(Above) A sorority celebrates Bid Day with their new members at Ole Miss
Accepted to Ole Miss? Congratulations and hotty toddy!
Ole Miss has one of the largest Greek systems in the country, and it’s notoriously competitive when it comes to rush. Each year over 2000 girls will sign up to participate in formal recruitment, which takes place in the fall after the school semester has begun. This year, for the first time in years, they’ve broken tradition; it’s been moved up to an earlier date.
Ole Miss’s formal recruitment involves the following rounds:
- Greek Day (aka open house) – visit all 11 houses
- Philanthropy Round – 2 days, visit up to 8 houses total
- Sisterhood Round – 2 days, visit up to 5 houses total
- Preference Round – 1 evening, visit up to 2 houses
- Bid Day – receive a bid and celebrate with your new sisters
2020 University of Mississippi Virtual Recruitment Schedule
Friday, August 27 – Greek Day
Saturday-Sunday, August 29 – 30 – Philanthropy
Tuesday-Thursday, September 1 – 3 – Sisterhood
Friday-Saturday, September 4 – 5 – Preference
Sunday, September 6 – BID DAY!
Exciting update: the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) 2023 Sorority Recruitment Schedule is live!!
- August 10th & 11th: Move in!
- Primary Recruitment will take place before classes begin this year.
Potential New Members (PNMs) will move in a week early to accommodate for the date changes.
- Primary Recruitment will take place before classes begin this year.
- August 12th: PNM Convocation & Round 1 – Greek Day
- What to expect: everything begins with a PNM Convocation, aka rush orientation.
- Post convocation, it’s video time! Each of the 11 sororities will have prepared a video introducing their chapter.
- PNMs will watch these videos in their recruitment counselor groups in lieu of meeting the sorority girls this round.
- The chapters decide who to invite back based on who they know, and on PNM’s pre-recruitment materials turned in earlier such as:
- Letters of Recommendation *These are so incredibly important at Ole Miss
- PNM Video Assignment (due with registration)
- PNM Social Resume (due with registration)
- What to Wear: Panhellenic provides you with a Greek Day shirt to wear (you’ll share your size during registration).
- August 13th & 14th: Round 2 – Philanthropy Day (2 days)
- What to expect: PNMs will visit a max of 8 sororities but could receive fewer invites back. This is the first round PNMs will be able to meet the sorority members in person and get to know them! (Unfortunately, yes – this means some houses will cut you prior to meeting you.)
- What to Wear: Panhellenic has stated they plan to provide PNMs with a philanthropy day shirt this round as well.
- August 16th & 17th: Round 3 – Sisterhood Day
- What to expect: PNMs will visit a max of 5 sororities this round. Keep in mind this is the max – it’s very common that many PNMs will receive fewer invites.
- What to Wear: Colorful, fun sundresses & wedges
- August 18th: Round 4 – Preference Day
- What to expect: PNMs will receive invites from a max of 2 sororities but could have 1 invite or none (none, meaning, the PNM would be released from the process.)
- What to Wear: Ignore the Panhellenic attire suggestions. No one wears business attire. Girls go for colorful, dressier sundresses like one would wear to an outdoor wedding. Ole Miss doesn’t have a specific color like other schools like UGA or UT do for this night. You really can wear any color. It doesn’t have to be black or white.
- August 19th: Bid Day!
- What to Expect: PNMs meet with their recruitment counselor and group in the Grove to receive membership invitations – aka BIDS. You can only receive a max of 1 bid on bid day. *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 arriving at the Grove.
- What to Wear: Ignore the Panhellenic suggested outfits. Opt for athleisure (black, gray, or white shorts/tennis skirt) and a neutral color white/tan tank top you can throw your cute new sorority shirts over. New members are given letters (and a LOT of other cute sorority swag) when they arrive at the sorority for chapter celebrations.
In the meantime, for a full breakdown of the day-by-day recruitment schedule above and more information on what to wear each day of recruitment, click here for our What to Wear: 2023 Ole Miss Sorority Recruitment Outfit Guide. It includes pictures!
