Inside the wild, pricey world of sorority #RushTok…
Talk about a mad rush.
Recruitment season for Greek life at school campuses across the nation begins this weekend, which suggests it’s time once again for the spectacle that is #RushTok: TikTok’s viral show of synchronized dances, outfits of the day, and countless theme costumes impressed by “Grease,” “Barbie” and “Top Gun” — with the latter even including an precise airplane at the University of Alabama.
Getting into the sorority of alternative is cutthroat business that could make or break a wannabe sister’s school profession.
“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.
Recruitment season for Greek life at school campuses across the nation begins this weekend at colleges like the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (above: Alpha Chi Omega sisters), which suggests it’s time once again for the spectacle that is #RushTok. University of Arkansas Alpha Chi / TikTok
Rush week is so aggressive that candidates — identified as Potential New Members, or PNMs — are spending big bucks for consultants to strategize on all the things from securing advice letters to practising dialog expertise 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
In fact, it’s so aggressive that candidates — identified as Potential New Members, or PNMs — shell out big bucks for consultants to strategize on all the things from crafting a strong resume and securing advice letters to practising dialog expertise 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 12 months.
While sororities have been half of US faculties 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 impressed its own HBO documentary in 2023.)
“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
For “Work Week,” aka “Spirit Week” for sorority sisters, Darnell (proper) donned aviators, a pilot’s cap and a blazer, sans pants, for a sequence of videos for her sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha. kylan_darnell/TikTok
Some commenters criticized Darnell for posing in a airplane that has 12 swastikas on the wing. But a spokesperson rapidly identified 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 12 months for Work Week — aka Spirit Week, the sorority home bonding period before recruitment formally begins — Darnell donned aviators, a pilot’s cap and a blazer, sans pants, for a sequence of videos. In one, as the tune “Danger Zone” from “Top Gun” performs, she is seated in the cockpit of a restored World War II American fighter airplane.
Some commenters criticized Darnell for posing in a airplane that has 12 swastikas on the wing. But a spokesperson rapidly identified 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 rework into Sandy from “Grease.” On day three, Darnell wore a mini skirt and sky-high heels to appear like Barbie, and revealed, “I can’t feel my feet. I have blisters the size of pennies.”
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 employed by households keen to get their ladies into the sorority of alternative, she also seems on the new Lifetime docuseries “A Sorority Mom’s Guide to Rush!” premiering Monday.
Behind many a PNM is a Greek-fearing mama keen to do whatever it takes for a golden bid.
Parents splurge hundreds of {dollars} on coaches, hair and make-up glam groups, and new wardrobes — suppose Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Chanel — for teenagers to appear like they belong at the coveted mansion-style homes at the University of Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss and the University of South Carolina, among other colleges.
Last 12 months, Darnell — whose rebellious youthful sister Izzy is also a TikTok sensation — revealed her household shelled out a whopping $100,000 on her tuition and Greek life alone.
“A rush budget to me is non-existent,” one mother declares on the Lifetime show.
Parents splurge hundreds of {dollars} on coaches, hair and make-up glam groups, and new wardrobes — suppose Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Chanel — for teenagers to appear like they belong at the coveted mansion-style homes at the University of Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss and the University of South Carolina, among other colleges. LIFETIME
Lifetime docu-series “A Sorority Mom’s Guide to Rush!” premiering Monday, follows the behind the scenes of what it’s actually like to be a PNM (potential new member). LIFETIME
When it comes to outfit-of-the-day posts, pastel and ruffled appears to be like from Love Shack Fancy and Stoney Clover reign supreme, Bradley says.
As for jewellery, wrists are clad in thousand-dollar standing stacks of jewellery by David Yurman and Van Cleef & Arpels jewellery, said Bill Alverson, a pageant and sorority coach who seems on the Lifetime show and who labored with Darnell when she gained 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!’”
“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 12 months. kylan_darnell/TikTok
“My mom saves me a lot of money,” Darnell famous, 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 serving to ladies with communication and interview expertise — and he’s he’s not afraid to inform somebody if their hair is falling flat, as seen on the first episode of the Lifetime show.
#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 impressed its own HBO documentary in 2023. LIFETIME
“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 homes. “In these videos it’s like, ‘What is this,Versailles?’” LIFETIME
He also reveals just how cutthroat it’s.
“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 households.
“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.
Some sorority sisters flaunt their standing with designer purses, like the $1,950 Gucci purse right here. LIFETIME
The common Dior tote bag has also been seen on Rush Tok, costing a cool $3,350. LIFETIME
“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 homes. “In these videos it’s like, ‘What is this,Versailles?’”
What’s more, some mothers Alverson has labored with have gone so far as to buy their own locations close to the colleges to be close to their daughters during the essential rush week.
But not everyone seems to be a fan of the Greek expertise.
Morgan Cadenhead, 20, a TikTok creator identified as “Bama Morgan” and a scholar at the University of Alabama, went viral in 2023 for making relatable videos about the “miserable” Bama Rush expertise during recruitment.
Some mothers Alverson has labored with have gone so far as to buy their own locations close to the colleges to be close to their daughters during the essential rush week.
Still, after not making it in, she rushed again in 2024 (a story line detailed on the Lifetime sequence) 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.”
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