanks, didn't realize I was hopping any lines, but I'll try to tone it down some.

[kddani]

Originally posted by centaur532
Thanks, didn't realize I was hopping any lines, but I'll try to tone it down some.

you haven't done anything wrong or anything, but there are greeks from almost every school on here, and it would be pretty easy for them to figure out who you are. Don't want anything you say or do on Greekchat to be held against you in the court of Greeks

there's just been incidents in the past... girls stating which houses they liked, didn't like, etc. etc. and it really biting them in the ass

[AlexMack]

All I can say is that Tri-Delta at UVM is awesome. I have no experience with the other sororities up here, and none at UMASS. Who knows? I might not fit with any of them. I see what you're saying though.

[roqueemae]

Originally posted by aephi alum
Where to begin...

I went to a northern school too, and recruitment (even formal recruitment) is more laid back than it is in the south. Still stressful, but maybe not as stressful as recruitment at, say, LSU or Ole Miss.

So funny. I work at Old Navy in Louisiana. Today a woman checked out at my register with green and white polka dot pj pants. She said that her neice just pledged KD at LSU and wears pj pants to class all of the time. The aunt was KD too so she decided to get her sorority pj pants. Yes, even in the South we don't always dress up. We like comfort too. When I was at LSU, I would get yoga pants and wear them with matching t-shirts constantly. I know I had not even considered wearing anything less than a dress and heels for Rush, but that doesn't mean that I planned on dressing that way all of the time!

[futuregreek]

I was initiated into my sorority less than a month ago (in the NE) and I, too, mostly dress super casual, low on the makeup. It's not misrepresenting yourself...it's just an occasion that's a little special so you DO get a little dressier for it.