SORORITY RECRUITMENT: PREPARATION AND DAY 1 (DAY OF VALUES)

Hey ladies! I’m about to embark on a little bit of a series type of thing here that will directly reflect my real life. I apologize if you do not care about Greek Life but I hope the majority of you at least find this series interesting, if anything.

Now. Sorority recruitment. First off, congratulations on deciding to join a sorority! I know that they are a big commitment financially, emotionally and socially so it’s awesome you have decided to take the plunge. I tend to think of myself as a master of the process now that I’m entering my second year of participating in it as a PNM (or a Potential New Member). You may wonder how this is possible and I will explain in more detail in a bit. I went through a week-long recruitment at my old school and am about to journey through my second time at my new school this weekend. I go to a completely different college now than I used to so I understand both kinds of rush at a larger, Southern school and at a smaller, urban school. So depending on your school, you may have different rules than I mention. That’s okay! This is just going to be the basic gist of things.

As a fair warning: don’t let yourself believe that sororities are only for preppy people. Go out for recruitment as yourself and if you’re not the preppiest, rock it! It’s not a requirement to wear Lilly Pulitzer, Jack Rodgers and monogrammed necklaces to get a bid.

Each day I will cover a different day of recruitment and today’s post involves preparation and Day One activities. Click on the correct link for other days: Day Two/Three | Day Three/Four | Pref Day | Bid Day

Here’s a bit of my personal story.. you guys may be moving into school early in order to participate in recruitment or they may be right after classes start OR after you return from Winter Break! My old school was two weeks before classes began and this weekend is when I enter my second week of classes so I get to experience two different kinds. The photo above is me and my roommate after we had gotten our dorm all together before rush.

Before you begin getting your outfits ready(such a stressful part!), you should sit down and think about what you value in a sorority. What is the most important to you? Grades, sisterhood, service, partying? All are great but if you value one entirely more than the others, be sure to be aware of that so you can look out for the perfect house from Day One. Research the chapters from your school online prior to recruitment so you know how many houses there are and what they value the most. Most have Facebook pages as well!

Also many times before the officially start of recruitment, your schools may have an orientation. They’re nothing to dress up for but I did a bit anyway so here’s my getup from that:

Now outfits. You will start out casual but quickly escalate to more formal wear throughout your week. Most of the time you will receive a shirt that you wear on your first day:

photos I found off of Pinterest!

my shirts from the past two recruitments