Rush for Sale: The Business of Sorority Consulting

Summary

Campus Files: Scandals, Secrets & Crimes at American Universities
Episode Title: Rush for Sale: The Business of Sorority Consulting
Release Date: March 25, 2026
Host: Marco Gray

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Campus Files, host Marco Gray investigates the booming business of sorority recruitment consulting. Through interviews with top consultants, clients, and firsthand accounts, the episode explores how the intense and often secretive world of Greek life has spawned a lucrative industry—one that increasingly caters to affluent families seeking every competitive edge possible. The episode focuses particularly on the phenomenon surrounding “Rush” at the University of Alabama, the meteoric rise of “RushTok” on social media, and the psychological toll this process can take on both students and families.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Mock Rush: Practicing Perfection

[02:04–03:58]

• Description of a “mock round” organized by Tricia Addix, founder of consulting company “It’s All Greek to Me.”
• This practice round closely imitates the real recruitment process with current sorority members leading sessions.
• Emphasis on performance under stress: “First off, we make them stand outside on the sidewalk in the heat because that’s a big part of being able to present yourself when you’re dripping sweat and hot.” – Tricia Addix [03:18]
• Real-time feedback for participants on everything from outfit choice to facial expressions to conversational engagement.

2. Why Sorority Consulting?

[04:19–09:57]

• Sorority recruitment consultants are now widespread; the field is growing rapidly.
• “I think it would surprise people that we have clients from all over… but they just all have that one common desire to find their people, and they want to put in the work to do it.” – Tricia Addix [04:17]
• Both Tricia and fellow consultant Lori Stefanelli (Greek Chic) share deeply personal stories about their own rush experiences—success, failure, and lifelong bonds.
• Tricia’s own rejection during sorority rush infuses her drive to help clients avoid similar trauma.
• Early business was built mainly through word-of-mouth but rapidly expanded as demand outpaced supply.

3. The “RushTok” Phenomenon & Bama Rush Documentary

[10:08–12:23]

• The 2021 TikTok explosion of “RushTok” at University of Alabama brought unprecedented visibility to Greek recruitment and to consultants themselves.
• Followed by the 2023 Bama Rush documentary, interest soared: “The girls are, like, glammed to the gods—it sucks you in.” – Lori Stefanelli [11:38]
• Influx of clients, particularly from outside the South—students from the East Coast, Midwest, and even West Coast now flocking to Southern schools in hopes of joining top Greek organizations.

4. The Client’s Perspective: Brooke’s Story

[12:23–14:45]

• Interview with Brooke, a student from outside Boston with no Southern connections, who became captivated by Rush culture via TikTok.
• Sorority recruitment compared to pageants: “Just seeing TikToks—it’s a huge pageant pretty much at the end of the day.” [12:52]
• Brooke’s mother invests in Greek Chic’s top-tier package ($1,500–$3,000)—in part because Lori is physically present during Bama Rush week: “She can have a second mom.” – Brooke [14:11]

5. The Preparation Process

[17:01–20:47]

• Preparation begins as early as senior year of high school.
• Key elements:
  • Social Resume: Emphasizes extracurriculars and personality (e.g., “Pilates, podcast enthusiast”). – Brooke [17:33]
  • Bridging Cultural Gaps: East Coast girls “need to tone that down and be cute girl instead.” – Lori Stefanelli [18:16]
  • Social Media Scrub: Instagram and other accounts must be public, polished, and “brand-appropriate”—no bikini or alcohol pics; more images with friends/family than selfies/romantic partners. – Tricia Addix [19:41]
• Notable quote: “My rule of thumb is the number of pictures by yourself or with a boyfriend cannot exceed the number of pictures of you with your family and friends.” – Tricia Addix [19:41]
• The process is described by Lori as “a game… and if you want to play, you’ve got to play by the rules.” [20:15]

6. Dress Codes and Outfits: Branding Yourself

[20:22–22:27]

• Each rush round has a distinct dress code and theme; consultants provide brand recommendations and approve outfit choices.
• Emphasis on both fitting in and retaining personal style: “Let’s go with a blue in that shade… I think that would work perfect for you.” – Lori Stefanelli [21:53]

7. Beyond Appearance: Conversational Skills

[22:27–23:49]

• Rush is “one long round of speed dating”—being able to hold spontaneous, genuine conversation matters.
• Extensive prep for those who need it: “If you practice specific questions and then you’re not asked those… then you’re a deer in headlights.” – Tricia Addix [22:47]
• Some clients practice up to two hours daily, four months prior to rush.

