What I Wish I Knew Before Rushing at Aalabama

Anyone who is on TikTok has come across at least one “Bama Rush” video on their For You Page. These videos range from girls in their dorms showing what they’re wearing for the day and where it’s from, or on bid day at Bryant Denny Stadium opening their bid. These videos, while fun, give girls looking at recruiting at Alabama this idea that rush is all about outfits, ranking the houses, and running home on bid day. 

While these things are factors in recruitment, girls who go through it will also experience long days, emotional moments, unexpected outcomes, and learn to trust the process. When I think of the things I learned during sorority recruitment, the things people have mentioned online don’t even come to mind. Which is why I wanted to share them now so that hopefully you can spend less time endlessly scrolling on TikTok, and more time enjoying the excitement of freshman year. 

One of the first things I would change is to stop worrying about being perfect. I can assure you that whether you have seven houses or two, there will be a moment when you accidentally stumble your words, say something wrong, or don’t click with an active. These moments are normal and the girls you are talking with in the houses are nervous too, whether they show it or not. 

The whole process is supposed to be about getting to know you, not interviewing you. There’s not a “perfect” answer to any of the questions. After talking to 20 girls all day, the ones recruiting you want to hear new answers to their questions and want people to be authentically themselves. So, while this pressure to perform well is very natural, it is horribly unrealistic and a real answer will stick out more to the actives than a rehearsed one. 

With the growth of “Bama Rush”, it’s very easy to get sucked into looking at all those videos. However, when I was sitting out in the Tuscaloosa heat waiting to go into a house, I didn’t care about the outfit I was wearing anymore, nor about what the girls next to me were. The “Outfit of the Days” overshadow what recruitment is about. While I do think that having a good outfit helps, something that you feel comfortable and confident in will get you way further than a brand name. It’s also important to remember that social media is a highlight, so although it may seem like so many girls had a perfect experience, there is so much more happening behind the scenes that isn’t shown. Someone’s edited posts will always look better next to your raw experience. 

Social media also doesn’t show how emotionally and mentally exhausting rush is. The whole process is supposed to be a narrowing decision, yet it still hurts when you get cut from houses you grew attached to. The cutting part of rush is never as personal as it seems, and is often purely based on numbers, but it’s very easy to think that there was more you could’ve done when it happens. 

Before rushing, I didn’t do much research, and I had a very calm attitude going into the process. I was open minded and had a mindset of dropping completely if I didn’t feel like I clicked with any of the houses. But I bonded with some amazing girls in some of the houses, and when they started to narrow down even more, I found myself feeling so emotional towards something I just randomly decided to do. 

Though the more you think about it, it is normal to get confused or frustrated when something you’ve worked towards for months doesn’t work out the way you thought it would. This is why it’s so important to have outside support to talk to. Something as simple as calling either of my parents helped me in a process that felt like it was taking over my whole life. They gave me outside advice, or just a sound board to talk about how I was feeling, which always made me feel better.  

When realizing how tiring rush is, I also learned that trying to control the outcome of recruitment only made the process more difficult. When you start to find out more about the houses during Convocation, or even before rushing, it’s easy to focus on houses you think you will fit in with. But when I visited those houses I thought I wanted and didn’t necessarily click with them, I became frustrated, thinking that I was doing something wrong. Turns out, some of my strongest connections came from the houses I didn’t expect. 

 A lot of PNMs (Potential New Members) go into recruitment with rankings already in mind, whether it’s from social media, family or friends, perceived reputation, or the recruitment videos and Convocation, which has them picking their “top” houses before they’ve even met the girls apart of them. I found that once I truly threw out all of my expectations and gave each house my all, the whole process became a lot easier and more fun because I wasn’t focused on a single outcome. Having an open mind is something you’re going to hear a lot from members of the Panhellenic Association or Rho Chi’s. Reminding yourself of this throughout the process will help you end up at the house that you genuinely feel comfortable in. 

 From worrying myself about having the perfect answer to hoping to get into the “top” house, I regret how much time I spent on things that, by the time bid day came around, I didn’t care about anymore. Rushing a sorority at Alabama is truly an exciting and unique experience that I don’t regret doing, but I wish I hadn’t put so much effort into comparing myself to what everyone else was doing or what I saw on social media. The best thing to do is be yourself, trust the process, and use the support system you have. The chapter you join is supposed to have the girls you feel the most supported by and the memories you create with your sisters is what will make your college years ones you never forget. 

• bamarush
• greek life
• recruitment
• sororities