Would you like to join a sorority during your time in college? You’re not going to be alone.
There are more than 750,000 fraternity and sorority members in colleges and universities throughout the country right now. There are also almost 10 million college and university alumni who maintain memberships in fraternities and sororities. This shows just how popular joining fraternities and sororities has become.
Before you can put yourself in a position to join a sorority, you’ll need to work your way through the sorority recruitment process. And there is no guarantee that you’ll definitely be able to make it through this process and get picked to take part in a sorority.
Would you like to increase your chances? There are some steps you can take that’ll improve the odds of you getting picked in the end. As long as you take almost all of them, you should enjoy success when you’re trying to stand out during sorority recruitment.
Here is a guide on how to get picked during sorority recruitment.
Make Sure Greek Life Is Right for You
In theory, joining a sorority might sound like a great idea. But are you positive it’s something you want to do? This is a question you’ll need to answer before you get too deep into the sorority recruitment process.
Fortunately, it should be simple enough to learn about Greek life long before you commit to trying to join a sorority. You should spend as much time as you can reading up on it and all that it entails.
You might even want to go as far as to talk to people you know who are involved in Greek life. Even if you won’t be trying to join their specific sorority, you should be able to get some good information out of them.
See Which Sororities Are Active at Your School
Once you’ve spent some time researching Greek life, the next thing you should do is see which sororities are active at your particular school.
There are more than two dozen sororities that are members of the National Panhellenic Conference. But most colleges and universities will only have a handful of sororities active on their campuses.
You should do some digging around to see which sororities are active at your school and then do your homework on each one. It should help you figure out which sororities might be the best fit for you.
Pick the Sorority You Like the Most
After you’re finished researching the various sororities that exist on your college campus, you should set out to select the one you like the most. Every sorority will have slightly different missions in mind, and your goal will be to find the one that aligns with your values.
At the same time, you should also pay close attention to the requirements that different sororities have in place. You’ll need to have a certain GPA to join most sororities. You’ll also be subjected to certain fees and have certain duties when you join most sororities.
It’ll be extremely important for you to pick a sorority that you really like a lot. It’ll give you more of an incentive to put your best foot forward when you start the sorority recruitment process.
Register for the Sorority Recruitment Process
When you get to this point, you should have a good idea as to which sorority you’d like to try to join. You should look into registering for the sorority recruitment process with them.
Most sororities will hold sorority recruitment at the beginning of every college semester. They’ll also open up the registration period for recruitment in the weeks leading up to this time period.
Ideally, you should try to register for the sorority recruitment process as soon as you can. It’ll show that you’re eager to join a particular sorority, and it’ll also give sorority sisters plenty of time to get to know your name.
Be Active Throughout Rush Week
The sorority recruitment process will get started with what is known as rush week. As its name would suggest, rush week typically lasts for about a week, though some sororities have started to extend it to two weeks in some cases.
Rush week will provide you with an opportunity to get to know more about different sororities if you aren’t sure which one you’d like to try to join. It’ll also give you a chance to get to know a specific sorority better than you do.
During rush week, most sororities will hold a series of events. They’ll range from standard meet and greets with sorority sisters to formal events to parties.
In a perfect world, you’ll want to try to attend as many of these events as you can. If possible, you should attempt to make it to every event a sorority holds if you’re really serious about trying to join it.
The more sorority events you go to, the more serious a sorority will take you. They’ll see clear-cut evidence that you’re interested in joining a sorority.
Choose Outfits That’ll Make You Stand Out at Events
If you’re able to successfully join a sorority, you’ll likely blend into the crowd with your sorority sisters during events. But this is not what you want to do when you’re still in the process of trying to get recruited to join a sorority.
In this case, you’ll want to work as hard as you can to stand out at events. You should show off your unique sense of style to sorority sisters so that they know what you’ll be bringing to the table.
You might want to go as far as to buy special sorority recruitment dresses as well as other sorority recruitment outfits. They’ll make you stand out from other potential sorority recruits.
Just be sure that you check to see if any of the events you’ll be attending will have sorority recruitment outfits. If they will, you’ll want to dress accordingly so that you’re able to show sorority sisters you can follow directions.
Meet as Many Sorority Sisters as You Can
So there’s a funny thing that happens when possible recruits start taking part in the sorority recruitment process: They tend to stay together in a pack and don’t branch out much from their group.
This might seem as though it would be a good thing. You are, after all, likely going to spend your fair share of time with at least some of these lovely ladies if you’re picked to pledge to a sorority.
But at the same time, if you spend all of rush week exclusively with these ladies, it’ll prevent you from being able to talk to sorority sisters much. They might not remember much about you when everything is all said and done.
For this reason, you should try to step away from the group of potential recruits you’re running with during rush week to get to know as many sorority sisters as you can. If you’re able to connect with even just a few of them, it could work wonders for your chances of getting picked.
You don’t necessarily need to spend all your time walking sorority sisters through your sorority recruitment resume. This might turn them off and reduce your chances of getting picked.
Instead, be genuine and let sorority sisters know what kind of person you are. This could be one of the many keys to getting on their radar and making them want to recruit you.
Get Plenty of Rest in Between Rush Week Events
Rush week can be exhausting for everyone involved. But it can be especially tiring for potential recruits who don’t quite know what to expect from it.
With this in mind, you should do your best to get as much rest as you can in between rush week events. You’ll still want to stay on top of your schoolwork, too. But outside of doing that, you should limit your participation in other activities and focus on resting up whenever you can.
If you burn yourself out during rush week, it could put you in a position where you’re forced to miss events. This could hurt your chances of getting picked to pledge to a sorority. It could also lead to your grades suffering during the first few weeks of school and make you work twice as hard to play catch-up later.
Stay as Positive as You Can During Sorority Recruitment
Since you are going to be so tired during rush week, there might be times when you get unnecessarily frustrated or irritated with those around you. This might not bode well for you if you lose your temper or get discouraged during a rush week event while you’re around sorority sisters.
Every so often, you might need to look in the mirror and remind yourself to remain positive. It isn’t always going to be easy to do this, but it’ll be in your best interest to stay as positive as you can be.
You’ll be a much more pleasant person to be around when you maintain your positivity. You’ll also make a much better impression on people when your positivity shines through.
You don’t want to come across as fake at any point since that could be just as bad and maybe even worse than coming across as negative. But you do want people to get the sense that you’re a fun person to be around. It’ll give you a much better chance to end the sorority recruitment process with an invitation to pledge to a sorority.
See If You Know Anyone Who Is in a Sorority
When you know which sorority you would like to join, it might be worth looking around to see if you know anyone who is a part of it. If you happen to have a relative, a good friend, or even someone who belongs to your church or another organization that you’re a part of who is in a sorority, it could work out well for you.
Knowing someone who is in a sorority isn’t going to get you instant access to it. There still won’t be any guarantee that you’ll be invited to pledge to this sorority.
But it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have someone in your corner who has been through the sorority recruitment and pledging process. They can give you some valuable insight into what to expect from it all. They might also be willing to write a letter of recommendation on your behalf that could be the difference between you getting invited to pledge to a sorority and not getting invited.
If you happen to be a sorority legacy, it could possibly give you a leg up on other potential recruits. To be a legacy, you’ll need to have a grandmother, a mother, or a sister who is a part of the sorority you’re interested in joining.
Get the Sorority Recruitment Process Underway
You’re going to be putting yourself out there when you start the sorority recruitment process. It can be scary, but it can also be a very exciting time in your life.
To make the most of the sorority recruitment process, you should take some, if not all, of the steps listed here. They’ll guide you in the right direction as you look to get an invitation to join a sorority.
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