—–> NEW: The Hiking in Heels 2023 Sorority Recruitment Guide with a step-by-step Checklist & Action Plan!!
At Ole Miss, active members of the sororities are allowed (but not required) to live in the sorority houses. If you’d like to learn more about the 11 sorority houses you could potentially join, get a sneak peek with these links to the chapter-managed websites:
- Alpha Delta Pi
- Alpha Omicron Pi
- Alpha Phi
- Chi Omega
- Delta Delta Delta
- Delta Gamma
- Kappa Alpha Theta
- Kappa Delta
- Kappa Kappa Gamma
- Phi Mu
- Pi Beta Phi
- AXO – Reestablished at Ole Miss in 2022. They originally planned this for 2020 but opted to wait due to Covid.
University of Mississippi 2023 rush – know before you go!
Sorority recruitment does NOT begin in August.
- Even though the University of Mississippi Panhellenic website says otherwise, recruitment DOES NOT BEGIN IN AUGUST with formal recruitment. The sororities start making lists of PNMs they’re excited about in spring of the girls’ senior year. At Ole Miss, it’s not just important – it’s absolutely essential to get on the recruitment team’s radar as soon as you commit so that the chapter is aware of your existence.
At Ole Miss, Letters of Recommendation are a MUST.
- 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.
- The University of Mississippi has an extremely 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 May 1 (when the Ole Miss 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!
Think of it this way: if the chapters don’t know about you ahead of time, they can’t get excited about you during recruitment and it’s easier to slip through the cracks. 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?
—–> NEW: The Hiking in Heels 2023 Sorority Recruitment Guide with a step-by-step Checklist & Action Plan!!
Do not ignore the deadlines!
There are 2000+ of you and 4-6 members on each chapter’s recruitment team.
- In order to maximize your chances of receiving more invites back, Ole Miss Letters of Recommendation are due on – or even better, before – May 1, regardless of the listed dates on the Ole Miss University Panhellenic website & Instagram account, Ole Miss 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 the misleading deadlines you see that are designed to make everyone feel included and have your Letters of Rec turned in by May 1st if you want to maximize your chances of receiving more invites from more chapters. (If you’re reading this after May 1st – deep breath, don’t panic. You’re behind, BUT it’s still better to turn them in ASAP vs. not at all. Not sure if it’s still worth doing? Depends on how far along in the summer you are.) *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.
Ole Miss has a mandatory PNM Video assignment & short answer questions that are due with sorority registration over the summer.
- PNMs are required to answer specific prompts and record a video of themselves answering these.
- This video is due along with registration over the summer prior to formal recruitment and will be factored into your PNM score and impact whether or not you return for round 2. Take it seriously and turn it in early!
- There are also multiple short answer questions that PNMs must answer, also due with registration.
- We help PNMs with ALL the above assignments – crafting your short answer responses, scripting, filming tips, and suggestions on how to be more memorable in their videos with 1×1 coaching sessions, so if you want guidance – that’s what we’re here for!
Plan to participate in sorority recruitment at the University of Mississippi this fall? Don’t risk slipping through the cracks!
Work with a sorority recruitment coach that specializes in Ole Miss recruitment and cheers 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.
Interested in potentially working with a sorority recruitment coach? Schedule a Complimentary Consultation to learn more.
Are you planning to join a sorority this next year? Helping your daughter research the sorority recruitment process? Check out these helpful links:
NEW: The Hiking in Heels 2023 Sorority Recruitment Guide with a step-by-step Checklist & Action Plan!!
Read this article if you’re a mom helping your daughter get ready for sorority recruitment at Ole Miss this fall.
Bookmark this page if you’re a PNM (aka an incoming rushee) who’s looking for helpful recruitment tips and sorority-related resources.
And check out Legacy Status: Does it Help or Hurt Going Through Sorority Recruitment? if you’re a legacy planning to participate in recruitment this fall.
Be sure and check back for more relevant recruitment advice and helpful articles on sorority rush.