8. Rush Week at the University of Alabama: The Main Event

[25:19–28:98]

• Rush dominates campus life in August; non-Southerners can feel out of place amid hyper-prepared Southern peers.
• Daily routine includes 5:30–6:00am wake-ups, long lines for shuttle buses, group waits outside sorority houses.
• Emotional stakes are high; being accepted or rejected triggers extreme anxiety in both freshmen and their parents.

9. Rollercoaster of Emotions: Handling Stress and Rejection

[28:32–32:44]

• Consultants become ad hoc therapists for parents as well as students, regularly fielding late-night calls.
• Mothers in particular may spiral if their daughters don’t get invited back to top houses—sometimes pulling daughters from school entirely.
• “The parent's role when they have a child going through rush is to be a support… It’s something they should really, really, really try hard. Dig deep.” – Tricia Addix [31:49]
• Lori, with an HR background, isn’t afraid to deliver hard truths to overbearing parents.

10. The Payoff: Bid Day

[33:03–34:02]

• The final event (Bid Day) is a high-emotion spectacle—2,000 girls open their envelopes in unison, stadium erupts in cheers or tears.
• “When I opened my envelope, I saw that I’d gotten into my top choice…” – Brooke [34:02]
• For many, the sorority becomes “home away from home” and forges friendships that can last a lifetime.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the intensity of preparation:
  “It’s like a job interview—only the people across from you are girls around your age you really want to like you.” – Marco Gray [05:10]
• On the TikTok effect:
  “The girls are, like, glammed to the gods—it sucks you in.” – Lori Stefanelli [11:38]
• On social media strategy:
  “You have to make [your Instagram] public… This is a vibe check for your daughter.” – Lori Stefanelli [18:44]
• On family anxiety:
  “I was talking [the father] out of this tree from 2 to 4:30 in the morning.” – Tricia Addix [31:11]
• On finding community:
  “For me, it’s like my home away from home… It’s awesome.” – Brooke [34:02]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-------------|-------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:04–03:58 | Mock rush practice with Tricia Addix | | 04:19–09:57 | Why students and families turn to recruitment consultants | | 10:08–12:23 | The influence of RushTok and Bama Rush documentary | | 12:23–14:45 | Brooke (student) explains her rush journey and hiring Lori | | 17:01–20:47 | Prep: Social resumes, Instagram, and cultural translation | | 20:22–22:27 | Outfits, dress code, and body-positive consulting | | 22:27–23:49 | Conversational prep and the art of spontaneous talk | | 25:19–28:98 | On-campus rush week: routines, anxieties, acceptance | | 28:32–32:44 | Handling rejection and parental stress | | 33:03–34:02 | Bid Day: The emotional payoff |

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Tone & Takeaways

The episode is candid, empathetic, and at times incredulous about the high-stakes, appearance- and brand-driven nature of modern sorority recruitment. Marco Gray and his guests neither wholly vilify nor glorify the process or the consulting business; rather, they offer a nuanced look at how aspiration, anxiety, and a desire for belonging combine in a fiercely competitive and monetized system.

For listeners, the story offers insight and caution: sorority recruitment in 2026 is both social spectacle and big business, one where vulnerability and hope are bought, coached—and sometimes dashed.

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Transcript

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[Narrator/Chorus]

I L T H A C H I Omega A L T H A

[Marco Gray]

C H I Omega 10 girls stand in a line outside of a house. They're wearing dresses, mostly florals and pastel.

[Narrator/Chorus]

Everybody wants to be a Thai Omega. All we can tell them is we're hot.

[Marco Gray]

If you saw it from the street, you'd probably assume it was sorority recruitment, but it's not. This is just practice for the real thing. The event is being put on by Tricia Addix. She's the founder of a company called It's All Greek to Me, and her job is kind of fascinating. She's what's called a Sorority Rush consultant, which means she helps girls across the country get into sororities. One of the reasons people hire her is this event, which she calls a mock round of Roche.

