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A Guide to Surviving Sorority Recruitment | Sorority Recruitment 101

June 19, 2017 6 Comments

I’ve been sharing an ongoing sorority recruitment series here on Hannah With a Camera. Click here to read more posts about recruitment and sorority life, or comment below if you want to see a specific post on the blog!

Hi all! Today I’m sharing my tips on mastering small talk during sorority recruitment. I’ve been through sorority recruitment twice (as a freshman and as a recruiter), so I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on how to feel comfortable during those short conversations in the first few rounds. These tips are also from other girls in my sorority, so it’s not just my own experience!

a guide to surviving sorority recruitment

The most important part of recruitment isn’t your clothes, or your shoes, or the way you look—it’s how you connect with the girls in the house! Here are some of my go-to tips to feeling comfortable and confident throughout recruitment.

Don’t let others influence your opinion

One thing that my recruitment counselors constantly told us was “no chapter chatting,” and it’s for a good reason! “Chapter chatting” means you’re discussing your experience with each house with other girls throughout recruitment. While gossiping about each house may seem like a good way to bond with other girls through recruitment, it may hurt you in the end. If you had a great experience at one house, but you heard your friend had a terrible experience, don’t sweat it!

If you had a great experience at one house, but you heard your friend had a terrible experience, don’t sweat it! Some girls are better at recruiting and connecting than others. Sorority recruitment is about your personal interactions with each girl, not about how much money or how popular the girls in the house supposedly are. You’ll find your fit.

Ask questions

This was the biggest tip that I used as a freshman going through recruitment, and it helped so much! I was a little nervous about the whole process, but having questions on hand helped me feel more confident and keep the conversation flowing. As a recruiter, when girls asked me questions, it felt like they were genuinely interested and engaged.

Some good questions to have in the back of your mind are…

What’s your favorite part about living in the sorority house?
What’s your philanthropy?
Why did you choose this chapter?
How did you know that this sorority was the right one for you?

Some questions not to ask are…

Can you bring boys into the house?
Do you drink in your house?
Who’d you vote for in the last election?

Those questions are all ones that can be asked later, and will most likely be answered later for you as you join a chapter. Remember that recruitment is about you, so it’s not the time to bring up your significant other!

Don’t be afraid to be open with your questions, but be careful how you phrase things. For example, asking “How many events do I have to attend?” sounds like you’re trying to get around the rules before even joining. Instead, phrase it as: “I’m an athlete here and I’m concerned about the time commitment between athletics and a sorority. Are there sisters that are able to maintain sorority life, athletics, and a good GPA?” This poses you as willing to be flexible and wanting to be active in the chapter. This will also help your recruiter learn more about you and be able to talk about other sisters in the chapter in the same situation as you.

Be engaged

When we go through training to learn how to be better recruiters, we learn about things to take note of about the girls. Having good posture and smiling are two of the easiest ways to come off more confident, and in turn, feel more confident! The days are long and you’ll be tired (and trust me, they will be too), but just taking a little extra effort to smile and pay attention goes a long way.

Talk to the girls in the house like a friend

This one is a trick from some of the girls in my chapter. Act like the girls you’re talking with are friends that you haven’t seen in a long time, and you’re catching up and filling them in on everything. I haven’t tried this trick personally, but it seems like a great way to get to know the girls in each house better and feel comfortable!

Be honest

Sorority recruitment isn’t the time to try and fit yourself into a person you’re not! I heard so many girls going through recruitment tell me “I’m not really the sorority girl stereotype,” and there are so many girls in my sorority house that have said the same thing. Talk about your passions, what you did in high school, what makes you unique.

This will also help you stand out to the recruiter. There’s a pretty good chance that they have similar interests as you! It’s easier for me, as a recruiter, to remember that I talked to a girl who loved photography than to remember that I talked to a journalism major.

Your major, where you’re from, etc, is important, but that’s not what makes you who you are. Why did you choose your major? If you’re from California, are you passionate about surfing, or if you’re from small-town Kansas, why did you want to get out of town and move to a big college? All these things will help girls get to know you better and connect with you.

