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  #1  
Old 09-13-2009, 09:58 PM
M.Pennybags M.Pennybags is offline
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Recruitment Story (Finally Sharing It)

So I've been a member of GC for a few years, but have never told my recruitment story. I finally decided to do so. In order to tell an honest story I created a new profile.

I rushed the spring of my freshman year at a sort of competitive school in the south. There were seven sororities on my campus. I have given them the following code names:

Race Car
Train
Top Hat
Iron
Boot
Scottie Dog
Thimble


Before I came to school the idea of joining a sorority had never crossed my mind. I didn't have any Greeks in my family and I didn't have many friends that thought they would join Greek organizations either. However, when I started school I saw that many students were involved in Greek life. They seemed to dominate the social scene at my school. Additionally, during my first semester I hung out with my roommate and 3 others girls a lot and that all wanted to go through rush. (lets call them Go, Jail, Free Parking and Go to Jail). We attended the meet the greek events together and when it came time, we all signed up for recruitment together. Go was my roommate she was pretty laid back and like to party, she wanted to join a sorority for the social aspect. Jail was from Texas and was VERY excited about recruitment. During the summer her mother put together a big recruitment packet with tons of photos and references and she sent this to all the chapters. (I knew nothing about references and made no effort to get any, they weren't required). Free Parking was a legacy to boot through her sister. She also liked to go out and party and wanted to join a sorority for social reasons. Go to Jail was from the West Coast like me, where sororities aren't as big of a deal. She really wanted to join a chapter. She thought it would be a lot of fun. I still wasn't 100% sure if Greek life was for me but I figured I might as well give it a shot. It couldn't hurt to go through and if it wasn't for me, then I could always drop out.

More to come...
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  #2  
Old 09-13-2009, 10:07 PM
Psi U MC Vito Psi U MC Vito is offline
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I was looking at the code names and was all WTF. Then I saw the codenames for your people and got the theme. Should be good.
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  #3  
Old 09-13-2009, 10:10 PM
M.Pennybags M.Pennybags is offline
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Yeah in case anyone is confused....
I picked the board game monopoly as my theme.
M.Pennybags is the name of the monopoly guy. I named the sororities off some of the playing pieces and then my friends... well they got the names of the four corners of the board. It's the first thing that came to my mind
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  #4  
Old 09-13-2009, 11:04 PM
sceniczip sceniczip is offline
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woohoo thimble and top hat
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  #5  
Old 09-13-2009, 11:11 PM
thetygerlily thetygerlily is offline
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Yay, another retro with board games :-) Go... top hat?
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  #6  
Old 09-13-2009, 11:16 PM
myopicsunflower myopicsunflower is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M.Pennybags View Post
M.Pennybags is the name of the monopoly guy.
I didn't know he has a name! All these years, I've referred to him as "The Monopoly Guy." Thanks for the neat fact.

Monopoly is a creative theme for a recruitment story...nice pick!

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  #7  
Old 09-14-2009, 08:51 AM
M.Pennybags M.Pennybags is offline
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Return from Winter break

We all returned back to school from winter break and were nervous and excited about recruitment. Unfortunately my roommate Go had some bad news for us. She had struggled a bit academically her first semester and didn’t have the required GPA to rush. She didn’t want to tell her parents she didn’t have the GPA to rush and didn’t want to return the new dress her mom had bought her for pref night, so she moved in early with us anyways. Go was a little upset because Jail had several incompletes in classes from first semester, since they were incompletes they didn’t count to her GPA and she hadn’t received a call over break from her GRC saying she couldn’t rush.

The day before recruitment started the GRCs (or RCs) had a welcome meeting where the talked about the recruitment schedule. They also had a fashion show of what PNMS should wear each day. While watching the fashion show I began to freak out, I had gotten a dress for pref night, but hadn’t planned out my outfits for the other 3 days! I also was worried because at this time my personal style was not nearly as preppie as many of the other women at my school. After the meeting I explained to my friends how worried I was, they all told me not to worry. We went through my clothes and found I did have some nice things to wear. However, I was in desperate need of some cute shoes for day 1. Free parking took me to the mall where I bought a band new pair of black leather shoes that had these cute flowers on them. They seemed comfortable, (they had just a tiny little heel) and I absolutely loved them.

