The road to a sorority bid day is paved with your cutest outfits, polite conversation, catchy chants, and hopefully, an offer to join your favorite house. For those new to the Panhellenic experience, this weeklong recruitment — often referred to as “sorority rush” — can be a mystery, making the process far from the colorful and well-manicured OOTDs touted on Bama RushTok.
Sloan Anderson, 28, has made it her mission to demystify sorority recruitment for potential new members, or PNMs, as a rush coach. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Anderson was a member of Greek life herself, landing a bid at Alpha Gamma Delta at the University of Georgia in 2013. Her experience going through the recruitment process in one of the most competitive Greek systems in the country helps give her clients an inside scoop on what it takes to make a lasting impression.
Anderson’s coaching business, called Getting the Bid, helps sorority hopefuls do just that — working via video with PNMs throughout the summer or semester before rush to prep conversation topics, organize materials like recommendation letters from alumni (not usually required, but sometimes helpful), and build a social media strategy. She charges $649 per client for her time and expertise, whereas other rush coaches have been reported to charge up to $4,000. “My job is to get my girls to have a conversation instead of an interview during their rounds,” Anderson tells Elite Daily. “It helps the member she’s meeting to establish, ‘Oh, she's just like me, I could see her in my sorority.’”
Here, Anderson divulges how sorority recruitment has evolved since her time on Greek Row and how she helps her clients master the game of getting the bid.
Elite Daily: What was your “aha” moment that made you realize you wanted to be a rush coach?
SA: Right before I graduated, I met an incoming freshman at the University of Georgia. I gave her the basic advice: get recommendation letters, clean up your social media, and follow all the sororities. I thought she was going to have an easy process. But then she texted me on the last round, "I'm dropping out. I have one sorority left, and I just cannot see myself there."
I remember getting that text and wondering what happened. She’s incredible, so why did these sororities not see her as a candidate? That was that moment I realized there has to be a way to help girls have more control over their process and get to that “rush crush” status.
ED: It's been 10 years since you've gone through recruitment yourself. What are some crucial ways the process has shifted since you went through it?
SA: Sororities don't care as much about legacies as they once did, and a lot of times they rely on social media to get a good idea of what each potential new member is like. So, PNMs will want to have an active, public account — posting photos throughout your summer, or if you're going through recruitment in January or February, post throughout your first semester. TikTok, in particular, has become an outlet girls are using to get their names out there.
ED: For PNMs coming to a school where they don’t know anyone, how can they stand out and make that first impression?
SA: If you're an out-of-state student, from a small town, or don't know people in the competitive sororities, you really have to figure out a way to network. The summer leading up to college, when people ask where you’re going to school, follow up with something like, “Do you know anyone there? I would love to connect with them." Maybe that person is not in a sorority, but maybe they have a friend or girlfriend who is.
Another way to build connections is during orientation. There are always sorority members on campus — they may be working at a store, as an orientation leader, or at the activity fair. Try to talk to as many people as you can during that couple of days.
You want to just be open to every opportunity you have. If you're on campus for a whole semester before spring recruitment, join clubs, meet girls in classes — any way you can figure out how to network. Introduce yourself to everyone, because sometimes just that little introduction can lead to a major advantage behind the scenes.
You never know which sorority is right for you until you step into each house.
ED: On your site, you mention that women going through recruitment need more than just the advice that they see on TikTok. What are some of the common pieces of advice you see as flawed or misleading?
SA: The biggest one I've seen recently is what to talk about — mainly your interests and activities you’re involved in — which is generally sound advice. But if you just walk into a sorority and start listing off your resume, that's not a good look. The conversations are small talk in a sense, and PNMs have to remember these active members are 19 to 21. Their job is to ask you specific questions where you can bring up information they can engage with.
For example, a popular question is, "How were you involved in high school?" As a PNM, I wouldn't want to list out 10 things I was involved in. Keep it simple. Talk about one thing and why it was important to you. Oftentimes, that one thing you did that you loved is going to tell a lot about you. And the “why” is what really starts to connect people.
ED: With the services you provide as a rush coach, how do you go above and beyond this hearsay advice on social media? What are the main things you bring to the table?
SA: As crazy as it sounds, my goal is to create a campaign around each client. A lot of girls will prepare the most basic way — they'll get recommendation letters if needed, they'll have a social media account with a couple photos on it, and they’ll follow the sororities on Instagram. But the preparation kind of dies out there, and they wait until round one starts. Think about it in the big picture: If you wanted to become the next president of the United States, and you waited until election day to get your name out there, it would be too late.
These members are spending weeks and weeks [before recruitment] trying to figure out who's the best fit, and if they don't know your name, the odds of you getting invited back to a competitive sorority are not great.
We work on what to post on social media while still pursuing standard avenues, like organizing recommendation letters. In particular, we work on the videos for their social media platforms [like OOTDs and rush bag reveals] — we create a script and a plan for how to film those.
We also practice the conversation element. We create answers to the most-commonly-asked questions, like what you did this summer or what you’re studying in school, not with the goal of having a script memorized, but instead having bullet points that can lead to a conversation. We practice a lot of small talk. My goal is, when they get to sorority recruitment, they get a great schedule [a list of houses inviting them back] at round two. After that, they know what they need to do to stand out and keep getting invited back, then ultimately run home to a sorority they really love.
ED: The recent Bama Rush documentary on Max was pretty critical of many parts of the sorority experience. What do you see as the value of sororities today?
SA: I think the biggest value each sorority gives is a sense of community, especially for an out-of-state student. If you know just one or two people on campus, having that immediate support system is incredibly special.
Later on, being on the sisterhood side of recruitment or holding a leadership position in your sorority will give you skills you can carry through life — whether it's getting outside of your comfort zone and talking to hundreds of girls a day, or becoming finance chair and writing checks to pay the mortgage of the house. Those skills are invaluable and can take you from an average candidate for a job down the line to someone special.
ED: What overarching advice would you have for those going through recruitment this year?
SA: Keep an open mind and give every single sorority a chance. This is something I tell all my clients. Every year we go in with high expectations, and I know my girls are going to do great. But there's always a sorority that comes out of left field — one we've never talked about. The girls in the house really connect with the girl I'm working with, and sometimes they do well enough to steal her from her initial top choice.
You never know which sorority is right for you until you step into each house. Trust the process and know that you are most likely going to end up where you need to be. At their core, every sorority is quite similar when it comes to overall experience, and you want to give them a fair shot even if they weren’t your top choice.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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