We had a surprise initiation after eight weeks. Actually, it wasn't really a surprise because one of my pladge sisters saw the date in a sister's date book so we found out a month or do in advance. This was before NPC, my campus, or my sorority made specific rules about the length of the pledge period. We were lucky. Other pledge classes in my sorority had pledged for ten or more weeks. One pledge class started in the Fall semester and was initiated in the Spring. One pledge class of another sorority wasn't initiated until after the summer. Most pledges were initiated the same semester that they were given a bid.

I think that a shorter pledge period is better. These pledges were burned out by the time that they were initiated. Eight weeks is ample time to get to know the sisters and earn 21 pearls or whatever the sorority requires.