We all stayed up for a while talking about the different sororities. Jail, being from Texas, gave us some advice on what to say to the different sororities. She told us we should talk to Boots about partying (because they were known for being a group that partied a lot) and that we should talk to Top Hat about shopping (because they were known as the rich girls). We all finally went to bed. I wasn’t really sure what to expect but I was ready to get the whole process started in the morning.

The Recruitment Schedule
Day 1- 7 Parties
Day 2- Max 5
Day 3- Max 3
Day 4 (Pref)- Max 2
Bid Day
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  #8  
Old 09-14-2009, 08:45 PM
M.Pennybags M.Pennybags is offline
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Day 1- Philanthropy Day

The first day was upon us. I met with my GRC group where we got our schedule for the day. At my school sororities do not live in sorority houses, the recruitment events were held in different places around the campus. Our first event was held in the gym, so my GRC group headed down there. By the time we walked over there I was getting very nervous. Our GRC got us lined up in alphabetical order and once we were all lined up outside the door, we heard VERY loud chanting and yelling coming from the gym, one of the sisters opened up the door and the chanting got even louder. Our GRC pushed our line of girls through the door. As we walked in there was a tunnel of girls all matching in their jerseys. When I got to the end of the tunnel one of the sisters grabbed my arm and handed me a cup of water with MY name paint penned on it. I was pretty impressed by this but didn’t have much time to think about it because the yelling/singing had stopped and it was time to talk. Throughout the day I was impressed with how at each sorority (except Racecar) I was given a cup of water with my name paint penned on it and how easily I was transitioned from talking to one sister to the next. (The Magic of Rush).
Now it’s been a few years and I can’t remember every sister I talked to and every detail from each party. I’m going to talk about what I can remember from each sorority and what my perceptions of each sorority were (at that time). Top Hat was the first party I went to and Scottie Dog was the last one, I can’t remember the order I went to the rest of the houses so they aren’t in a particular order.

Top Hat- As I said this sorority was the first party I went too. I was very nervous and I’m pretty sure my conversations at this party were not that great. Additionally, I was following the advice of my friend Jail and tried to talk about shopping and fashion because that’s what I thought the sisters would want to talk about. Top Hat was considered one of the most popular sororities on campus. Their sisters were pretty and they were known as the “rich daddy’s girls”. They reinforced this noting when one of the sisters I was talking to asked me what my father did for a living and how much he made. (Seriously)

Race Car- This sorority was my favorite going into recruitment. They had just started on campus the year before and didn’t have a set reputation yet. I liked the idea of being part of something new and not being set into a stereotype right away. This was Race Car’s first time doing formal recruitment and since Race Car had just started the year before they were not as big as the other groups. Race Car had brought in sisters from other chapters to help them handle all the PNMs coming through recruitment. I spent almost the whole party talking to a senior Race Car from another school. I had a really hard time relating to her because she didn’t go to my school and obviously her experience in Race Car would be very different then a sister at my school. The last 5 minutes a sister of Race car from my school finally came to talk to me, unfortunately talking to her was like pulling teeth. She was obviously not an experienced rusher and didn’t ask me any questions. I was glad to leave Race car, however, I wasn’t going to let one negative experience ruin how I felt. I still thought I belonged in Race car and knew I would come back the next day if they asked me.

Train- Train was known on campus as the good and nice girls. I knew one Train from playing club lacrosse. I really liked her and thought she was really funny. She was part of the philanthropy skit the sorority did so I didn’t get a chance to talk to her during the party. During the party I also realized I knew another train. When making my decision to go to Monopoly University, I came to visit right around graduation, when no tours were going on. One of the ladies in the admissions office had her daughter give me a tour of the campus, her love for the school was one of the reasons I made my decision to go there. And there she was at the recruitment party, I had no idea she was a train. We had tried to get together during the first semester to do lunch a few times, but I had been too busy. (silly me she was pre-rushing me). She just came over to say Hi and I wish I had gotten to talk to her longer. I felt comfortable at Train and could see myself here.

