Photo cred: Mary Barnett Photography – Texas Senior Photographer
Congratulations to all the new Baylor Bears!! Are you planning to participate in sorority recruitment, aka rush, at Baylor University this spring?
We’re so excited for you!! Firstly, congrats on getting into Baylor. You’re going to look great in green and gold.
Now that you’re all set on your school, let’s talk about the next steps as you prepare to head off to Waco this fall: getting ready for sorority recruitment.
Baylor has a strong Greek system with nine amazing sororities that are super excited to welcome their new members and sisters. Here, formal recruitment takes place in the spring in the on-campus chapter meeting rooms, since the chapters don’t have traditional sorority houses, per Baylor’s rules. It’s a week-long process in January with four rounds. When you participate in recruitment you’re required to “rush” every house vs. selecting just a few chapters to get to know. Below is a list of the chapters at Baylor.
Baylor Sorority Chapters
- Alpha Delta Pi
- Alpha Chi Omega
- Alpha Phi
- Chi Omega
- Delta Delta Delta
- Kappa Alpha Theta
- Kappa Kappa Gamma
- Pi Beta Phi
- Zeta
Baylor Sorority Recruitment Schedule
(2024 sorority recruitment schedule is yet to be announced)
Below is the schedule from this most recent recruitment:
Monday, January 9th – PNM Orientation
What to expect: Think of this as sorority recruitment orientation. Potential New Members (PNMs) will receive an overview of the week to come.
Tuesday, January 10th – Open House
What to expect: PNMs visit with girls from each of the 9 sorority chapters. It’s mandatory for PNMs to meet each chapter and “rush” all the sororities.
Wednesday, January 11th – Philanthropy
What to expect: PNMs are invited to return to a max of 7 chapters and could have fewer.
Thursday, January 12th – Sisterhood Day
What to expect: PNMs are invited to return to a max of 5 chapters and could have fewer.
Friday, January 13th – Preference Day
What to expect: PNMs can be invited to return to a max of 2 chapters but may have 1 invite or none at this time (none meaning that the PNM is released from the process without a bid).
Saturday, January 14th – BID DAY!
What to expect: PNMs will receive a max of 1 invitation to membership – aka a bid – from a chapter. Immediately after, new members “run home” to their new sororities, and Bid Day celebrations begin!!
*Important to know: Not all PNMs will receive bids, depending – if for some reason a PNM does not receive one, they will be notified of their release from the process prior to the Bid Reveal event.
So – how does a PNM maximize her chances of getting MORE invitations and therefore, boost your chances of getting a bid to a chapter you LOVE and are EXCITED about?
Sorority recruitment does NOT begin in January during formal recruitment.
A unique thing about Baylor’s sorority recruitment is that it’s common for chapter members to ask PNMs on “rush dates” during the fall. These begin on syllabus week – the first week of classes. Think of invites like coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner parties, etc. They (the sororities) encourage their members to do this) because the sorority girls aren’t allowed to vote on you during recruitment unless they’ve met you. This is super important!! GO on as many of these as you’re invited on. Having the cutest outfits during rush is FUN but it will not help you if you have not met enough girls who are eligible to vote for you come January.
The more rush dates a PNM goes on, the more sorority girls she meets. The more sorority girls she meets, the better position she’ll be in during formal recruitment.
Don’t yet know any sorority girls yet? That’s perfectly ok!
Let’s talk about how to maximize your chances of getting on the recruitment team’s radar and getting those dates.
At Baylor, yes – Letters of Recommendation are a MUST.
- This holds true for all Texas schools – especially at Baylor!
- How does a PNM get on a recruitment team’s radar if they don’t know current members at that chapter? One way is with Letters of Recommendation / also called Recruitment Information Forms (RIFs).
- If you do not know anyone in the chapters (and even if you do) you should STILL obtain these.
- Baylor has a very competitive recruitment process, and you absolutely need these if you plan to rush here.
