Thinking about going through recruitment for the 2nd time? Here's why you SHOULD!

[FSUgreek]

I have been surfing greekchat and saw all of these heartbreaking recruitment stories about girls who don't get what they wanted or were released altogether. So I thought it might help to share my story and hopefully inspire girls to try just one more time. I'll tell the story in four different installments since it is covering two different years of recruitment (so please bare with me!)

But first, here's a little bit of background on me: I went through FSU's recruitment twice, my first time was in 2009 and the second being this year in 2010. I'm just your normal sweet southern girl, born and raised. I was very athletic in highschool, involved in all of the school musicals, chorus, SGA, you name it and I probably was a part of it. So as you can imagine greek life in college seemed absolutely perfect.

RECRUITMENT 2009:
Part 1- It was the first day of sorority recruitment and I was absolutely excited to see all of the wonderful houses on campus. FSU at the time had 15 houses, and I'll disguise their names so as to protect the chapters. Let's call them...

Snare
Violin
Cello
Flute
Clarinet
Guitar
Trumpet
Piano
Bassoon
Xylophone
Horn
Bass
Harp
Trombone
Oboe

We met with our Rho Gamma and I instantly clicked with my group. They were down to earth, amazing, gorgeous girls. So we go to our first five houses that day and the other ten houses the next day. By the end of the day I knew exactly who I was going to drop that round;
Cello, Piano, Horn, and Trombone. The houses I fell in love with that round were; Harp, Flute, Guitar, Xylophone, and Bass. I went to bed that night feeling really good about my decisions and couldn't wait for the next day.

We get up and meet our Rho Gamma around 9:30 in the morning and of course we go one by one to learn our schedules for the day. The houses I got asked back to were;

Snare, Violin, Flute, Clarinet, Guitar, Trumpet, Piano, Bassoon, Violin, Horn, and Bass.

I got two back that I dropped and one of the houses I loved dropped me but I wasn't really upset because I still had a full schedule and still had some really amazing houses.

more to come soon!

[PiPhiERDoc]

More please!!!

[FSUgreek]

RECRUITMENT 2009:
Part 2-

So it's Philanthropy Day, and equipped with my full schedule I went off to my houses. Philanthropy is a huge interest for me so the different philanthropies that the sororities had really made an impact on my decisions for computers. Flute, Clarinet, Guitar, Trumpet, Xylophone, and Bass all had great philanthropies that really hit home for me and caught my attention. I remember distinctly that Flute and Clarinet's videos made me cry because the stories were so beautiful. However, others like Violin and horn just completely turned me off due to awkward conversations with some of the girls =\ such a shame. Come computer time I knew which four to drop next;
Horn, Violin, Clarinet (even though their philanthropy was amazing I just didn't see myself there..) and Snare.

The next morning we met our Rho Gamma as usual, and again we went one by one to hear our schedules. I returned with;
Flute, Guitar, Piano, Bassoon, and Horn.

Of course I was devastated only having 5 of 7 houses back that day but I still had three houses that I absolutely loved (It just seemed like I couldn't get rid of Piano and Horn!) So of course I went to all of their skits and as soon as I walked out of Flute I knew it was my home. I belonged there and had many friends in the chapter and just instantly had a feeling of love and belonging (I was also a legacy at this chapter). At guitar, I also felt at home but it wasn't as strong a feeling as Flute (also a legacy at this chapter). I also enjoyed Bassoon but again, I felt like I already found a home. So later that night at computers I dropped;
Horn and Piano

Here's where the heartbreaking part comes.. be prepared.

So that morning I woke up feeling awful. My head hurt, my throat hurt, I feel sick to my stomach, but I felt like I needed to keep on with recruitment (I would later find out that I had caught the swine flu virus). That morning as I was getting dressed for pref day, my mother received a call from one of her alum friends in Flute... they dropped me (I know it's like against the rules or something but they really felt that I should be prepared before going to campus and finding out from my Rho Gam..) I was so heartbroken I sat there and cried and cried and cried. I couldn't understand what went wrong. I had such great conversations with the girls and I felt so at home there..I decided to go to campus that day to atleast find out my other houses (I still really liked the other two I didn't drop so I was hoping to get those back). I get there and am the first to find out my schedule..
Piano and Horn.

WHAT?! Only two houses?? And the two houses I've been trying to drop ALL WEEK? I bawled my eyes out.. my Rho Gam felt so bad for me.. she wanted me to go to those two parties but honestly I was so upset (and felt sick to my stomach) so I dropped out of recruitment.. totally heartbroken and disgusted with how it ended. I was extended a few COB's during spring rush but I decided that I wanted to maximize my choices and so here goes fall recruitment round 2... 2010 chronicles.

[gee_ess]

Love this!!

[ladybug12]

Me too! More, more, more!!!

[FSUZeta]

yay for an fsu story!!

[dgdramadawg]

I'm excited to hear about round two... I pledged after doing it twice and sometimes you need the second time around to get it right!