[Tricia Addix]

That mock round is very well attended. It's very highly sought after because we are the only company that does this, and we do it really well. I live in Atlanta, but I have people flying from all over.

[Marco Gray]

Last year, one girl flew five hours from Seattle just to participate in an hour and a half mock round of rush. Tricia says the appeal is how realistic it feels.

[Tricia Addix]

First off, we make them stand outside on the sidewalk in the heat because that's a big part of being able to present yourself when you're dripping sweat and hot. So we do it in July or August here. It's really crowded, chaotic, and it's put on by people who are currently in sororities so they know exactly what this looks like,

[Marco Gray]

just like they would in real rush. The girls file into Trisha's house one by one. They have conversations, lots of small talk. And afterwards, Trisha gives them real time feedback on everything. Their outfits, their conversational skills, even their facial expressions.

[Tricia Addix]

It's really important to know how you appear. I'm not talking about what outfits you're wearing. It's how your face looks. Are you open? Are you listening? Are you engaged?

[Marco Gray]

I imagine some of you are probably rolling your eyes right now, but Tricia's business is booming.

[Tricia Addix]

I think that it would surprise people that we have clients from all over, from New York to California to the Midwest to the South. It's all backgrounds, but they just all have that one common desire to find their people, and they want to put in the work to do it.

[Marco Gray]

Tricia's not alone in this business, not even close. Sorority recruitment coaching is an entire industry now, and it just keeps growing. I'm Marco Gray. Today on campus files. The business of sorority recruitment consulting. Sororities have been around since the mid-1800s. Back then, they weren't called sororities. They were called women's fraternities. They borrowed traditions from men's fraternities. The Greek letters, the rituals, all of it designed to signal a certain kind of prestige. But over time, they got their own name sororities and developed their own identity and traditions. One of those traditions is recruitment, or as most people call it, rush Today. It's pretty standardized at most schools. It plays out over the course of about a week. I went through it in college, and I have a pretty vivid memory of it. It's kind of like a job interview. Only the people across from you or girls around your age you really want to like you. On day one, you walk into a room filled with chanting girls. You're probably sweating from nerves from the heat, sometimes from the fact that there's no air conditioning. You make small talk, you smile a lot. And then after about half an hour, you leave and walk straight to the next sorority to do it all over again. At the end of the day, you rank the sororities you liked best. They do the same with the women they met each round, your options narrow based on mutual interest. Getting cut from a sorority is never fun. Inevitably, there are girls crying quietly in bathroom stalls. It's intense. And that intensity helps explain why an entire industry has popped up around it. Professional coaches who help girls navigate all the do's and don'ts of the rush process. Here's sorority rush consultant Tricia Addicts.

[Tricia Addix]

Think of it sort of as you would like a job interview. You wouldn't just show up and chat with someone to get a job. You would think about how you presented yourself. You would want to have a great resume. All of the things that on the back end are what's really important in rush.

[Lori Stefanelli]

A lot of girls think like, I was the homecoming queen, I was student body president, I was captain of the soccer team, or I volunteered here and think like, I don't have to try as hard.

[Marco Gray]

This is sorority rush consultant Lori Stefanelli.

[Lori Stefanelli]

And it's like, okay, we'll take a number because there's like 2,700 girls going through recruitment. So the math right there is going to tell you right there it's fairly competitive.

[Marco Gray]

Back in 2013, Lori started a sorority consulting company called Greek Chic. She was working in HR before that, but on the side, she was regularly helping her friend's daughters going through the sorority recruitment process. After a while, her husband convinced her it could be a real business, and Laurie loved the idea. Her own sorority experience had meant a lot to her, and she was excited to help other girls find something just as meaningful.

[Lori Stefanelli]

I went to a very large public high school in Texas, and it was kind of cliquey, and I was a little bit of a try hard. Like, I always wanted to be accepted. And when I got to college, I've never had so many girls like and appreciate me, like, just for who I was. And I'm still friends with a ton of my sorority sisters to this day. Like, we talk, we text, we visit, we have girls weekends. You know, like, we're in each other's weddings and things like that. So as cheesy and trite as that might Sound. It is an experience that I will never take for granted.

