OT To Greek Or Not To Greek

[ilikebigbows]

@flcheermom I am a Pi Beta Phi if she has any questions! My biggest advice for her to go with her gut and block what others say about each organization, and also to trust the system! At my school, lots of girls quit rushing if they aren't asked back to the houses they wanted instead of seeing what the other houses have to offer. Open-mindedness is incredibly important and will make the whole experience much less stressful and more enjoyable. Good luck your CP!!

 

[flcheermom]

@flcheermom I am a Pi Beta Phi if she has any questions! My biggest advice for her to go with her gut and block what others say about each organization, and also to trust the system! At my school, lots of girls quit rushing if they aren't asked back to the houses they wanted instead of seeing what the other houses have to offer. Open-mindedness is incredibly important and will make the whole experience much less stressful and more enjoyable. Good luck your CP!!

Thanks so much! I will tell her she is pretty clueless (I say that in a nice way) - I think she is excited to go through the process, and see where it takes her. For her, this is a big step and way out of her comfort zone - so I think she will be happy wherever she ends up... She is already trying to figure out what to wear each day.

 

[krystynakrez]

No matter how prepared anyone may think that they are, there is nothing that can truly prepare you for the whirlwind that is sorority recruitment. Sure, you can read all of the articles on TSM about what it's like, people who have gone through it before you can tell you what it's like, but it's a completely different ball game when you're actually immersed in it for the first time. Nothing can quite prepare you for hundreds of girls dressed to the nines to be screaming and clapping at you and then bringing you inside their perfectly manicured houses. You're going to be talking to people you don't know all day long (and usually, you're going to be having the same conversation over and over again during the first round) and it's going to get uncomfortable at times. I think it's important to have your goals squared away before you start going through because I guarantee you, you're going to be asked why you wanted to go through recruitment at least 10 times.

The best advice I could give to anyone is to be transparent. Talk to these girls as if they're your friend and not an interviewer. All these girls are truly looking for is friendship and someone they will be able to depend on in the future. As nervous as you may be, they are MUCH more nervous than you. They are responsible to lead the conversations and inform you about their sisterhood. If you have questions - ask them! You can also ask your Pi Chi/Rho Gamma/Rho Chi/whatever each school calls them about things about each chapter, but they won't know everything.

If you're not good at talking to strangers, start practicing! Make conversation with people you see. Ask them about their day. Maybe you'll make some new friends!

ETA: also if you're going through, clean up your social media. If you have pictures of you going bat shi! HAM at a party, take it down. It's not going to look good. And don't go to frat parties before recruitment and go too crazy because sorority girls WILL be there (whether they're supposed to be or not) and they will notice.

 

[cheerKT]

Also come with questions! About my chapter, recruitment, greek life, college life in general, whatever. I LOVED being able to answer questions during recruitment. It made it more like a conversation and I didn't have to steer the discussion alone.

 

[krystynakrez]

My pet peeve is when people ask "do you have any questions" like ummmm if I had questions I would ask them.

 

[cheeeeer93]

Once again, I only come on here during summer/winter breaks but if anyone needs letters of rec for KD please feel free to PM me!

 

[krystynakrez]

The company I work for (University Tees) is looking to hire at the following schools. Basically you would be an account manager for students at your school for when they order their apparel and merchandise. If anyone has questions about anything you can message me! You can even look at their Instagram (@universitytees) if you wanna see pictures of their stuff. If you attend any of these schools let me know!!

University of Iowa
Kansas State University
University of Kansas
Purdue University
Case Western Reserve University
Lehigh University
LSU
Tulane University
University of Miami
University of West Georgia
Old Dominion University
Georgia Southern University
Baylor University
Texas State University
University of Houston
Cal State - Fullerton

 

[cheernerd5678]

I'm still in search of Pi Beta Phi and Sigma Sigma Sigma recs if anyone on the board can help! These are my last two I need

 

[caitlyn_the_camille]

Soo... I'm thinking of rushing. Greek life isn't huge at my (future) school, but they do really great things! Before orientation I was convinced it wouldn't be my thing, but I met some really cool people who were in sororities and we talked about it some. I've been in contact with some people I know there and they're telling me what I need to know, but I don't understand how the recs work? Are they required? How do they benefit you? Is there like an application I need to fill out or something?

 

[Alexx]

Soo... I'm thinking of rushing. Greek life isn't huge at my (future) school, but they do really great things! Before orientation I was convinced it wouldn't be my thing, but I met some really cool people who were in sororities and we talked about it some. I've been in contact with some people I know there and they're telling me what I need to know, but I don't understand how the recs work? Are they required? How do they benefit you? Is there like an application I need to fill out or something?

It really depends on the school. At mine (small greek life) almost no one did them. I think there was one girl who got one filled out for us and it was from a cousin. At larger schools its basically required if you want to even be considered for a bid.

 

[cheernerd5678]

Soo... I'm thinking of rushing. Greek life isn't huge at my (future) school, but they do really great things! Before orientation I was convinced it wouldn't be my thing, but I met some really cool people who were in sororities and we talked about it some. I've been in contact with some people I know there and they're telling me what I need to know, but I don't understand how the recs work? Are they required? How do they benefit you? Is there like an application I need to fill out or something?

Check out your schools greek life website! If it talks about recs then people will most likely be getting them. If it lists where to send the recs for each sorority people are definitely getting them! It totally depends on the school.
Basically you look for alumna of each sorority on campus, preferably people you know but you can contact the local alumnae Panhellenic and they'll find you people if you don't know anyone. You ask them to write you a rec and give them photos and a resume and there's a form they can get on the sororities website and fill out about you. How they benefit you depends on the chapter but it can't hurt to have them, so if you know people you might as well!

 

[caitlyn_the_camille]

Check out your schools greek life website! If it talks about recs then people will most likely be getting them. If it lists where to send the recs for each sorority people are definitely getting them! It totally depends on the school.
Basically you look for alumna of each sorority on campus, preferably people you know but you can contact the local alumnae Panhellenic and they'll find you people if you don't know anyone. You ask them to write you a rec and give them photos and a resume and there's a form they can get on the sororities website and fill out about you. How they benefit you depends on the chapter but it can't hurt to have them, so if you know people you might as well!

Will do. The Greek life website doesn't give as much information as the sorority/frat specific sites do, but it doesn't say much about recs at all so maybe it's not so important.
I saw this somewhere in this thread, but if my cousin was KD at another school could she write me a letter of rec, or does it have to be an alumna?

 

[cheernerd5678]

Will do. The Greek life website doesn't give as much information as the sorority/frat specific sites do, but it doesn't say much about recs at all so maybe it's not so important.
I saw this somewhere in this thread, but if my cousin was KD at another school could she write me a letter of rec, or does it have to be an alumna?

It depends on the sorority but for KD I believe it would be fine! I'm solely basing that on the fact that @cheeeeer93 is amazing and wrote me one and is still an active (and a KD).

 

[krystynakrez]

I'm still in search of Pi Beta Phi and Sigma Sigma Sigma recs if anyone on the board can help! These are my last two I need

Does pi phi have to be an alumni sister? or can it be an active sister? I know

Will do. The Greek life website doesn't give as much information as the sorority/frat specific sites do, but it doesn't say much about recs at all so maybe it's not so important.
I saw this somewhere in this thread, but if my cousin was KD at another school could she write me a letter of rec, or does it have to be an alumna?

I don't think it has to be from the same chapter for any sorority

 

[cheernerd5678]

Does pi phi have to be an alumni sister? or can it be an active sister? I know

I don't think it has to be from the same chapter for any sorority

Yep it has to be an alumni for Pi Phi