Inside the wild, pricey sorority rush season, fueled by TikTok, helicopter moms and hired consultants

New York Post

2 days ago

Talk about a mad rush.
Recruitment season for Greek life at college campuses across the country starts this weekend, which means it is time once again for the spectacle that is #RushTok: TikTok's viral display of synchronized dances, outfits of the day, and endless theme costumes inspired by 'Grease,' 'Barbie' and 'Top Gun' — with the latter even including an actual airplane at the University of Alabama.
Getting into the sorority of choice is cutthroat business that can make or break a wannabe sister's college career.
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'I have seen girls get cut from houses they want — they end up leaving to go to a different school,' said Kylan Darnell, 21, a senior at the University of Alabama and the queen of #RushTok, with more than 1 million followers on TikTok.
15 Recruitment season for Greek life at college campuses across the country starts this weekend at schools like the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (above: Alpha Chi Omega sisters), which means it is time once again for the spectacle that is #RushTok.
University of Arkansas Alpha Chi / TikTok
15 Rush week is so competitive that applicants — known as Potential New Members, or PNMs — are spending big bucks for consultants to strategize on everything from securing recommendation letters to practicing conversation skills and even auditing a wardrobe. Above is a TikTok from the University of South Carolina's Pi Beta Phi.
University of Arkansas Alpha Chi / TikTok
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In fact, it's so competitive that applicants — known as Potential New Members, or PNMs — shell out big bucks for consultants to strategize on everything from crafting a strong resume and securing recommendation letters to practicing conversation skills and even auditing a wardrobe.
They also bombard Darnell, a member of Zeta Tau Alpha, for advice.
'Girls will send me their outfits asking which one is the best — I can't answer because we're not allowed to talk to [applicants],' Darnell said of being flooded with DMs at this time of year.
While sororities have been part of US colleges for more than 150 years, #RushTok first went viral in 2021 — fueled by over-the-top videos of life at University of Alabama (#BamaRush has accrued more than 1.5 million posts and inspired its own HBO documentary in 2023.)
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15 'I have seen girls get cut from houses they want — they end up leaving to go to a different school,' said Kylan Darnell, 21, a senior at the University of Alabama and the queen of #RushTok, with more than 1 million followers on TikTok.
Photo Credit: Beth Studentberg
15 For 'Work Week,' aka 'Spirit Week' for sorority sisters, Darnell (right) donned aviators, a pilot's cap and a blazer, sans pants, for a series of videos for her sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha.
kylan_darnell/TikTok
15 Some commenters criticized Darnell for posing in a plane that has 12 swastikas on the wing. But a spokesperson quickly pointed out that 'The fighter plane Kylan Darnell used in her video is a North Americans P-51 Mustang, and the Swastikas are the number of enemy Nazi planes that were shot down by the United State Military in WWII. This plane wears those symbols as a historical badge of honor.'
kylan_darnell/TikTok
This year for Work Week — aka Spirit Week, the sorority house bonding period before recruitment officially begins — Darnell donned aviators, a pilot's cap and a blazer, sans pants, for a series of videos. In one, as the song 'Danger Zone' from 'Top Gun' plays, she is seated in the cockpit of a restored World War II American fighter plane.
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Some commenters criticized Darnell for posing in a plane that has 12 swastikas on the wing. But a spokesperson quickly pointed out that 'The fighter plane Kylan Darnell used in her video is a North Americans P-51 Mustang, and the Swastikas are the number of enemy Nazi planes that were shot down by the United State Military in WWII. This plane wears those symbols as a historical badge of honor. To attribute this American warplane to being anything racist is ignorant.'
And that was only day one.
She's also already dressed up in a poodle skirt to transform into Sandy from 'Grease.' On day three, Darnell wore a mini skirt and sky-high heels to look like Barbie, and revealed, 'I can't feel my feet. I have blisters the size of pennies.'
15 Darnell dressed as Sandy from 'Greece' for Day 2 of Work Week during Bama Rush.
Kylan_Darnell/TikTok
'Zeta's sets for their Work Week blow everyone else's out of the water. It is like a Broadway-level production set and props,' Brandis Bradley told The Post. A coach hired by families eager to get their girls into the sorority of choice, she also appears on the new Lifetime docuseries 'A Sorority Mom's Guide to Rush!' premiering Monday.
Behind many a PNM is a Greek-fearing mama willing to do whatever it takes for a golden bid.
Parents splurge thousands of dollars on coaches, hair and makeup glam teams, and new wardrobes — think Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Chanel — for teens to look like they belong at the coveted mansion-style houses at the University of Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss and the University of South Carolina, among other schools.
Last year, Darnell — whose rebellious younger sister Izzy is also a TikTok sensation — revealed her family shelled out a whopping $100,000 on her tuition and Greek life alone.