Boot- This sorority was known as the biggest partiers. It was said that they only took girls that liked to party. I had done some going out and having fun my first semester. Whenever I saw sisters of Boot out they always seemed like they were having fun. I thought it would be fun to be a Boot. They were also a diverse group of girls and I could see myself fitting in because of that. The first sister I talked to at boot was kind of soft spoken and the room was incredibly loud. I really couldn’t hear what she was saying and thought it was rude to keep having to say WHAT? So I just asked her a lot of questions and nodded pretending I understood her. The second sister I talked about was louder and we moved to an area of a room that wasn’t quite so noisy. Jail had given me advice about Boot too. So I decided to talk to this sister about how my dorm was the new party dorm this year. I think I may have even asked her what fraternities she thought threw the best parties.

Thimble- This sorority didn’t have the best reputation on campus. They were known as the nice but fat girls. On Day 1 looking around the room it did seem like that had a few more bigger girls than some of the other groups, but they also had a bunch of regular sized girls like the other groups. I knew a few Thimbles including my resident advisor. I think I was the least nervous at this party because most people said Thimbles don’t make a lot of cuts. I also think I had one of the most interesting conversations of the day at this party. At most parties I didn’t get a chance to get beyond the basic of “what dorm do you live in” “what’s your major” “where are you from etc”. Instead I talked to one sister about our similar taste in music. She was involved in the radio station on campus and so were a few of the other sisters, which I thought was very cool.

Iron- This sorority was also considered to be one of the top sororities on campus. The women in this group were all very beautiful and many of them were on the dance or cheerleading squad. They also had a reputation for being very friendly with the boys if you know what I mean. I honestly don’t remember a lot about this party. I felt like I didn’t fit the image that they were probably looking for. (I’m not saying I’m ugly, I am a cute girl, I am just not that beautiful)

Scottie Dog- It was finally the end of the day! I remember being so wiped out by the time I got to this party. Also, those shoes I thought were so cute… they were making my feet throbbed with pain (This is a serious caution to PNMS, WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES, DO NOT WEAR BRAND NEW SHOES TO RUSH.. end rant). I don’t remember a lot about my conversation here, my brain had turned to mush. I did get to talk to one sister who was on the crew team and knew my best guy friend. I remember having a pleasant conversation with her and we were able to laugh about how tired we both were. Scottie Dog wasn’t a top sorority but was considered a solid group of girls. They were known as sporty and fun. I considered myself a sporty and fun person. It was another group I could see myself fitting into well.

When the day was finally over I headed back to the dorm to talk with my friends how the day had gone. On my return I found out that Jail was no longer allowed to participate in recruitment. She was so upset, she really wanted to be in a sorority. However, Panhel had found out about her incompletes in her classes and therefore was no longer an eligible PNM. Then there were 3…
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  #9  
Old 09-14-2009, 09:12 PM
sceniczip sceniczip is offline
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Love the Agatha Christie And Then There Were None reference.
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  #10  
Old 09-14-2009, 09:37 PM
UGAalum94 UGAalum94 is offline
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I'm enjoying this! Please tell on!
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  #11  
Old 09-14-2009, 10:29 PM
M.Pennybags M.Pennybags is offline
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I'm glad people are reading and enjoying
I will post about Day 2 tomorrow.

I thought I'd mention at my school we didn't rank the sororities. In the morning before the parties we would be given a list of sororities that invited us back. So if on day 2 all 7 sororities invited you back and you could only attend 5 parties, you got to choose the two sororities you wanted to "cut". (Not the right terms.. but as a freshman that's how we viewed it)