[Marco Gray]

Tricia is also driven by personal experience. Back as a freshman at the University of Georgia, she was really excited to join a sorority. But she went into recruitment completely unprepared, and it didn't go the way she'd hoped. On bid day, the day everyone finds out which sorority they've been invited to join.

[Tricia Addix]

So everybody else pulled out their bid card and I had an empty envelope and my rush counselor, I looked at her and I was like, what? And she just shook her head and she was like, yeah, you didn't get a bid. So I found an empty dorm room, cried my eyes out, was mortified, and everybody else was screaming, running around. It was a trauma. And I know that that might seem like a joke or an exaggeration or whatever, but it really was because it wasn't just about not being a sorority. It was that feeling of rejection, that feeling of nobody wants you. That stayed with me. It has stayed with me for my whole life.

[Marco Gray]

Trisha doesn't want any of her clients to experience that feeling. Her business, it's all Greek to me, started similarly to Lori's. She was originally getting clients by word of mouth and doing everything on her own. But it was hard to keep up with the workload, especially with clients spread across different schools, each with their own rush weeks.

[Tricia Addix]

So this was like an eight week period that I was zero sleep. Like, I wouldn't go to the bedroom and I would be on the phone all night. I wasn't getting any sleep.

[Marco Gray]

Tricia started bringing on additional employees to help manage the workload. But demand kept growing. The first major Spike came in 2021, when Rush Talk took over TikTok. That's when freshmen at the University of Alabama began posting videos about their experience going through sorority recruitment.

[Rush Week Participant]

Good morning, y'.

[Narrator/Chorus]

All.

[Rush Week Participant]

Wake up. Today is day number one of Alabama Rush and I am so excited. I hope you're having a great day. Not just fine.

[Brooke]

Today's Saturday, the first day of rush.

[Marco Gray]

This is my outfit. The videos started going viral. People across the country were stunned by the lavish sorority houses, the designer outfits, the over the top choreographed dance routines. Trisha saw a spike in applicants, but nothing compared to 2023. That's when the documentary Bama Rush premiered.

[Brooke]

We're getting ready to rush. Like, look at all the people already starting to line up.

[Lori Stefanelli]

The University of Alabama is the top sorority recruitment in all the country.

[Brooke]

Rush consists of four highly competitive rounds. Let's be honest, I probably would not be going to Alabama if It did not blow up.

[Marco Gray]

On TikTok. Bama Rush takes viewers behind the scenes of sorority recruitment at the university of Alabama. What had once been a relatively private campus process was suddenly public, and that visibility extended beyond the sororities to the sorority consultants themselves. Both Tricia and Lori were interviewed for the documentary. Here's Lori speaking in Bama Rush.

[Lori Stefanelli]

The university of Alabama is the top sorority recruitment in all of the country, and it's a huge school with tons of money rolling into it for their football program. The girls are like glam to the gods. It sucks you in.

[Marco Gray]

After the documentary came out, Lori was inundated with new clients, and she saw a surge in one type of client in particular. Girls from the east coast, the midwest, and the west coast hoping to attend school in the south.

[Lori Stefanelli]

I was sitting on a panel, and there were so many girls from Greenwich, Connecticut, who were going down south, like Tennessee, Ole miss, Auburn, Clemson, Texas. And I was, like, kind of taken aback how full the room was of these girls.

[Marco Gray]

I got the chance to talk to one of Lori's east coast clients. Her name is Brooke.

[Brooke]

So I grew up about an hour outside of Boston, Massachusetts, in a small town, no connection to the south at all.

[Marco Gray]

Growing up, Brooke had never even considered the university of Alabama. Her older sister went to Boston college, just a short drive from home. But then bama rush came out, and suddenly her TikTok was flooded with videos. They reminded her of the beauty pageants she competed in.

[Brooke]

Just seeing tiktoks, it's a huge pageant pretty much at the end of the day. Interviewing with all these girls going to different houses, seeing which one overall you can pretty much win is kind of how I like to look at bama rush.

