Fall semester is synonymous with one thing to many incoming freshman–RUSH! And today I’m sharing all the best sorority rush tips you need to know.
Every semester, thousands of eager girls across the country participate in rush events, in order to learn more about their school’s sororities and potentially join a greek organization.
And it’s no wonder rush is so popular: Joining a sorority can facilitate leadership development and on-campus involvement, and can also bring you dozens of life-long friendships. Even if you don’t think Greek life is for you, rushing can help you get to know other girls in your class and develop your small-talk skills!
So, you’ve got your outfits picked out, your essentials stocked, your hairstyles planned, and recommendation letters turned in. Now what?
There’s only so much that the rush pamphlet will tell you, so I’m here to help. These dos and don’ts will provide you with tips and info to make sure that your sorority rush is a great experience!
Table of Contents
Rush Week Tips: Things to Do
1. Do bring a pair of flip-flops to leave in your purse and change into during passing periods.
Depending on what school you go to, sorority houses may be several blocks apart. Running in high heels is difficult, and your feet will certainly need the break!
2. Do keep your purse stocked.
I recommend bringing oil-blotting papers, baby wipes, a mirror and extra make up, mints, deodorant, and anti-bacterial hand gel. All of these will be lifesavers, especially during the hot days of August or September!
3. Do ask questions.
Use the time with each sorority to understand what the strengths of the organization are. Ask about what they’re involved with on campus, the type of academic rules they might have, and how much of a time commitment it is. Remember, the girls rushing you are just as nervous as you are, and the easier you make it to talk to you, the better!
4. Do get plenty of sleep and eat healthy meals.
Rush days are long and require lots of energy. You’ll want to be on your A-game the entire time, so getting sick is not an option. Remember that you’ll be coming in contact with tons of girls a day, so washing your hands and using antibacterial gel is a good idea. Also, try drinking Airborne or Emergen-C for an extra immunity boost!
5. Do use the time during skits to rest your feet and voice.
Enjoy those few minutes to yourself; cool down, relax your aching feet, and sip on the yummy drink they give you while watching the skit. However, don’t act bored or blase–that’s a sure way to get cut. Enjoy the skit, laugh and clap like you normally would, but use the time to regroup and refresh yourself.
6. Do be honest with yourself.
Eliminate different organizations mentally throughout the week and pledge according to what you want in your heart. Don’t let anyone pressure you into pledging a house that you do not feel comfortable at; not even your mom or siblings. Keep an open mind throughout the week, and be in touch with your instincts.
7. Do meet everyone you can!
Strike up conversations with fellow rushees during passing periods and remember girls you hit it off with that are rushing you. You never know who will end up living in your dorm hallway, sitting nearby in your biology lab, or participating in your pledge class! Rush is a great way to meet people and start off on the right foot at a new school.
8. Do be yourself and show off your personal style!
The best sorority houses are the most diverse ones–would you want all of your new friends to dress, talk, and look the same way? Of course not! Whether you like to dress boho, preppy, or little edgy, don’t be afraid to let your style come through.
9. Do pledge somewhere that challenges you.
College is all about personal growth, and there’s no better way to learn than by surrounding yourself with girls that make you want to be a better person. If you want to be a more devoted student, pledge somewhere with great test files, a cozy study room, and a high average GPA. If you want to be more involved, join a house that has several members in leadership positions on campus. You’ll be living with these girls, so its important that the house you’re picking is filled with good influences and good character.
Rush Week Don’ts: What NOT to Do
1. Don’t wear tons of jangling bangles or too many rings.
Remember that you’ll be shaking hands with dozens of girls a day–multiple rings will get uncomfortable in a hurry, and too many bracelets can be distracting.
