We discussed that on here before and came to the conclusion that NPC wants it to be the "spirit" of a calendar year; that is, if you fill out your pref card, get a bid and decline it on September 1 2007, it doesn't mean you can't go through rush and accept a bid if bid day is on August 27, 2008.

The period that's binding should NOT be only a semester. The exceptions to the rule are 1) the rushee transfers to a different school or 2) the chapter she is pledging closes/loses their charter. In both these cases, the rushee is allowed to sign a bid with another group as soon as she chooses.

I think that you can "release" a woman to another group if they request it and you go along with it, but IMO that usually happens this way:

Polly PNM wanted to be in Awesome ABC and got Uncool UVW instead.
A spot opens up at ABC after formal rush. ABC pressures UVW to release Polly and UVW does it because they don't want to be on the bad side of the "best" group on campus.

This seems so weird to me because, on my former campus, I don't think spots ever "opened up" or if they did, the "best" group wouldn't want to acknowledge it. But I can't imagine trying to hold onto someone who wanted to be elsewhere.

This next part is unrelated to the OPs question, but I'm curious based on what you said, if the groups in question were about total, would a girl depledging actually create a spot? Can you re-bid the spots in that year's quota if the original bids were accepted?

you can only re-bid spots in quota if 1) the bid is declined prior to the pledging ceremony or 2) if the depledging(s) causes the chapter to go below total. if total is 50 and the chapter is at 56 after formal recruitment (having received quota new members), the chapter would have to lose 7 members to go below total and then only have 1 spot open (ie to get back to total) .. the other 6 spots are lost.

where the heck is that thread where we talked about how long quota "lasted"? Some people were saying that you had like a month to get up to quota even if you were over total and I was like WHAT?

I was speaking more about campuses where even the "top" groups have spots open in my scenario - or where the girl was mistakenly not bid by ABC due to grades or computer foul up or something. i.e. it's obvious that it's a mistake that the girl is where she got stuck. I know it seems crazy to think of trying to hold onto someone like that, but the thing is, if you're desparate for every pledge you can get and the sorority they want to go to has girls lining up to get in, you might not feel like being magnanimous. And the thing is, it IS a NPC rule.

That's what I thought. At my undergraduate campus, fall recruitment results usually put the majority of the groups way about total. I'd like to believe that attracting girls from other groups didn't happen because we were more panhellenically minded, but really, it was probably just as much that the groups that were popular enough to pull pledges away never found themselves in that position. (Seriously, some of the groups came back for rush with not too far from total, I think.)

I can never search effectively on GC.

Yep, I can imagine at campuses where total is high relative to the number of girls going through recruitment and the average size of the chapters that things can get pretty cut-throat.

I can also understand that it might be hard to make any NPC rule stick when it comes to keeping a girl from the group she wants and who has room to take her. Without a strong greek life director or an extremely panhellenically minded campus PC, nobody probably tries really hard to enforce the rules.

So I understand that I have to wait until NEXT spring to go through any kind of rush again. What would be the policy on snap bidding, though? I know it's different and that you pledge at a different time or something, but would I be able to receive a snap bid next fall? Or would THAT still have to wait until next spring? I'm so frustrated.

The best thing for you to do is to contact your campus Panhellenic or Greek Life office and verify with them if you'll be eligible in the Fall.

You cannot sign any kind of bid until next spring. Like KSUViolet said, snap bidding only happens in formal so it's a moot point.

Have you talked to anyone in your sorority about your feelings? They might not have any idea how unhappy you are.

I haven't talked to anyone about it, not even my pledge class. i thought it would be inappropriate, and since if i end up sticking with it i don't want the girls to think of me as a major jerk.

Is there anyone you've gotten close to at all? Just tell them that you're having some doubts about initiating and wondered if they've ever felt that way. You can't expect to ever get close to people if you always hold them at arm's length.

LOTS of people have doubts when they are pledging or right after they initiate.

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ad.php?t=90221

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ad.php?t=70338

Also, remember that there are lots of other things to get involved in at Penn State and your sorority doesn't have to be the ONLY thing you do. You are not "saddled" with spending every minute of every day with your sisters, unless you WANT to be. It's not like other schools where you immediately move into the house and are there all the time - even if you do live in the sorority suite, you're going to be in a dorm with other girls from other sororities. You won't be "cloistered" with your sorority only because it just doesn't work that way there.