[Marco Gray]

Brooke ended up applying to the university of Alabama. When she got in, she knew one thing for sure. She wanted to be part of Greek life. The idea of having a group of sorority sisters really spoke to her.

[Brooke]

I've always wanted that kind of relationship. Like, I'm the youngest child. So having, like, a younger sister in theory is super exciting to me. But then also having an older sister mentor on campus was super important. Coming from being so many miles away,

[Marco Gray]

getting into a sorority wasn't going to be easy. At least that's what Brooke had seen on TikTok. And if she were going to compete, she wanted to be prepared.

[Brooke]

My mom and I really started digging through rush stuff and what it was all about. Outfits, how to prep and everything like that. And one of the things we found was people use sorority consultants. I never knew anyone who had one personally.

[Marco Gray]

Brooke and her mom went down a rabbit hole looking into all kinds of recruitment consultants. But one company stood out. Lori's company, Greek Chic. What really sold them was the fact that Lori actually travels to Alabama during rush week to support her clients.

[Brooke]

I could go and see her during the week if I needed to, and that was the key factor for my mom because she couldn't be here. So she's like, okay, she can have a second mom.

[Marco Gray]

Of course, all of this costs money. At Lori's company, packages range from $1,500 to $3,000. The priciest package includes 24. 7 on call support throughout recruitment week.

[Brooke]

I think for us it was just we're going all in. We're gonna get the highest package and just roll with. It will be worthwhile for the results we want at the end of Bama rush.

[Marco Gray]

But hiring a consultant is only the first step. After that, the real work starts.

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[Marco Gray]

At most schools across the country, sorority recruitment begins at the start of the fall semester. But the preparation often begins a lot earlier than that. At Greek Chic, for example, Lori starts working with clients during their senior year in high school as soon as they know where they're going to college. One of the first things she has her clients do is create a social resume, which is exactly what it sounds like. Instead of a list of your previous employers, it's a list of all the social things you're involved with. Brooke made one of these.

[Brooke]

I put hobbies, I think, on mine. I had, like, Pilates, like, podcast enthusiast, and then something else.

[Marco Gray]

When Lori works with girls who've never lived in the south, there can be a cultural divide to navigate.

[Brooke]

So I would say, previous to Alabama, I had no connection to the south at all. My grandfather moved to North Carolina when I was younger but never visited him, so really came in with no idea of what to expect other than just seeing TikToks TV shows, everything like that.

[Marco Gray]

Part of the reason that Brooke had chosen to work with Greek Chic was that Laurie lived on the East Coast. She'd worked with a lot of young women from the Northeast who were hoping to join Greek life in the South.

[Lori Stefanelli]

I'm able to kind of translate for them a little bit about, like, hey, I know, like, you're a cool girl in the city and all that, but, like, you gotta tone that down and be cute girl instead. I know that you went to, like, a beautiful, wonderful private school in New York City or boarding school somewhere in Connecticut, but that's not gonna translate in the South.

[Marco Gray]

I'm curious what some of the big misunderstandings are that girls from the east coast tend to have about Southern rush culture.

[Lori Stefanelli]

I feel like kids on the east coast, it's a little bit of, like, this quiet, luxury status aura that they have around them. All of their Instagrams are private. And I'm like, you have to make that public. And they get very touchy about that, especially the parents. And I'm like, this is a vibe check for your daughter. And she needs to make it public so that the sororities can see her ahead of time before she steps foot onto campus. And they kind of push back on that a little bit because they don't understand the why around it, the ask around it. So it's a little difficult sometimes, but

[Marco Gray]

whether you're from New England or Mississippi, Lori and the other consultant I spoke to, Tricia, both emphasize the importance of social media. Once an application is submitted, it's usually the first thing sororities will look at. Tricia tells girls to delete any photos in bikinis. Sam goes for any photos involving alcohol. Here's Trisha.

[Tricia Addix]

My rule of thumb is the number of pictures by yourself or with a boyfriend cannot exceed the number of pictures of you with your family and friends. Because you want to look like a girl. Squirrel, you want to look like someone who is open to friendships. So if you just post a bunch of thirsty photos of yourself and or with your boyfriend, that's not the image you want to project.