Give it a chance

I fell in love with a chapter during recruitment, and I was cut in the middle of the week. I wasn’t super happy with some of the choices I had left, but I chose to continue recruitment and ended up loving my sorority. My roommate also preferenced a different sorority than the one she ended up in on bid day, but now she can’t see herself anywhere else!

Even if you think you’re not interested in the house, give every house a chance and be engaged. You might end up loving it later in the week or even be on their lawn on bid day. This is my biggest tip about recruitment—I saw so many girls in my dorm drop throughout the week just because they didn’t get their ideal chapter. (Note that their ‘ideal chapter’ was based on three days’ worth of conversations, which definitely doesn’t give you enough time to know the chapter!) It may even take you a month to feel at home, but it all works out in the end.

If you have any questions, let me know below—I’m happy to help!

xo, Hannah

sorority, sorority recruitment

A Guide to Sorority Slang | Sorority Recruitment 101

July 12, 2016 7 Comments

Sorority recruitment is confusing enough in itself, let alone the world of Greek life and what every little term means. Today in my sorority recruitment series, I’m filling you in on the sorority slang you’ll hear the most during recruitment and beyond! (If you haven’t read my other article yet on how to get recommendation letters, read it here.)

Recruitment: This is also commonly referred to as rush week, but formally referred to as recruitment. Recruitment is the week-long process in which every sorority chooses their new members.

PNM: A PNM is a potential new member. This is what the girls going through the recruitment process that are not yet in a sorority are referred to.

Panhellenic: The Panhellenic Association is the organization that is comprised of 26 sororities in total that hosts recruitment. My university has 13 of the 26 Panhellenic sororities on campus, which is a pretty common number.

Preference day: This is the last day of recruitment in which girls will typically go to up to three houses for the last rounds of recruitment. After going to each house, all the PNMs will then rank their sororities in order of what they want to be in most.

Bid: At the end of recruitment, each sorority will extend a bid to every PNM that they want in their house. PNMs will only end up with one bid at the end of the week. For example, if the PNM ranks Sorority A, Sorority B, and Sorority C in that order on preference day, then Sorority A can extend them a bid. If Sorority A doesn’t want to extend that PNM a bid, then Sorority B will have the opportunity to extend a bid to the PNM.

Suicide: This term is used on preference day when a PNM only chooses one house. This means that if they don’t get a bid from this sorority, then they won’t be in a sorority at all. (At the University of Kansas, they are unable to go through informal recruitment or repeat the recruitment process until the following year.)

Rho Chi/Gamma Chi/Rho Gamma: These are terms used to refer to your recruitment counselors. Several schools call them by different names and these are a few of the Greek names used to refer to them. Your recruitment counselors will be girls that are disaffiliated from their sororities for the week and they will be your primary point of reference to help you navigate recruitment week. They’ve been through both sides of recruitment, so be sure to ask them questions throughout the week to help you decide what’s best for you.

Disaffiliation: Your recruitment counselor will disaffiliate from their sorority during recruitment week, meaning they’re supposed to take any trace of their sorority off of their social media. The PNMs are not supposed to know which sorority each recruitment counselor is in, in order for the PNMs to have an unbiased experience.

Maximizing your options: I heard this so many times during recruitment from my recruitment counselors! We were always told at the end of each day when we were preferencing, or ranking, our sororities in order of which ones we wanted to be in. To maximize your options, you should rank the maximum amount of houses instead of just putting the ones you only want to be in and leaving out the ones that you didn’t like as much. You might not have had a great conversation at one house, but if you come back the next day and talk to a different girl, you could end up loving the sorority.

Bid day: Bid day is the day when each PNM figures out which sorority extended them a bid. The PNM then becomes a member of that sorority.

Big/little: In your first year of being in a sorority, you will be assigned a ‘big sister’ and you will be the ‘little sister.’ (In Alpha Delta Pi, this pairing is referred to as being a diamond sister.) This is an older girl in your sorority that will essentially be a mentor to you throughout your first year of being in the sorority, and she’ll be someone to turn to if you have questions or you just want someone to hang out with!

