Trust me, I know that the idea of rushing a sorority comes with a ton of worry, stereotypes and straight-up misinformation. Since I remember how confused I was just last Spring, I’m going to lay out everything you need to know before you rush.
1. Academics
Obviously if you’re attending college, academics are your #1 concern (lol Mom and Dad hope y’all are reading this). Since being in a sorority will take up a huge amount of your time, it’s completely rational to be concerned that it would conflict with your grades. Even though joining a sorority is time consuming, it will also be a source of extra motivation for you to maintain good grades. Each sorority at VT has a different standard for the GPA you have to stay in them, and if you drop below this you’re put on academic probation. The upside of this rule is that we have academic chairs who will work with you to pull your grades up. Odds are, you’ll also recognize more people in your classes after joining a sorority, which makes classes much more enjoyable and gives you people to study with. Most sororities also have their own Chegg accounts, which is reason enough for an engineering major to go Greek.
2. Money
My advice for this one would be to look through each sororities’ dues ahead of time so that you can be sure which ones are realistic for you and which ones aren’t.
3. Mean Girls
We’ve all heard recruitment horror stories like sororities weighing their new girls, ranking them from prettiest to ugliest, or the notion that sororities are just a breeding zone for shallow, catty females to talk behind one another’s backs. One thing that I want to assure anyone debating on rushing is that Virginia Tech greek life is NOT like that. Based off of my experience and knowing how other school’s do recruitment, I can say that VT is waaay more laid back with recruitment than southern schools are. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of effort and planning goes into recruiting on the organization’s part, but in my opinion, most people at Virginia Tech don’t care too much about rankings and are nice people. There’s no absolute top sorority that you HAVE to get into, being a legacy or having a letter of recommendation is not an integral part of recruitment, and you’re not going to get hazed.
4. Rejection
This is something that you’re more than likely going to face at some point during recruitment, and that’s okay! If you need tips on how to deal with it, message back one of the guys who’s been left on read in your instagram DM’s for 12 weeks and ask what his secret is! Seriously though, rejection is almost inevitable since there’s a limit to how many girls each sorority is allowed to take. My best piece of advice is not to take it personally. This statement is easier said than done, but nine times out of ten, it all comes down to an algorithm on a computer monitor. Don’t let anyone else decide your worth!
5. Sorority Reputations
If you’re planning on rushing in the spring, you’re most likely going to here rumors and reputations about the sororities on campus by then. I’m not going to list them out for you here, because a rumor is just that: a rumor (and because I’d probably either get kicked off the Her Campus writing team or have someone spit in my Tapingo order at Soup Garden). Don’t feed into these reputations, because the worst thing you can do is go into recruitment with preconceived opinions about each sorority. As some of you may know, I grew up in Blacksburg (s/o all my townies) and had two older sisters who rushed at Virginia Tech, so it was hard to go into recruitment with a completely open mind. Once I started going through the process though, I realized there were sororities I thought I would hate that I loved, and there were ones I thought I would join that I really couldn’t see myself in.
Now that I’ve hopefully covered your concerns, I want to talk about the benefits of going Greek. Yes, there are plenty of materialistic perks. Yes, I probably have enough t-shirts to single-handedly clothe the entire freshman class (hope y’all like pink!) and yes, I’ve had some of the best times of my life at socials, formals, and date parties. Oh, I’ve also learned the entire Greek alphabet (can this count towards some sort of language credit please?). However, I don’t want to overlook the more lasting impacts that going Greek will have on you if you do decide to rush. I have never in my life felt more supported than I have after joining my sorority. This is without a doubt the biggest reward from joining a sorority. The group of women I’ve been lucky enough to meet are the most empowered, hilarious, radiant, ambitious group I’ve ever been a part of, and I have dozens of girls I can call upon for any reason that I know will accept me with open arms. College can be emotionally exhausted from all the transitions and responsibilities, and having people to confide in and trust is an absolute blessing. And no, I didn’t “buy my friends”, because there’s no way I’d be able to afford girls like these.
Greek life also presents you with opportunities to do great things for your community. I’ve raised money for breast cancer research, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, donated blood for American Red Cross, and much more. You can also apply for executive positions within your sorority or on Panhellenic council. These are some of the things that really make you feel connected to something bigger than yourself while you’re at college. Plus, if you don’t get in a little Ut Prosim while you’re at Tech, are you really a Hokie?
The #1 best piece of advice I received during recruitment was to choose the sorority that I felt like I already fit into, not one that I could fit into. If you’re anything like me, you’re outgoing enough to make yourself fit in pretty much anywhere, so this advice is key. Go with your gut and don’t worry about how “cool” other people perceive that particular sorority to be, because if you base your decision off of someone else’s opinion, you’ll rob yourself of the opportunity meet some of your best friends. Always do what feels right for you!