[Marco Gray]

If all of this is sounding a little shallow and vapid to you, Lori says, basically, this is how you should think about it.

[Lori Stefanelli]

It's a game at the end of the day. Like sorority recruitment is a game. And if you want to play, you've got to play by the rules.

[Marco Gray]

Speaking of rules, dress code is a big one. Rush isn't just one event. It stretches across several days and multiple rounds. Each round has a different theme and a different dress code. One day is all about sisterhood, another focuses on philanthropy. Some days call for sundresses, other days cocktail dresses.

[Rush Week Participant]

So my skirt and top is from Whiskey Active.

[Brooke]

It's the lilac scallop set.

[Rush Week Participant]

And then my shoes are from Hoka. My earrings are from Gucci, and like, and then my bracelets are Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton.

[Marco Gray]

Sorority consultants give brand recommendations, styling tips, and nothing gets worn without their sign off.

[Tricia Addix]

We do an outfit plan for every single round with backups because it's really important to kind of center yourself before you start this. And running around trying to figure out what you're wearing is going to distract from that. And then same thing with hair and makeup, how long it's going to take you to get ready and when you're going to get ready. And all of that is all part of it.

[Brooke]

Lori had lists that she'd put together for the different rounds of rush for what she kind of suggested or things she would absolutely love for people to wear during rush. And then it was also very important to have, like, personal style. So finding things that you like that kind of match that mood, and then texting her or showing her in calls and just being on board with everything, it was kind of total Freedom. But then also you had something to go off of. At the same time, I try to

[Lori Stefanelli]

work with them as best as I can just to kind of have them feel confident in what they're wearing. Every girl's different style, body shape, height, even, like, I'm only five foot. So, like, when I have girls that are like, I'm 58 or 5 10, I'm like, okay, maybe this short little dress won't work for you. But I always have, like, a really positive spin on it instead of like, hey, you look crappy in that and it sucks. I hate it. I would say, oh, my gosh, I saw you wearing this blue dress on your Instagram the other day, and it. That is such a beautiful color on you. Let's go with a blue in that shade. Like, I think that would work perfect for you.

[Marco Gray]

You're probably getting the sense that image is very important to the whole process. And you're right. But it's not the only thing. Rush is essentially one long round of speed dating. So conversational skills are very important. And the goal isn't to memorize talking points. It's to build these conversational skills.

[Tricia Addix]

If you practice specific questions and then you're not asked those specific questions or anything like that, then you're a deer in headlights. So it's very much random. Like, okay, what's your favorite thing to do when you're at the beach? Or whatever, Anything. Just so that they don't have a practiced answer.

[Marco Gray]

The amount of conversation prep depends on the client. For girls who struggle the most, Tricia estimates they practice anywhere from one to two hours a day for the four months leading up to Rush. Thankfully for Brooke, conversation has always been a strong suit. So this part didn't take nearly as much work. By the time her recruitment started In August of 2025, she was ready. Her resume and recommendation letters were in, Her Instagram was polished, her outfits carefully planned. It was finally time for what all of this had been building toward. Rush week.

[Rush Week Participant]

Par les tu francais hablas espanol?

[Tricia Addix]

Parle italiano?

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[Marco Gray]

Rush week at the University of Alabama takes place in August, about a week before the fall semester begins. During that time, campus feels like it's all about rush. Sure, there are other people around athletes, band members, international students moving in early, but the overwhelming majority are there for recruitment. Lori says the spectacle can be overwhelming, especially for clients who aren't from the South.

[Lori Stefanelli]

They see all these girls from the south who are extremely prepared, like they've been prepared since freshman year in high school, if not sooner. They've grown up in this environment.

[Brooke]

I was just meeting people who Alabama rush and sorority rush in general, like that's their livelihood. It usually dates back to like mothers, grandparents, aunts, everything like that. That's what they live for.

[Marco Gray]

Even though Brooke was an outsider, she says she still felt pretty confident.

[Brooke]

I went into the week feeling very relaxed because I was so organized and I think if I hadn't done that, I would have been freaking out every night.

