Alabama Sorority Recruitment

Coming to the University of Alabama, I wanted to make quick and true friends. For me that meant signing up to go through formal sorority recruitment. Over the last couple of weeks, I have gotten so many questions about what the process is like and what to expect so I wanted to do a rush 101 series for all my girly pops who want the inside scoop. Without further ado, let’s get this post rolling!

A sorority is a female organization that connects you to likeminded people to create a smaller circle inside of a huge university. Recruitment is the process of sororities seeking new members and officially asking them to join their chapter on Bid Day. At Alabama, rush lasts 8 days… which can seem a VERY overwhelming but it is broken down into several rounds. The night before it starts there is a convocation, which is a basically a huge group meeting with all of the girls participating in rush to go over the rules and to meet your Rho Chi. A Rho Chi is a member of a sorority but has disaffiliated herself from the chapter during rush week to help give advice to girls who may be unsure of what is going on.

The first round is “open house” it lasts two days and you will get to go inside and talk to each of the houses (Alabama has 17 houses so get ready to talk) but it is by far the most casual/ laidback day. You will wear day dresses and sandals, so nothing too over the top. After day 2 of every round, you will go and vote which houses you want to go back to. The sororities will also vote on who they want to come for round 2. If you pick house ABC and ABC wants you back, then you will be on the list to come back for the next round.

Philanthropy is round 2, and lasts two full days. The best part about this round is that you get to wear shorts and a t-shirt, super comfy and easy to run in if you have two houses back to back. This is the day that you will be able to hear what charities and organizations the house supports. They will normally show a video and have speakers talk about their experiences serving the community.

Sisterhood will be two days and is packed full of FUN! Sisterhood is by far my favorite round because you get the see the chapter’s true personality and how feel the girls click together. Dress code for this round is a little bit more formal than open house so think cute sundresses and wedges. This will be the easiest or hardest night during the recruitment process. When you go in to vote, you will go from max 7 houses to 2 houses.

Preference round is only one day and the hardest for sure. It’s very formal and can extremely emotional because by this time in the week you will have made several connections in these houses. This round is when you will hear why you should join this chapter and share your feelings about the house. The round will last 50 minutes so make sure to bring any questions you may have and be ready to have an open/ honest conversation.

BID DAY, BEST DAY!!! After a long week, it finally ends with receiving a bid (formal invitation) to join a sorority. You will meet in the Bryant Denny stadium to open up your card and run to your new home away from home.

During this entire week, keep an open mind walking into every house and stay positive about the experience you are going through. Everything happens for a reason and will work out in end! In the next couple of weeks stay tuned for my experience with recruitment, advice I would give to myself if I had to do it over again and outfit ideas for the week.