I was just about to ask those familiar with UIUC recruitment...

I know that it's not impossible for upperclassmen to receive bids at UIUC, but are there a lot of them that rush in the Fall?

The OP's not just a Junior. She's a Junior transfer.

This is my newest favorite rush thread. :)

I normally hear it as Champaign-Urbana, UNLESS you are talking about the University, who does it Urbana-Champaign. Don't know why that is.

DBB or irishpipes...any idea why UofI chose to be different?

In defense of LittleMissVixen, this was open houses. In 20 minutes there isn't a lot to comment on besides appearances and initial conversations. It is important for both the PNMs and the chapters to make a good first impression at Open Houses and it sounds like some of the chapters didn't do as well as they would have liked. I'm sure she'll learn more about them as she progresses in the process and have more substantive comments to share.

I agree that it's going to be a good thread.

But Illinois is one of those that gets 1000+ PNMs, so picking her out wouldn't be as easy as at WIU or EIU.

I agree. She could have been a bit less candid about her true thoughts on the appearances of the girls in each house, but for open house all you really can go on is the blur of a 20 minute party. If all you remember is that ABC had girls who looked like they rolled out of bed and had chipped pedicures..... then it is what it is. Clearly the chapter didn't make a great first impression. To be honest, it's something I would notice too. I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the story though.

It is Champaign-Urbana, and it is U of I. HOWEVER, even when I was there, the university seemed to be pushing to get us to stop calling it U of I and call it UIUC. Like my student ID said UIUC, etc. They told us that there is U of I in Chicago, etc. so our campus truly should be called UIUC. So, U of I people would certainly be familiar with the UIUC terminology, although in speaking we would refer to it just as U of I.

As for why it would be UIUC and not UICU I have no idea. The place rocks though so no criticism from me.

Oh, and OTW - just saw your question - UIUC is different now than when I was there, so DBB would know this better than I would. We only had fall formal rush and I don't think anybody COBd. I don't think they have spring recruitment even now, but several chapters do participate in COB after formal. So, to answer your question, I would think that all juniors - no all students - interested in getting a bid would go through fall formal.

And yes, juniors routinely get bids at UIUC, but they do tend to have fewer options than sophomores and freshmen.

As for the OP, I think even now most of the chapters there are pretty even and the school isn't hell-bent on tiers (although they do exist.) Unless things have changed dramatically, which I have heard they haven't, most chapters have a good deal of members who are stellar, since the PNM pool is very impressive there. Give each group a chance and maybe you will find the kind of girls you are looking for, even in chapters where you least expected it.

They didn't want to be the University of Intensive Care Unit.

There's also a UIS (Springfield) so they're pushing UIC/UIUC/UIS (and maybe a UIP in the future)

Peoria?

I'm subscribing to this thread b/c it's fun! Let's just hope she doesn't flounce away b/c I want to hear how it turns out! ;):D

Juniors can definitely get bids at UIUC, but they are cut hard by the "top" houses. The only exceptions I've seen are if the PNM has a group of friends in a chapter than can vouch for her.

Although with quota additions this might not mean anything - if the chapter can have a separate list for quota additions for upperclassmen.

The PNMs are heavily freshmen but for every 4 freshmen there is a sophomore. Being a junior transfer might weigh her in favor more than just a junior.

I'm speaking of 7 years ago however.

I'm anxious to what her results are!

Finally a UIUC thread, this reminds me to bug on of my pledge sisters who is now our recruitment adviser.

Just make sure you are very careful about your observations, truthful or not. GC is an open forum, and we'd hate for you to end up in a group you called boring just to have them find this thread and get pissed off at you! What happens in cyberspace unfortunately tends to stick around for a long, long time! No one has any ill will towards you, but if you notice the reaction to your first post, you might conclude that it's better to be a little more vague with your negative comments. This, of course, will keep you from insulting women from these chapters and of course, will keep you from being cut if someone finds these posts before the end of recruitment!;)

U of I uses Urbana-Champaign because *technically* the main address of the school is in Urbana. In fact, so are most of the academic buildings, while Champaign has most of the athletic facilities, and a lot of housing. Sororities are just about evenly split between the two.

Junior quota is new, so I can't comment on chances of getting a bid as a junior. Without it, there were only 3-5 chapters that would take juniors, but I don't know if that has changed.

Keep in mind, though, that even a "small" chapter at UIUC will have over 100 women, and because there are so many more fraternities than sororities, a full social calendar.

i like your candor,littlemissvixen.

littlemissvixen's comments are one of the reasons that make me think twice about sorority life. I hope she is the exception rather than the rule. I know there wasn't much time, but all of the comments seemed focused on appearances.