Philanthropy: Each sorority has a charity or organization that they support through philanthropy events to raise money for the organization.

Legacy: A girl who has an older sister, mother, or grandmother that has been in a sorority. Typically this does not mean much in terms of guaranteeing you a spot in that sorority except past the first day. If you don’t end up in the sorority that you have a legacy tie to, don’t stress! Just because your mom was in that sorority or your sister is in one at a different school doesn’t mean that you fit in that chapter now, 20 years later. Different sororities vary on which relatives count (i.e. step-mothers, cousins, etc.).

Sister: The term a girl in a sorority will use to refer to another girl also in her sorority. If you talk to several different girls during one round of recruitment, one will often introduce the next girl to you as her sister–don’t take it literally! If you do, no sweat. It happens more than you’d think.

Active: A woman who has been formally initiated into her sorority.

If you have any questions, let me know in the comments! Are you going through recruitment at your university?

xo, Hannah

sorority, sorority recruitment

How to Get Recommendation Letters | Sorority Recruitment 101

June 26, 2016 4 Comments

Recommendation letters. Most likely, if you’re going through sorority recruitment, you’ve heard all about them and how you just have to have them in order to even make it through the first day. This all depends on your school–some schools require them, some schools suggest them, and some schools won’t even mention them at all. You can find out which type of school yours is by searching “[insert school] panhellenic” and look it up on your Panhellenic organization’s website. (Tip: Panhellenic is the governing body over all sororities, so you’ll hear this word a lot.)

Step one: Just ask

My mom was in a sorority, so I posted on her Facebook page back in June last year to search for recommendation letters. My post went something like this: “Hi everyone! This is Hannah posting. I’m going through sorority recruitment at the University of Kansas in the fall and I’m looking for recommendation letters for [insert all 12 sorority names]. If you’d be willing to write one for me, please let me know and I can send you all the information. Thank you!” This was the easiest way for me to get recommendation letters–you’d be surprised at how many women were in a sorority in college. (If you’re having trouble finding certain sororities, ask women who are already writing you one if they have any friends in that sorority. It never hurts to ask around!)

You could also post this on your own Facebook page and you might have friends of yours telling you that their mom was in a sorority. Usually, a girl who is currently in the sorority can’t write you a recommendation letter for her own chapter, but she can for a chapter at a different school. Keep that in mind if you’re planning on asking girls you know who are at your college and in a sorority already.

Step two: prepare the packet

Make it easy for the woman that’s volunteered to write your recommendation letter and put everything together for her. This packet should include four things: a picture of you, your resume, a pre-addressed and stamped envelope, and a cover letter.

PRINT: The photo that you include will be sent to that sorority, so make it a nice headshot or senior photo, not just a photo that you cropped your friends out of. Be sure you print this on photo paper, not printer paper. Your resume should include all the activities you were involved in during high school, your GPA (weighted and unweighted), class rank, leadership positions, test scores (ACT/SAT) but only if they’re ‘good’ – I would say 24 and above for ACT, and community service. This is an easy sample resume you can use that I had during high school. (A lot of my information is redacted, so be sure to fill in the parts with the x or [ ].). Make sure you put how many years you were involved in everything!

The cover letter isn’t like a professional letter, instead, it should be more like a thank-you note to the woman writing your letter. Here’s a sample cover letter to refer to. Finally, include a 11×14 envelope that is pre-addressed and stamped to each sorority’s recruitment/reference chair. Be sure not to mix these up! To find these addresses, go to your university’s Panhellenic website and you should be able to find a listing of all the chairs under the recruitment page. Women aren’t living in their sorority houses during the summer, so don’t send the envelopes to the chapter houses.

DIGITAL: Some recommendation letters are done digitally now, which makes it easier on both you and the woman writing your letter! But you should still include all the information above when sending to the woman writing your letter.

Step three: follow up

Always, always, always be sure to follow up with the women who are writing your letters. It’s likely that your letter isn’t their top priority, so follow up with them to make sure that they got your packet in the first place and that they sent it out on time. Don’t forget to thank them for taking the time to write your letter. I would send out these packets at least a month before you move in so you can have time to resend an envelope and sort things out if it gets mailed back to you.

