If you are considering sorority recruitment, please visit our Recruitment Info section.

Recruitment is the name for the mutual selection process where sororities meet potential members, and extend invitations to join. The process varies slightly from university to university, but this is what you can expect:

Sorority recruitment is governed by a university’s Greek Life office, which is usually a branch under the Dean of Students. Within the Greek Life office are the Inter-Fraternity Council, the body which governs men’s fraternal clubs, and the Panhellenic Council, which supervises all sorority activities.

There will be a formal recruitment period at the beginning of either fall or spring semester. Some schools do offer an informal recruitment opportunity, but sororities’ participation varies, so the best time to meet all the chapters is during the formal process.

To go through recruitment, your first step is to register with FATAAP, so we can help you prepare the info you will submit to your school’s Panhellenic. (The sooner the better — because, just like applying to college, the more time to prepare, the better your recruitment package!)

Next, you will register with your university’s Panhellenic Council for formal recruitment. You will complete and submit a form, usually with a recent photo and your academic transcript. Registration might require a fee, usually no more than $30. Then Panhellenic Council will distribute your information to the sororities at the university in advance of recruitment.

Before recruitment begins, your university’s Panhellenic Council will provide the latest data about each sorority’s dues, housing costs, and estimated expenses for the year, so that you and your family can make informed decisions as you go through recruitment.

University Panhellenic will also provide you with a recruitment counselor, sometimes called a Rho Chi. She is a member of one of the sororities, but has disaffiliated from her chapter during recruitment. This means she gives up the identity of her sorority (and even her last name!) in order to provide you with neutral, unbiased advice about the whole Greek system. She can answer your concerns and questions, and will be a great objective resource during your recruitment experience.

During formal recruitment, you will get to visit with every sorority and meet their members. If they have a house, lodge, room or other dedicated space at the university, you will get to take a tour. You will get to see photos, learn about the chapter’s charity and campus involvements, and get a feel for what membership might be like.

There will be two or more rounds of events, often with different themes. After each round, you will receive invitations from the sororites to their later events, from some or all of the chapters you’ve visited. You can then accept or decline those invitations based on your impressions of which sororities you’d like to continue to get to know.

The second-to-last recruitment event is known as a Preference Party or Preference Night, at which you will take a last, meaningful look at the sororities you are considering. Afterward, you will express to Panhellenic which sorority or sororities you would like to pledge your membership to, in order of your preference. Panhellenic will take your preferences and match them against the preferences as expressed by the sororities, to help the sororities decide who to extend bids to.

The last recruitment event is called Bid Day, where Panhellenic will distribute bids to potential members — who will then go immediately to their new sorority, to celebrate with other new members and meet their sisters!

To learn even more about sorority recruitment, and meet some area girls who are currently active in sororities, be sure to attend one of our FATAAP Forums. See the event schedule for details.