[FSUgreek]

I'm sorry it was a year ago and I know I had a reason for not cutting them philanthropy round (though I did cut them the previous round and got them back) but for the life of me I can't remember it right now lol. Anyway Recruitment 2010 parts 1 and 2 are coming tomorrow so stay tuned! The next round gets a bit more interesting

[violetpretty]

I'm surprised no one has commented about the title yet. Perhaps after the OP finishes her story...

[FSUCasper]

Wait, I'm a little dense . . . what comment about the title? Clearly, it has a good ending.

[Drolefille]

Did this thread change its name or did VP post the same post in two threads? There was one that was "Big and Easy" or "Big and Fast" or something...

[FSUgreek]

Oh it's a good ending I promise. I just thought I should recap both experiences so that girls can see that even if your first year of rush didn't go as you hoped the second time can have a really great ending!

RECRUITMENT 2010:
Part 1-

So this year in recruitment I was very wary.. after what happened to me last year I didn't think I could go through that kind of heartbreak again so I went in with a very different attitude. At first I was skeptical, always guarding myself so I wouldn't "fall in love" with any houses until prefs got closer. However this year, we had one more house on campus to choose from so I always thought about that from the beginning. On the first day we meet with our Rho Gamma groups and I instantly made friends with a few girls. We had 5 parties the first day, and 11 the next day. Talk about torture.. if you've ever been through recruitment you know what I'm talking about. It's hot and sticky, you have to wait around for like 20 minutes outside of the houses, your schedule makes you walk from one end of campus to the other. I was thinking oh god what have I gotten myself into? But here's where it gets interesting.

Remember how I said I totally disliked Horn and Piano last year? Well this year they completely blew me away. I mean I honestly was kicking myself in the butt for not going to those pref parties.. but I decided I needed to go through the process and see how much more differently I would view the houses. Last year I remember liking Harp alot as well but this year the conversation I had with the girl was completely awkward and I left the house understanding that a pledge class can change a whole perspective on a sorority and just because I loved them last year did not mean that I would love them again. Remember Flute? The ones I got heartbroken over? Well same thing happened there.. part of it was bitterness but part of it was I just couldn't relate to any of the girls rushing me. So this first round I ranked;

Flute, Violin, Cello, and Trombone.

We wake up the next morning to meet our Rho Gams and I felt just sick to my stomach.. since I was going through as a sophomore and my GPA was just barely up to par I was expecting most houses to drop me.. so my schedule read:
Horn
Bassoon
Clarinet
Snare
Flute
Guitar
Cello
Bass
Xylophone
Trombone

I'm thinking to myself.. this must be a joke. Flute kept me after last year? Only 10 of 11 houses back? Piano of all houses dropped me? I just couldn't piece together the process.. to this day I still am not sure how I could go through twice and have completely different experiences for both times as far as getting asked back to certain houses.
HORN- first party of the round and they were just amazing.. such a nice group of girls, completely diverse and I already loved them. I did feel bad because I would've preffed there last year but how was I supposed to know?
BASSOON- every girl here I made an instant connection with. Their house is absolutely gorgeous and I really wanted to be there and come back again the next round.
CLARINET- I honestly didn't like them the first round.. but this round completely changed my mind. The girl I talked to seemed to really click with me and our conversation never stopped from the time I walked in the door until the time I left.
SNARE- again, I just didn't really like them this round. There were super nice girls and everything but just not my fit.
FLUTE- I couldn't believe I tried to drop them and got them back. It was very strange being back in the house.. my friends all said hello to me when I came in the house and everyone was so nice. The recruitment chair even came up and introduced herself to me. This made me even more confused.
GUITAR- I LOVED this house. Every single girl I talked to it seemed we had so much in common. Their house is beautiful, the girls are gorgeous and sweet and down to earth. The President even came up and introduced herself to me. They made me feel very special for being there.
CELLO- This house I could've done without.. I was able to drop them first round last year but it seemed this year was going to be a bit more difficult since houses are more prone to drop sophomores. They're nice girls but not my fit either.
BASS- I really liked this house. The girls are so sweet and there are even some I've known since middle school but I wasn't completely sure about them yet.
XYLOPHONE- This round I completely fell in love with this house. I couldn't put my finger on it but something just stood out in this house.. maybe it was teir service project idk.
TROMBONE- another house I didn't really find my fit in. Again, super nice girls but just not me.

So we go to computers that night and I decide to rank;
Flute, Cello, and Trombone.

the last part of the story comes later today! =D

[IrishLake]

great! donn't wait too long please.

[DubaiSis]

again....... you didn't DROP anyone, you ranked them lower!

But carry on.... loving the story!

[ree-Xi]

This story is intriguing but I don't understand why you were disappointed at having "only" 5 out of 7 invitations or "only" 10 out of 11 invitations (just talking about the numbers). Both are practically full schedules.