2. Don’t be afraid to eat or drink anything that’s offered to you!
It’ll be hot outside and you’ll be doing A LOT of talking; the reason why sororities give you a soda or milkshake to sip on is because they know it will make you more comfortable! Don’t believe rumors perpetuated by TV shows like Greek that say sororities test you by seeing if you eat or not. Even if this were true, would you really want to join a house filled with girls who judge others like this? And while on that note…
3. Don’t believe everything you see on television or movies about Greek life.
The TV show Greek makes it seem like every sorority is at war with each other, and every girl in a sorority will stab you in the back the first chance they get. Remind yourself that this is NOT the culture of typical Greek organizations.
4. Don’t reach out to members of sororities outside of rush during recruitment week.
At most schools, members have been instructed by both Panhellenic (the governing body for sororities) and their rush team to NOT call, text, or send you facebook messages. This is a serious rush violation that they could get in big trouble for. Contacting them yourself will put your friends in an awkward position.
5. Don’t dress head to toe in sorority cliches.
Showing up to rush in pearls, red lipstick, a hair bow, and a beehive poof will only make you look ridiculous. If one of these things is your personal style, by all means wear it with confidence! But overkill will send the wrong message. Dress like yourself and be unique!
6. Don’t talk about boys or partying.
The conversations you have during rush should tie back to you or the sorority. Talk about your interests, hobbies, and what you would like to get involved with on campus. This should be a no brain-er as well, but really watch your language! Don’t say anything you wouldn’t say to your Grandma.
7. Don’t dismiss a house based on what you’ve heard from other people.
This especially applies if you’re a freshman and haven’t actually started school yet. The opinions you’re receiving about a sorority’s reputation may be biased or outdated. Go in with an open mind, and trust your gut.
8. Don’t hold grudges or blame anyone if you get cut from a house.
The way a sorority can bid on a girl differs for each Panhellenic administration, college, and chapter. Have an open mind about where you end up, and remember that you’re there because everyone in that house wanted you to be their sister!!
What do you think of these rush tips?
Are you planning on rushing? If you’re already in a sorority, what tips do you have for incoming freshman? What do you wish you knew before you rushed? Do you have any funny stories or experiences to share?? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear them!
Christine – Some houses will bid you as a junior. It just depends on the house and how involved you plan on being. If you go into Rush/Recruitment as though you just want to join to put it on your resume, they’ll cut you faster than you can blink. Just be yourself and address the issue. Tell them, “Yeah, I’m a junior, but I’m really hoping to become involved over the next two or three years.” (Most programs take 5 years nowdays.)
Hi Ashley! I was never part of the popular clique in high school and didn’t consider myself that good looking. At larger schools, a couple of the houses might focus on these things, but that isn’t the type of experience you probably want. A good house will focus on who you are, not what you are wearing or who you know. I chose my house because I felt like they liked me for me.
Just be yourself and you’ll do great!
So, I’m a junior in high school. School is almost over and I’ll be a senior and thinking about college. I have thought of joining a sorority, but I am not popular nor good looking so I was going to not even bother. I guess I am wondering if they care about that kind of stuff or if they focus on who you are?
I’ll be attending a University for the first time during Summer 2012 & I would like to become part of a Sorority while obtaining my degree. The only problem is I’ll be classified as a Junior will I still be able to join?
Desiree,
It shouldn’t be a factor in your acceptance into a sorority. This past rush, my sorority bid several girls who are in their mid twenties. Some chapters prefer freshmen and some have no preference. For us, it’s all about the girl’s personality and how well she fits with us and what we stand for. Age is just a number! Good luck!
I’m attending community college for one year and will attend WKU in the fall of 2012. I will be a sophomore,and I will be 20-turning 21 that December. Will that be a problem if I decide to rush? I really want to be in a sorority but I’m afraid my age will cause a problem. Please help!
okay so formal recruitment is literally just two weeks from now at my college (Virginia Commonwealth). I was reading this to get tips for the process cause I’m a little nervous and I still have no idea if Greek is going to be for me. Thanks for the article because it was really REALLY helpful, although some things didn’t apply. At VCU Greek is small and they don’t have houses… BUT it was good to know what to avoid. I guess what I’m wondering though is do sororities have payment plans or discounts for students who qualify for financial aid?
