Sorority recruitment can be stressful, and as with all stressful things, there’s no way you’ll have a perfect week. A sorority you really liked might drop you, you’ll have a day where you have to glue your arms to your side so no one can see the sweat stains and you will most definitely accidentally trip over your words and say something weird during a conversation with a super cool girl from a super cool house. The good news? You’ll more than likely have a happy ending at the end of the week no matter what little bumps you encounter on the road. However, there are some things that a few potential new members will say in a conversation that is considered less of a little bump and more of a landmine.

1. Name-dropping

Some people interpret “name-dropping” as repeatedly listing off every sorority member you know in the chapter and exactly how you know them, and some people interpret it as talking badly or highly about sorority ABC while you’re having a conversation in the XYZ sorority house. Both are equally forbidden. Sometimes, casually asking if the member you’re talking to knows an older friend of yours in the chapter and leaving it it is totally fine, but there’s no reason to drag on and on about how close you are. Mentioning other sororities could also give the member you’re talking to the impression that you’re going to run your mouth about her house later on. Not cool.

2. Getting too personal

By all means, you should tell the member you’re talking about some interesting things about yourself, so she has something cool to remember you by when she’s voting later. However, cool identifying facts aren’t exactly the same thing as bringing up private things. Talking about how you’re one of the lucky few freshmen who has an off-campus apartment? Awesome! Chatting it up about how you went on a life-changing mission trip to Costa Rica? Perfect. Spilling about all the family drama your aunt and uncle’s recent divorce just stirred up? Maybe not.

3. Boys

If the member you’re talking to asks what you did this summer, and the highlight was a 10-day cruise to Mexico with your boyfriend and his parents, by all means, bring it up. You don’t have to hide the fact that you have a boyfriend. This being said, please, please, please don’t spend the entire conversation telling me about how amazing he is, or for the single ladies, ask if we hang out with popular fraternities or hot guys. Sororities are looking for new sisters, not new boyfriends.

4. Acting bored

Let’s be totally real here, you won’t love every house you go to. There will be at least one house where you know you don’t quite fit in right and your conversations aren’t the best, and that’s totally okay. You can handle this one of two ways: you can grin and bear it and try to find some interesting topic of conversation to talk about, or you can roll your eyes, cross your arms over your chest and look miserable. If you think you would choose the latter, you’re in for a rude awakening. Acting rude and bored during a conversation travels down the row of sorority houses faster than news of a favorite fraternity getting booted off, and you may end up blackballing yourself. Whether you’re trying to imagine yourself in that sorority’s colors or you’re pinching yourself to stay awake, smile and try your best to look friendly and interested; you never know who is going to hear about your bad attitude.

5. Blatantly lying

When you signed up for recruitment, you probably filled out an application of sorts where you handed over your high school GPA, any clubs you were involved in and anything you’ve ever accomplished in your life. Be warned now, we have every bit of that information. If you had a 2.8 in high school and weren’t in a single extracurricular, don’t think that you’ll be able to strut into a house claiming a 4.0 and student body president. The main message here is to be yourself; if you really make good connections at a house, there’s no need to lie about who you are and what you’ve accomplished.

6. Partying

For the love of all that is Greek, please don’t walk into a house and ask how often they party, what fraternities they party with, what their alcohol rules are or literally anything else of that sort. Whether it’s an accurate representation of yourself or not, you’ve immediately labeled yourself as one of “those girls” who only care about partying, and that’s not a good look on anyone. Use this week to focus on finding a lifelong sisterhood, not the best bars to use fake IDs at.

7. Negativity

Recruitment is overwhelming for everyone involved, PNMs and active members alike. Absolutely no one really enjoys standing in heels for twelve hours or sweating like a pig while trying to make a good impression. Sororities are looking for the girls who can and will stay positive through the worst parts of recruitment: the heat, the long hours and everything else in between. Ranting about how long your day has been is not the best way to make a positive impression on the member you’re talking to, or the wisest way to spend your valuable conversation time. Who wants to have a friend or sister that does nothing but complain all the time?

Small slip-ups during recruitment week can seem like the end of the world, but as long as you know what not to do, staying positive and being yourself throughout the week will ensure that you get put in the place you’re really supposed to be in. Good luck out there ladies, we’ll see you in August!