It's the NPC spirit of equity & cooperation.

Many chatters on here freak out when there is talk of "tiers." What do you think would happen without quota/total? The large would get larger & the smaller groups would struggle.

Yes, I think all of the crazy rules and regulations of formal recruitment ultimately mean the optimum success for the most sororities. It allows for more equity. I've noticed there's much more turnover with fraternities. There are always chapters leaving and colonizing in anyone's college career, but I think sororities are more stable.

I agree that formal rush with quote does equalize things and keeps most groups very stable.

Sometimes, though, I wonder if it doesn't keep some people from joining thier top group when the top groups wants them.

Sure the big would get bigger, but it seems that maybe, like fraternities, it would mean that some groups could be very well regarded and be medium sized or small (small by sorority standards, that is).

With quota, groups are compelled to be as big as quota lets them be or they look weak.

UGA had formal rush for fraternities too, but I don't think there was any expectation of quota. I don't even know if they had a quota, but even if they did, none of the men's groups worried about taking that many. They only gave bids to the guys they wanted.

I think I remember something about being able to list houses that cut us on our bid card so that we would be "maximizing potential" and not SIPing, but still not get bids to houses that we didn't want.

Don't forget that at some schoools, this is the case now. At one of the schools I advise at, no one is at total (although that may change in the future) and there's no quota. Two years ago in formal, we got 6, another group got 4, and the two others got high teens. If there had been quota, it would have been much better because most of the pnm's put multiple sororities on their "pref" cards (we don't have pref either), so we would have all had a more equal amount of nm's. This past rush, we got 25 while the others got 14, 10, and 4 give or take. While we were certainly happy, I really didn't think it was fair to anyone else. I think that the minimally structured rushes are really hard for chapters who don't have strong advisers and don't know how to utilize their resources. And it can easily lead to the large chapters getting larger and the smaller ones getting smaller.

Structured is the key word here. As in a structure similar to NPC formal recruitment.

For most campuses, I would akin IFC Formal Rush as more like open COB events at every house. Usually starts with open houses and the rushee gets to pick which chapters he wants to visit. However, on some campuses, the rushee might be required to attend an open house for each chapter before he gets to pick where he wants to go back. Then usually, chapter events are by invite only.

That would be amazing if all schools allowed that, but I suppose it still is "getting around the system" in a way -- which is exactly what the panhels are trying to avoid when they discourage SIPing.

I think when Sally PNM gets pref invites to ABC and XYZ and she knows there's no way that she wants XYZ and has been ranking them last the entire time she should say something. She can politely and discreetly tell her rusher that she does not see herself in their chapter and would prefer to not receive a bid from them. If her rusher has any sense she'll tell an advisor who will remove Sally from the bid list altogether. Sally PNM can still rank them second, not suiciding, but there would be a snow balls chance of her getting an XYZ bid.

Or you could be a lot more polite about it and when someone asks you what you are looking for in a sorority say, "XYZ" (which is NOT the house you are standing in!) Yes, it actually happened!!
:eek:

Yep, it does. And although you hate hearing it, it certainly makes your decision in MS a lot easier. (I like it when they say the name of my chapter in what they're looking for, though. Say that a little slower again, PNM. Ohhhh yeeeeah. That's what I like to hear. Oh baby, oh baby. ;) )

Rumblytumbly, I'm sorry that you didn't get the chapter you wanted, but at least now you have a year to get to know the different groups better and be more organized for next time. If you heart wasn't in the chapter who offered you a bid, I'm glad that you knew yourself well enough not to go through a semester of trying to fit in where you didn't feel right. Hopefully when you try again, you'll go through with an open mind--a lot can change in a year, and who knows, you may fall in love with the same house or you may find somewhere else! Good luck with starting your year.