Back in fall 2017, I went through sorority recruitment and to be honest, at the beginning, I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. My first thought right after getting the confirmation email was: Sofia, what the hell have you gotten yourself into this time?! So if you’re considering to go through recruitment but are scared and lost because you don’t know anything about it, I got you. And if you already signed up for it and don’t know what to expect, just keep reading!
First of all, going through sorority recruitment is like a rollercoaster of emotions. It can be really overwhelming, but it is also exciting and I’m proud to say it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
The process can vary from school to school, but it is similar everywhere. This is my personal experience, so, it’ll be definitely different to yours. Anyways, I help these tips help you! If you can’t decide whether you should join a sorority or not, then you should check out this post! And if you want to know why I joined + my experience, check this one out!
General info
A few words you’re going to hear (a lot of times) during sorority recruitment are:
- PNM: Potential New Member
- Rho Gamma: A rho gamma is an active member that is there to guide you through recruitment.
- Active member: An active member is a member of a sorority that has been initiated.
The process
During the entire process (except Bid day) they took our phones away because they didn’t want us to get distracted. And most importantly, they didn’t want anything or anybody to influence our opinion of a chapter.
If you are curious to know what I wore during recruitment, don’t worry I’m writing another post that will be up soon.
At my school (University of Cincinnati) there are only 9 Panhellenic sororities so the process wasn’t very long. I know that in other schools there are more chapters so the process can take longer. In my case, they made it on the weekends so that people wouldn’t skip class and be distracted.
Rho Gammas + Groups
First of all, don’t be scared cause you’re not alone in this. All PNMs are divided into groups and two Rho Gammas are assigned to each group. However, they aren’t supposed to tell you to which sorority they belong to until bid day, it’s supposed to be part of the surprise.
Before recruitment even started we had to go to an informative session. Where they told us what to expect, they gave us shirts we had to wear for a couple days. But even before that our Rho Gammas contacted us and we met and we could ask any questions we had. Always remember that your Rho Gammas are there to help you and guide you, you can ask them any questions – no matter how stupid they might sound!
Recruitment Process
Round #1: Open House
Before recruitment, we received an email with a time and place where we had to meet on the first day. There, we received an schedule for the day and got to meet the other people of the group. As a group, we went to four different chapters.
As soon as we got to each house we got mixed with other different groups and we had to make a line in alphabetical order. While we were in line they went through the list to make sure no one was missing and that we were in the right order. After that, the president and vice president of the chapter would introduce themselves and they invited us to come in. In the house, they paired us with an active member that we may have common interests with. I know it can be scary to have a conversation for 10 minutes or so with someone you’ve never met, but the active members will always ask you different questions to keep the conversation going.
Parenthesis – I’m updating this post after a while and by now, I’ve also gone through the other side of recruitment and that is as a recruiter! And one of the things we’re asked to do is to ask a lot of questions and we’re told it’s mainly our responsibility to keep the conversation going.
This process is the same with each house. We would stay in each house for a total of 20 minutes. 10 minutes were for talking and then the active members will show you around the house. They will show you the rooms, and they have this cute boards with different topics in each one, for example, study abroad sisters, or their philanthropy. They also gave us a card with their fees so that we could have an idea of the financial commitment. We also had a break to eat lunch and rest because talking can be really exhausting too!
Open House Day 2
This day was basically like the day before except that we had to make our selections at the end of the day. After visiting the other 5 chapters, we had to meet with our Rho Gammas and we had to drop 2 chapters. I’m not going to lie, the decision was really hard especially because I didn’t remember some chapters and I was confused about which one was which.
After dropping 2 chapters, we had 7 chapters left. If one of those 7 chapters dropped us and a chapter we dropped wanted us to come back, then we automatically had to go back to the chapter we initially dropped. I know it sounds complicated but it really isn’t that complicated.
Related: The truth about being a Sorority Girl
Round #2: Philanthropy
This day we got to find out which chapters invited us back for the next round. A lot of girls were sad and disappointed because they weren’t invited to the chapter they wanted. Some of them were only invited to 2 houses. But, if this happens to you, don’t panic. It is completely normal and it happened to me! I’m not gonna lie, I was upset and my schedule was shit. I had so many hours between houses and wasn’t invited back to my favorite house.
There are many reasons why you could be dropped by a chapter. Maybe you don’t meet their GPA requirements, maybe they had met the limit of PNMs they could ask back and maybe they just didn’t like you. It is harsh saying it, but it is true. Not every girl you talk to will like you and you won’t like every girl you talk to.
Another thing that you’re going to hear a lot is that you have to trust the process and it is true! Just trust the process! It is the best way to find your fit. The whole recruitment process has its own way of making everything work out.
This day everyone has a different schedule. We heard about each chapters philanthropy and the events they host to raise money. At the end of the day, we had to drop 2 more houses.
Round #3: Sisterhood
As usual, everyone has a different schedule. This day everything is about sisterhood and you get to talk to the members for a longer time. We talked about their sisterhood events or retreats, the social events, semi-formals and formals, which was really fun! You get to know the members in a deeper way.
At this point, you should kinda know what each chapter is about and how the members feel towards each other. You should already have an idea of what chapter you want to belong to.
Round #4: Preference night
On preference night, we were staying at each chapter for 65 minutes. It was the dressiest night and also the most emotional one. The chapters express what their sisterhood and sorority mean to them as a whole. This night, there are members that cry and you do too (at least I did). It is possible that you talk with someone you already talked before during the previous rounds, which makes it easier because you already know the person. At the end of the day, you have to choose up to 3 chapters in preference order.
BID DAY
This day is whether the best or the worst day of sorority recruitment. You will receive your bid! You meet privately with your Rho Gammas and you open the envelope they give you, which contains the invitation to join a chapter. Then you decide whether you accept it or not. I’m not going to lie, I was pretty upset, since I didn’t get a bid from the chapter I wanted to join. Honestly, I wasn’t going to accept the bid I received, but my Rho Gammas told me to just try it out, so that is what I did.
If you don’t get a bid from any sorority they will contact you earlier and tell you about it. And if you get a bid from a sorority you don’t like, just try it out! Accepting the bid doesn’t mean that you are automatically a member. You have time to decide until initiation.
After accepting the bid, every chapter has a themed party planned to celebrate its new members. Which was really fun and I loved it. There was food (who doesn’t love food) and loud music and everybody was dancing. It is definitely a day I won’t forget.
If you were wondering if I am happy with my sorority right now, I am. It’s been months since bid day (I don’t know why it took me so long to write this post) and I am glad I accepted the bid.
Extra info
Throughout sorority recruitment, there were some girls that said awful things about my (now) chapter, and that influenced my opinion about it. You will probably experience the same, but don’t let other people opinions influence your opinion of a chapter, that’s how you’ll find your fit!
I went through sorority recruitment as a freshman, but many girls were sophomores or even juniors. So don’t let that discourage you!
Let me know in the comments below if this post was helpful. If you have questions about how my recruitment experience was or about anything, just ask!