- Why? Aside from the fact that turning these in shows interest, if you don’t personally know anyone and you aren’t able to register for recruitment until September (when the Baylor registration typically goes live), turning in Letters of Recommendation helps the sorority chapters:
- 1) know of your existence
- 2) get to know you before recruitment and most importantly – get excited about you!
But if the chapters don’t know you, they can’t get excited about you and ask you out on rush dates. It’s like expecting a cute guy from one of your 100+ person college classes who doesn’t know you yet to ask you out. You could be the cutest, sweetest, most interesting girl in the class, but if you haven’t introduced yourself, a date’s pretty unlikely, right?
Same for recruitment. Cute outfits & great conversations alone will not guarantee you a bid.
Click here for our Sorority Recruitment Guide with a step-by-step Checklist & Action Plan!
Do not underestimate the deadlines!
There are LOTS of you and 3-4 members on each chapter’s recruitment team. Rush is a math & numbers game.
- In order to maximize your chances of receiving more invites back, Baylor Letters of Recommendation are due on – or even better, before – June 1st (regardless of the listed dates on the Baylor University Panhellenic website & Instagram account, Baylor sorority websites, and your city’s local Panhellenic Association’s suggested dates.
- Yes, technically you can turn them in later, but think of this like you would a job application.
- If a company opens a job application for 90 days, sure you absolutely can apply the day before they take it down. But if they’ve already found the right candidates and they’re excited about them, and there are only so many open jobs – what do you think your chance of getting that job is going to be? Less likely than the earlier applicants with similar qualifications – that’s for sure.
- Ignore any other deadlines and have your Letters of Rec turned in by June 1st if you want to maximize your chances of receiving more invites from more chapters. (If you’re reading this after June 1st – deep breath, don’t panic. It’s way better to get them in over the summer or early fall than not at all. *If you’re unsure if you’ve missed the window for recommendations, you’re welcome to contact us and we can help you fully understand what to do / when it’s due / and how to expedite this process.
- We can help PNMs navigate this entire process surrounding what these letters are, where to turn them in, and who can/should complete them, but we can’t do anything after the window to turn them in closes. What are Letters of Recommendation (LORs), Recruitment Information Forms (RIFs), and Letters of Support (LOS)? Read our 5-min blog post.
Other Baylor Rush Requirements & Recommendations:
- Mandatory Information Sessions (usually 2-3): These occur during the fall semester, and potential new members are required to attend both in order to be eligible for spring recruitment/rush.
- Sorority Philanthropy Events – Events vary from sorority to sorority. Each chapter has annual philanthropy events and PNMs should absolutely go (you don’t need an invite from a member – anyone can purchase a ticket at the door).
Plan to participate in sorority recruitment at Baylor this spring? Don’t risk slipping through the cracks!
Work with a sorority recruitment coach right here in Texas that specializes in Baylor recruitment and celebrates as tons of our PNMs happily receive their bids every year!! We’ve been nationally recognized in Cosmopolitan Magazine, Fortune, Elite Daily, and NBC.
A lot of the big decisions with rushees involve paperwork and are made months before recruitment.
We know exactly what the Director of Recruitment Records is looking for on your resume, how the sororities will rank your rec letters on a scale (and how you can get a higher ranking), how best to prepare your rush packets, how the bid list ordering and cut process works, and what you should actually be discussing during each round. (Hint – it’s not what the Panhellenic guides will tell you!)
Working with a rush coach maximizes a PNM’s odds and gives your daughter an advantage long before she steps foot on campus for recruitment so she can go in more relaxed and confident.
It’s just like the SAT – it’s better to go in prepared. Let’s get you (or your daughter) recruitment ready.
To apply for the Hiking in Heels program, which has been nationally recognized in Cosmopolitan Magazine, Fortune, Elite Daily, and NBC, call us at (512) 827-7586 or complete the form below: