I'm going to look at it in a logical/practical way and say from 1/3 to 1/2 of the existing chapter size. So, if there are currently 30 members, then 10-15 new members would be ideal. When there are more new members than initiated members, it's very tough on the chapter. When there are too few new members, it's hard on the new members. It's all about balance :)

I think pledge classes of about 50 are ideal. Small enough to know everyone yet large enough to have a number of women who will have interests similar to yours.

I think it depends on the campus size, the percentage of students who are greek, and how many sororities/fraternities there are. I think 20-30 is ideal for smaller schools, 50 or so for larger schools.

I'd go more specific: 10-20 for smaller schools, 20-40 for medium schools, and 40+ for larger schools.

My Fraternity had a 33 member class 3 years ago, and it was kind of a mess (especially since the chapter was at 25). Now 12-18 is our safe number for Fall and 20 per year is our ultimate goal.

My pledge class started out as 9 and at the time of Initiation was 6. We were a pretty close group but I would say 15ish would be ideal for me. I'd be okay with 20 but no bigger.

My PC was 42, the one before me was 47. It seems that whenever totals get up into the 40s and remains there for a handful of years, the campus starts talking expansion. Total is 110, so I think they are afraid of pledge classes in the 50s.

My pledge class was 10 (and nobody dropped out or was kicked out), but we were a spring class...the fall class was considerably larger. I think a good size for a fraternity would be about 35ish if you are pledging one class a year, and 24ish with a spring of 10-12 if you are pledging two.

The wide variety of answers shows how there really is a need for all different sizes of chapters...although it would suck if you were one of those who wants a pledge class of 5 at a school where the pledge class is 80 (or vice versa).

We have around 45-50. I think it is a really good number. The idea of an 82 girl pledge class is crazy to me...I feel like I would barely know half the pledge class. 45-50 is big enough that we all find a group of best friends, but we also all get to know each other pretty well.

It's no surprise that most people said their ideal nm class size is what they are used to at their undergraduate school. Ideal size is more than an arbitrary number. It has to do with the size of your chapter house/suite, and the size and culture of your campus.

You can't talk about ideal nm class size without talking about ideal chapter size.

At Maryland, chapters are 95 (total) in the fall and 120 or so in the spring. Spring nm classes are mid to upper 20s, with 32 this past year being a high mark. Fall nm classes are shrinking, usually 10 or fewer. Most chapter houses have 40-50 women living in, with 3 holding 33 and 2 holding 60. Since my chapter's house sleeps 33, we would need a bigger house if chapter size got any bigger. I'd like to see Maryland go to extension instead of raising total if the recruitment numbers keep going up. We can barely fit enough chairs for meetings. Initiation and other rituals are also way too cozy.

I like the size chapters/nm classes are now at Maryland. They're large enough to be diverse, but small enough to still be personal. Even though I would have made the effort to get to know everyone in my chapter even if it were 300 women, I can't say that everyone else would. I'd say 45 in a NM class is the upper end of ideal for me.

This.

Not too big, but big enough to have all types of members that will contribute to the chapter.

I like this ratio. 1/3 is really manageable for the chapter, the only downside is that it doesn't encourage growth (which could be okay depending on what your chapter is looking for.) I think 3/4 is a good number if you're trying to grow, but you only really need that one semester, after that semester I would go back to 1/3-1/2 or the growth would be out of control!

I had 36. The chapter I now work typically has quota around 16-18. I see how much closer that pledge class is, but it's also a small school compared to the largest school in the nation. I think 15-25 is a great size.

My undergrad chapter has had about 22-25 for the last couple of years. I didn't really have a NM class because we basically did COB as a local sorority for a while.

Yeah, one of my sisters was like this. She would have much preferred a pledge class of 40 or so and a chapter of 150-175. Then again, if she wanted to go to that sort of school, she should have.

I would think it would be easier to prefer a class of 80 but end up in a class of 8 than prefer a class of 8 and end up in a class of 80.

I would imagine that many women who join when the pledge class is smaller may not join if the chapters/pledge classes were larger. I probably would not have joined had I not gone to the particular college that I went to and had the particular experiences that I ended up having, which led me to Greek Life.