Carnation, good luck! I can't believe it's that time again.

Sorry to get on my soapbox in your new recruitment thread, but I think it's important to clear up the misinformation in the post by Alpha Frog.

While Alpha Frog is correct that you should never ever list a house on your MRABA if you will not give them a fair shot, it is important to understand that listing a house where you did not attend preference does not meet the definition of maximizing your options as a PNM and I believe the current MRABA strictly precludes it as an option. This means that you will not be matched as a Quota Addition under the RFM (only maximizing PNMs are eligible to be QAs), though you would be eligible for snap bidding or COB (of course even those who ISC (also known as "suicide") and don't match are eligible for snap bidding or COB).

Also, just as an FYI, most campuses set up their recruitment management software options so that the software only shows the chapters attended for preference.

When I was in school I always found it interesting that guys would tell girls a myriad of reasons why they shouldn't pledge us but would also say that we were the chapter they would want their sister to join!

Here's another thing: when you get into situations like the ones bruinaphi is describing, your Rho Chi will NOT know the rules in many cases. I would guess that only about 2% of collegiate members fully undersand bid matching, the green book, and campus rules, and they are the presidents and rush chairs, not the rho chis. If you want to be sure you will be eligible for snap bids and COB, talk to your Greek Life office, or better yet, e-mail them so that you later have it in writing.

I wasn't a rho chi, so I don't know, but wouldn't that be part of their training? I would think it would be ultra-important for them to understand fully the implications of the advice they give.

yes. when in doubt check with your greeklife office!!

my daughter asked me today if she would be violating any rules if she wore her sorority t-shirts to class during the summer session she is enrolled in. i told her that the best advice i could give her was to look up the rules on line and if she is doesn't feel that she has the answer then she must call the greek life office to get the definative answer. don't earn a rush infraction for your sorority just because you did not know something.

on some campuses, recruitment guide training is very extensive and thorough and the rho gammas go thru intense screening. sadly, that does not happen on a lot of campuses and many pnms are given false/bad information.

It depends upon the campus. A lot of Greek Advisors have taken rush counselors out of the picture for preference signing, which means you have to go to knowledgeable people to ask questions and there are not as many side issues. Training rush counselors can be challenging b/c many of them are women who do not like recruitment or who didn't have a positive recruitment experience themselves. I can think of a handful of campuses that have really great rush counselor programs, but most of those campuses do not use the rush counselors for preference signing.

Just to clarify...because I've been out of the rush loop for awhile. But if A PNM didn't max her options throughout the entire rush week...by accepting as many invitations as she could and attending the parties...putting a house down on her her pref card that released her after Round I won't make her eligible to get a bid if she ISPs. am I correct?

I would say that I am rather well-versed in green book bid matching procedures, but that is because I sought the information. It is definitely true at Maryland that 90% of the Rho Gammas know very little about release figures, bid matching, etc. The Rho Gamma coordinators took an "ignorance is bliss" approach and seemed to emphasize crisis management over knowledgability. We had two classes where we learned the same things about crisis management. We were supposed to have a class where they explain recruitment as a numbers game but it got dumbed down when a bunch of girls were complaining that they didn't understand. The RG coordinators ended up saying "Ok well if one of your PNMs has a question that you don't know the answer to, then ask someone on recruitment team." Problems arise when Rho Gammas THINK they know the answer to a question but give misinformation. They also thought that if we knew too much we would explain things to the PNMs that they shouldn't know.

It is also true that at least half of the Rho Gammas decided to do it because they didn't want to participate in recruitment with their chapter. They think it'll be less work and it's definitely not. They have an apathetic attitude and their PNMs notice. PNMs who are on the fence are more likely to drop with a crappy Rho Gamma.

Basically, the Rho Gamma training and selection process needs work at Maryland.

I just wanted to say that this thread has been very educational for me. I have not been through formal recruitment yet as I was a founding sister of my chapter. I am very excited about Rush, and this thread has helped me to understand many things more fully.

I also wanted to comment on this quote:


This is very true, and I have also discovered that legacies do not always end up in their legacy sorority. A friend of mine rushed and was a legacy yet ended up not liking the legacy sorority chapter at her school so she joined another GLO.

Preach it, JessSigKap, bruinaphi, and FSUZeta. It's an important message. PNMs need accurate information.

Oh, and JessSigKap: "it got dumbed down when a bunch of girls were complaining they didn't understand" ??? That reminds me of the big flap several years ago when a doll model -- Barbie, maybe; maybe something else, I don't remember the brand -- was for sale. It had a "talking" feature and one of the phrases was, reportedly, "math is hard." Caused a mild uproar.

I am not sure what you are asking, but here's the deal.

A PNM must maximize her options throughout recruitment, including at preference, in order to be eligible to be a quota addition.

If a woman ISPs or fails to maximize she is not eligible to be placed as a quota addition but she is eligible to be snap bid or COB'd.

You really cannot put down chapters which you did not visit for preference on your MRABA for two reasons: (1) the MRABA provides that you can only rank chapters at which you attend events; and (2) most of the recruitment management software is set to prevent this from happening.

Know the system
 

From my experience, gamma chis don't always give you all the information. I really feel like the system at some schools are more structured to fill houses than they are to find the perfect fit for PNMs. Here's my advice:
1. Ask anything you want to know about the houses. If you want to know if a particular house has a religious affiliation or is on social probation, you have to ask point blank. When you beat around the bush, you may not get an objective response.
2. Don't feel bad about asking questions. It is your prerogative. If you're going to pay thousands of dollars to an organization, you deserve to know anything you want about it.
3. Don't feel obligated to rank a house high on your card just because they were nice to you. Or just because you have a friend in the house. You're doing this for yourself, and you have to consider all the factors that are important to you when you rank houses. You need to look out for your own interests. Besides, you can still be friends with these girls even if you're not in their sorority.
4. But at the same time, don't rank a house low on your card just because it isn't top tier or a face house.
5. Go in knowing that rush isn't always fair. You may have been the pinnacle of popularity in high school, and you still only get asked back to houses you don't want. Chances are, most of your competition was probably just as popular. And sometimes, you just don't understand why you didn't get asked back to a house and another girl did. Don't let it make you bitter, and don't take it personally.
6. If you end up getting a bid for a house that you don't want, take it anyway. You might end up liking it.
7. Try to look beyond the rush parties. Do you like the house's philanthropy? Are members of the house active on campus or in the community? What are the personal expectations that the house has for its members. Make sure you choose organizations you'd be proud to be a part of.

Not everyone will agree with everything I say. These are just my opinions.

Here's my random recruitment comment: PNM's, it is not the end of the world if you don't join a sorority. The sky will not fall and life as you know it will not end.

Some people may say that is not much solace because it is coming from a woman who did join a sorority, but I went through an entire school year my freshman year and was not a part of Greek Life. I was involved in several campus activities and made tons of friends. In fact, a lot of them were Greek and still others were not. I had fun at football games, fraternity parties, road trips, girls nights, nights out on the town and more.

College is an amazing time in your life. Greek Life is fun and wonderful and I encourage you to explore the possibility of joining. But if you don't join a sorority, you're still going to have an incredible 4 years so long as you stay open to new things, work hard in your classes and explore all of the opportunities available to you as a student!

I agree.