@actives... rush mistakes?

There are posts every day about this. Do your homework and read.

I'll save you the time - here is the definitive list of all mistakes:

Didn't get rec letters

Had crappy grades in HS

Wore a romper

Suicided and didn't go back to all invited houses

Got caught up in ranks

Had too many pre conceived ideas and don't have an open mind

Wore and LOOKED AT my watch.

I wish I had dropped my legacy house sooner bc I liked others much better. Truth

I actually did talk politics with a girl because we both interned for the same party in the same state legislature. I also talked about my boyfriend with a girl during IWTs at the same house. Preffed them, ranked them first, ran home on bid day. I still think it's better to be safe than sorry but if you happen to slip up don't freak out, it's not the end of the world.

I hated axo but kept them because of the rankings...don't do that

The list is pretty good advice.....when in doubt, play it safe. If there is a clear mutual ground on the topics to avoid, yes proceed with caution, but In general, with no other insight stay away

There has been allot obsolete "top pnms", but without being mean a "bottom pnm" thread may have some lessons learned.

So a bottom pnm is the person with no recs, marginal grades, who desperately wants a top house, has a closet full of rompers, can't stop complaining about the president and has an obsession with looking at her watch all the time!

Real life worst pnm for me.....a legacy who reminded us of the fact constantly and talked mostly about all the people her mother knew. We too, the girl!

Snubbing some houses during recruitment and with your fellow PNMs:
1. It's rude. Your are invited into THEIR home.
2. One of your good friends will pledge that house. Girls pledge every house. All houses do well. Now what are you going to say to your friend?

Honestly I think my biggest mistake was talking about my experiences at every house with my roommate/friends. We would go home and stay up super late discussing every visit and it really colored my impression of the houses. One girl in particular tried to convince me not to rank a less social house over a more social one, saying that I wouldn't have as good of a sorority experience there because that house "has less parties"... joke was on her because her house went on social probation the semester after rush.

My best friend refused to talk about her experience with anyone but her RCs. Didn't even talk to her mom because her mom was an in-house alum. At the time we thought it was weird and frustrating to have no idea where she went for pref or where she would go for bid day, but in retrospect I think it was so mature and admirable. I wish I'd done that. She figured it out all on her own.

I wish I'd talked to my rho chi more, I'm from the west coast and didn't know much about recruitment and I'm sure my rho chi could have helped me out a lot.
I was also scared of coming on too strong in some houses, but in hindsight I wish I'd been more vocal about how excited I was to be back at my favorite houses

I was probably the worst PNM, because I thought I knew EVERYTHING. I had absolutely no connections, recs, wasn't a legacy, but I had read up on every chapter and knew girls from my high school were all in one particular chapter at a DIFFERENT SCHOOL and I was like "oh that's the chapter I want to be in, and if not that one, this one will be good too". My grades were okay but I justified it to myself with my activities and I judged certain houses so much based off of ranks and insignificant things like the looks of the first girl I talked to. I got bid promised by a house I really connected with and when they dropped me, I cried to my rho chi about that house, which she was actually in. If I could go back, I would have either slapped myself or quit rush to try again later because I thought I was Patty Perfect PNM who had everything figured out and while I love the chapter I'm in, I always will wonder if things would have been different knowing what I know now.