Recruitment at a small Alabama School
 

I have been lurking these forums and reading stories into the wee hours for the past week because my sister was going through recruitment at her school. I'm going to tell you the story of her journey through recruitment because I'm a little confused (as well as she) by the outcome! :)
We can call her Liza
There are four sororities at her school:
A
B
C
D

First Night:
Liza visited all 4 houses.
At A she already knew some girls from high school and really liked this house. She had also heard alot about them from other people and thought their sorority was on she would want to be apart of.

When she visited B she didn't know anything about the girls or their sisterhood and immediately felt comfortable and made good conversation with her assigned active. this one just jumped to the top of her list for now.

When she visited C, the active she was placed with was colder than ica and she had to make all the conversation while the active kept looking at her watch because she "had others places to be". She was more than displeased with the girls at this house and could not see herself here.

Before she went into D she had already heard many negative things about the girls but went in with a clear and open mind. These girls were the most welcoming by far! She really clicked with them and thy were sweet to her as she was with them. While she didn't really fit with them, she did enjoy their company. (The other PNM's were being snoody and holding up their noses at this party.... This is NOT how my sister would ever act)

That night she had to rank her top 3 and drop 1.
1. A
2. B
3. C
Drop D

Day 2

Liza could be invited back to 3 and got A, B, D. She was fine with that. C was no place for her.

She thoroughly enjoyed all 3 houses this night but didn't really care for D's philanthropy. She once again was nice to the girls of D, but knew this was not a place for her. Many of her friends who were invited back to D the 2nd night were upset and went to all their party's except that one. Liza was a little confused by this because she didn't dislike them that MUCH, she just could never see herself there.

A and B were pretty even after this night because she enjoyed both skits and philanthropy (as well as the girls) .

Ranking
1. A
2. B
Drop D

Day 3
Out of 12 girls in Liza's Gamma Chi group it's down to 7. For pref night she was invited back to A and D. Her favorite and least favorite.
She was ok with this because she knew A was right for her.

For pref night, she teared up at A because they threw pearls into a fountain with their paired active and were told it represented their purity and would get it back tomorrow at Bid day! She couldn't wait!!

At D, she was with only a handful of girls and was very uncomfortable. She told her Gamma Chi the situation she was in with D and her Gamma Chi told her to be honest with D and tell them she has interest elsewhere. So Liza told the active she was with that while she thought they were sweet, she had her heart elsewhere. The girls were sad but made sure they had each others phone numbers and parted ways.

She ranked
1. A
2. D

On bid day she was very happy they way things went last night because she knew that if she got a bid it would only be from A....


















:confused:
:confused:
:confused:
:confused:


lo and behold she got the envelope and it was D! She was pretty upset and left the student center. All in all out of 12 girls in her Gamma Chi group, she was one of 4 to get a bid.

I understand it's a mutual process... but she knew the first night D was wrong for her and ranked it lowest every night. Something just doesn't make sense to me. She's fine with the way things unfolded and has moved on while I cannot.

did she accept her bid and attend bid day activities?

I'm assuming she did not, if she freaked out and left the building...

No, she was upset and left the student center. I wish she had know more about the voting situation though. That might have helped her out a little. But I will say that the school she attends is UNA. But I do not wish to release the key for the sororities.

Did she accept the bid or decide not to go greek?

Although she told the girls of D that she was interested in another place (which I think was very classy of her, and a good way to handle the situation), unfortunately bid lists are a LIST. The girls of D probably did take what she said into consideration, and put her low on the list, but it sounds like they got all the way to the bottom of their bid lists.

Just as you're never guaranteed to get a bid from a group, if you're at their pref you're also not guaranteed NOT to get a bid from them. If you're there you're on their list, but you don't know where. Just the way it is.

Oh! I'm not talking about the sorority voting. I'm referring to where you said she didn't have to rank both after Pref night. I wish she could have known that in hindsight.
She didn't accept the bid.

My alumni group supports a struggling chapter at UNA and I'm guessing that this is chapter D. It may be too late, if your sister has already declined her bid, but "Chapter D" is really a great group of girls. The bond between these girls is really strong; they seem to have a real support system and have really been working hard to turn this chapter around. If you have been lurking on Greek Chat then I know you have seen countless stories of girls who stuck it out and grew to love their chapter. I hope your sister can give them a chance. After all, they are the ones who liked her enough to offer her a bid.

Interesting that she dropped D right off the bat when you already said that the girls were welcoming, sweet and she clicked with them, while at C they were cold as ice and she couldn't see herself there. What's up with that?

^^^I didn't get it either. It's a shame if she *did* let tent talk influence her so.

It's a shame that she dropped D without even giving it a chance. I looked to see who was on UNA's campus. All 4 sororities are wonderful organizations. This struggling chapter will hopefully pull itself together...and certainly could if PNMs would accept their bids instead of dismissing them out of hand! I don't know which chapter D is, but all of these chapters have wonderful (Inter)National traditions that she will miss out on. Recruitment is rough sometimes, but although your sister is feeling rejected unfairly, she just did the same thing the Chapter D.

As a student at UNA (but not a member of any of our four Panhellenic organizations), I'm pretty sure I can guess who A was - and I can give you my honest opinion that if D is also who I think it is based on other comments (if it is indeed the struggling chapter), I'm actually not surprised that this happened.

If I know who A is (my guess is pretty much based on what you reported their pref night thing being and me connecting symbols that are public knowledge with that), then recruitment for that particular group is always extremely competitive. I would almost go so far as to say that the group might be considered by quite a few here on campus to be the top group, due to their reputation, involvement, and record as far as things like spirit competitions and that sort of thing goes.