Are there any other posts you’d like to see about going through recruitment?

xo, Hannah

style

A List Greek Jewelry Review

April 19, 2016 1 Comment

I’m so excited to share this collaboration with A List Greek today! Their founder, Hope, was kind enough to reach out to me and send me some fun jewelry to share with my friends. A List Greek is sold in a couple local boutiques around town and it’s definitely a popular way for girls to wear their letters in a way that’s not overly flashy.

This is my cousin Rachel rocking the Sigma Kappa state necklace and the Sigma Kappa stack rings. Even though the necklace is small, it’s a great way to combine a piece of home or your university with your letters. The rings are adjustable as well, so you can make it fit your fingers and they won’t fall off easily.

This is my friend Emalee wearing the Gamma Phi Beta state necklace, the Gamma Phi Beta stack rings, and the Gamma Phi Beta hair ties (in the confetti picture)! My favorite thing about all this jewelry is how transitional it is–it’s subtle enough to wear to work or to class, but super cute to wear out or for a sorority photoshoot! The hair ties are a great way to show off your sorority without even trying, because let’s be real here: when are you not without a hair tie?

Along with the jewelry and the hair ties, Hope sent me metallic flash tattoos for everyone too! While they’re not the type of thing I’d throw on for class, I’m excited to save them for bid day or date parties coming up in the fall. I’ll be showing off a couple photos on my Instagram throughout the week with my Alpha Delta Pi jewelry, so be sure to follow me to get a look at how cute everything is.

While A List Greek is primarily a website for sorority women, they also have a lot of custom jewelry options for girls looking to customize their jewelry with their initials or their favorite phrase. I think their bar necklaces are one of the best options for custom engraving with a lot of space.

Thanks for reading and thanks again to A List Greek to giving me this opportunity!

xo, Hannah

school

Preppy College Dorm Room Tour

April 16, 2016 3 Comments

I’ve been meaning to do this post since August when I first moved in, but I’ve never had a room this clean since the initial move in! Honestly, the only reason there isn’t a bag thrown on the floor or a sock somewhere in these photos is because my mom came up this past weekend for Mom’s Weekend with my sorority. So while my room might look somewhat like #goals currently, it’s definitely not that way all the time!

I have the Peyton bedding in Royal Navy from Pottery Barn Teen and I absolutely love it. (It’s on sale in the pink and light pool colors!) My all-time favorite color scheme involves some variation of coral, turquoise, and navy, so this was a perfect way to combine them. I also have a long body pillow in coral (on the left). My roommate Jordan and I are in the same sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, so we hung our flag from bid day up over the window.

I have this strand of photo clips from Urban Outfitters that’s been great for hanging photos without sticking holes in the wall. Before college, I printed out a ton of photos from Mpix and I definitely recommend using them for printing photos! The tea towel of Lawrence is from Tammy Smith Design–it came in a print version too, but I like having the bigger size of the tea towel to hang for decoration. She has a ton of cute drawings of other cities as well and if you’re from a big city area, that’d be a great way to have a little piece of home in your dorm.

I used washi tape to put up the photos on my wall and the majority of them have stayed up since August. The two canvases on the left are from my friend Abby (top) and my big diamond sister Mackenzie (bottom). I painted the ‘h’ canvas myself. In the space under the canvases on the left, I had a Hogwarts travel poster (this one is similar), but it fell from the command strip recently for some reason! On my desk I have a lamp with two outlets on it (which has definitely come in handy), my alarm clock, a couple decorations, and a plastic organizer from Target with 3 drawers to hold my jewelry.

Under my bed I have a butterfly chair, another organizer with 3 drawers to hold some random craft stuff, my dresser (provided by my dorm), and some more boxes on top to hold random things that don’t have a specific category to them. I also have a shoe hanging organizer to hold random things like command strips and nail polish.

The majority of these have come in handy, but I definitely didn’t need it all. Keep an eye out for an updated post of my college dorm essentials!

Thanks for reading!

xo Hannah