There's more to formal recruitment than just talking to "5-7 minutes per person about the same things" though. (Although we all know that does happen!) You spend a week going to all the houses, talking to girls from all of them, making cuts and dealing with the rejection of (potentially) not getting asked back. You have to go through some of these things in COB, too... but in formal, you're in a position where you're competing in a huge group of girls for a limited number of spots in the house. In COB, chapters often only invite the girls they know they are interested in.

I think whether you prefer COB or formal recruitment depends on everything from your chapter, your school, and your individual's preference (ex: some girls are more comfortable without all the frills and such of formal)... there's so many factors that determine the best way to recruit...

your individual's preference

I would just like to recognize the fact that I can't type today. "indivdual's"?? That makes no sense!! :D

My chapter got one of the best presidents we ever had through COB--she was incredibly organized and did so much for the chapter when we needed it. So I think COB can be a good thing.

I do understand the argument that it might not seem "fair" to the girls who went through formal rush, but COB might actually be more nerve-wracking because there are fewer PNMs and the sisters' attention is focused on them. I don't know. I never did COB as a PNM because I went through formal, but my chapter depended heavily on it at first right after I joined because we had just recolonized and were trying to get off the ground. The way we did it was we had TV nights, dinners at the house, or outings to Dairy Queen, etc. that PNMs could attend. I usually saw PNMs around the house several times before they received a bid, so it wasn't like they could just show up at the door and be greeted with an invitation to join.

One final note, though--I think COB sort of has a negative connotation, at least on the campus I went to. If a sorority "has" to COB, that means they're either 1) new, or 2) not doing very well. The sororities who make quota don't COB. So...yeah.

I have to agree with JocelynC. While there are only a few meetings with the chapter, they generally last a lot longer than formal recruitment parties. I joined ADPi through COR, and I was there at each event for at least a couple of hours.. not at all like formal where I would have gone to a 30-minute party and talked to 5 people for 6 minutes each.

I have nothing against formal recruitment.. in fact, I LOVED doing formal recruitment. So I'm not saying one is better than the other, just saying that it's not always "easy" to get a bid through COR versus formal recruitment.

In COR, chapters are still looking for a good fit for the chapter and for all the things they look for in members during formal recruitment, so sometimes women do go bidless in COR. And COR isn't only for women who the chapter already likes or know. I knew of one person in the chapter when I joined ("knew of" because I met her the semester before, but we had lost touch)... and none of my Alpha class had any connections to chapter members before we went to COR events.

I will admit that I think I get to know girls better through COB/COR. I am more sure of whether or not I want them to be a sister in an environment. I actually think that with my college chapter, we were harder on the girls who went through COB/COR than we were on the ones who came through Formal Recruitment, so I definitely don't think it's easier to get a COB/COR bid than a Formal Recruitment bid.

Formal Recruitment is a lot of fun in that you meet a lot of people all at once. I get more excited about Formal Recruitment than I do about COB. But my senior year, we got quota and went over total, so we couldn't do COB the entire year. It kinda sucked, because I wanted to meet some new girls!

I'll chime in w/ the group that doesn't think COB is negative. In fact, I never knew there was any negativity associated w/ COB until I found GreekChat.

On my campus, COB was really our campus' informal Spring recruitment. We had formal in the Fall, and then after the December graduation, all the sororities had spots to fill, so everyone picked up a Spring pledge class. No big deal.

I don't think COBs are any less competitive, either. At our COB's, we'd have a limited # of spots to fill, but we'd always have waaaay more ladies show up. For example, when my little sister came through her COB, we had 6 spots to fill, and we had over 50 girls show up. Of course that's hard on the ones that don't/aren't going to get a bid.

That's exactly how it is here. Or in some cases, groups who made quota but were still not at total after formal often COB'd a small # of girls a few weeks afterward to get them to total. Also, we usually don't get a high turnout for formal rush anyway (this fall was a low 140 girls), so you almost have to COR if you want to reach/maintain total.

