As an incoming college freshman, I knew right from the start that I wanted to go through Panhellenic recruitment and become a sister to an incredible sorority. After attending my college orientation, I was informed of GreekRank, a site on which anyone can rank and provide comments on the sororities and fraternities on almost every college campus. I thought it would be absolutely harmless to go on the site and check out the string of gossip before undergoing recruitment--boy was I wrong.
As I made my rounds to every sorority on the first night of recruitment, my initial judgments--before even beginning a conversation with the sisters--were based on the comments that I had previously read on GreekRank, such as…
The girls are mean to anyone that isn’t them and they feel the need to compete for everything.
Honestly, they’re nothing special. They all hate each other too, there’s a lot of separation and cliques…
Very catty and aggressive towards other sororities.
Rude and nasty girls.
Just your typical ‘hot’ sorority. They’ll drop you in recruitment if you’re ugly.
This sorority is irrelevant on campus. They are so uninvolved, and only care about partying.
Now, don’t get me wrong; there are tons of positive and gratifying comments for every sorority on GreekRank. However, there are equally as many horrible, degrading comments. Both kinds of comments subconsciously remained in the back of my mind as I spoke to every chapter on that first evening. They also entered my mind when ranking my top choices at the end of the night.
When I returned home after the first (extremely exhausting) night of recruitment, I decided to revisit GreekRank. As I read cruel comments about the sororities in which I met lovely and genuine women, I finally realized just how utterly absurd, incorrect, and judgmental the site was. After meeting all of the girls that students on GreekRank anonymously bashed, I felt terrible for even taking such offensive comments into consideration when speaking with them.
Luckily, I was able to put these previous and misled judgments aside for the last three days of recruitment in order to make a completely unbiased decision on which sorority I felt was right for me. Some other girls may have not been so lucky.
To all of the potential new members who will be going through recruitment this coming fall or spring: please, just stay away from GreekRank.
Every sorority at every school has something truly incredible to offer. While each sorority holds unique values and individualized goals, they all have one thing in common: a strong, loving sisterhood--no matter what anyone or any site claims.
Not only does GreekRank contain unkind commentaries on each sorority, it also provides its readers with the skewed perception that joining a sorority is all about being in the “best” or the “hottest” one. Ladies, I cannot stress how incredibly untrue this is. When considering your options during recruitment, aim to find a sisterhood where you feel comfortable, respected, supported, and loved.
I know at this point you may be wondering, “How will I decide? How will I know which sorority is right for me?”
Well, I will tell you what my Pi Rho Chi told me when I asked her this same question: you just know.
It is such a simple, annoyingly vague response, but it is true. You will just know.
So ladies, in order to have the best recruitment--and then sisterhood--experience, please avoid GreekRank at all costs. If you have already checked it out, take the time now to free yourselves from the deceiving shackles that the site locks you into. It is up to you and your judgments to decide where you belong.
Be yourself, have fun, and may the odds be ever in your favor!
