What Exactly Happens During Sorority Recruitment At Ohio University

The decision the rush Greek life may be a tough one because we’ve all heard the negative “sorority girl” stereotype. It may be cliché, but the saying, “It’s not four years, it’s for life” holds true with the special friendships you will make in a sorority. Don’t get me wrong, Greek life is not for everyone, but I’m going to clarify what exactly to expect while going through sorority recruitment at Ohio University.

This is a collaborative piece by: Abbey Kay and Leslie Blind

First, you need to sign up for recruitment online at ohiowpa.com.

You will answer questions about yourself and pay the $20 recruitment fee, which pays for your t-shirt. Formal recruitment occurs in the fall. This is what most girls choose to go through because all ten of OU’s sororities are explored in this 3 week long process.

Don’t worry, the schedule won’t conflict with school because recruitment only takes place on Friday evenings and weekends. The other option is informal recruitment which occurs in the spring, however not all sororities choose to partake in this.

Formal recruitment will begin with “kick-off “day where all the girls rushing will be separated in the their Rho Gamma groups.

Each group has about 20 girls and two Rho Gamma leaders that are either junior or senior girls that are already in a sorority. They will provide guidance to every girl and will take the group from house to house during welcome rounds. Take some time to get to know the girls in your Rho Gam group because even if you don’t end up in the same chapter, they could still be friends for life.

The next two days are the “Welcome Rounds” where you will wear the t-shirt provided to you at kick-off and you will see each house for the first time.

This round you go to all 10 of the houses and get to know some of the girls. When you walk into each house, they will be singing some kind of Greek song. You’ll hear it so many times that day, you’ll have it memorized by the time you head home.

Your Rho Gammas will advise you to accessorize the t-shirt in a way that makes you stand out, without going over the top. A cute pair of colored jeans or a bright necklace will set you apart! The members of each sorority will talk to dozens of girls over the course of recruitment, so anything that helps them remember you will work in your favor. The ten sorority houses will be divided into a two day schedule.

You will talk to anywhere from 2-6 girls during this round, depending on the house. Expect to be asked questions about yourself such as “What is your major?”, “Why did you decide to rush?” and “What were you involved with in high school?” It can get pretty loud in the houses with 60 girls trying to talk at the same time–I even lost my voice! Don’t let this intimidate you.

The next round you will receive an updated list of all of the houses you have been invited back to.

The most important thing is to be genuine and let your personality shine.

I recommend taking notes about each house after every round to remember them apart from one another. Writing something as simple as what color shirt they wore will help to jog your memory.

At the end of the second day, all the girls will rank the sororities by picking their least two favorite chapters and writing them as “ninth” and “tenth” on a sheet of paper, meaning you like #9 a little more than #10.

After a long week of anticipation, you will meet with you Rho Gamma group at a designated meeting spot to find out which houses you will be visiting.

The ranking must be mutual, meaning both the girl and chapter want to see each other again. Each girl will be handed a unique schedule of up to eight houses they will return to for Philanthropy day. Every chapter will explain the local and national philanthropies. It’s really touching to hear personal stories and presentations for each .

Next comes the Sisterhood round which includes house tours.

Casual sun dresses are worn on this day. My advice if you decide to wear heels is to bring comfy shoes in your purse to change. You don’t want to get blisters!

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To make sure you don’t get lost, you will be given a map of where all the house are located. During this round, you’ll hear the girls in each house talk about their experiences with their sorority. They’ll tell you about how they met their best friends through their chapter and their “future bridesmaids”.

The final round of recruitment is Preference day.

On this day you only go to two houses for over an hour each. This is the most personal round of recruitment where all your questions about the two chapters will be answered. You will be offered refreshments and take part in a ritualistic ceremony, the “pref ceremony” and sometimes a song is performed. Overall the girls try to make you feel right at home.

On Bid day you will be greeted by your Rho Gamma leaders once again but they will be dressed in crazy outfits for their chapters’ themes.

his is the day that you have been waiting for. You wake up, get dressed and head to Baker Center. You’ll go to the ballroom and sit with your Rho Gam group. There is giant count down clock going on a projector. They give you the envelope that contains your bid card, but of course you aren’t allowed to open it until a certain time. When the clock finally hits zero, you and all the girls tear into your envelopes.

Then, the room goes crazy, girls will shed tears (of joy of course), and you will run to your chapter’s president and recruitment chair holding your Greek letters. You realize that some of the girls in your Rho Gam group got into the same one that you did. You will receive a bid day t-shirt, have a ton of glitter thrown on you, and will dance your butt off.

Going through recruitment can be fairly time consuming and stressful, but in the end it will all be worth it. As long as you trust the process, you will end up where you are meant to be.

Are you excited for sorority recruitment at Ohio University? Share in the comments below!

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own!

Featured photo source: instagram.com and hercampus.com