Alabama’s rush—the biggest in the country—is notoriously competitive (“a huge production,” says Hannah), with some 2,300 prospective recruits, and a fair share of “southern belle-type behavior.” Hannah says that “scary websites” like GreekRank.com, which rates sororities and fraternities across the country on things like looks, popularity, classiness, and involvement, “basically said don’t even bother as a sophomore—you’re not going to get in. I had so much anxiety.”

She was down an internet spiral when she happened upon Pat Grant, the founder of Rushbiddies, a Birmingham-based consultancy dedicated to helping girls, in Grant’s words, “prepare for one of the most important aspects of higher education”—that is, rush week.

Grant, a former Auburn University sorority girl, founded Rushbiddies in 2009 after helping see her own daughter through a successful recruitment week at Auburn. She now works with girls, and usually also their moms, in private consultations in person or over the phone (prices start at $100 for a 90 minute session) and through group workshops, covering everything from what to wear to what to say. She'll also suggest who to ask for recommendations and how to get in if your GPA is under 3.0—essentially preparing girls for every scenario, question, dress code requirement, and trap that will come up.

“This generation of parents is used to asking for extra outside help,” says Grant. “Most moms—and dads, too, dads are just as involved—want to make sure their girls are happy and for many, that means placement in a sorority they’re pleased with.” She will do damage control when needed, like in the case of the PNM whose winter break Snapchat showing her dancing with another girl went viral in the days before her second semester rush.

“All it takes is one image to be misconstrued,” says Grant. “I say, I don’t care if this guy is just a friend of yours. If you’ve got your arms all over him, they’re not gonna know he’s not your boyfriend. Or maybe that swimsuit doesn’t make the best impression.” Over the summer, at Grant’s recommendation, Hannah edited her feeds to delete anything political. “I didn’t want to give anyone any reason to cut me,” says Hannah. “It has to be super vanilla, all the way through.”

Most consultants say that technology is, in fact, their biggest hurdle when it comes to working with the modern PNM. Grant often starts workshops asking the crowd who’s spoken to their best friend today.

“Nine out of ten girls will raise their hands,” she says. “Then I ask who’s spoken to them in person.” Crickets. As a result, says Grant, conversational nuances are getting lost. “Families don’t eat dinner at the same time,” she says. “The social niceties you need to have mastered are gone. The girls that get overwhelmed going into a new room—I used to call those girls my little deer in headlights. But that’s more of them these days.”

Brooke Howard, a consultant at the Midwest-based Go Greek Girl, says she spends hours helping girls learn how to have conversations they just don’t know how to have anymore. “You might be a great girl with a lot to offer,” says Howard. “But if all you know to ask another girl is where are you from and what’s your major, you’ll be at a disadvantage. Your time is too limited.”

Perhaps even more crucial, however, is dressing the part. Rush week in August at a place like Alabama can be brutally hot, but there’s no getting around the importance of modesty. “Keep the skin to a minimum,” Grant says. “I’m not saying you have to be prudish, but some girls can wear things better than others. You want to be your best self.”

And don’t try to get too creative. Grant tells the story of one girl who showed up to a pre-rush workshop wearing a dress and cowboy boots. “I said, why did you choose cowboy boots?” Grant recalls. “She said, everyone knows cowboy boots are my signature. I told her, maybe back in high school they were your signature. But here, you don’t have a signature. You have to meet what’s expected until you’re established. Then you can wear your cute little cowboy boots.”

Sarah* worked with Lorie Stefanelli of Manhattan-based Greek Chic to prepare for rush at Texas Christian University. Over the phone, they’d practice typical conversations to determine “what elements of my personality to play up,” she says. “We also paid a lot of attention to my outfits. Lorie was very particular about looking classy, not wearing super-short shorts or revealing dresses. More Audrey Hepburn.” Safe looks included anything Kate Spade, Tory Burch, or monogrammed. At Alabama this year, says Hannah, some girls “didn’t get that you should cover up. They’d show up in backless dresses and they’d get released.”

Grant aims to get her girls into one of their top two houses, and says she hit the mark for every one of the 20 girls she put through recruitment last year. She charges $1,500 for her most popular package, which includes 40 hours of text, chat, and skype, as well as workbooks and handouts, but of course, it’s not about the money.

“I’m not getting rich off this stuff,” she says. “Like a friend said to me, it’s really sort of a ministry for you, isn’t it? If I can strip away some of the mystery and have a girl walk into recruitment confident and prepared, that’s very empowering.”

Hannah’s mother, Lisa, says that working with Grant “was like having a fairy godmother with all the right answers.” She flew across the country to spend rush week with Hannah, offering emotional and logistical support in the form of steaming dresses, replacing broken earrings, finding backup dresses to the backup dresses, that sort of thing. When she had to return home mid-week for a board meeting, Hannah’s father flew out to take her place. Hannah texted with Grant throughout.

Sarah says she talked to Stefanelli every night during rush week, usually for two hours. “She’d help me decide the order of the houses I liked,” says Sarah. “Or I’d say, is this OK to say tomorrow if I am invited back? PNMs like to talk. And when you’re insecure, it’s much better to have someone outside of the process to talk with.”

Which is why, though she’ll always be on call, Grant sends girls into recruitment with a few final rules to rush by. Don’t drink (or get drunk). Get more sleep than you think you need. And finally, she says, “Play your cards close to the cuff. You never know who’s listening.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3736774&forum_id=2#34245274)

hnnngh those breasts

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3736774&forum_id=2#34245304)

God's work.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3736774&forum_id=2#34245338)