It is the most wonderful time of the year.
The time after months of waiting, sorority girls are ready to meet their future sisters.
The time when young women interested in recruitment are prepping and mingling, anxious to run across campus to what will become their home away from home.
Sorority recruitment is truly something incredible. George Mason University has a very unique Panhellenic community, for we do not have sorority houses, nor do we have those older traditions, for as a university, we are a very young institution.
But nonetheless, our sorority life here at GMU is something truly special.
George Mason University’s formal recruitment is September 24-28.
To help you rise above, here is a sorority recruitment guide, from me to you.
Know the chapters:
A crucial part of the recruitment process is to have some knowledge of all the chapters before rush starts. You’re going to be meeting so many people, and will be flooded with abundance of information about the organizations, that it is hard enough to keep everything straight and memorable.
If you go in having done a little research on the organizations, you can ask meaningful questions, and get past the base line conversations to form true connections. There is nothing worse than walking out of the last room, and not remembering much about the rooms earlier on in the day.
Be open-minded:
As you continue to meet sisters around campus and at events, you will find those whom you click with better, and may start to become closer with those organizations. While that is great, it is important to remember the organizations on campus!
The decision to participate in formal recruitment is personal. But, even more so is the decision to join a specific sorority’s chapter. The recruitment process is aimed at giving you the opportunity to meet sisters from all chapters on campus, so you can make informed decisions.
You may also have heard rumors about some of the chapters on campus, good or bad. We live in an era where various “anonymous” website allow for people to speak their venom without consequences. Many of these rumors are stereotypes that don’t accurately portray what a sisterhood is truly like, and more importantly, what we all stand for.
Going in with an open-mind allows for you to form true connections in every room, and when you do run home on Bid Day, it will have been a true and genuine process.
Make conversation interesting:
Affiliated women are DYING to get to know you, so you will probably be asked the same questions multiple times in a row. Some of these include:
“What year are you?”
“What’s your major?”
“Where are you from?”
“What did you do in high school?”
As a girl going through the recruitment process, you have the opportunity to take the reins on the conversation. The sisters are probably, if not more, nervous than you, so make this your chance to truly form a connection, and learn what their sisterhood is about through a truly memorable conversation!
Look at the values of each sorority:
There are 26 sororities under the Panhellenic Council, and all of them hold different values that make their organizations unique. Some are based on scholarship, others based on service, and others based on true sisterhood.
The values of the each sorority will determine the kind of experience you will have within that chapter, and the kind of connections you will make.
As you are going through, look past the cute clothes and flawless makeup, and focus on what you learn in the rooms about the organizations. It is then, when you feel that connection, it will be for a genuine reason.
Focus on their philanthropies:
Each sorority has a philanthropy that they focus on during the school year, and will do many events and activities to raise awareness and money for. The sisters will be passionate about it, for many of them will have a personal connection. Some of these include breast cancer awareness, women’s heart health, arthritis and juvenile arthritis, and autism awareness.
While you don’t have to know someone who is affected from these, it is important to make sure that you care about the organization your sororitiy is trying to help, for you will spend the rest of your collegiate life, and beyond, trying to help that organization.
Do not base your choice on where your friends want to go:
I went through the formal recruitment process with four of my best friends, and we all went to different sororities. It has NOT affected our friendships, and did not affect our decisions during the recruitment process.
It is FINE if your best friend doesn’t feel a connection in the sorority that you love, or if you just aren’t clicking in the organization she is obsessed with. It is important that you go where you feel like could be your home, and not just go to an organization because your friends are. Basing your decisions around others won’t result in true happiness.
It is not like the movies:
In the movies, they make sorority recruitment seem extremely catty, fake, and overall, very mean.
As affiliated sisters, we take this process very seriously. The young women going through recruitment will be the future of the sisterhood, and we do not base our decisions on how shiny your hair is, or how rich your family is. We base it off your personality, your passions, and your talents.
You will be fine if you do not own Lilly Pulitzer, do not wear designer wedges, and aren’t decorated in expensive jewelry. If you have a passion for an organization, let it show, and don’t be afraid to say so!
Greek women are strong, independent, and intelligent. Your sisters will turn into your family, and will become your support system during college, and the greatest friendships you can make.
If you come prepared and open-minded, but most importantly stay true yourself, you will end up in a sorority that’s the perfect fit for you!
Let recruitment begin.
(All pictures belong to their respected organizations and are not propery of HerCampus)