For many college women, sorority rush in the fall is the most stressful time of the year. Many college students have to adjust to being away from home, meeting a new roommate, and attending challenging classes, but sorority hopefuls have little time to get adjusted before rush season begins. Depending on the university, rush can be an incredibly competitive and stressful process (not to mention expensive). Especially with the influence of TikTok, rush has become an exclusive experience. Students who attend less-prestigious universities or are in lower socioeconomic classes have long been shunned from the predominantly rich and white institution that is Greek life. However, as the 2023 rush season begins, it looks like that’s changing.
Fall rush is typically a week-long process where students try to get into a sorority or fraternity on their college campus. During round one of sorority rush, PNMs (potential new members) will go around to each house and meet the current members. They will then select the sororities they want for round two, while current members decide which PNMs to invite back for round two as well. Even though both groups vote for round two, the sororities have the ultimate decision of who to invite back. After round two, the process repeats until Bid Day.
Clearly, this is an exhausting process, but it’s one that thousands of college students participate in every semester. For years, students have felt like they need to be perfect in order to get into a sorority. One woman told The Cut, “I planned an outfit for everyday — I went and bought an outfit for every day. I got my hair done. I got it colored. I got my nails done. It was an intense preparation.” For the past few years, Rushtok on TikTok has shown women who felt the same way: like they needed to be perfectly put together.
This year, however, the trend is changing. Several TikTok users are posting their real, unfiltered thoughts on rush, which has been a relief to many viewers. Bama Morgan on Tik Tok posted a video about how exhausting the rush process was, and the comments were filled with support.
“Now THIS is the Bama Rush Tok I’m here for!!” one comment said (which subsequently got over 20,000 likes). Several major brands commented on Morgan’s TikTok as well — NYX Cosmetics wrote, “LITERALLY KEEPING YOU IN MY THOUGHTS YOU GOT THIS.”
Rush is often promoted as a wonderful experience — which it certainly can be — but the truth is that it’s also difficult and exhausting. Early mornings and late nights plus hours of interviews is not always a fun time, and PNMs are finally speaking up about it. If you don’t enjoy every moment of Rush, that doesn’t make you ungrateful, and it doesn’t mean you don’t want to be in a sorority! The process is tiring and it’s OK to admit that.
This season’s Rush has also highlighted TikTok users who are relatable and humble. One Bama Rush user named Jaylah shared a video of her Rush outfit, which included sweet homages to her grandmother and aunt in her jewelry choices.Â
“I just wanted to say, like, thank y’all for all of the love and stuff like that,” she shared in her video. “I’m from a small town in Louisiana, so the fact that that many people saw my video is, like, crazy.”
The new trend of relatable PNMs is a refreshing reminder that what you see on social media is often far from the full truth. Enjoy making memories during Rush season, but don’t feel guilty for not enjoying the difficult moments. The most important thing is to be yourself and trust the process.