150-175 new pledges? Oh my goodness. Is it time for expansion or what?

Maybe the Alpha Phi colonization will help a bit, but it sounds like they need more than one new colony. Alabama needs to expand, too. These sororities get bloated with 300+ members (I'm erring on the smaller side). Yikes. However, from the grapevine I've heard that a lot of big SEC schools (esp Ole Miss and Bama) aren't very receptive to additions. It took UGA forever to open up again.

Bama is very receptive to a new group so much so that it has been open for extension for the last two years, I believe. However, it seems the need for competitive housing has kept chapters apprehensive about taking the plunge.

I would love for us to recolonize there and SK should too. :D

Good friend of mines daughter is going through right now- so far she LOVES all the houses and has said the ADPi house is "amazingly beautiful". I am excited to see where she ends up (all though I suspect I already know- she has a lot of connections and has been "courted" very hard by a couple of houses.)

150-175 is INSANE to me... I thought my pledge class was ridiculous at 55-60... Ole Miss doesn't really have any more land for new houses- which is one expansion problem... the second is the overall atmosphere- I think in theory the current houses are receptive to expansion, but in reality it is very hard for a new group to get established and successful... we are all watching ADPi's second formal rush (with new house) very carefully as well as Alpha Phi's colonization... the third is it is very hard for a group to commit to the type of money it takes to become successful at Ole Miss- especially when you have #2 working against you... Wish they could bring on 3 all at once / one year- thus eliminating the stereotyping of "the new house"... but without land this would be hard and it would be the kiss of death to have multiple un-housed chapters there...

Wasn't that tried at Arkansas in 2012? I believe bringing more than one colony at a time at an established campus did not go very well especially when housing became an issue.

I wasn't sure about whether I should come for the weekend, but I decided yes recently and was able to book a nearby hotel for the weekend this morning. There were still a couple of rooms left from what I saw this morning but they could've also been booked by now.

I just wanted to say that if you're a mom who is reading this post and still thinking about coming, I think you should still try to make it if you can. I was surprised to find that there are still some rooms left. There are also rooms or houses on airbnb if that's something you'd consider.


I also have to say, this recruitment seems very tough. My daughter got cut from most of the houses after the first round. But the sisters seem to be doing a great job and she likes the houses she has left.

Good luck to your daughter Sassymom! keep us updated.... it can be very very hard so I am glad to hear she likes the ones she has left... friends daughter experienced moderate cuts but all in all is still very happy with what she has left...

If a PNM gets dropped by half the houses after the first day, what should be expected on Thursday?

Anything is possible. She may not get dropped by any of her remaining and have her choice of those for the remainder of recruitment, or releases may continue. Every experience is different.

Absolutely impossible to say. We don't know why she was dropped because none of us are in any of those chapters. Heaviest cuts are the first round though.

With Alpha Phi colonizing this year, cuts during recruitment are likely to be steeper.

What? Why?

Because they know they will have a fall back position ...

Well this is an interesting conversation. I hope my daughters chapters keep her. She made friends in some of the ones that kept her before recruitment so I think that is a good sign. :)

Thank you for the luck OldOleMiss and I wish your friend's daughter and all the PNMS luck! I am really excited for my daughter. In college I was a member of Phi Mu but I'm not active now and I didn't keep any panhellenic friends after college so she didn't have two personal rec letters for the other houses but we did get two for each from alums we found.

My daughter's just excited to be joining such a great panhellenic system. We read a lot of Greekchat over the summer and talked about making your own happiness wherever you wind up. The heavy cuts weren't unexpected and she has said if she gets cut completely she'll go for Alpha Phi. I hope she gets in somewhere because she'll make a great sister.