Of course when we got back to the dorms after Day 1 Free Parking, Go To Jail and myself discussed which sororities we would drop if we got invited back to all of them. I told them I would drop Top Hat and Iron. They were both a little surprised by this because they were "top chapters". I explained to them that I just couldn't picture myself fitting into these groups.
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  #12  
Old 09-14-2009, 11:43 PM
thetygerlily thetygerlily is offline
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Hmm, your Race Car sounds a bit like my Settlers of Catan- smaller, visitors from another school, a bit awkward... Since I wound up there I'm now rooting for Race Car :-) fun story, very relatable.
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  #13  
Old 09-15-2009, 02:54 PM
FSUZeta FSUZeta is offline
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what a fun theme. already looking forward to tomorrows installment.

i do wish that you had logged on to greekchat for advice on whether to listen to your friend "jail", either before or during your recruitment. i think you would have heard a resounding "NO!". i really hope she didn't ruin your chances with any of the chapters.
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  #14  
Old 09-15-2009, 05:25 PM
M.Pennybags M.Pennybags is offline
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Day 2

Before I talk about day 2 I thought I’d add that my best guy friend (soon to be boyfriend and still my boyfriend now) had moved back into the dorm the night of day 1. He lived in the same dorm as us and wasn’t supposed to move back for another 2 days but we let him into the dorm anyways. It was definitely nice to see a guy after talking to so many girls all day. Even though we had to wake up very early in the morning he made me promise that I would stop by his room after I found out which sororities I had been asked back to.
So the next morning I woke up bright and early and met up with my GRC. Another girl in my group was talking with her and trying to finalize which sororities she wanted to drop because she had been asked back to more than 5. She finally made her decision and it was my turn. I nervously waited as my GRC pulled up my party list on the computer. She turned her laptop around and showed me my invites. It took me a few seconds to comprehend what I had read.
My list was:
Scottie Dog
Thimble

There were only 2 sororities on my list Scottie Dog and Thimble. I had been cut by the other 5 sororities. Even Race Car had cut me! The possibility of heavy cuts had never been mentioned and I didn’t think it would happen to me! My GRC asked me if I wanted to accept the invitations from these sororities. In my stunned state I mumbled “yeah sure.” I clicked some buttons on the computer to confirm this and as quickly as I could I headed back to my dorm.
Walking back I began to re-analyze everything I had said at each sorority the previous day. I kept wondering if I could have done or said something differently. I switched from being upset and thinking I was a loser to being mad that they could judge me based on one conversation. As I reached the front door of the dorm the tears began to well up. I knew my friends and the other girls on the floor would ask me where I got asked back to and I didn’t want to talk about it. I headed to my guy friends room where he had left his door unlocked for me. He woke up and asked me how it went “Bad,” I cried. He moved over in bed and let me lay down next to him. He told me to tell him what had happened. I was crying now and through my sniffles I managed to say “Nobody likes me…Five sororities cut me… I only got two invites”. His reply was “That’s not true, I like you” I’m pretty sure my reply was “Well you’re not a sorority girl”. I think his reply to that was “Well my opinion matters more than theirs.” This made me laugh through the tears and see that I was being a little silly. He then asked me which sororities I did get asked back to and I told him. He said they were great groups and he could see me in both of them. He talked about the girl on the crew team who was a Scottie Dog (the girl I had talked to the day before) and how much she liked her sisters. Then he reminded me that my RA was a Thimble. He said I was a lot like my RA and if she could have great friends and love being a Thimble then I probably would too. He suggested I give both groups another chance and go to their parties that day. So, with a little perspective and dry eyes I headed up the stairs to my floor.
When I got upstairs I found out that the cuts had been pretty brutal and not everyone on my floor had full schedules. I believe Go to Jail was attending four parties I think she was invited back to Boot, Racecar, Thimble and Train. To my surprise I found out that Free Parking had not gotten a single invite, every sorority had released her. Free Parking was pissed off, was going back to sleep and did not want to talk to anyone. The most shocking thing to us was that she was a legacy to Boot and we thought that guaranteed her an invite back. (Obviously it didn’t). And then there were two…

The rest of Day 2 to be continued…
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  #15  
Old 09-15-2009, 05:49 PM
WannaBeGreek'11 WannaBeGreek'11 is offline
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wow! I'm surprised that they ditched a legacy too! I guess that shows you that being a legacy doesn't always mean anything...

Looking forward to more of the story!!! (:
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