Sorority Recruitment: What to Expect & What to Wear

Here Are Tips & Tricks on What to Wear

Sorority recruitment is more than the clothes you wear. For parents of incoming freshmen, you have probably already heard your daughter mention sorority recruitment. I know girls start looking up, researching, and asking about different sororities and the pluses and minuses of rushing, some as early as Senior year in high school. And yes, Rush can all be overwhelming, and expensive. So, I am going to give you the low-down of all thing’s sorority rush. Get ready for four rounds over five days that lead up to the best day ever: Bid Day!

At the University of Maryland, primary recruitment begins the first weekend of the spring semester. Recruitment is organized by the UMD Panhellenic Association. Each girl has the opportunity to sign up online and are then placed in groups with Rho Gammas. Rho Gammas are, essentially “recruitment guides” that have gone through recruitment themselves and have the purpose of helping and advising the girls in their group go through the same recruitment process. Girls will have the opportunity to meet their Rho Gamma and the other girls in their group before recruitment begins at Recruitment Orientation. There they will learn some of the rules and have time to ask some of their own questions they have about the upcoming process.

Though you will be introduced to recruitment at the pre-meeting, we want to provide you with a rundown beforehand, so you have everything you need for the week and there are no surprises on day one.

Round One: Values Round

Women have the opportunity to visit each of the 16 sororities that are participating in each round of recruitment. Round one will last two days, with eight houses each day for 25 minutes at a time. For the first two days, girls will all come together at Ritchie Stadium and will be given a random schedule of houses that they will go to with their rush group and Rho Gamma. The purpose of this initial round is to introduce potential new members (PNM’s) to all of the Panhellenic sororities in our Greek community at UMD. This round allows for girls to get a feel for all of the houses on campus and see which houses they feel that they have similar values.

What to wear: This round is the most casual round considering you are moving around so much with little time in between.

I would recommend wearing a cute and comfortable pair of jeans and a sweater. For shoes, I recommend wearing flat shoes such as sneakers or boots.

Round Two: Philanthropy Round

This round allows you to visit up to 12 sororities. After the end of round one, you will have time to rank the 12 houses you would like to be invited back to. The process is based on mutual decisions, so in order to get invited back to a house, they must invite you. Girls may also get invited back to a house that they didn’t put on their list or may not get invited back to a house that they did put on their list. In other words, just as you dropped a house that you felt was not a good fit, the chapters also drop potential new members who may not be a good fit as well. It is important that you keep an open mind because it is likely it will all work out in the end and you will end up in a sorority that is your best fit!

At the beginning of round 2, everyone will meet up and at the same time be given their schedule virtually. Philanthropy Round is personally my favorite day of recruitment because you really get to see a deeper side of each house and see their philanthropy which they are truly passionate about. During each round, girls will view a short video that pertains to that sorority’s specific philanthropy. This round, girls will tell you about ways they fundraise throughout the year and all the special events they hold to support their cause.

What to wear: This round is also pretty casual, so girls can come dressed in an outfit similar to round one. Jeans, skirts with tights, sweaters and nice jackets are all appropriate options to wear. Girls can wear sneakers, boots, booties, or any shoes they feel comfortable walking to 12 houses in.

Round Three: Sisterhood Round

For the third round of recruitment, you have the opportunity to visit up to seven sororities for 45 minutes each. This round is super fun and allows you to talk to members for a good amount of time which will give you a deeper look at the personalities of the women in the sorority as well as the sorority as a whole. Girls at each house will tell you all about the great things that make their sisterhood so meaningful and special. At the end of this round, you will choose your top two sororities that you would like to be invited back to for the next day.

What to wear: For this round, I recommend dressing up a little more such as wearing a nice blouse, dress, skirt, or pants. As for shoes, I recommend wearing booties or boots.

Round Four: Preference Round

The Preference round is the most intimate and special round. On the day of “pref”, girls will go to up to two sororities for an hour each. This round you are likely to talk to a girl you have already met in previous rounds that you clicked with and get along with very well. At the end of this day, girls will go to The Stamp Student Union Ballroom and will write down your first and second options for the sorority you want to be in.

What to wear: This is the most formal round so I would wear a cocktail dress or skirt. In addition to the nice clothes, it is appropriate to wear heels or other nice shoes because you will only be visiting a maximum of two sororities.

Bid Day!

Bid Day is the last day of the recruitment period. This is the best and most exciting day that makes the five long days of recruitment worth it! Girls will all meet at The Stamp Student Union Ballroom for one last time and will be seated in their rush groups in order to be handed their bid card with their name on it. After all the girls in the room have been handed their bid card, girls will wait sitting on their bid for a countdown so everyone opens the card at once. Once you open with your group, you’ll receive a shirt from the chapter members for you to wear as your first day as a new member! Every sorority will have an area in the ballroom set up with older members and decorations showing you the bid day theme! People will go crazy in the ballroom and it only gets crazier and fun as each girl makes their way to their new sorority house to celebrate!

What to wear: When you find out what sorority you will be in you will be given a shirt with that sororities name, so come to the ballroom in a tank top or t-shirt so that you can either throw the new shirt over it or place it in your bag. You can pair your shirt with some jeans and sneakers, something that you feel comfortable jumping around all day.

Congratulations and welcome to the University of Maryland Panhellenic!

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