OH and what is the “badge” they tell me you have to buy? Is that a physical badge or is it like a membership thing?
I am incredibly behind on this thread.. sorry!
I have been in a sorority for the past two years, I love it. The town that I live in has the brothel law as well, we do not have one major sorority house, we have many throughout our college town. Only about 3 or 4 girls live in each house. Of course, you don’t have to live in a sister house, you can live wherever you want!
I don’t believe in “paying for friends” my dues are much smaller than those at big schools- we dont pay for room and board. I pay about $200 a semester. Our dues go toward national dues, conventions, sorority events, recruitment, tshirts, special events, socials, and so much more! i have found my best friends through the sorority and I’m thankful for AST(my sorority) because if it wasnt for joining, I never would have found those friends.
There are other benefits of joining sororities than just friends and drinking. I have become a leader in my organization, my GPA has improved, I have become more organized and more outgoing!
I never thought i was ever going to be a “sorority girl.” My organization isnt your typical movie barbie-like sorority. We are a very unique group of girls. However, things arent always perfect. With a group of 50 girls (we are small!), you are going to run into cliques, disputes and problems. However, we are able to work these things out, we can maturely work these things out.
Please remember every organization is different. You may have great experiences, you may have terrible. Please do not try to generalize things you have heard and affiliate them with every greek organization you come in contact with!
Hi Sophie:
The Greek rush system is meant for undergrad students, most schools limit the rushees to undergrads only. Most sororities only accept undergraduate women, though professional sororities might be different.
Best of luck with your Masters!
Unfortunetly my freshman year of college I saw the bad side of Rush Week and sororities and fraternities. My roommate was entering a sorority and because family and medical issues she had to drop out, and the sorority she was going to enter completely backstabbed her. I also saw the bad side of the fraternities on campus, between the endless party on school nights, the fact that half the guys in the two most popular frats were place on academic probabtion, it completely put me off sororities and fraternities. I wish that things weren’t so cliché at my college because I saw how amazing my older cousins sorority had been on how much she matured and gained life-long friends from it.
@Preye – I actually have no idea—I’m sorry!!
I’m a bit shocked and appalled at the reaction this article has gotten. I know you girls are more educated than to judge an entire group by a few isolated instances. None of you would ever assume a middle eastern girl was a terrorist, or that a girl who grew up in Poughkeepsie goes to Snookie for fashion advice (lol).
Maybe I’m overly optimistic, but I truly believe that 95% of people are good at heart. Surely in a group of tens of thousands, you’ll get a handful of jerks, but mostly you’ll be left with girls who just want to make friends and have a nice day. Generalizing the way that sorority girls behave (or go about recruiting others) is pretty close minded.
I’m just a little miffed that people would feel the need to bash organizations in such a disrespectful manner. I am sure if you polled a large group of people in Animal Volunteers, Rowing Team, a dorm room floor, or French Club, that someone is bound to have an unfavorable experience.
We come together here at CF because we’re a community of girls who love fashion!! Whether one girl is in a sorority (or chooses to rush) should make NO difference whatsoever on your opinion or not.
Judgment doesn’t get you anywhere in life, and it appears to me that most of the judgment in these comments is not coming from the girls in sororities.
My advice is to think for YOURSELF. If you go through rush and decided that you hate it, then at least you know you aren’t missing out on anything. But if you never tried it, you never would have known.