[Marco Gray]

But even with all the preparation, the week is intense and the days start early.

[Brooke]

I get ready pretty fast, so two hours isn't crazy. That's like usually like 5:36am Wake up, but there are definitely girls waking up at four or five in the morning.

[Marco Gray]

Nearly 2,000 girls go through rush at the University of Alabama each year. Every morning, shuttle buses move them from dorms across campus to the basketball stadium where the day begins.

[Brooke]

There was a solid group of maybe 50, 75 girls outside your dorm every morning waiting for the bus. It was like, what are girls wearing Today, maybe I should wear this tomorrow instead of this outfit. But I would say I felt pretty on par with everything and all the girls and what they were wearing. But I think sometimes it was reassuring because I felt super dressed up most of the days. And then I would see other girls and be like, okay, you get me.

[Rush Week Participant]

Like, we're good.

[Marco Gray]

From the basketball arena, the girls split into groups and start going from sorority house to sorority house.

[Brooke]

I think honestly the most intimidating would be waiting outside the houses because you were shoulder to shoulder with a group of maybe 35, 45 girls waiting to go in these houses. And it's really awkward when you're just standing there for. They line you up, I think, 20 minutes before. So just standing there for 20 minutes, not saying anything, that could be really hard.

[Marco Gray]

I know the first day is mostly just small talk, but what do you remember from your first day at the sorority house you eventually joined?

[Brooke]

I knew the first day I walked in that was the place I was meant to be. And I just like got chills all over my body and I was like, oh, maybe it's from going from 95 degrees to air conditioned house. But no, I really just knew that was the place I was meant to be. And every time I'd walk by, I'd be like, yes, that's where I'm going to end up.

[Marco Gray]

Just because someone likes a house doesn't mean they'll get invited back. At the end of the day, the freshman girls rank their favorite houses and the sororities rank the girls. Then it all goes into an algorithm. Each sorority has a slightly different algorithm, which no one fully understands and sororities don't love to explain. The next morning, freshman girls get a list of the sorority houses they've been invited back to.

[Brooke]

Going into the morning, I was definitely nervous when I would get those invite lists, but and be like, oh my gosh, like, what if I don't get invited back to X, Y and Z? Like there were girls who would open that list in just like full panic, like full breakdown. And that was super hard to see. Like, I took rush super seriously, but it wasn't going to change my life. But some girls, like, this is their life and they kind of see Rush and one house as their end all be all. So that was super difficult to watch.

[Marco Gray]

That kind of panic is common during rush week. Consultants say they get a steady stream of anxious calls.

[Lori Stefanelli]

I think a lot of girls get stuck in their heads very often. And the biggest thing I tell them is if you continue to have these thoughts and feelings about yourself, you are not going to be able to move forward. If we could practice, maybe. Why are you thinking like this? Okay, but do you know that for sure? Do you know that's what they're thinking about you? No. Okay, well, what was positive about the conversation that you had at that round?

[Marco Gray]

Emotions only intensify as the week goes on, as cuts are made and girls aren't invited back to sorority houses.

[Lori Stefanelli]

It's really important at that age to be accepted. And especially if you're going out of state and you're moving away from your family and your support system. And I think the reason why so many girls get so upset is nobody likes to be dumped, Nobody likes to be rejected, Nobody likes to be uninvited to something. And I think that it hurts a lot of girls because they feel less than sometimes.

[Marco Gray]

But the freshman girls aren't the only ones freaking out. Consultants regularly get calls from moms too. Here's Tricia.

[Tricia Addix]

They will put their desires on their daughter. And there are a lot of rumors. There's a lot of talking amongst moms. If someone's gone to a lunch with a bunch of women and their daughters are all going through rush, and one of them says, oh, my daughter's got invited back to every house that she wanted. And if someone's daughter doesn't, then they're calling their daughter, what did you do that you didn't get asked back?

[Marco Gray]

Sometimes Tricia ends up having to calm down an entire family. Like this one situation she told me about, it all started with the mom spiraling.