33girl is correct, you can not accept a bid of any kind until Spring 2009. Since you can't go through formal in the fall, your only choices next spring will be groups that aren't at total, and could very well be the same choices you had this year. The next time you will be eligible for formal recruitment, you will be a junior. Sure, you'll get to go to all 20 (?) chapters, but as a junior, your choices after the first round and subsequent rounds will almost certainly be fewer than the freshmen in your group.

I hope you don't have your heart set on a "top tier" chapter, because your only chance with them may be to be BFF with like 20 people in the chapter, have a 4.0, and killer involvement on campus. Even those things might not be enough to offset the fact that you'll be a junior, and a depledged junior at that. I'm sure juniors get bids at Penn State, but juniors will have significantly fewer choices. You might be looking at the same pool of choices you had for spring informal recruitment as a junior in the fall. Since you're probably not going to "have your pick" in any subsequent recruitments in which you will be eligible, you should really try to find your niche in the chapter and grow close to sisters and your pledge sisters by spending time with them before you depledge.

Reach out to sisters in your chapter. Talk with your new member educator, and your big or temporary big, or with any older sister you trust. I wouldn't say, "Oh, I am thinking about depledging, I just don't see myself here." Emphasize that you don't feel connected, and that you want to spend time with sisters (outside of organized events). By all means, go to as many organized events as you can, and make an effort to hang out with your new member class.

I remember having a conversation with a sister of mine that really turned me off. She joined in spring (we do formal) as a sophomore. She had gone through recruitment as a freshman, but dropped out. She lamented that she had been cut from XYZ because her GPA was low back then (it's much better now), and how it sucked, blah blah blah. It made me feel like she was settling to be my sister, and that she really wanted XYZ, or felt like she would have been an XYZ if it weren't for her freshman grades or sophomore status the following year. She is still a member, and has found her niche in the chapter. Even if you feel this way, don't act like or say things that sound like you think you are too good for your chapter.

PSU Greeks
 

By the time you go through recruitment again (informal Spring) at Penn State you will be in your second semester of your sophmore year. As a Penn State Alumna, I can tell you that it is much harder to get a bid going into your Junior year (because tech. that's what you will be doing) from another good chapter. Chances are: the chapters you had to choose from this past Spring Recruitment will be the same chapters (for the most part) you will have to choose from again.

Even if you decide to go through recruitment in the fall (formal) it will be MUCH harder to get a bid. You are not guaranteed a bid (even though all the chapters have to take at least 1 junior) and remember that University Park is a "feeder school" from the other branch campuses. You will def. not be one of the ONLY Juniors going through-which is why they made that "junior" rule. So, in all honesty-your chances of getting "That #1 chapter" are pretty slim.

If you are in one of the lower tiered chapters now (after going through informal) then, your chances of getting a much higher tiered chapter aren't as great. Also, even if you are in lower tier ABC but, want to move over to equally lower tier DEF or pray you get higher tier XYZ the chapters will recognize it and many of them are somewhat Panhellenically United-so, you have the potential of not getting a bid (even to another bottom tier).

I've watched girls go through recruitment and say mean things to ABC and DEF (thinking they were too good for those chapters and were def. going to get a bid from XYZ) only to find on bid day that NO ONE wanted them-sorority girls talk! Just because you are a member of ABC doesn't mean you can't have fun with the girls from DEF or XYZ....many of the sororities do socials (like Mary Kay, Avon and even Sex Toy parties) with each other....consider that...

I'm not trying to bring you down-I'm just saying you should consider sticking it out. I've seen girls (at PSU) cry because they got a top tier...because they knew since they were legacies to that chapter-it was already set in stone for them. I've also seen girls who are legacies at other higer tier chapters join lower tier chapters because they liked the girls much more. If you don't believe me-ask some of the sisters-I guarantee some of them are legacies to higher tier chapters at that school.

So, before you consider dropping-check out what your chapter has to offer. It's nice to think you could leave this chapter and go elsewhere but, even though PSU isn't exactly an SEC school-competition can be fierce because of events such as THON and Homecoming. Truly reconsider it. Whether you are in a top tier or bottom tier-be proud that these wonderful women you call sisters chose YOU! Whatever the letter-We're all Greek together....