Hey there, Lydia here! When I was going through Sorority Recruitment, I read every blog post, Facebook comment, and internet forum, trying to get a better understanding of what I should and shouldn’t have in my bag. Unfortunately, I never found the “perfect” article that answered all of my questions. Fortunately, I’ve been through Sorority Recruitment and know exactly what I needed to have on hand. So, without further ado, here are my recommendations.
Yes, bring that:
- Mints. You do a TON of talking during recruitment. Make sure you are putting your best foot forward with fresh breath!
- Deodorant. Granted, you probably won’t have time to reapply your deodorant between recruitment rounds, but make sure you applied it in the first place. You do a lot of walking from your dorm/car, to your college student center, to the sorority houses, and back again. So while you may not break a sweat, you will definitely get your steps in. Same thing with the mints; you want to make a good first impression.
- Flip-flops/Flats. Don’t be that person who ended up getting blisters from walking around campus in heels. Instead, my advice is to bring “walking shoes.” They don’t have to be fancy flip-flops or flats, just something to save your feet during recruitment.
- Items for make-up retouches. Same thing as the deodorant comment; you really don’t have time between rounds to redo your makeup. However, feel free to bring powder, lipstick, blotting sheets, etc., for those minor touch-ups… if you have time!
- Spare hair items. That spare hair tie you have on your wrist? Put it in your bag with some extra bobby pins.
- Chapstick. Again, you’re doing a lot of talking. Need I say more?
- Notepad/Pen. This might sound super lame, but I brought a mini notepad and a pen to sorority recruitment. My recruitment guides strongly discouraged us from whipping out our phones between rounds to text other people. They wanted us to be the ones reflecting on our experience without outside opinions. The pen and paper came in perfect because I could jot down notes for later and still remember everything.
- Medicine. I put an aspirin and allergy pill in my bag just in case. An additional tip, take out one or two pills and put them in a plastic bag. That way, you aren’t carrying the noisy, full bottle around!
- Umbrella. I didn’t bring it every day, but there were one or two days where the weather wasn’t looking good, and I threw my umbrella in my bad just in case.
No, DOn’t bring that:
- Perfume. You will be tightly packed into a sorority house (obviously, this was pre-pandemic) with many people. Everyone wearing perfume is almost as bad as everyone skipping deodorant. I suggest skipping the fragrance and just showing up “fresh.”
- Gum. Don’t do it. As long as you have the mints, you’ll be fine. You don’t need to be chewing gum while participating in sorority recruitment, and you don’t need to stress over finding a place to throw out your gum between rounds.
- Watches/Distracting Jewelry. When you check your watch in the middle of a conversation, you appear distracted and uninterested in the conversation. Even if you don’t reply to the text that showed up, you are still taking away precious time that you want during your conversations with the different sororities. My advice? Leave the watch and any distracting jewelry at home; you don’t need those items for recruitment.
You’re asking, “What do I do with my bag?”
I asked the same question when I was going through recruitment. The answer? Often, your recruitment guide will hold on to it for you during rounds, or there is a designated spot to leave it outside the house (monitored by the recruitment guides.) Just don’t make your recruitment guide carry it between rounds or forget it at a house!
Best wishes for a happy recruitment! They are going to love you!
Cheers!
Lydia
Looking for other Greek Life content? Check out my other posts, Why I Joined A Sorority… And Why You Should Too, 15 Greek Life Terms for Panhellenic Sorority Recruitment, and Sorority Recruitment: What I Wore.