Okay, I made that change, and added a paragraph on accepting bids. I think I will print this out and send it to my daughter, without telling her, of course, that I had anything to do with. ;)

It's sage advice and DOESN'T sound like you're saying - you'll take what you're given and like it!

Yeah, i was trying to get away from that. I thought about starting it out:

For all you A Plus Blessed Girls who have never not gotten everything you have ever wanted and worked for ...

It's hard as a mom because you know there most likely will be some disappointments, and you are hundreds of miles away and powerless to help. Not that there would be anything you could do, but still ...

I'm relatively new to GC and pledged decades ago in the East Cost. So, please forgive me if this question has already been asked. Why do Illinois and Iowa do their recruitment process over two weekends? It seems like it would add to the stress for the PNMs and certainly for the Moms. Thanks.

It doesn't seem that unusual to me (maybe because I live in the midwest). My alma mater went over 2 weekends with only 4 chapters that last time I visited. The chapter I advise went over 2.5 weeks with only 2 NPC's and one local. They try to not have too much on school nights and class schedules.

Thanks for the response Cruise4fun. Maybe the ones I'm thinking of that do it all at once are the schools that recruit before classes start.

Back in the day, Michigan State went for two weeks or longer. We were still on quarters and school didn't start until late September. Between home football games and the Jewish holidays... Sometimes it was really a long, drawn out process. One year was especially bad. I think rush went for a full three weeks. It was awful for everyone involved. :eek:

I see MSU does it in eight days now. Of course, there are less chapters and fewer rushees so it's possible. There's no way we could have done it in eight days back then.

I think Joe Paterno will be wearing an I <3 Pitt shirt before that happens. :)

While it does kind of suck that Penn State doesn't have sorority houses, I like it in a way because a lot of girls get to be part of Greek life that probably couldn't afford it at other schools.

I think the thing that adds the stress is postponing when the girls get their invites. IMO it's actually sort of nice to have it spread out so you have some time to think about what's happening and not make rash decisions instead of being (pun intended) rushed.

Yes and no. The longer it is drawn out, the more outside influences come into play. I think this works against some chapters.

True. But it's my opinion/experience that if girls bow that much to those "outside influences" (tent talk, boyfriends, parents) they're just as likely to bow to them later rather than sooner - i.e. depledge - and then you're stuck halfway through with an open spot.

There are just too many parties to NOT run it over two weekends. We had weeknight parties back in the day, but it is so tough, and as bad as it is for PNM's, the women IN the chapters have all kinds of prep they have to do, too. Really, it is HARD to be doing a recruitment this big while classes are still going.

Has moving recruitment to before school starts ever been considered? or deferred recruitment?

I agree to a certain extent. But the outside influences also include women feeling more settled, making friends in their dorms, and finding other clubs/social outlets. At MSU we're not talking Alabama or Ole Miss environments. Greek life is not the be all and end all that it is at other schools. It doesn't even measure up to some other Big Ten schools in terms of a "must do" activity. So if recruitment gets dragged out, the women start to get settled into their college life, and they are less than greatly enthused about their invites... You start to lose people.

A woman shouldn't feel she has to choose between those things and Greek life, or that those things are the same as Greek life. If she uses "I didn't like the groups I got and anyway my dorm mates are so much more awesome" as an excuse to drop out, she's not ready to be in a sorority. Maybe she'll come back in a year when she's grown up a little and go through rush again. If not, it's not really any loss to the system IMO.

I don't think it is necessarily a matter of choosing between the two or thinking they are interchangeable. On a less Greek-focused campus like MSU, there are many women who go through rush but are uncertain about whether or not it is what they really want. It's not a campus overflowing with legacies and rich Greek traditions. The majority of Greek women are first generation Greeks. Many sorority members pay their own sorority expenses through working. For many of these women, there has to be a compelling reason to join. At MSU I think it is about friendship, social activities, and finding a place on a large campus. If they are able to meet those needs in other ways, they will take the opportunities that frankly cost a lot less. I don't think it means they wouldn't have been great members. We had many valuable members who were not necessarily gung-ho Greeks-to-be until they got acquainted with other Greek women and discovered it was something they would enjoy. At MSU (and I'm sure other campuses), the sororities have to "rush" the campus as well. They have to prove there is something valuable there that is worth the time and money.