Going through the Panhellenic Formal Recruitment process can be one of the scariest and most confusing things you ever experience in your life. There’s no right or wrong way to do it; it’s really what you make of it when it comes to finding the sorority that is meant for you. However, it can be nerve-wracking if you’re going in blind and don’t know what to expect. Luckily, we have the breakdown of the UConn recruitment process, and are here to offer tips on how to survive and get the bid that you want.
The Breakdown: At UConn, recruitment takes place the first weekend of school (typically Labor Day Weekend), starting on Friday night and running through Monday night. Each day is based on a value of the Panhellenic community, usually a good topic starter when it comes to conversations. Day 1 and 2 are very casual (jeans, nice tops) while Day 3 and 4 are more dressy (sun-dresses).
Friday (Day 1): Scholarship Day
Saturday (Day 2): Philanthropy Day
Sunday (Day 3): Sisterhood Day
Monday (Day 4): Preference Day (morning) and Bid Night (evening)
Things We Wished We Knew: A few of us have had the opportunity to experience Formal Recruitment firsthand, and have all had positive experiences when it came to finding the right sorority for us. However, if we had a chance to do it over, here are some things we wish we would’ve known!
- Talk about what matters to you. If there is something you are passionate about and is a big part of who you are, you don’t need to hide it. Just find a professional way to talk about those opinions!
- Believe in the process! You may think you know what organization is best for you but hindsight is 20/20 and with values-based recruitment, you always end up where you should be.
- During the first week of classes, members keep cordial contact so that everyone has a fair chance of knowing each organization as a whole. Sisters aren’t being unfriendly when you see them in class or around campus: they just want you to have the best and fairest recruitment experience.
- Bring a bag! You’ll especially need it on the day up at Husky Village to hold deodorant, shoes, or anything you might need to make you feel confident when you’re sweating during your rounds.
- Flip flops on days 3 and 4 are a must…you can bring your wedges and put them on before each round!
- Go in with a totally open mind! However, it’s not the worst to do a little bit of research about the organization beforehand. In my experience, four days of talking to limited members of each organization wasn’t enough to get a complete understanding of what organization I would fit best in.
- Definitely open up to your RMT leader if you need to talk to anyone. They’re there to help and will probably give you way better advice than if you just ask another PNM.
- Don’t take it personally when a house drops you! It may be hard, but you’re really just one step closer to finding the house for you.
- Don’t be afraid to be yourself. If you want to find the house that’s truly right for you, then you have to let your true light show during the process.
- If you get called back to a sorority you weren’t interested in, shake it off, and go in with just as open of a mind: for all you know, day two will shine a better light and you’ll find reasons why that sorority is meant for you.
- Don’t count anything out! Everything happens for a reason, and recruitment works because it gets you one step closer to the organization best fitted for you.
- Don’t be nervous because of what year you are (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, etc.) Everyone goes through recruitment at the right time for them and there is no reason to think you are “not as wanted” just because of your age.
- Don’t count out colonizing sororities! If you go through formal recruitment and just don’t find the right home for you, look into the sororities colonizing and reach out to have coffee dates with them. Being a part of a colonizing chapter could really be what you need to find your home and be a founding part of what that chapter becomes on your campus.
Formal Recruitment can be super overwhelming, but we hope that we were able to give you a little bit more insight into how it works at UConn! Best of luck to everyone going through the process, and if you’re reading this, we hope you find your home within the Panhellenic Community!
All photos in the article were provided by the authors.