It's All Greek to Me: Your Complete Guide to Sorority Rush

Friday, January 6, 2012

So, the time has finally come. After months of waiting, worrying, and Facebook-stalking sorority girls (it’s okay, we all do it), you’re finally ready for sorority recruitment. But as much as you may have dreamed (and/or freaked out) about this week, you still have no idea what to expect. But this week, you’ll finally get to figure out which house will eventually become your home, and which group of girls will become your sisters. You only get one chance at rush, so it helps to know exactly what you’re getting yourself into before you start, so you can focus on putting your best face forward! To help you rise above all the other rushees, a day-by-day guide to this crazy, crazy week:

What you do

ROUND 1: OPEN HOUSE
A Rho Gamma, or older sorority girl who has temporarily disaffiliated from her chapter to be your guide, will lead you and a bunch of other PNM’s—potential new members—from house to house. When the clock strikes the hour, the door will fly open and you’ll see dozens of sorority girls screaming and dancing. A sorority girl will grab your arm and lead you to a chair. You’ll talk for about 5 minutes, and then another girl will come over, so you can talk to her instead. This will happen until you have talked to about four girls, and after about 20 minutes the rush chair will make a speech, and you might hear a funny story or do a short activity before you’re ushered out. At the end of the day, you’ll write down which chapters you liked the best and cut a few houses.

ROUND 2: HOUSE TOURS
Round 2 activities vary by school—sometimes it will include a craft, a philanthropy presentation, or a skit—but typically it will involve a tour of each house. By this round you have cut some houses, and some houses have cut you, so you go to fewer houses throughout the day and each round is longer, about 40 minutes. You will still talk to more than one girl—usually about three—before taking a tour of the house and learning more about the chapter’s activities and structure. For example, you may hear a presentation on the chapter’s national and local philanthropies, or learn about how much it would cost to live there. Again, you rank the sororities you saw at the end of the day and cut a few more houses.

ROUND 3: SKIT
sorority girls silhouettes Again, Round 3 activities vary, and many schools do not do a skit. If your school doesn’t do one, this could be called the “Philanthropy Round”, and in some cases house tours are during Round 3. If there is a skit, you will talk to two or three girls before watching the most recent pledge class of each chapter put on a hilarious performance, often involving pop culture references and songs. This is a great chance to get to know the personality of each house, so you can gauge better where you’ll feel most comfortable. You’ll rank the sororities again at the end of the day, leaving you with only three houses.

ROUND 4: PREFERENCE
This round is the most serious, and you only talk to one girl for the entire time—a full hour at most schools. While during every other round the girls dance, cheer and generally try to emphasize the fun aspects of their sororities, in pref round it’s all about the traditions, principles and values of each chapter. You’ll hear from the girls about what their sorority means to them, and see a ceremony that emphasizes the essence of each house. Often there is a presentation involving the seniors, and you learn a lot about the traditions of each chapter. At the end of the day you “pref” three sororities in order of where you’d most like to pledge, and you are matched up through a computer system to a house.

Show full page

Comments

This article makes it seem as

This article makes it seem as if you get the initial and final say in which sorority you eventually pledge. I have a feeling at most schools this is NOT the case. At my school, we get cut before we have any say in which sorority house we want to go back to for the next round. This article is a bit too general and very misleading.

Submitted by Anonymous1 (not verified) on Saturday, January 7, 2012.

I understand that some

I understand that some schools do formal rush in both semesters, but many schools don't. I know at my school, sororities are only allowed to do informal recruitment during the spring and only if the house is below quota.

I've read many Greek articles on HerCampus and have never come across one about Informal recruitment. This is such a prominent way many houses recruit. About half my house came in through informal. Its also a great alternative to the stress of formal rush.

Finally, rush is not a one time thing. I've known girls who have rushed twice because they dropped out of the pledging process.

Submitted by glassxkiss (not verified) on Friday, January 6, 2012.

This isn't true for all

This isn't true for all schools. Our University actually prohibits skits in any way, shape or form.

Submitted by Jackie Newell on Friday, January 6, 2012.

Still greek to me after reading

Well, I read it, I understood the part about walking around, talking, dressing.
But eventually I had to look up on a Wiki to get some definitions.

Now it is clear.

And it is clear why it was not clear in first place. As a person I do not care about getting in groups and social life, what I wear, don't care about it all.

Submitted by Bent (not verified) on Sunday, July 10, 2011.

Where to Buy Beer Pong Tables

We were recently contacted by a company that sells beer pong tables! I had no idea that companies existed that sold tables specially manufactured for the game!
Check them out:
Beer Pong Tables - Beer Pong Table manufacturer offering affordable portable beer pong tables.

Submitted by Windsor Hanger on Friday, February 5, 2010.

It's All Greek to Me: Your Complete Guide to Sorority Rush