And to apologize-I never meant to imply that formal rush is easier by any means. I've done it on the sister side and I'm sure it's no easier on the rushee end. Formal is difficult as well because you have so many choices and decisions and you have such a short time to really process alot of the things that happen. You literally have 4-5 parties to make a good impression, and that is hard.

COR is difficult because you spend time with the chapter in a natural setting and there are fewer PNM's and more sisters, and you feel like they're really watching you to see if you fit with their more natural surrounding.

STL Kappa- You're right, it just depends on your greek system. Mizzou gets thousands of PNM's in the fall so there's virtually no real need to COR. It's the opposite of my school where most girls actually PREFER to wait until COR time to check out sororities. All that matters is that we're all getting quality women to strengthen our sisterhood with. :)

BEING GREEK IS JUST AWESOME... WHO CARES HOW WE END UP THAT WAY, RIGHT?!?!

Apparently I felt strongly enough to type that in caps... but it's true!! I think it really just depends on your school. Since COB/COR is not the norm here, I guess it's seen as more of a negative thing. (Which is unfortunate I suppose, considering all of the reasons why people love it!!) If it was a school where the majority of chapters participated, it would undoubtedly be seen in a way different light...

LOL, that's okay! My keyboard's been acting up like that too, lately :)

As for the "formal rush" vs. COB debate, I don't think you'll ever get a proponent of one method to come out and say that the other method is just as good.

Looking back at my personal experience, formal rush worked very well for me because A) I was cute (please keep in mind, this was loooooong ago :D ) B) I was extremely outgoing and C) I knew how to play the rush game.

Once I started pledging, my sisters figured out what a snotty little beotch I was and how uninterested I was in learning sorority history and I can only imagine the Exec Board discussions they must have had about me! Do you remember the quote from Otter in Animal House, "I was so obnoxious the seniors used to beat me up once a week"? That was (figuratively) me! But hey, it was easy to hide my attitude during the superficial chatter that takes place during formal rush parties. At least at the parties I wanted to be at.

We'd usually COB a few girls in January to make up for December graduates and the girls that came in through COB did so after meeting everyone in a much more relaxed, natural atmosphere. Everyone is more interested in getting to know the rushees and less worried about everyone's Polo shirts being the exact same shade of pink or if so-and-so remembered to pick up the helium tank to fill the balloons. Even if there aren't as many parties, I think the ones there are have more "substance" if you will.

At the end of the day, though, it doesn't matter how someone joined the sorority. In National's eyes, everyone is equal. It's like that joke, "What do you call the person who finishes last in their medical school class? The answer being, "Doctor". Same as the person who finished first.

Spring Rush
 

When I was at UK back in the late 1970's, there was always a spring rush. I have good friends that were members of nine of the thirteen chapters and I recall that each chapter rushed in the spring. Similar to what AXiD670 noted.

That's pretty much exactly how it is on our campus--our events are things like PMS (Pizza, Movies and Sisterhood) nights, going out to dinner etc. And the reasons why COB/R is viewed negatively are right on.

I can understand the potential negative connotation for a COB/R after formal, but what about spring rush to fill the chapter?

And does this apply to snap bids? If a chapter doesn't make quota through bid matching and snap bids to quota, is that looked down on as well?

Note: I am not passing any judgment at all. I just find this very fascinating.

Doesn't snap bidding happen at the end of bid matching?

My understanding is that a chapter may snap bid when they do not reach quota during formal rush. And that while in most cases, it isn't necessarily known if a chapter snap bids to get to quota, however, sometimes it is. (I know that when I was an undergrad, I often knew which chapters offered snap bids. Again, maybe because it wasn't looked down on.)

I have read so many times on GC about ABC chapter that made quota and then snap bids or COBs to get to total. And everyone is so happy for the chapter.

So what I don't understand is what difference does it make *how* a chapter gets to quota? Be it right after formal rush or during the year.

Why would a chapter be looked down on for COBing to get to quota/total during the year while snap bidding to do so is not. Especially during the 'off' semester when formal rush does not take place.

My uneducated guess is that it may simply be a natural competitiveness among the sororities. Not that there is anything wrong with that.