When freshman Caroline Carollo came to Tufts, she didn't imagine herself joining a sorority.
"I've never been the sorority girl type," she said.
But like many other students, the Miami native changed her mind once she got to Tufts.
Panhellenic Recruitment, which involves Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Phi and Chi Omega, the three sororities on campus, took place last week.
This year, however, a significantly lower number of girls than usual participated in recruitment: 63 as opposed to "over 100" last year, according to sophomore Emily Roitman, AOII's Vice President of Communications.
The number of girls who accepted bids, which are official invitations to join a chapter, also dropped from 64 last year to 53 this year, according to James Ryan, Coordinator of Programs and Special Projects at Tufts.
"This represents a smaller number of students taking part in the recruitment process, but a higher rate of retention, meaning we netted very close to last year's number of sorority members," Ryan said in an e-mail.
Roitman said increases and decreases in recruitment are normal.
"It fluctuates from year to year ... it depends on how much we publicize the events," she said. "This year we didn't get the dates up on the Greek Web site, so girls might have been confused about when to come."
"Next year we might have more, we might have less," she added.
While Ryan and Roitman were quick to write off the drop in interest as natural, some students said negative stereotypes about sororities discouraged interest as well.
Freshman Rachel Abbott, who decided not to engage in the recruitment process despite having a number of friends who did so, attributed her disinterest to both a lack of time and a negative perception of the sorority life at Tufts.
"I just felt like I didn't have time for it, and I hadn't heard many good things about the sororities here," Abbot said. "Nothing outrageously horrible, but each one had such a strong stereotype."
Carollo said she was initially influenced by negative preconceptions as well.
"I heard stories from girls back home of sororities where girls had to strip down and guys would circle the areas where you had to lose weight," Carollo said.
But Carollo said she found that her initial perceptions had been inaccurate.
"At Tufts, it's really different," she said. "It's not like you join a sorority and have to commit your whole life to it."
Sophomore Brittany Bannon was this year's head of Rho Gamma, a special group of recruitment guides who disaffiliate from their respective chapters for the month before recruitment so that they can be neutral parties for recruits who aren't sure what they want.
Bannon agreed that many students have misconceptions about sororities at Tufts.
"I feel like a lot of people came into recruitment thinking that it was going to be a lot more intense than it was," she said. "A lot of girls were talking about rumors they'd heard from friends who go to school in the south, and there it's really intense ... I think going through it, they realize that Tufts is pretty low-key in terms of recruitment and sororities in general."
The process began with an Open House at the beginning of the week, during which every registered student was invited to the three chapters to get a feel for each of the sororities.
The second event took place at each chapter house, where the sisters took girls on tours.
After that, the chapters invited back the girls they wanted to come to their second two parties, "theme" and "preference."
Each sorority handed out bids after the preference party. Every girl who attended the required recruitment events received a bid from one of the three sororities as part of Tufts' guaranteed bid system.
According to Carollo, who dropped out of the recruitment process midway as a result of not receiving an invitation from her first-choice sorority, said many girls face a problem when trying to find a place in one of the three chapters.
"Having to rush for all three of them was kind of dumb," she said. "The guys [who join fraternities] don't have to do that."
Abbot blamed the low popularity on the lack of interest in Greek life at Tufts.
"Maybe if we went to a school with lots of sororities, things would be different," she said.
Senior and Rho Gamma member Lisa Hyman said the atmosphere at Tufts is a positive rather than a negative.
"I think here, it's a choice to be in [a sorority] and you have to really want it, versus at a big state school. It's an important part of the school experience," she said. "[At big state schools] more people join it because that's how they might get a social life or that's how they might find themselves, but that's not necessary at Tufts."
"It's a nice luxury, but it's not necessary," she added.
Hyman said she has noticed the lack of recruits this year as well, but doesn't think it will have much effect on Tufts' Greek life in the long run.
"Unfortunately, I don't think [sorority life at Tufts] is growing," she said. "I think it's probably staying pretty much the same."
Roitman emphasized the rewards and friendships she developed from being involved in a sorority, particularly at Tufts.
"Mainly girls who really want a nice support network of friends go through," she said. "For example, a lot of people think that if you don't do a pre-orientation [program], you're not as well off as those who have done it. So basically if you haven't gotten a large group of friends at the beginning of the year, you're a lot more likely to actually go through recruitment."
"You have a place to go," Hyman said, referring to the sororities' chapter houses. "If you want to watch TV, you can go to the house. You just have a place to go."
She also pointed to some non-social benefits, like the various community service activities each chapter takes on.
"We do a lot of philanthropy," Hyman said. "Every sorority has a specific charity they donate the majority of their money to."
In spite of the decrease in recruitment statistics, Hyman stressed its importance in college life.
"I think it's important," Hyman said. "I think that it should continue on ... it's a great thing for people to get involved in if they choose to."
