Our Panhellenic discussed implementing this system at roundtables. I think it works well for all chapters, large or small. It evens out the return rates for everyone.

Today, I was talking to my brother about sorority recrutment (Background: He was a KA from B'ham southern 20 or so years ago and I am an ADPi from UNA 10 or so years ago)

He told me he thought it was rediculous (sp?) the way sororities recruit. As I listened to him I realized it is kind of crazy, I mean why is fraternity recruitment so much more relaxed then sorority recruitment? Is it the women doing this to ourselves? I know it is to late to change the way it is done. . . but, man the recruits are petrified they won't get into the "right" house and the sisters are scared they won't get the "right" girls. (and quota and total why do we do this to ourselves?)

I just wish formal recruitment was set up a friendlier then it is. I mean fraternities have all of the guys, that are interested, "come by" the house and see if they fit in, after the first night if the brothers like the guy they basically offer him a bid then and there. Yea, I know the "Pledge" doesnt actually get a "BID" until the end of the recruitment period but they know where they are going the day the brothers tell them. Also, there is no "dirty rushing," they can invite a guy over any time they want. But, with sororities "GOD FORBID" there is any contact with a pm before or during recruitment.

Just a little complaint from an alumnae. Sorry to lay all of that on yall. I do love recruitment I just wish it was a little bit easier on all involved.

I would guess that SoRush stands for Sorority Rush. I think the company that makes the software is called Compu-Rush (I remember seeing this on the bottom of some of my lists). Using PRush is an option in the program. It's not a different program all together. SoRush may be a different program that Compu-Rush, but I would still say that the option of doing PRush is in both.

Ariesrising - I think your ranking was similar to what I did when going through recruitment. This was given to the chapters so they could see how the PNM's felt about them before they made their invite list. We would then get our invites back and had to cut. So, you had to go in twice for each round. Once to rank and once to accept/regret.

If they were doing it they were using it for something - probably like UT did above.

so, this is the thread my advisor and i were talking about yesterday...

we chose sorush. we chose it because we didn't want them to write down their preferences and get disappointed if they don't get invited back.

of course, they will still be disappointed when they see the list if they are not on it, but i think it would be less of an embarassment.

Very, very true. Most girls the end up joining were severely cut, after all; not everyone is that popular.

When I went through, I only had 3 houses out of 11 to go back to on the second day. It was rough for me to know that other girls got invited back to all the houses, but it was not made public at all. The accept/decline was pretty private, and no one really would know how many parties I was going to if I didn't tell them.

ETA:

I don't really think it's such a good diea for PNMs to rank the chapters. Especially after only one day, the girls don't really know enough about the chapter to know how well they will fit in there. I think way too many girls will just list the well-known "popular" chapters first even though they might not fit there at all.

And we all know that since those "best" chapters are in the most demand, they have the most choice over WHO they give bids to.

I would hate to see so many girls just list the big houses first, and then get cut from them and be very disappointed.

My question:
Do the chapters SEE these rankings before they make their cut choices? Because if they do, then some chapters might cut girls who put them near the bottom, and it could cause more girls getting cross-cut because they have listed those same "big" chapters first.

I'm SO sorry if this doesn't make sense. If it doesn't, I will try to clarify.

The new release figure method (RFM) should make a difference with how many women get invitations back to all chapters. It seems like the norm will be that more women get a few more than they can go to (so if 15 chapters and you can go to 8 then most will get 9-11) rather than a bunch getting close to the most (13-15) and a bunch getting just a few (2-5). That's my understanding anyway.

I don't know anything about the new RFM (sorry I've been slacking on my information-getting:) ) but if it does what you say it does, than that seems like a GREAT thing!!!

I know it would have made a big difference on my campus.

I agree, but it still hurts when the other PNM's ask how many invites bacl you got back, you tell them and then they laugh at you because they got every invite back.

I was severely cut the first day, but, in the end, I am happy where I am and could not imagine carrying a different banner-even if I do wonder what it would have been like had I become a DZ (my first choice).

My understanding of PRush is that the chapters do not get to see how they were ranked. But, this could also be something determined by the College PH. When ranking the PNM's would rank as follows for a school with 7 chapters where they could go to 5 the following day:

ABC 1
DEF 1
GHI 1
JKL 1
MNO 1
PQR 2
STU 3

So the 5 would be in no preference just that those are the five the PNM most wants to go back to. Those left would be done in preference - if the PNM can't go back to one of her top 5 then she wants to go to PQR next. If she doesn't get invited back to 2 of her top 5 or if PQR doesn't invite her then she wants to go to STU next.

If not explained to everyone involved (PNM's, PH Exec, Rho Gams) then there could be misunderstandings concerning how it works. What is most important for the PNM's to realize is that no matter how they rank them, if the chapter doesn't invite them back then they won't be going there.

Co-sign. I love ADPi SO much, but rush was still one of the worst experiences I have ever been through. I guess I just see rankings by PNMs to be one more problem rather than a benefit.

I realize that pretty much all the PNMs will rank the chapters in their heads (I know I did), but I think seeing it down on paper will cause more distress when they are cut from a house that they ranked highly. And lets face it- almost every PNM will get cut from at least ONE house that was at or near the top of her list.

I consider myself one of the lucky ones to have had a terrible rush experience, but still be able to find my home.:)

I just received word that my school will be implementing SORUSH this year, after the PRUSH issues that occured at formal recruitment last year that left 2 of 6 chapters way under quota. As I understand it, SORUSH goes right in line with the new release figures methodology that requires larger chapters to release more women earlier on.

From what I have heard, it does help smaller chapters get to quota, while letting larger groups still end up reaching it too. THe only downside I can see is some heavy cutting by the larger groups early on, but from the looks of things, everyone goes home happy. :)

Not to be heartless, but if a girl is that sensitive, she may not be the right person to voluntarily participate in a process that is meant to be selective. The whole point of recruitment is to make choices. The PNMs are cutting, the chapters are cutting. If a girl can't handle cuts, formal recruitment isn't for her. I know that sounds harsh, but that is how life is. Hopefully the PNMs are in a process of maturing and can take lemons and make lemonade rather than just tasting sour grapes.

This is interesting, and not exactly part of MY understanding of the new RFM. Chapters with higher return rates will be cutting more heavily early on. But how will this affect the distribution of WHO gets cut and who doesn't? I'm not saying you're wrong, I just find it intriguing and would like to know more.

We are using the new RFM this year for our Recruitment, and I think it will require some training by our recruitment counselors, because their rush will not have been similar to the rush in which these girls are participating. Being dropped by at least one chapter, and possibly two, will be much more commonplace- girls who are top quality PNMs will still possibly not have a "perfect" recruitment with all invites.

We are also switching from SORUSH to PRUSH, which is also interesting, since it seems like most schools on GC are doing the opposite.

Can an 18 year old girl who is looking to be happy in her new Greek home after years of being groomed for rush and hearing how happy Mom was an an XYZ, or expecting to be made happy after sitting in a recruitment info session where it is made to sound as if everything is her choice, be expected to go in with eyes wide open to the fact that she may be cut? That part was completely glossed over when I went through, and although I knew it was likely that I would be, some girls had no clue. Either way, it still hurts when they are cut by a chapter filled with women that the night before seemed so happy to see you. Telling the devastated ones to just get over it doesn't exactly erase that hurt - it only compounds it.