Recruitment: Day 3 (Preference)

This is finally your last day of Formal Recruitment! Not long after this round you'll find out if you got a bid. Following the pattern I mentioned in my last post, this round is much more serious than the previous two. During Preference, or Pref, you will talk with another member of the chapter and there's a good chance it'll be someone you already talked to during recruitment. Most Preference rounds also include a ceremony in which women talk about what their chapter means to them, this is a very emotional experience and it's possible you'll notice some of the girls crying. It's also possible that you will cry, it's not uncommon for potential new members to become emotional during Preference, especially during the ceremony at their first choice house.

I suggest that you look very nice today. It's ideal to wear a dress, heels, and jewelry. If you aren't comfortable in heels feel free to wear nice flats but I suggest avoiding sandals. Below are some examples of outfits, you may notice all of them are colorful outfits. This is because chapter women often wear black or navy dresses so wearing dark colored dresses may make you blend in with them. If you are most comfortable in a dark colored dress feel free to wear what you feel most confidant in.

Preference 1 by Taryn-Wilkins

Preference 2 by Taryn-Wilkins

Preference 3 by Taryn-Wilkins

Recruitment: Day 2 (Philanthropy)

After getting some much needed rest you'll come back to recruitment for Day 2, or Philanthropy Day! This round is a little bit more serious because you will be learning about each chapter's philanthropy, or charity. As a member of Greek life a huge part of your activities will be to raise money or donate time to a cause. Most Greek chapters have at least one official philanthropy as chosen by the national headquarters. Some chapters have more, like two or three organizations they help. Often, during this round of recruitment the women of each chapter will watch a video with you and you'll participate in a small activity such as making tie-blankets to donate or create goodie bags of candy for cancer patients going through chemotherapy. This day calls for less walking than Round 1 but you will still be walking from house to house so it's probably still a good idea to wear shoes you are comfortable in.

For Round 2 you want to look slightly nicer than the day before, I used the example "what you would wear to a high school graduation". It probably brings to mind sundresses, maxi skirts, pretty jewelry and possibly heels or wedges. Once again, I made examples of outfits on polyvore that are good starting points for this round however I cannot stress enough that you should be yourself, which means dress like you would. If you do not like pastels and prefer neon colors or jewel tones or black clothing then wear what you are comfortable in.

Philanthropy night 1 by Taryn-Wilkins

Philanthropy night 2 by Taryn-Wilkins

Philanthropy night 3 by Taryn-Wilkins

Recruitment: Day 1 (House Tours or Open House)

Welcome to your first round of sorority recruitment! The first round is typically house tours. This is a really fun, relaxed round. You may be nervous but the best thing you can do is relax and be yourself, it will all work out the way it's supposed to that way! One of the main questions girls typically have before and during recruitment is what to wear so my next few posts will cover wardrobe and what to expect from each round.

For house tours you want to be cute, but very comfortable. This is a good round to wear a nice pair of shorts, cute top, and flats or sandals. Feel free to add in some jewelry to dress up the outfit! This is an especially important round to be comfortable because you will be visiting ALL of the chapters which could call for a lot of walking along with touring each house. This may mean going up and down stairs. Below I have examples of outfits I made on polyvore, feel free to use these as inspiration in planning your outfit.

During this round you will have a brief time with each chapter during which you'll meet a few of the women and will be shown around the house. You'll learn about different rooms and what the chapter uses those rooms for. These houses are often large and quite beautiful but this will require lots and lots of walking so make sure you wear comfortable shoes. This is also when you will make your first impression so you don't want to be the girl who complained about her feet hurting the whole time.

House tours 3 by Taryn-Wilkins

House tours 2 by Taryn-Wilkins

House Tours 1 by Taryn-Wilkins

Pre-recruitment preparation

Before recruitment you will probably get to go to various events to meet a few women from each chapter, ask questions and get ready for recruitment. There are a few things to know coming into this exciting new experience!

The first thing we will talk about is your recruitment counselors. Each school has some form of a recruitment counselor even though they may be called Rho Chis or Gamma Chis. These are women that are members of chapters on campus but disaffiliated from their chapter to help each potential new member find theirs! You can talk to your recruitment counselor about anything, from classes, values, and day-to-day troubles to what to wear each day. They are your best resource during recruitment.

Next we will talk about how recruitment is run. Each day the potential new member will receive a list of "parties" they will attend from their recruitment counselor. After all of the parties for that day the potential new member will rank the chapters by her preference. The chapters will also rank the girls they met that day. This is called "mutual selection". This determines what parties the potential new member is invited back to. At the end of the last round when the potential new member ranks the chapters she visited that day she also agrees to what is called the MRABA, or the Membership Recruitment Acceptance Binding Agreement. This may sound like a scary contract that is going to mean huge changes but, it's not. The MRABA says: 

       the chapters or chapter the potential new member lists that she will accept invitations to join from can not be changed after submitted.

       If the potential new member does not receive an invitation she is still open to continuous open bidding

      If the potential new member does receive an invitation but declines it she can not pledge a National Panhellenic Conference organization for one calendar year

       The potential new member is not required to finish her selections if she decides that sorority life is not for her.

See? That isn't nearly as bad as the title leads it to be. If you have any questions feel free to ask facilitators for more information.

Sorority recruitment is an excellent experience for women of all backgrounds, I encourage anyone interested to look into it!

Feel free to click the link below for a exact break down of the MRABA as done by the National Panhellenic Conference Office.
Decoding the MRABA

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to Bids and Bigs, your guide to all things sorority at a D2 school! My name is Taryn Wilkins, I am now a sophomore at Washburn University. I am majoring in Public Relations with a minor in psychology. Before I went through recruitment I researched as much as I could to figure out what to expect but all I could find was what to expect from D1 schools, especially in the SEC. I decided that I was going to do something about it. So, I'm going to tell you all you need to know about going through recruitment at a small D2 school, like Washburn and what to expect from a small Greek community. Feel free to comment or post questions, I will do my best to answer all.