Also with the various recruitment models being used currently, academic and internal requirements to even be eligible to pledge anywhere, and the policies on some campuses for guaranteed placement I'd go so far as to say that we can't please everyone. There are too many variables in today's recruitment practices and we have to set limits. Cuts happen everywhere, from the largest and most competitive traditional "Southern" recruitment, to the most casual and informal recruitment setting possible. It's not just SEC or Texas schools or places like IU and I'd hate for anyone to think that's the way it is.

One more piece of advice from a UGA mom/sister
 

My daughter attends UGA and participated in recruitment last fall. The advice we found on GC was invaluable. She had her recs, the GPA, recruitment outfits and was as prepared as she could be for the frenzy that awaited her. She had a full schedule all week and had the opportunity to visit some great houses and meet tons of new friends.

She attended three houses during prefs including the house where I was initiated back in the “dark ages”-the late seventies. In the end-she loved them all and had a very difficult time making her decision.

When she received her bid, we were both surprised by the invitation.

Let me stop here and say my daughter is extremely happy and I couldn’t be happier about where she is at UGA. Her sorority is filled with wonderful girls and she has had the time of her life. If there was ever a case of “what is meant to be – will be”, this is it. She is definitely where she was meant to be! :)

My advice to mothers of future PMNs who have a legacy status, especially from the house where you were initiated, email the membership chair to confirm they have received your introduction. I am not a “helicopter” mom so I was hesitant in going to far. I have to say “I” was disappointed in the way my chapter handled my situation.

This right here is the only thing that matters.

Congrats to your daughter for finding her home and kudos to you for being supportive of her even if she didn't go to where you initiated.

That is wonderful news! :) Would love to know where she is of course;) being the nosy GC'er that I am! ;)

And I can't tell you how many moms I have met in the past few years - including women whose daughters are now in their 30's or 40's even - who are still to this day bitter about how "their" sororities handled their legacy daughters. They refuse to have almost anything to do with "their" sororities now....although - oddly - one still is okay with writing recs for other PNMS:confused:

So it is refreshing to hear about your positive attitude!:)

I'm the proud mom of a Gamma Phi! :D

:Doooooh! somehow I just had a feeling...:p The chapter is wonderful IMHO!;)

I was up there to help with rush during prefs last fall (in the kitchen though...nothing glamorous) and was also there two weeks ago to present an academic achievement scholarship from our Southern Crescent area alum chapter. Then several of the UGA Gamma Phis came to help install our new chapter at Kennesaw this past Saturday. There are four girls in the UGA chapter from my hometown.

Two girls from our HS are UGA Gamma Phis.

And wow, I heard about KSU's colonization. They did a great job. :)

Give them all a hug the next time you're at UGA. One could be my daughter!

As far as writing recs again for PMNs down the road, I probably would. They could get stacked up somewhere and never see the light of day or they could give someone an opportunity to have a great recruitment experience. Better to have that base covered.

I am really late to this thread but wanted to pitch in an idea about a chapter being at total and still doing formal recruitment thing.

I know that at W&L the total was set unnaturally low. It was at 70, which represents the "ideal size" the university would like to see for chapters but just based on two (much less four) quota-sized pledge classes the chapter would be at that. In fact some chapters were nearly double total.

One thing that was experimented with there was allowing groups that had already made quota either via formal recruitment/COB to continue COB up to the average chapter size. Which is a tough call at W&L since there are hardly any non-Greek women.

I'm not saying this was used at UGA; in fact it doesn't sound like it was. But it's a possibility that this would happen in some cases and solve confusion that people had.

Also, at big schools like UGA/UT/etc, a LOT of people graduate in December. That could be a factor too.

Is W&L hoping to lower chapter size by adding ADPi?

Yes.

They first began the stop-and-go process of adding a sixth sorority my senior year (spring 2005). Ultimately that failed because of inadequate preparations on Panhel's part to get the money cleared for a sixth sorority house. In response Panhel submitted a proposal as part of the W&L strategic plan to add a sixth house and bring the size down. The W&L houses were designed with a total of 70 in mind. At this point some of the larger houses cannot even fit all their members into their chapter meeting rooms. 70 is seen as a good number for W&L in terms of the house size and also in terms of the fact that W&L Panhel would like sororities to be a small, "personalized" experience just like W&L in general.

The strategic proposal document used to be on the W&L website, but I can't find it anymore after the Greek Life site redesign a month or two back. I'll keep looking for it. In it the writers discussed how the sixth group would bring the size down, but that based on the exponential growth of Greek life at W&L (a larger and larger percentage of women keep pledging), there would probably even need to be a seventh group to really get the size down to 70. However there isn't a spot for a seventh house on sorority row, which would lead to a whole other set of problems/questions. Some of the options were discussed in that document. I'll keep looking for it.

/sidetrack

Just got back from a weekend at W&L and looks like they will be starting on the sixth house soon!

Alumni weekend?

Yes! Lots of fun!

Nice! I've never been able to make it to Alumni Weekend since graduation since I live so far away and I'm so poor. :( I'll probably go for my five-year in 2010.

You're not a W&L alum are you?