I was thinking the same thing. But then there are those schools where the first list (after open house) could be well over 1000 and ranking them 1 to 1,000 would take a very long time. But then again, trying to figure out which girls should be on the "flex minus" and the "flex add" lists must take time as well.

My follow up question is this. Do all chapters get the same initial number for their invite list and then given their specific "flex minus" and "flex add" numbers? Or do the RFM Specialists also set the initial invite numbers as well.

Perhaps another way to look at this is say ABC has a high return rate. In theory, ABC does not need to invite as many PNMs to their party as other chapters. As such, is that initial invite number set lower than those chapters that do not have as good of a return rate? Or is it the same number for each chapter, and then the "minus list" comes into play?

To put some numbers to the example, say ABC - based on their recruiting strength - should only invite 80 PNMs. Do they prepare a list of 100 PNMs (because all chapters do), of which 20 are on the "flex minus" list. The “flex minus” list would be utilized if ABC is recruiting as normal (i.e. good returns). Or is ABC’s invite list initially set at 80. And if they are under performing, then their "flex plus" list would be utilized.

Does any of that make sense?

That is pretty much how it has worked in the past- the "flex lists" are the the bottom xxx of the main list- when you put everything in the system it tells you when you are on your flex lists.

If memory serves, if you are asked for a negative flex list, you must use it, but you don't have to use the flex on list (or all of the flex on list). Not sure why you wouldn't, but you don't have to...

Wouldn't excel be able to do this relatively quickly? Use different columns for GPA, daily score, rec/no rec, etc. and have excel tally the scores and rank by that tally column.

ETA: Thanks FR!

I figured there had to be some way that was quick and easy.

A reason for not providing a flex add list is when a weak recruiting chapter doesn't have any additional women they want to invite. In other words, their carry figure is so high as to be every (or nearly every) PNM in the system and there are just some PNMs that a chapter does not want to invite back ... such as grades that don't make the mandatory chapter cutoff.

An add flex list is optional as a chapter cannot be required to invite PNMs that they have determined will not be extended a bid.

That makes sense.

Every chapter has its own invite number based on previous recruiting strength.

The reason there is a flex plus/flex minus is that the lists for rounds prior to the final bid list do NOT need to be in order, so ranking everyone would indeed take additional time, depending on your MS procedure. For example, if you were allowed to extend 100 invitations, plus/minus 10, and you had 20 legacies, and your group mandates a courtesy invite for legacies, it would be a complete waste of time to try to put the legacies in order.

Thanks. This makes sense as well.

As a numbers geek, I usually understand why or how these things work. It is the "why" behind the numbers that I may not always fully grasp.

Doing the entry into ICS is not fun and the flex lists are the worst part, so I thank goodness we don't have to rank everyone.

You don't rank the women every day. You just turn in a list with who you want to ask back. You get a number, say 130, and you can invite back that many women. You don't rank the PNMs until the rank list after pref. Your chapter may keep a running rank, but the RFM is not privy to that information throughout the week. The flex list is useful because the RFM can then pare down that list or add to it if needed.

Thank you everyone for answering. This is so interesting!

If one was able to maintain the list in an Excel spreadsheet, surely there's a way to to upload it into ICS? You might have to start with a download from ICS, and then add attributes necessary to each PNM to make the spreadsheet useful to the Chapter.

***Note I am not a Recruitment Advisor, and do not pretend to be one, it's just that I was a manager of a very large and complex computer database before I started lawyering.

Congrats on your 1000th post!