Close, but not that literal. It's not a direct correlation between return rate and number of invitations issued. There are some other factors that are used as well.

Ok thanks. I was trying to come up with some kind of illustration that would help the Moms here get the concept. I know that RFM is real-time and last year's return rates aren't necessarily the sole factor. My main concern was the focus on why some chapters would seemingly cut so many more girls than the next house. Though, I couldn't think of an easier way to explain it to someone on the outside. :confused:

Early and severe cuts seem harsh, but the old way - where some chapters would keep inviting as many girls back as would accept their invitation, some of whom they had ZERO interest in, and then cut them either right before or after pref - was way, way, harsher. You have to remember these are the kind of chapters who can make everyone feel welcomed and like they fit in. And some chapters just genuinely don't want to cut anyone because they want to keep giving everyone a 3rd and 4th and 5th chance. With these kind of numbers, that doesn't work either.

This. And then you end up with a zillion girls who are devastated when they receive their pref invites and end up dropping on the spot. And hate the Greek system the rest of their life because they were led on and then dropped.

The only thing wrong with RFM is that it wasn't started sooner. I can only imagine how many chapters might have been saved from closing across the country if it had been started ten to fifteen years earlier.

I agree so much. I was talking to a student who had questions about RFM and she stated that her concern was that it would prop up weak chapters and drag out the process but I stated that there is a difference between a weak recruiting chapter and a chapter that is struggling over all. A chapter that is weak recruiting but still manages to both retain their new members and turn them into positive members are the exact types of chapters that are able to thrive under RFM

Plus, the thing that can turn an actual weak chapter into a strong one might just be more new members.

Absolutely. I've seen two different chapters benefit from RFM by getting larger pledge classes. One is still around and is more active and had a stronger recruitment this year and the other isn't.

I realize this is getting off thread from IU but I just wanted to jump in about why I view RFM as a positive and hope to eventually see IU transition more over to this style then the bed quota.

Sorry for continuing the off-topic path, but something else that I consider a fantastic improvement is setting quota at the very end. When I was an advisor, it was set on our campus after the second round (of four), I think, and though I advocated for setting it later, with a more realistic total number of women who would commit to joining instead of just checking things out, it was shot down. The lower quota and shuffling around of PNMs would have definitely benefited the WRCs back then.

I am not sure if this is the correct thread to post an article about the algorithm behind the RFM process. If not, please move it to the right thread. In December the New York Times published an article about how middle school students are matched to high schools in NYC. The algorithm is similar to the one that is used to match hospital residencies. This article has an example with that some may find helpful.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/ny...cess.html?_r=0

Wow - and we thought RFM was complicated! I think this article gives a really nice overview of how complex these matching systems can be - and how many factors must go into building the process.

I personally think that RFM is actually a little more straightforward than the NY schools example, but it keeps getting confounded by all of the misinformation and misleading colloquialisms around the process ("Another house wanted her more, that's why she got a bid to it instead of her first choice", etc.)

Just wanted to wish the PNMs and their mothers a great second weekend of recruitment! Hang in there....bid day is around the corner!

Between this past Sunday & tomorrow's parties, do the PNMs wait until Saturday morning to get their invites? That would be an excrutiating wait!

Yes, they do have to wait that long. I was not sure if they received their schedules tonight or tomorrow, but I was informed it is tomorrow morning. That is a long time to wait, for sure. However, in the "old days" we would attend open house round in the fall and not get our invitation lists until we returned back to school in January. The wait was excrutiating.

Oh yes. Back when I was there, first round was in November, before Thanksgiving! (For some reason I was thinking October, but the yearbook had a big feature story about rush the year I went through and it was indeed in November that year. I'm old. : ) ) IIRC, strict silence had to be observed from then through the end of rush (it was rush back then!) in January - that's a long time! (I'm pretty sure there were exceptions for academic-related conversations - such as a PNM and an active being paired up for a group project in class.) I can't imagine how it would be for families where one sister was in a house and one was rushing.

Actually, quota numbers are reported to all chapters at the annual recruitment wrap up meeting. We are given a print out of all chapters, their quota, and the number of women they actually took. We also get return rate info, etc.