So how does rush week work? Two words: Speed. Dating. It's pretty complicated to explain the logistics of the process considering I have only experienced one side of it, but I'll try to at least explain what I DO know. Rush week is a process that takes place all day every day for 7 full days. The week is split up into 4 separate rounds. In the first round, which lasts two days, you basically visit every single sorority house and get a feel for how the members are... You have 20 minutes in each house and you speak to anywhere between 1 and 3 girls during that short time. This round is basically where you can choose to eliminate the sororities that you know right away you would not be a part of *or they can eliminate you*. After visiting all of the houses throughout a period of two days, you are sent to an auditorium where you can begin preferencing for the first time. Preferencing is a process that helps you eliminate sororities that are not right for you. In the first round you choose 11 of the 16 houses that you would like to return to for the following round. After you choose the 11 you would like to return to, you have to place the remaining houses that you would like to eliminate in order from your favorite to your least favorite. You do this because if any of the houses that you chose do not choose you in return, you will probably be given one of the houses you chose to eliminate in order to "maximize your opportunity of receiving a bid". After preferencing you go back home until the following day to begin round 2. During round 2 you can return to up to 11 houses, depending on the number of houses that asked you to return as well. During this round you learn about the sororities philanthropy. A philanthropy is basically the cause that the sorority raises money for and the events that they host in order to raise this money. You have about 30 minutes in the house during this round... After another two days of returning to houses for a second time, you are again sent to the auditorium for preferencing. This time, however, you can only choose up to 7 houses that you would like to return to, but you still need to put the remaining houses in order from best to worst. The next day you begin round 3 of recruitment. This round lasts only one day, and is considered to be a more personal round. During this round, which allows you 40 minutes at each house, you watch a video created by the sorority women with videos and pictures of them throughout the year. This video is a way to get a better idea of life in each sorority. At the end of this round you return once again to preferencing, where you are only able to choose 3 houses that you would like to return to the following day... and, yes, you still have to place the houses you wish to eliminate in order. The next round is known as "Preferentials". This is a more formal round in which you spend about 50 minutes in each house while the women of the house show you a part of their tradition and allow you to have a better idea of their sisterhood. At the end of this round, all the girls are sent to a large room where they must all wait to place their remaining 3 houses in order from best to worst. This preferencing is the most stressful because this is the last round of recruitment and the following day a majority of the girls will receive bids from one of the sororities on their list. A bid is an offer to become a member of the sorority. After preferencing, everyone is sent home until 5 pm the following day where all the Potential New Members (PNMs) meet in a large theater to open their bid cards at the exact same time. After much stress and countless hours of waiting, we finally opened our bid cards and I began my adventure as a UF Theta :)
...I'm sure that reading all of that was really exhausting so now just try to imagine how exhausting it was to actually DO IT ALL. Needless to say, I haven't had a single moment to catch my breath. Not to mention that before recruitment was even over I began my first week of school... Let's just say it's going to be a very busy semester, BUT I PROMISE TO MAKE TIME FOR THIS WONDERFUL BLOG!!!
I guess I will end this post by saying how happy and excited I am to be a member of Kappa Alpha Theta at UF :) If you are in college and you are reading this I totally recommend going through the rush process. Although it is long and draining, I can already tell that the impact it is going to have on my college experience makes it so worth it! I promise to keep you posted on my life as a Theta, but until then here are a few pictures from rush week, Bid Day, and Kite Night (Basically my first night out with some of my sorority sisters) :)
The Critic