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'A rush budget to me is non-existent,' one mom declares on the Lifetime show.
15 Parents splurge thousands of dollars on coaches, hair and makeup glam teams, and new wardrobes — think Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Chanel — for teens to look like they belong at the coveted mansion-style houses at the University of Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss and the University of South Carolina, among other schools.
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15 Lifetime docu-series 'A Sorority Mom's Guide to Rush!' premiering Monday, follows the behind the scenes of what it's really like to be a PNM (potential new member).
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When it comes to outfit-of-the-day posts, pastel and ruffled looks from Love Shack Fancy and Stoney Clover reign supreme, Bradley says.
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As for jewelry, wrists are clad in thousand-dollar status stacks of jewelry by David Yurman and Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry, said Bill Alverson, a pageant and sorority coach who appears on the Lifetime show and who worked with Darnell when she won Miss Ohio Teen USA in 2022.
'We know David Yurman loves Rush. You don't have to stack that with a Cartier and Hermes bracelet, but I have clients — the moms — going, 'If they're [wearing] this, we'll do better,'' Alverson told The Post.
He even admits that, 'When my daughter went through rush, I threw her my Rolex watch and said, 'Put this with your Yurman bracelet!''
15 'Girls will send me their outfits asking which one is the best — I can't answer because we're not allowed to talk to [applicants],' Darnell said of being flooded with DMs at this time of year.
kylan_darnell/TikTok
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'My mom saves me a lot of money,' Darnell noted, however, of her costumes. 'My mom gets fabric by the yard and makes them.'
Many who post their efforts on social media are getting a return on their investments.
'A lot of the girls are banking on the notoriety they can get and monetize their social media if they can establish enough of a following riding the wave of the Rush hashtag,' Bradley told The Post. 'Girls are paying their sorority dues and intuition from money they make on social media.'
Alverson also specializes in helping girls with communication and interview skills — and he's he's not afraid to tell someone if their hair is falling flat, as seen on the first episode of the Lifetime show.
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15 #RushTok first went viral in 2021 — fueled by over-the-top videos of life at University of Alabama. #BamaRush has accrued more than 1.5 million posts and inspired its own HBO documentary in 2023.
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15 'They get these alums, these moms, involved putting in furniture and fabrics and having top level interior designers,' coach Bill Alverson said of the sorority houses. 'In these videos it's like, 'What is this,Versailles?''
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He also reveals just how cutthroat it is.
'Every now and then with my coaching, I'll have a mom call and say, 'Oh how many appointments do you have today?' [If] I have three or four, they're like, 'We'll take them all!' … just to be inaccessible to the competition' Alverson said.
He's even a a bridge builder for some families.
'Some of them [the moms] say, 'My daughter won't talk to me' and they'll hire me to go shopping with them for the day,' Alverson said. 'I bring in the competitive aspect — dads love the competition. If we can guide [girls into the right sorority] and it costs buying a few extra pairs of shorts, who gives a damn!'
And once they're in, no expense is spared on how they live.
15 Some sorority sisters flaunt their status with designer handbags, like the $1,950 Gucci purse here.
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15 The popular Dior tote bag has also been seen on Rush Tok, costing a cool $3,350.
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15 'We know David Yurman loves Rush. You don't have to stack that with a Cartier and Hermes bracelet, but I have clients — the moms — going, 'If they're [wearing] this, we'll do better,'' sorority coach Bill Alverson told The Post.
LIFETIME
'They get these alums, these moms, involved putting in furniture and fabrics and having top level interior designers,' Alverson said of the sorority houses. 'In these videos it's like, 'What is this,Versailles?''
What's more, some moms Alverson has worked with have gone so far as to buy their own places near the schools to be close to their daughters during the crucial rush week.
But not everyone is a fan of the Greek experience.
Morgan Cadenhead, 20, a TikTok creator known as 'Bama Morgan' and a student at the University of Alabama, went viral in 2023 for making relatable videos about the 'miserable' Bama Rush experience during recruitment.
15 Some moms Alverson has worked with have gone so far as to buy their own places near the schools to be close to their daughters during the crucial rush week.
Still, after not making it in, she rushed again in 2024 (a story line detailed on the Lifetime series) but didn't get a bid.
'Brandis said you had to look and act the part — and that is true,' Cadenhead told The Post. 'In order to rush you have to be kind of Type A. It's very polished. I'm more Type B.'