>>>Does ANY of this make sense, and is this the difference of how Michigan figured quota?<<<

Shadokat,
It does make sense and I am guessing that UMGirl means they changed the way quota was figured this year, thus making it lower. Thanks.

at MICHIGAN....

Acutally quota was figured the same way as its always been. They took the #s of women returning to 3rd sets divided by 15 sororities. there were 600 women returning so quota was 40.

The system was changed so houses that always made quota in previous years had to make heavier cuts after each of the rounds. Houses that were bigger were only allowed to invite back 300 of the 750 women for 2nd sets while the smaller houses could invite as many as wanted to return. The same level of cuts happened after the other sets as well.

Quota is lower than ever at Michigan because the interest in Greek Life is dropping. They didn't lower quota to make the system fairer. This year only 750 women registered to rush whereas 5 years ago when I was a freshman, there were 1500 of us and quota was 53.

I was talking to a friend in KKG and she said the most noticable difference is that they had more different girls than previoius and the houses they competed with were spread out.

I hope it is understood though that even though it looks like the smaller groups are inviting everyone back they are still using a release figure formula (they are, aren't they?). If not, I can understand why people would be agitated thinking they are getting a "break."

>>>The system was changed so houses that always made quota in previous years had to make heavier cuts <<<

Thank you for the clarification. It doesn't seem to me that using release figures is a new idea, but perhaps not common at larger schools? I helped with recruitment at a very small campus where they enforce release figures. The AOII chapter there has a high return rate, so they had to release 1/3 of the rushees before the 1st invitational party (as did 2 other groups). This is significant for any campus, but when you only have about 90 PNM's it can turn into a very bad thing if you are not careful. I am interested in what those who know have to say about enforcing release figures and how common it is or is not. I see the reason for it, but doesn't it handicap the larger houses?

I would say no. The top groups will always have women lining up to join them. It basically lets women who aren't going to go "popular chapter XYZ" know they hey, they're NOT going to. They can either drop out of recruitment (thus lowering quota and giving smaller groups a better chance of making quota, because these same women are like to attend "popular chapter XYZ" and "less popular ABC" and single intentional preference XYZ) or give better considersation to group ABC and not be surprised on Bid Day.

From my experience, this is very helpful because if chapters do not follow release figures, a top chapter can invite maybe even up to three times quota to their preference party. That's almost 2x quota women that are probably going to be at least a little disappointed on Bid Day. Cross cutting is higher, single intentional preference is higher, etc.

>>>I would say no. The top groups will always have women lining up to join them. It basically lets women who aren't going to go "popular chapter XYZ" know they hey, they're NOT going to.<<<

That part I can understand and agree with, but in the case of the chapter recruitment I helped with, I think they had to release women that they might have ultimately bid, just for the sake of numbers. I know that it has to be the case when you are releasing 300+ women in the first cut. Even if you release first for grades and such, there are still women in there that you just didn't get to meet. I am from a chapter that was the smallest on campus and I am sure that abiding by release figures (back in the day) would have helped us overall, but there has to be a happy medium. I am wondering if the present system is it.

I think the time when release figures are needed the most is when chapters are being greedy...let's face it, if you invite 50 girls to pref and you only have 5 spots to fill, that is just plain mean. Mean to the rushees to lead them on, and mean to the other sororities because you are keeping alive false hopes for a girl who if she was let go from a house that is totally out of reach, might be able to look at other houses with an open heart and mind.

It all depends on what the group's average return percentage was for the past 3 years (and even then -- there can be flaws with that number). Let's say a group had an average 40% return going into pref -- they should probably invite 50 in order to fill 5 spots.

oh, duh!
 

of course, that is what I meant. :p if you are a group where everyone who goes to your pref puts you first, you don't need 10 times the amount of girls you can bid at pref.

So, after 1st set the "big" houses had to release more than half! :eek: And when you say the ame level of cuts happened after eash round, do you mean the big houses had to always cut half and the smaller got to invite as many as they wanted? If that's the case, that hardly seems fair. But maybe I am reading that part wrong.

Regardless, I can't imagine having to cut over half the women. I can understand making the larger groups cut more before 3rd round, but isn't it unfair to the PNMs that the larger houses are forced into not being able to give the PNM a second chance? We were a "top" chapter and there were some girls who stuck out in Round 1, but many of our quality PNMs didn't show their true (read - calmer and not so nervous) selves until 2nd or 3rd round. We used release figures when I was Rush chair, but they weren't huge and it usually came down to deciding between about 5 women. I can't imagine having to cut so many...Ugh...

I think the point is that the "top" chapters, historically, are releasing no more or fewer girls than they ever were. They are just releasing them sooner. So they're getting the same girls, and the same number of girls.

When 100% of rushees (almost) want your chapter first, realistically, all you need to invite to pref is quota. But if they're inviting three times that, a whole lot of girls will be disappointed. It's better for them to be disappointed early on so the GIRLS (because it's not all about the chapters) can reassess their remaining options.

Understood. But still, just like chapters, many PNMs show their true personality in 2nd round (when they are more comfortable and used to what is going on). So forcing a chapter to cut that many after an initial 25 minutes or so seems unfair to me. Like I said before, AFTER 2nd I can understand, b/c then PNMs will most likely give other houses a shot - which I don't think they do when looking at Pref invites to 2 chapters farther down on their list. I just think the huge cut should be after 2nd - I think it gives all involved a better idea of each other.

Thanks Judi for the clarification. I knew a more current alum could explain it better then me. :)

Usually cuts made after the first round are usually based on GPA and recs. This does vary from chapter to chapter, though.

hehe...thanks Tonya!
This system is brand spanking new this year. I think it worked pretty well. My friends in the big houses had absolutely no complaints other than the first nights of hashing were horrible-imaging hashing 750 PNMs to decide who to invite back!

heh..and i love rush. I always have to know all the latest.


At Michigan, grades are supposed to matter but from what all my friends in different houses say, no one here cares that much because you have to be pretty damn smart to even have gotten in here and there's a min GPA to rush at all. THe houses here would rahter have a fantastic woman w a slightly lower GPA than someone with a 4.0 with personality of styrofoam.