My school got rid of ALL greek chapters last year because of alcohol abuse and hazing. Although our school had a bad experience with sororities, it seems like a lot of girls here have had better experiences. I don’t think it should be debated whether sororities are “good” or “bad”–it just depends on which school you go to or which chapter you try to join. If you don’t think greek is for you, that’s OK–just find something else on campus that’s for you, and get involved! 🙂
I attempted to join a sorority because I’ve always been shy, and a little nerdy and offbeat. I figured that if they didn’t like me, they just wouldn’t recruit me, and that would be the end of it. I wanted to break out my shell and make new friends as a freshman. Throughout the whole process, I was polite, if a little quiet, always smiling, dressing well, and trying to make friends with each girl I met. Some of them even seemed to get along well with me. However:
– You are paying for friends. The philanthropy for this group was an absolute joke. Yes, the money went to physical things, but that same argument can be used for theater, softball, etc… and they don’t make you pay $300 per semester. Rent was paid by each girl who lived in the house. T-Shirts and dances were paid for individually. I still couldn’t tell you where the actual dues to the sorority went.
– After I’d pledged, we had a mid-semester/winter rush. Unfortunately, I missed one of these events (there were three nights) because I was rushed to the ER by my boyfriend and one of my friends, who is in the sorority. She left immediately to get to the rush, leaving me at the ER in severe pain with just my boyfriend. The president called me the next day giving me an absolute scolding–cussing, yelling, telling me no excuse was good enough. She didn’t BELIEVE that I had been in the hospital, even though one of the pledges had taken me!
– There were several events (movie nights, mixers, parties, dances, even philanthropies) that I missed out on for the sole reason that I never knew about them existing. The girls I talked with outside the group always failed to mention them, mysteriously, until after they happened–even to the point of denying they were happening until the day after. After doing a little digging, I found out that I was REMOVED from the email list, and our website was so horrifically out of date that it still displayed events from 2008. When I did end up making it to an event, it was always scarcely attended, and the girls who did make it teased me, mocked me, or ignored me entirely.
I finally cut my ties with these vile women. I leave this here as a warning: they seemed really, really awesome! I was really stoked to pledge this group! I rushed, just like everyone else, and they treated me like everyone else, and we seemed to agree on everything. That is, until I was actually pledging. Ladies, if it is the right fit for you, I’m glad. Get out there and enjoy yourself. But if it’s not… don’t try to force yourself in there. Don’t pay $300 for god knows what and women who disrespect you.
Sorry if this was a bit long. If you cannot tell, I’m kind of bitter over the experience.
As far as paying for friends, that view always comes from people who have never experienced recruitment. Sorority life is not always easy, but the friendships and life skills you gain cannot be challenged. If you want to learn how to work in a group during good times and bad, join a sorority! It has taught me to branch out socially and not be such a hermit. I have learned so much about myself and how to work with others jut by being in a sorority. Go AOII!
Sasha, Faith – The most offensive thing someone could ever say to me is that members of the Greek system pay for their friends, in addition to being very biased and uninformed. In its purest form, a sorority or fraternity could be very low cost. The high costs come from maintaining the physical house (there isn’t some wealthy alum paying behind the scenes for those buildings!), keeping the national organization (all of them are non-profit orgnizations), funding philanthropic activities, and social events. When times get hard and membership declines due to costs, then the social budget is the one cut first. T-shirts are never mandatory, though usually one is included in the cost of dues for bid day and one for recruitment.
I too pledged as a Sophomore fully aware of the pros and cons. I had a good social network already from my dormitory, but none of them were ever interested in getting involved in on campus activities. My sisters on the other hand have introduced me to a number of organizations or events (like Relay for LIfe) that I would have never participated in otherwise. While I am close with my sisters, my best friends are a mix of sisters and friends I met Freshman year.
Sorry for the long rant, but it only perpetuates stereotypes to start fights by saying Greeks pay for their friends. Don’t assume that’s how it is for everyone.
(And I shall cease to feed the trolls now.)
great article, pretty much nailed it on the head!! i beg to differ with #3 on the DONT list because where i went to school, it was true. but maybe thats because my school was a small private school with only 4 sororities and 2 fraternities.
for those who argue that being in a greek organization is you paying for friends, this is not true. with any organization, you have to put money in so you can have fun events. when you were a kid and you were part of a sports team outside of school, you definitely had to pay fees. so were you paying for friends then too? to say that you are paying for friends is insulting to anyone involved with greek life.