There are list upon lists of requirements your sorority gives you before "work week" and recruitment. If you're at a big school, the lists are even more extensive. But there are a few things that the lists leave off that are imperative to your survival...
Say goodbye to sunlight...
Come to terms with this early on. You will likely spend all daylight hours inside the house. You might catch a few rays of walking to the house at 6 a.m. You'll catch a few glimpses during door song rehearsals if you bounce high enough. If you live in the house, good luck.
... and say hello to spray tans
No sunlight -> no natural golden glow. A tan is on almost all recruitment requirement lists, but if you're not getting outside for the week and a half before rush, you'll need to find another way. After all, no one wants to join a sorority that looks like they live in the basement year round, right?
Hope
You are about to attempt to single out 100-160 girls out of 2,244. The competition is steep, and you need to find girls that you wouldn't mind waiting in a long Fried Friday line with. You will need a healthy dose of hope and optimism to make it through this process with your sanity.
A permanent smile
If you stop smiling for a second, even if you're in the back row, one PNM will inevitably decide this sorority isn't perpetually happy and will drop immediately. Yah it's totally true, I heard Rachel say that her friend who went through last year ruled out half of the houses that way. Yep.
A buoyant welcome wave
GiphyPractice your bouncing. Practice your wrist waves. Build your stamina early. PNMs can smell physical exhaustion.
A perfect ~natural~ look
Your hair and makeup should look like you — but way better. It should take you several hours to look like the perfectly enhanced version of yourself. Except no one should be able to tell how hard you scrubbed at your eyes when one flake of mascara went awry.
Nail your answers to common questions ahead of time
Don't get caught with your white tennis skirt down. If you can't immediately answer the following questions, you won't be able to assert yourself as the dominant sorority woman during conversations.
1) What's your favorite part of your sisterhood?
2) Do y'all actually like each other?
3) Can you even?
A rockin' body
Because you can't work out during rush. You need to get a head start, especially with all of the aesthetically pleasing snacks the sorority gives you, that will of course be posted on the 'gram for PNMs viewing pleasure. If your abs aren't showing through your Large T-shirt when you're eating a pink donut, what are you doing here?
Cute Shoes You Aren't Emotionally Attached To
You will be wearing them for at least 8 hours a day for 8 days straight. These shoes should be so cute that everyone wants them, but you have a hard time recommending them because of all your foot blood staining the inside.
New feet
GiphyOnce recruitment is over, you will need them. The damage done by all of the shoes and the walking and the bouncing in them will be irreversible. Have them waiting in your bedroom for after bid Day, with a bottle of wine and ice cream.
