What happens at sorority rush?
Sorority Rush is the process of visiting + meeting your College/ University’s Greek Chapters over the span of a week to find the perfect match. Okay, okay that is a bit of a simplification. You can expect to have a lot of walking, talking, and reflecting throughout Rush Week! To help give you a more insightful understanding, here is a brief breakdown of each “Day” of Rush Week. Please note, sometimes there are multiple days assigned to Day 1 + Day 2, depending on the size of your school.
Day 1:Attire: Comfortable bottoms + school issued Panhellenic T-Shirt! Day 1 is the longest and most physically exhausting. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes! Feel free to accessorize and show your personal style through your bottoms, footwear, jewelry, and hair!
Agenda: Bright and early, you will meet with your assigned Potential New Member Group and settle in. You will go from Chapter to Chapter with your Rho Gamma (Potential New Member Group leader) and experience 20 minutes with each individual Sorority that is active on your campus. In each round, you can expect to have short, surface-level conversations with multiple active members. I recommend jotting down your thoughts after each visit in your notes app because it is easy to lose track of what house made you feel the most welcome after multiple rounds. When you finally meet all the Chapters, your Rho Gam will pull you aside in private to have you rank your visits from favorite to least favorite. Depending on how you rank the Chapters and how they score you, you will or will not revisit them the next Day.Day 2:
Attire: Bottoms of your choice + cute top (occasionally your school may provide a T-Shirt for Day 2 as well). Comfortable footwear is best here as well, but the day will be overall shorter than the prior. Continue to express your personal style!
Agenda: Day 2 is known as Philanthropy Day! When you meet with your PNM Group, your Rho Gamma will give you your schedule, which tells you which Chapters invited you back and what time you will attend their party ( aka round). Each Sorority will present their unique Philanthropic Cause and the events they hold to fundraise. After the presentation, you will have a few conversations with active members that are slightly deeper. They may pertain to you passions + volunteer history and will last a little longer than Day 1. Continue to note down which Sororities you connected with and rank your favorites with your Rho Gamma.
Day 3:
Attire: “Dress like you Crush is in class'“ is a phrase that best describes how to style for Day 3. Sundresses, Skirts, and Rompers are all typical for Day 3. With much shorter durations, it is finally an appropriate time to wear some sandal heels or cowboy boots!
Agenda: Day 3 is Values Day. You may only have a few Chapters on your schedule now, it is normal to have it narrowed down! Each Sorority will present on their Greek Values and their official statement of Purpose. After the presentation, you will have a couple conversations with active members. The conversations will be longer and more personal. The members will want to hear about your personal values pertaining to family, friendship, career, and everything in-between. Try your best to be as honest + open as possible, it will help you build strong + meaningful connections. You will finish by ranking with your Rho Gamma again.
Day 4:
Attire: This is your chance to be memorable! Wear your best dress and favorite shoes to be your most confident. Depending on your schools location, PNM’s may be wearing pretty show-stopping styles. I love a good Babydoll Mini Dress with Heels for Day 4.
Agenda: It is standard to visit only 1-3 Chapters on the final Day. Pref (Preference) Day is the finale to Rush Week and is the home stretch. You can expect to have each chapter share their most vulnerable hymns and ceremonies with you. I will admit, this is the most “culty” segment of Recruitment. After their ceremony, you will have a 30 minute conversation with a familiar active and dive into the core of your identity and sense of self. When the fit is bad, the conversation can lull, but when you find the right Sorority, it should flow and feel short. This is an amazing time to ask the active why they chose to pledge their Chapter, and reflect on whether or not their story resonates with you. When you leave, You will submit your final ranking and wait. to hear back from your Rho Gam.
