Howdy, I having been considering rushing a sorority next semester and had a couple of questions that I hope y’all can help me out with:
How exactly does this whole rushing thins even work? Like what exactly is the process and I saw something about recommendations and I was wondering who those are supposed to be from.
I am a plus size girl, therefore I was wondering if I would even have a shot at being recruited and also what sororities are the most plus size friendly.
I can be shy at first but after awhile I open up a lot and I was curious how this affects my chances.
The recs are from former members of each sorority (they are national sororities) which are submitted prior to recruitment for the sororities to review. Ask your parent’s friends, or anyone that knows you if they were in a sorority then note which one. If you don’t have contacts then ask the Panhellenic in your area - or if that doesn’t exist, ask the national chapter of each sorority for someone to contact to write you a rec. You will provide a resume which includes GPA, scores, activities & picture, the person writing has to normally answer some questions about you & give their okay that you meet the general guidelines of membership. The writer will submit it to the college directly.
You fill out an application for recruitment which goes to all the sororities from the Panhellenic office. Recruitment is a week long activity during howdy week - it a full time commitment that week. You go to all the houses day 1 & day 2. You meet a few members & they meet you. You sit & chat for a specified amount of time - don’t worry the sorority members are in charge of that part & they will ask you leading questions to keep the conversations going. Then you come back and rank the houses you visited for your favorites & they do the same for those they would most like to see back for potential membership. It is rounds of this that occur and each round you go to fewer and fewer houses until the last day (preference night), Then you rank the last time, and you are matched with your sorority. Bid day is the following morning & you get envelopes that invite you to be a member of a sorority.
Each day along the way has a theme and specific attire to wear. You are given a guide by panhellenic that shows you what to wear ( ie. shorts & sandals with a provided tshirt, formal dress with heels, etc). The girls in the sororities also have specific things to wear (it makes it easy to remember which house is which) and specific songs/chants to welcome you into the house and a good bye song when you leave. There are rules as to what they can and can’t say to you ( eg. we will be offering you a membership bid is NOT allowed). Some girls get invited back to every house they go to and have to cut their lists, others do not get invited back - that is the brutal part. You need to go into recruitment with an open mind vs. a preconceived notion as to which house you want - that often does not work out. Practice talking to people you don’t know at various events and parties prior to attending recruitment - it is a skill and one that serves you well in the long run anyhow.
Now that I’ve gone through formal recruitment, there are also non-national sororities on campus. They do not do formal recruitment, they are much easier to join. My D was in a national sorority, her best friend was in a local one. They both had wonderful times. The local ones are less of a formal commitment, they do not have houses but do many of the same types of activities on a smaller scale. They start their process of recruitment after school starts in the fall - easy going social events, no special attire needed more like mixers. They are much smaller in size - a national sorority here has about 200 members, a local one might have 30. Go to the Reed arena event that advertises all the clubs and organizations shortly after school starts for more information on all of those groups.
I was a sorority girl at UCLA. I think the whole rush process is pretty much the same. As for being a “plus size,” I know that sororities get a bad rap for being vain and appearance oriented, but that’s not always the case. I was a Delta Zeta; our house was in the news a few years ago for discriminating against larger girls. But I was a ‘plus size’ when I rushed, and I’m Asian AND was an astrophysics major! Three strikes! lol! But I still found a house that was the right fit for me. I doubt Aggie girls would be as mean as UCLA girls. LA is all about vanity Don’t worry about being shy! Just try your best to be yourself. It’s NOT a job interview. You’re finding people you want to hang out with. If you don’t get picked, that doesn’t mean you weren’t good enough for them. You just didn’t click at that moment. The houses will try to get you to meet as many people as possible without diluting the process of getting to know you as a person. Just relax and have fun If you want a recommendation for Delta Zeta, I can write you one
Check to see if there is a Panhellenic Spring forum in your town or county. You will likely have to google for it. They are coming in for some cities, like in the next week. We missed the meeting when my daughter was going through but you would still register. At her college she was attending, there were 14 soroities. She was contacted by alumni of each of those sororites, though they were not alumni of her college. While my daughter had several people she knew already that could write recommendtion letters for her, there were ttwo or hree sororites where we didn’t know anyone and she met with the alumni that had contacted her and had a little luncheon together and talked, so the almuni could get a more personal account when writing the rec letter.
Unfortunately, Panhellenic preview day was yesterday at A&M but it is ok if you did not go. It is not imperative to attend. However, you might find one in your town or a neighboring town. They are very helpful in how the process works and what you need to do. Here is an example of a spring info session in Fort Worth next weekend. It is held by Panhellenic. http://www.fortworthpanhellenic.com/spring-forum.html
You will need to register with your hometown or county panhellenic council as well as the Collegiate Panhellenic Council.
This is registration info from 2015 (even tho the date at top says 2010) and has a lot of info
They also use to have a Greek information session at NSC (new student conferences) - you can ask the panhellenic office on campus if they still do that. It was for both sororities & fraternities.
@AGmomx2 Rush sounds exactly as when I rushed at my college in SC back in the 1980’s. I rushed because of a close high school friend. We ended up pledging same sorority. Like the OP, I am introverted and I made it through the process. The girls will definitely keep the conversation going so really just relax and be yourself. As for plus size, be yourself and the girls will see past that. I was more of a tomboy and there were definitely sororities I did not fit in well. Alpha Delta Pi was the right one for me. Also, many of my roommates were Chi Omega girls so you really get to know a lot of different girls.
@Thelma2 My daughter will be a freshman this Fall at TAMU/ Blinn Team. Do you have any information that would be helpful for her? I have heard different things regarding the acceptance of Blinn Team students into Greek life at TAMU. Any thoughts?
Don’t worry about being shy! Just try your best to be yourself. It’s NOT a job interview. You’re finding people you want to hang out with. If you don’t get picked, that doesn’t mean you weren’t good enough for them. You just didn’t click at that moment. The houses will try to get you to meet as many people as possible without diluting the process of getting to know you as a person. Just relax and have fun 
If you want a recommendation for Delta Zeta, I can write you one