That kinda takes away the prestige of our organizations. I mean let's just start giving out college admissions and jobs too to whoever wants them. Go wild.

I can remember wondering if membership development and sisterhood would still shine through if we randomly assigned qualified PNMs to groups, but I wouldn't actually want that to happen over choosing the members we actually want.


I do feel bad for the pnms who get complete cut out for what seem like superficial reasons.

True, but colleges choose who to accept based on how well they did in high school, their extra curriculars, how much volunteering they did, etc. I'm sure there are few sororities who put as much effort into learning about the background of a PNM as far as academics, service, activities, etc. as an admission board does. Isn't it more appropriate to let interested girls into organizations that allow them the opportunity to become part of a sisterhood, to succeed academically in college, to do work with philanthropies, etc. How many people really look at the pre-sorority success of a PNM as the prestige of the sorority? Isn't it more about what they do once they are a sister?

Yes. I apologize for not being clear and I know grades, service, and such are always taken into account. Also, I have only the knowledge of my own college and the recruitment I am familiar with. I only wonder how many amazing women get looked over who could have been amazing sisters, if only they were given the chance.

Is your campus's placement rate really low?

Otherwise don't most of these women become members?

I am not familiar with recruitment at highly competitive schools, but from what I've seen on GC, these "amazing women" are given the chance, but some aren't willing to take it for some reason or another.

I do not feel that a sorority have to take everyone that signs up for recruitment. I've seen enough girls go through that might look outstanding on paper, but are definitely NOT in person.

Not everyone is cut out to be in a sorority.

I do not know what the placement rate is for my school, I'm sorry.

I also understand that most girls get bids to sororities and that most girls who don't end up in one usually don't give each sorority the attention and time it deserves.

I just have always been curious how people would react to the idea, so I put it out there. I appreciate everyone's response.

No problem. I also had wondered about that, until I met a girl who had tried to go through recruitment (the 3 previous years before I went through) and we'll just say that I was greatful that sororities are selective.

That's how it works at the "sign-in" eating clubs at Princeton. Some of the clubs use a traditional "bicker" system, similar to rush, to choose members. The other clubs are "sign-in" clubs...groups of sophomores sign into the club of their choice with their friends, and if there's too much interest, the club uses a lottery to determine which groups are admitted. The sign-in clubs are very popular, and they are doing very well financially and have lots of alumni support.

As tld pointed out, there's no prestige attached to membership in a sign-in club, but at Princeton, students don't really need additional prestige! Also, the bicker clubs are seen as undesirable by some students who view them as stuffy relics of another age.

The residential colleges at Harvard and Yale use random assignment, with 100% undergrad participation. These Houses/colleges serve many of the functions of Greek houses at other schools (smaller community, intramurals, study groups, parties and formals, community service, etc.). They have their own colors, coats of arms, traditions, etc. Again, lots of loyalty and alumni support for these institutions.

Now, I'm not saying that this would work everywhere. It's obvious that these three universities are ultra-selective, and any random sampling of the student body includes near-100% stellar academics and activities. But they're extremely diverse ethnically, geographically, economically, politically, and in terms of personality type. You might not think you could build strong social communities with random assignment or PNM choice, but at these schools, it does work.

Epchick, Thanks, and yes I know exactly what you mean.

BTW, Low C Sharp...I'm glad that randomness can create such great communities too. I wish my dorm had a coat of arms. :)

if pnms were the only ones doing the choosing, the ginormous chapters with the "most prestige", the ones deemed the most desirable before recruitment begins, would be the ones everyone wanted to join and the "sleeper" chapters would become nonexistant. how many times have we on gc seen that a pnms opinion of the chapter she is just dying to join changes as the recruitment week draws out. this is because they are required to visit all the chapters in the beginning and make multiple decisions throughout the week, while the sororities are making their own decisions. their opinions may change as their options become more obvious. it's not perfect, but for the most part, it works.

lets take it further. what if everyone who aspired to attend harvard just walked into the admissions office and said,"here i am...sign me up". or what if men and women could just walk up to someone they find attractive and say,"i'm going to marry you', and the suitee was obligated to marry them? why is it alright for harvard to choose who attends? why is it expected (at least here in america) that marriage is a mutual decision, but we in sororities should accept any and everyone who thinks they want to join?

Okay, so it's totally fine for chapter members to be picky so that they can keep up the prestige of the organization, yet a pnm is raked over the coals for being picky and deciding that she does not want to attend pref at a chapter she does not feel is right for her.

I guess what's good for the goose is NOT for the gander.

BTW - I am not in any way advocating letting anyone who wants in, but I do think it's a bit hypocritical to criticize the opening poster for her pickiness and then say that chapters have to be picky to keep up their prestige...

Why is this thread still open?