Hey Bustles,
The rush process for sororities is a week-long process. They put the freshmen girls in smaller groups headed by recruitment counselors (members of NU sororities who are 'disaffiliated' during the rush process). You talk to your recruitment counselor throughout rush week about how you're feeling, etc.
The first two days of sorority rush are probably the most hectic - there are 12 sorority houses at NU that you visit: 6 on the first day, 6 on the second day. It's a strictly timed cycle: you go from house to house in your recruitment group, visiting each house for about half an hour. When you enter a house, you'll talk one-on-one with 3-4 girls from that chapter, be served drinks and snacks, and the 30 minutes you spend in that house will go by really fast. You repeat this process until you've gone to the 6 houses you're supposed to go to - the process takes 3 hours.
That's the first day. The second day is the same thing, only with the 6 houses you haven't seen yet. From then on, you'll narrow down your choices and the sororities will narrow down who they like - it's a "mutually selective process." As the week goes by, you'll get called back to up to 9 houses, then up to 6 houses, then up to 3 houses - I THINK, if I remember correctly. And each time, you'll get to know the houses and the girls better, and you'll get more and more pampered as the week goes on. By the last day, when you only go back to up to 3 houses, you should have a good idea of which house is your favorite. After that night, you'll rank those last three houses by order of your preference, and the next night, you'll meet in a big auditorium, receive an envelope, and it will (hopefully) contain an invitation to join a sorority. A lot of girls end up with their first or second choice. I got my first.
A couple things to remember:
a.) Don't get swayed by other people's snarky comments. Some people are anti-Greek for completely unfounded reasons. Others have biases against certain sororities based on stereotypes that are complete BS.
b.) Don't take anything too personally during rush week. Each day as you're preparing to go back to the houses, you get a slip of paper telling you which houses have called you back. You might have really liked a certain house, only to find that they didn't invite you back - don't dwell on it, they only have a limited time to get to know you and it's nothing personal. That's probably the hardest part - I had to deal with that when a house I realy liked didn't call me back. Most girls do.
c.) You're going to inevitably feel burned out during rush week - you might end up putting off some of your reading, etc. Just keep in mind that all the other girls (those who are rushing and the girls in sororities) are feeling the exact same way. Once that week is over, at least in my opinion, the result is completely worth it.
I hope that helps. I haven't told you anything 'secret' - this is pretty much what you can expect if you go through sorority rush at Northwestern. I wish someone would have broken it down for me. If anyone has anything to add, feel free.
College Confidential is dedicated to providing the best free college admissions information available on the Web, through our many articles and this discussion forum. For those of you who wish more personal advising, College Confidential offers private counseling services, conducted via e-mail, with services starting at $89. Counseling is conducted by our Director of Counseling Dave Berry, co-author of America's Elite Colleges and/or with Sally Rubenstone, co-author of Panicked Parents Guide to College Admission, and our other outstanding associates. See College Counseling for more information.
