Digital Guide
The Application Playbook
Your application isn’t just a form you fill out and forget. It’s shaping your recruitment experience behind the scenes before you ever set foot in a chapter house. How you present yourself on paper affects who you talk to during rounds and how chapters assess your fit.
This guide covers your application, your resume, your rec letters, and how to make all of it work in your favor.
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The Rush Guide Co. is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NPC or any member organization. Recruitment is a mutual selection process, and no guide can guarantee a bid. This is educational guidance based on the author’s experience. Always follow your campus Panhellenic Council’s official rules.
What’s Inside
Make your paper impression count.
- What your application is actually doing behind the scenes and why how you fill it out matters
- How to build a recruitment resume that makes an impression when someone’s scanning hundreds of them
- Rec letters: how they work now, where to submit them, and what to do if you don’t know anyone Greek
- The formatting and design mistakes that quietly work against you
Who This Is For
Your recruitment starts the day you submit your application, not the day you walk into the first house.
Most PNMs treat their application like a form to get out of the way. They fill it out fast, hit submit, and move on to picking outfits. They don’t realize their materials are being scored, sorted, and used to decide who they talk to during rounds before they ever set foot on campus.
This guide is for PNMs who want to make their paper impression actually count. It’s especially valuable for first-generation sorority recruits without a network of Greek connections, anyone rushing at a large SEC or southern school with hundreds of PNMs, and anyone who needs to write a sorority recruitment resume and has no idea what should go on it.
What Makes This Different
Sorority resume templates online are mostly wrong.
Search “sorority recruitment resume template” and you’ll find pages selling generic Canva templates with no context about what chapters are actually scanning for. Most of them are formatted in ways that get skipped in the basement, list things that work against you, and miss the basics that actually matter.
This guide was written by someone who has personally scored applications and resumes for 40+ recruitments. I know what gets read and what gets skipped when someone is scanning 500 applications in two days. I know the formatting mistakes that quietly tank PNMs. I know what to include and what to leave off, and why. None of this is theoretical. It’s from the basement.
The guide also covers letters of recommendation in a way most PNMs aren’t hearing elsewhere, including what to do if you don’t know anyone Greek to write one for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What you’re probably wondering before you buy.
Do I need a recruitment resume for sorority rush?
It depends on your school. Some require it, some don’t. Either way, the guide recommends making one because it can only help. The guide tells you exactly how to find out if your school requires one and walks you through building it from scratch.
What should I put on a sorority recruitment resume?
The format is different from a job resume. The guide covers every section that should be on it, the order they should appear in, and what to include in each. It also covers what NOT to include, which is just as important.
How long should a sorority resume be?
One page. Always one page. The guide explains how to fit everything that matters onto a single page without making it feel cramped.
Do I need letters of recommendation for sorority recruitment?
Most schools no longer require them, but they’re still a smart move, especially at larger schools where you need every edge to stand out. The guide explains the current state of recs, where to submit them, and how to get them.
What if I don’t know anyone Greek to write me a letter of recommendation?
The guide covers exactly what to do in this situation, including the “introduce yourself” forms most national sororities now offer specifically for women without Greek connections. They were built to level the playing field. This guide explains how to use them.
What is ICS or Campus Director?
These are the two main platforms colleges use for sorority recruitment applications. Your school will use one or the other. The guide tells you what to expect from each and how to navigate them.
Will chapters see my social media if I don’t include my handles?
Yes. Very likely. The guide touches on this, and for the full deep dive on auditing and prepping your social media for recruitment, see The Social Media Playbook.
Is this a physical guide or digital?
Digital. You’ll get an instant download after purchase that you can read on your phone, tablet, or computer.
Pair It With
Your application impression is just the start.
The Application Playbook handles your written materials. Once you’ve submitted, chapters will look at your social media next, which is exactly what The Social Media Playbook prepares you for. And when it’s time to walk into the actual rooms, The Conversation Playbook is the next step. For every guide together at the best value, see The Full Recruitment Bundle.
You’ve read this far. You already know.
Instant digital download for The Application Playbook. Read it on any device.
$47
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