<p>I'm currently a freshman music ed major at Penn State and all this year, I've been a bit of a loner, even though I'm not a shy person. I thought that joining a sorority starting next fall would be a fun way to have a constant group of people to hang out with, but I don't know how to begin to choose from the many my college has to offer. I know they have formal recruitment, but there's still the problem of having tons of choices. And how do you know what a sorority is really like from one week of visiting? </p>
<p>I'd probably prefer a small to medium sized sorority - not sure how big they typically are, but I'm afraid larger ones will make it too hard for me to get to know people. And I'm a good student and definitely not a party girl, so I don't want to join a sorority that's going to party a lot and pressure me into doing the same thing. I don't care if there are parties (I feel like this will be unavoidable with any sorority) but I just don't want it to be the focus. Can anyone help me out?</p>
<p>You have to meet the girls in the sorority before you can make any sort of decision. You pick your house based on the people in it. You may find you love the girls in a large sorority or one that parties a lot, and that’s okay. Just go through formal recruitment. The choice will not be as hard as you think. There will be houses you really don’t like. There will be houses that will cut you, even if you like them. It’s not just your decision, it’s the sororities’ too. And at the end of the day most people are only choosing between a few. But you can’t make any judgements until you actually go through recruitment.</p>
<p>The ONLY way to know is to go through rush and meet the girls. As RedSox says it will be pretty obvious which ones you like and don’t like, even from the first day - although I would caveat that by saying that you MUST keep an open mind about your invites at each round and not drop out until after ALL the rounds. In fact, if you receive a bid, I strongly advise you to go through the new member period - you can always drop before initiation if you really don’t like it. Going through rush, you will also be in a rush group going from house to house, so you will meet girls here too - one of my best friends is from my rush group and she ultimately declined to hand in her pref card as she didn’t think greek life was for her. There are a LOT of houses at Penn State so you will have a lot of choice…</p>
<p>Remember also that NOT everyone in each house is the same. There will be partiers, science geeks, athletes, theater girls in every house</p>
<p>If you’re a current PSU student I would also ask how invovled you are on campus? Sports? volunteering? Student government? religious groups? Sororities like girls who are ‘joiners’, who they know are likely to help the chapter prepare for homecoming, dance in THON, take part in intramurals, do community service, help run the chapter etc etc - as well as have great grades. They are looking for evidence that you’re this type of person so you need to have been involved on campus - I really cannot stress this enough. I would also point out that being involved means you will meet girls already in houses and by knowing them in an informal setting will give you additional info on what each chapter is like </p>
<p>If you are a bit shy I would practice your conversation skills over the summer before rush so that you are not overwhelmed during what is a bit of a crazy week</p>
<p>I’m a current student at Penn State who’s in a Fraternity and has friends who went through Sorority Rush. Basically everything that’s been said so far is true. </p>
<p>If you have any more specific questions about our rush process PM me.</p>