I would actually advise her, if she really wants to be a part of A, to perhaps go through recruitment here again next year, and keep getting to know girls in each group for the rest of this year. But I recommend doing it again because typically there are a few quota spots reserved specifically for non-freshmen (of course, I'm assuming your sister IS a freshman, which she may well not be), and it might actually work out in her favor.

If you feel like discussing anything more, but you don't feel comfortable doing it directly on the forum, you can feel free to PM me. I know plenty of girls in each of our four groups, even went to high school with some and are involved in different things on campus with them, so I've got a pretty good view of things for a Panhellenic GDI. ;)

I totally agree with you that (assuming chapter D is who we're thinking it is) they are a great group of girls. I have several friends who are actives or alumnae of the chapter, and they are definitely giving everything they've got to build things back up and better the name of the group here on campus.

A freaking men. If she ranked a chapter where the girls were welcoming and nice below one where she was treated like poo solely because of the chapter's campus reputation, I don't feel sorry for her at all...and D should be damn glad they aren't stuck with her as a sister.

Agree ^^^

She said they were warm, welcoming and sweet. Then she ranked them last over a group that were ice bitches. I don't get it, and I don't really have much sympathy. I do have sympathy for women who have accepted all invitations and get completely released from recruitment. That is a different situation, and often has to do with recs, grades or upperclass status.

We have had a lot of stories this year of "open minded" pnms who receive invitations, even bids, but "can't see themselves" in the group and drop out. I believe that translates most of the time to, "I am too good for this group". In any group over 20 or 25 members, there is going to be a variety of personalities, looks, interests and scholastic ability and it is the rare woman who can't find a common bond and friendship somewhere in the chapter.

Truth be told, there are boring women even in the "top" group on campus.

Amen again! They were beotches! But they weren't bottom tier beotches! I have no sympathy for women like this. At all. She deserves to be stuck as a GDI and those "bottom tier" women are lucky to not be stuck with such a shallow twit as a sister.

One of my closest friends is a recent alumna of chapter D at UNA. We were actually talking about this very subject the other day, that the Gamma Chis basically tell the PNMs that they have to rank both of their preference choices. They don't know that they can only rank one or are strongly discouraged not to. She was like, "Well, they discourage it because only 10% of the girls who suicide get what they want." That stat seems a little off. It seems like a scare tactic to "trick" PNMs into ranking both choices when they only want one.

It seems like a disservice to the PNMs for being bound for a year (though chapter D is usually the only one that does informal recruitment), but also to chapter D. My friend told me that a few years ago they MATCHED quota (25ish) but only 9 of them "ran" (accepted). How deflating to get your hopes up!

Correct except for the bolded part. It should say, "by virtue of PNMs of chapter D's list matching elsewhere or suiciding."

I know someone who went through recruitment at UNA and I have some knowledge of the campus panhellenic. To say that things are a little bit screwed up over there would be an understatement. If the RFM is being used correctly, I don't understand why so many women there go bidless, although they may be dropping out. The PNM's were supposedly told at the beginning of recruitment that, by beginning the formal recruitment process, they could not accept a bid outside of that for one year. I am not sure what color the book they are reading is.
My friend accepted a bid to "D" even though it was not her first choice and thinks she can make a go of it. I am proud of her. "D" is a strong group nationally and that is just as important, given the number of years that one is an alum.
I, too, have little sympathy for someone who went bidless but did not maximize her options. That is what happens when you start thinking you are too good for a certain group.

I think the tent talk about chapter D is just really bad, in that so many girls would drop out than join chapter D.

I'm from Florence (where UNA is located) and know the four sororities you described quite well. I knew a lot of people in D and they loved it. I spent my freshman year of college at UNA before going to Auburn. All the sororities back then COB'ed all year. I knew five girls who went through rush who didn't get bids (that's when you could cut instead of ranking). All five got bids to the strongest sorority before the first semester was over. They all went to church with several of the members and there you go. The moral of the story--don't give up and do go to church.

The part that bugs me so much is if the 8 girls in her group of 12 who didn't pledge houses all went to D the chapter would have no problem. All it takes is one solid pledge class. I'd love to see your sister talk with a couple of her friends who didn't pledge and think about going into D TOGETHER, being with the great and loving women and getting the numbers at a place where less confident women would also feel comfortable joining.

It sounds to me (no, I don't know this campus, but I was a member of a small chapter) like the ONLY problem this chapter has is numbers. I didn't hear anything here about the quality.

Several years ago as an AAA I helped my Fraternity reorganize. They were down to less than 10 men. We pushed the alumni and raized money for Rush and pledged 16 men. This group of men are now the largest on campus with 70+ members and regularly recruit the largest pledge classes of all the Fraternities. My point is that a lot of this is cyclical. There is a good chance that the group D will be the largest and best on campus in just a couple of years. It takes hard work and a lot of social networking but it can be done. When I was in school ZTA was always the smallest Sorority on our campus. Now they are at full quota with 100+ women and win awards right and left. Who would have thought so back in their early days of 20-25 members? It only takes one good pledge class to turn it around.

Right...UNA has small groups, compared to the behemoths at Alabama and Auburn. It wouldn't take that many women to turn things around. Tent talk is SO unfair. Maybe the Rho Chis should be emphasizing that.

I get the rejection factor, and was also surprised that she ranked D below C. After reading the initial description I was absolutely certain that she would drop C! But we also have to consider that a) there are a lot of factors that play into these decisions, b) the decisions have to be made fairly quickly, and c) she hasn't been on the "other side" so she only knows what she hears and sees. Women make some tough decisions when going through recruitment, and not all of them are with (what we would perceive to be) the bigger picture in mind. I know I would've done some things differently when I went through, but I also wouldn't change the end result :-)