It's in the Green book actually. And a hard and fast rule: Repeated several times, assigning responsibility to the recruitment chairman to ensure that this is the case, etc. It seems that any time there are preference events and bid lists these must occur and that includes Partially Structured where Pref may be the only invitational. In that case it's not much different from COBs... you just don't invite anyone to the last event who you don't want to bid.

Relax...this is only advice. And just advice. In no way is anyone trying to be a therapist, a sailor, a PhD in snarkiness or kudos. Advice on this board or any other internet forum is not put out there to cure cancer, solve the issues of global warming, or understand why men can't put the toliet seat down. So next time you have the occasion to wear a great cocktail dress, let us know and we will let you know what accessories and shoes work best for the occasion.:p

I read it differently, rather that a "preference event" seems like a very fluid concept that a school can define however they want.

If it's a situation where, as I said, preference is the FIRST AND ONLY time where you can cut anyone and ergo there's been no mutual selection process up until then, and RFM obviously is nonexistent, I don't see how ANY sorority in that situation could be expected to be that much of a mindreader. Either you 1) invite only your favorites [from, usually at the most, an informational and one party] to pref and hope to God that they all like you too or 2) cover your ass and invite everyone.

It just seems kind of asinine for NPC to advocate these different recruitment styles and then pass a rule that would be difficult to follow if you're using anything other than formal rush.

I mean, I went to 5 pref parties. I seriously doubt that I was on 5 bid lists.

The guide describes what a preference event is too actually. It's fairly comprehensive. If it's a minimally structured recruitment without bid lists it's probably not an issue. If it's partially structured it is.

Check your HQ website for a copy and look it up. I know you're incredulous about it, but the reason why it's being treated like a "rule" is because it is one. And it's one that's mentioned easily a dozen times.

Why on earth would we have a copy of the Green Book on our website?

Is it on the NPC site? If so, just give me a link.

SK does, on the sisters only site. Don't know if the MOI is on the NPC website. They probably charge for it.

What VP said. Our chapters have to have at least one physical copy but we have it available for reference online.

I would like to thank you for your response. I do understand that rushing as a junior is going to be EXTREMELY difficult and that I will no doubt end up receiving heavier cuts and most likely not receive a bid, but I am willing to take that chance.

What are COB events and how would one find out about the sororities hosting them? I would be more than willing to go to them and get to know girls in the sororities, because I know that knowing people can also play a huge part in recruitment and the more help I can get, the better.

Do a search on here about COB and/or COR. They're the same thing and there are about a gazillion stories/explanations here.

You need to visit the Greek Life office and ask them for information about COBs on your campus. The whens, whos and wheres vary from campus to campus.

Regarding recs - the actives have to use them effectively in order to match pnms with actives,and many times they do not. If a pnm is repeatedly talking to a girl she has nothing in common with, then the person not doing their homework is the active not the pnm.

Despite the side scuffle between pabeta1530 and others, this thread has been a great addition to the recruitment thread simply for the discussion about why and how a PNM ranks and eventually rejects a particular house.

I am glad that you are going in realizing what you may face, I just didn't want you to go in unprepared. As for COB, do as suggested and look up currently existing threads on that topic. To find out who may be participating in COB at TAMU, contact the sorority recruitment chairs. You can usually find their emails on the chapter websites. You can access those websites through the TAMU Greek Life homepage. Contact the Office of Greek Life itself and ask which chapters may be participating in COB. Good luck and Gig 'em.

If someone turns down a bid in formal, can she even register for or go to COB events? She would not be eligible to accept a bid until next year's formal recruitment, so I don't see why sororities should have to extend their time, energy and money on entertaining someone who isn't even eligible to accept the few bids they might have available to give.

If she signed a bid card on Pref Day, no, she could not accept a bid to another group right now. If the sorority wants to invite her to COB events knowing she can't be offered a bid until Fall 2011, that's their prerogative. Same as they could invite someone whose grades aren't up to par. It's not a Panhel sponsored event so if their HQ says it's OK for them to invite such people they can do so.

That being said, this can backfire too. If a girl was state baton twirling champ, has a ton of twirling awards and such - but is sick of twirling taking up all her time and is really not wanting to do it anymore in college or talk about it - it's not going to go over well if she's matched with a twirling champ from another state. I would wager that many girls when they are filling out applications or giving their resumes to sorority alums for a rec have NO clue that what they write is going to be used to "match" them. They're just told to write their achievements and honors and they do so - even if those things are not something they're into any longer.

It depends on how COB is run, it's possible she could show up or get invited to an event or two, but be "released" (not invited back, or told why) because of her status. Not every chapter would necessarily know whether she signed a card or not. So it would come down to whether Greek Life has everyone sign up centrally and then monitors the list or not.

But I think it would be unethical for her to go to COB events unless she's open about the fact that she is unavailable until the next fall. While it's possible that a chapter would like her so much they'd be willing to bid her next fall as a "right after recruitment COB" or something, it's not likely at all.