This makes sense IF the computer is going to recalculate quota to place the maximum number of PNMs possible. I mean.... seems to me that if you have 100 PNMs at a school with 5 chapters then quota would be 20, but if the computer brain - however the heck it works - determines that quota should be 18 and some chapters end up with quota plus, well, what's a chapter do do? Continually rewrite their first bid list alphabetically with a different number of ladies on it? Nah, if you're going to use this method of setting quota then the ranking method makes sense.... because if quota is 20, then the chapter already shows who the top 20 pick is. If quota is reset to 18, then panhellenic already knows who the top 18 is and doesn't have to ask who the 2 in alphabetical list of 20 should be removed since quota has been reset to 18.

Ok my bet here is that the OP is actually the big sister in this story that is fabricating a story because her membership was canceled. Anyone else see this?

OP, did you happen wear sequin tights during recruitment one day?

But no matter *how* a group ranks PNMs, if they are a PNM's second choice, their ranking has no effect on whether a PNM gets her first choice. None.

(not correcting you, just reiterating in general)

Yes.... sorry... I wasn't talking about the group ranking versus the PNMs preference. PNMs preference always comes first.... if she is high enough on the bid list ;).

I like the alphabetical bid lists because I don't like ranking "in general" but since it seems that it's possible that some campuses may be going to quota ranges to let the computer match the maximum possible PNMs based on their first choices before setting a firm quota number, then a ranked list is a better option....panhellenic has to have all the signed pref cards before the computer can even rework the numbers based on the chapter's rankings anyway.

I get the whole maximum placement thing.... but really.... 100/5 = 20.....juuuuust saying.

I stand corrected. But still, putting her "top 10" instead of #50 still wouldn't have made a lick of difference. The other chapter had her somewhere below 50, so she still was not robbed of the better opportunity. If she had SIP'd, on bid day she'd have had no home. As it turns out, this would have been the better alternative. But it wouldn't have put her any closer to the bid she wanted.

My bad...I was looking at the bolded part where another member told her they put her in the top 10 so they would get her even though they knew she wanted USC.

Paraphrasing because I forgot to quote and am too lazy to go back now. :D

My question is, what does she expect a member to say when a NM asks why she got your chapter instead of another? Something like that must have happened in order to have that conversation. I'm sure the member didn't know what to say.

If Older Sister had done this, so that Rutgers dropped her before pref, and she went to pref at USC, she would have been guaranteed a USC bid.

It's a shame Older Sister didn't help her out.

If this s the school I think it is, then members can go alum after living in the house for two years. Maybe the OP is confusing her terminology and meant that older sister moved out of the house, thus taking alum status????

And when the OP said that the member told her about placement on bid list I am thinking that member might have been trying to make OP happy about being there, or maybe OP took it the wrong way. I have had people say things to me to try and cheer me up and what they say, even with good intentions, still makes me miserable. Just a thought.

This makes the most sense to me. It's confusing as an active to explain to a new member why she got your house instead of the one she obviously wanted more. What are you going to say? "They didn't want you enough"? It's hard to explain the process in a way that won't sound hurtful, so I'm sure many sisters try to spin it into how much their chapter does love that new member.

Trying to explain the process without going into technical details can VERY EASILY become "We wanted you more than they did", because it's sorta essentially true. The problem is that it sounds an awful lot like the secondary chapter usurped the first chapter's claim on a PNM by wanting her more.

I am not going to throw gasoline on this fire. I do want to add some constructive criticism in case there is a real Here Comes The Sun out there who genuinely wants to go through recruitment next year. She mentioned earlier in the story that her grades were not as strong as they should be. The "bottom of the bottom" chapter ASU cut her. I have an inking I know who this chapter is and most likely in this case, and in many others, I will say that grades could have been a factor. Spend this year getting the best grades one can get, and hopefully the outcome will be different next go around. I believe there may be a re-colonization coming up in the next year or so, which would give her a second chance to be Greek next year.

If they were so clueless as to not know that Older Sister was miserable enough to want to self-terminate, I doubt very much that they would have listened to her when she told them her sister wanted to be in a different group.

There are at least 3 sides to this story and the truth is somewhere pinging around in between.

ETA: I was just ready to say "this wasn't ASU, they only have 12 sororities" but then I realized ISK was referring to one of the chapter nicknames. Arrrrgh, as I said, confusing as balls.

I'm sure you know what chapter it was and that chapter has improved their grades dramatically and have been top in grades, so that wasn't necessarily a shock to me I got dropped by them and others since I had just a 3.0.

Could have been other reasons of course.

Thank you DubaiSis and everyone else for your input. This really put things in perspective.

The things I heard from my friends in sororities, my sister and even things on GreekChat were swirling all around my head and I had some misconceptions and I was misinformed by some of the people I knew. But now it all makes sense and I can see things clearer for what they actually are rather than how I wish they were.

Hopefully knowing what I know now will help me when I go through recruitment the next time around.

I totally get ASUADPi's feelings of disgust by the OP. I have to admit that I find it really funny that the OP felt "robbed" by getting a bid to this particular organization. The campus I'm at has girls who feel "robbed" because they DID NOT get a bid from this wonderful organization. I agree with other posters who said that chapter was lucky not to have the OP and her negative biological sister.

This is a time when intentional single preferencing would have been appropriate. If a PNM does not want a group for any reason (regardless of merits in our personal judgment), then don't list it. Though it would not have resulted in a USC bid nor a QA, she would not be bound for a year. My sense is that there is a bona fide HCTS, that Rutgers was not a good fit for her (others, yes, but nor HCTS due to unusual circumstances). Far better for another PNM to have received the Rutgers bid. Also, I read her feeling of being "robbed" as feeling shortchanged mostly by her sister, not any organization or Panhellenic. It is a disappointment to her certainly, but it is a learning experience and she can prepare for next year.

Sun, good luck to you this year and follow the good advice to prepare yourself well for next year.

So what campus is this, supposedly? The only ones where I count 13 chapters and dates that fit have strong-recruiting ADPi chapters.

Also, we don't offer "early alum" status for women still enrolled on campus.

Feel like a total idiot reading my recruitment story. So many mistakes I made then, but i've definitely grown in the past year and I hope to have a much more positive, relaxed recruitment.

Thanks for all of the tough, constructive, yet kind messages and comments. I've got plenty of time until recruitment and I hope to update you with a round 2!

Thanks

That means you have grown and matured. That is a good thing.

Wishing you the very best of luck in your upcoming recruitment. Sometimes I think freshmen should not rush - but that's only my opinion and I am probably in the minority!

AZTheta, I couldn't agree more.

I would love it if my freshman daughter could wait a year to rush. But from many reports, it's hard to go through recruitment as a sophomore.

It is extremely hard at competitive schools unless they have an upperclass quota (and most don't). Sophomore recruitment was disastrous at my SEC school.