[Tricia Addix]

This is going to be terrible. She's going to get dropped from everything. Oh my God, what's going to happen? So then the dad, who had no idea about our prep or anything, he's like, what is happening? My wife is spiraling. How is my daughter gonna get cut out of rush? He called me at two in the morning and he's like, I don't understand. You have to tell me what's going on. So then I'm talking him out of this tree from 2 to 4:30 in the morning.

[Marco Gray]

This wasn't the only middle of the night call Tricia has gotten from a parent. And it wasn't even the craziest story she shared with me. She told me about one mom who'd heard from her friend about which sororities were, quote, unquote, the best at her daughter's school. When her daughter got dropped by several of them, the mom was not happy, to say the least.

[Tricia Addix]

The daughter was fine while the mother was Losing her mind and spam texting her daughter and spam texting her mentor. She said this process just isn't for her. We're pulling her. They pulled her out of school. She's not in college. I can't make this stuff up.

[Marco Gray]

Tricia told me she couldn't help herself. She went off on the mother.

[Tricia Addix]

It's not my place, but I don't keep my mouth shut when someone messes with a kid. I can't help myself. The parents role when they have a child going through rush is to be a support because they're under so much pressure. And it's something I tell parents every day, but it's something that they should really, really, really try hard. Dig deep.

[Marco Gray]

Tricia doesn't have a degree in psychology, but she says the job often feels like family therapy. The same goes for Lori. She has no shortage of stories about telling moms to calm down.

[Lori Stefanelli]

My background is in human resources. I worked in human resources for over 20 years. A mom and daughter is not going to steamroll me. So I have to be honest and real with these moms at times that your daughter got into the sorority that she was meant to be in.

[Marco Gray]

Brooke told me that neither she nor her mom ended up calling Lori in tears during rush week. Still, she felt a big sense of relief when it was finally over. Can you paint me a picture of the day when everyone finds out which sorority they got into? I know, for example, you get envelopes with the sorority names in them.

[Brooke]

So I was walking in. You're with all of these girls. It was probably about 2,000 girls. This is so exciting. It was like, so hot. They're passing out waters at all times, and you have to wait and listen to all the speeches before you can open your envelope. Just waiting maybe half an hour, 45 minutes. And so that part's, like, very anxiety inducing. Just waiting there with it in your hands and not being able to open it. And then you've probably seen the tiktoks of like, 10, 9, and just counting down.

[Narrator/Chorus]

3, 2, 1.

[Brooke]

And then everyone opening their envelopes all at once, which is super exciting.

[Narrator/Chorus]

I'm in my mind.

[Brooke]

The noise shakes the stadium. So, yeah, it's definitely loud.

[Marco Gray]

Brooke was one of those girls screaming with excitement. When she opened her envelope, she saw that she'd gotten into her top choice that made all the preparation work.

[Brooke]

Being so many miles away, not having any family here, not knowing anyone. Like, no one from my high school came to Alabama. For me, it's like my home away from home. I go to the house every day, hang out with my friends every day. My roommate is in the same sorority as me, so it's really just the people you're going to be surrounded with for probably the rest of your life. It's awesome.

[Marco Gray]

If you've got a story idea, we would love to hear about it. Send us an [e-mail] and if you're loving this podcast, be sure to click Follow on your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode while you're there. Leave us a review and a five star rating. Campus Files is an Odyssey original podcast hosted by Margot Gray and Ian Mondt. Our executive producers are Leah Rees Dennis and Lloyd Lockridge. Campus Files is produced by Ian Monk and Margot Gray, Sound design and engineering by Andy Jaskowicz and Zach Clark Legal support by Laura Berman and Melissa Jean Original music by Davey Sumner Special thanks to Maura Curran, Josephina Francis, Hilary Schuff, Eric Donnelly, Kate Hutchison, Rose, Sean Cherry, Kirk Courtney and Lauren Vieira.

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[Lori Stefanelli]

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[Katie Ring]

Some crimes are so shocking they don't just make headlines, they forever change our society. I'm Katie Ring, host of America's Most Infamous Crimes. Each week I take on one of the most notorious, notorious criminal cases. Each case unfolds across multiple episodes released every Tuesday through Thursday, from the first sign that something was wrong to the moment the truth came out or didn't. Listen to and follow America's Most Infamous Crimes on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.