Have some fire: Live recruitment thread!
 

Recruitment at Ohio State will begin once we all go back to school within the next few weeks. I will be updating every few days (after each round) with my opinions on each sorority and how each round went.

At my school, there are 16 sororities but not all go through recruitment for various reasons. Each will have different names (obviously) and depending on how my recruitment goes, I'll say who's out after each round.

I have an open mind going into formal recruitment. I've had a few family members go through sorority recruitment, but my mom wasn't greek and neither were my dad or brother. Like I said, I have an open mind. This means I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA about any sorority on campus, only tent talk that I hear from friends. Don't worry though, I know that all that matters in the end is my opinion of each sorority.

As for the title, it comes from one of my favorite quotes.
Have some fire. Be unstoppable. Be a force of nature. Be better than anyone here, and don't give a damn what anyone thinks.

[subscribed.]

This one sounds good :-)
I like that the codes are elements!!!

me too :)

The science nerd in me smiled at your code names...best of luck!

Thank you for the wishes!

If you guys have any advice for me, please let me know!

Oh yeah. I'm hooked in. Since I have a degree in Geology, I think I'll cheer for Fluorine, as it's in one of my favorite minerals (Fluorite).

And good luck to you! I can't wait to hear your story.

I like your code names, too! Good luck!

Good luck to you! Cant wait to read the "live" part :)

Good luck!

Love the code names.

I was totally ready to root on hydrogen until you said that she started bashing other chapters and that's just not cool, so I'm going for oxygen now. :D

Oh oh umm I'll root for aluminum, just cause.

I vote for Lithium. Lithium is my favorite element on the periodic table. First its atomic number is 3, which is my favorite number, AND it is SO easy to figure out chemical formulas when Li is in the mix, since it always gives away one electron........YAY for Lithium and YAY for science LOL! Good luck!

wow...lol i could NEVER get the hang of electrons, protons, etc. chemistry was to me what math was to some people. :o

Go Oxygen! Having the same values and you can see yourself living in the house, sounds like a winner. Or at least a place to start...

I don't think it's the best idea to list them. Especially because it's spring/winter recruitment, it's easier for people to guess which school it is.

I can't decide so I'm going to cheer for both Neon and Oxygen!

I'm not sure I'm understanding this correctly, but I would just list the houses you are invited back too.

The thing is there are people, who have way much more time on their hands than me, who will deliberately search and make a point to post and say "I know what school you go too". Can't stop that.

I would say don't be specific when it comes to describing the houses. Keep it general. "I liked this house" "I didn't like this house". Don't say "I went to hydrogen and they were wearing jeans with a red shirt (that is their color)". That just makes it much more easy for someone to figure out what house you are talking about.

There are people who get offended if a PNM doesn't like their house. Not that I personally understand why, since I can't expect every PNM to love my chapter and I accept that. So just keep in general. No specifics, just too the point.

Good luck to you, bellefille!

Here's a recruitment thread that I think you should take the time to read through. CurlyGirly's thread has been widely admired on this board as an example of how to write a recruitment thread that is respectful of the chapters and the process as a whole.

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ad.php?t=22217

@Blue Skies: I read through CurlyGirly's thread and it was definitely exciting, I loved that it was over 8 years old and people were still coming back to catch up with her.

I would love to be able to write in a format like hers, naming all the sororities and where I attend school, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to now that I've given "code names" and described each sorority. If you GC'ers would rather read it formatted like that, I'm sure I could figure out a way to do it. I definitely enjoyed reading her thread over threads like mine, but like I said, I'm not sure if I would be able to go about it like that due to the fact I've described houses.

By all means, stick with the code names. You're doing fine. I just wanted you to have a look at that thread. Enjoy your recruitment!

good luck!
 

I was a chemistry major so I love the code names! You seem to be going in with an open mind and I hope you find a chapter to call home!

Hey everyone! I just thought I'd let everyone know how the days go at my school.
Recruitment is six days, here's how they go!

Day 1: Information session, get a general feel for each house, no cuts.
Day 2: Recruitment orientation, meet our Rho Gams and our groups, no cuts.
Day 3: Meet the Greeks, meet all 14 more personally in one central location, rank your top 10.
Day 4: House rounds, visit up to ten houses, rank top 6.
Day 5: Philanthropy round, go to up to six houses, learn more about philantrhopy, rank top 3.
Day 6: Pref round, visit top three hours for one hour and learn about what makes their sorority special, rank top three houses.
Day 7: Bid Day! Learn what sorority you are going to be a sister of.

I'm not sure if this is the same/different compared to other schools, but I thought I'd clear that up for everyone. I hope all of you have a great new years and a happy and healthy 2010!

update
 

Obviously, I've stated where I go to school. As I said, you guys can try to figure out what house is which, but you never will :p.

I don't know too much about any house. Through basic research, I do have ones I like more than others based on shallow things like colors and jewels but I know to go in with an open mind.

From what I've read about greek life, total for all houses is 100. Therefore, quota isn't based on number of girls going through recruitment/total number houses but rather how many open spots each house has to fill up to 100. If I am incorrect on this, please let me know. That's what I've gathered from my research.

I know a few girls from a couple houses, all have been very genuine and sweet. There has been one girl that I met that was bashing other houses but I know better than to judge a house based on one girl.

I hope to find a house that has very similar values to mine. I'm in college to get an education, not to party everynight, but going out is still something I do some weekends. I want a house very into their philanthropy and enjoys helping others because that's what I enjoy doing with my time. Overall, I hope to find a house that is filled with women that I can call my sisters.

I hope everyone had a great New Years day. I know I was smelling the roses. Go Bucks!

Well dang, I wish I had a copy of the original in my subscription emails.

@ree-Xi: I apologize! I realized I like this more open format better and plus I had recieved a few PM's of people trying to "break the code." I hope once recruitment starts, I can still keep you hooked in.

Let's go Buckeyes *clap clap clap* O-H!

YAY! An OSU thread :D And what a great game today!

Continuing the love....I-O

Quota is typically 25 regardless of the number of girls that go through recruitment. There has been some talk of lowering the number because only a few chapters have been able to hit quota and total. When I was in school, quota was much higher because of the number of PNMs was greater and most chapters hit quota.

Since OSU is not as competitive as other schools, if you maximize your options, you most likely will get a bid. I can tell you that most PNMs have their favorites going before formal. There are great things about every chapter and even if you don't get invited back to your favorite house, wherever you land, you will have friends for life. I recently found that one of my chapter sisters lives two streets away and we still laugh about the same things.

Don't listen to tent talk. I can tell you that the same stereotypes exist today that existed 25 years ago with the same chapters and they are untrue. Every house has girls that party and those that don't, every house has girls that are very studious and others that struggle to make grades, every house has girls that are more involved than others.

Good luck during recruitment and I can't wait to hear the results.


ETA: I knew it was Ohio State only because of the number of chapters and the recruitment schedule and not by the description of the houses or the stereotypes. There was nothing you said that was defamatory or that would have hurt you during recruitment. I was simply excited to read another recruitment story from OSU.

Didn't OSU used to have some sort of thing not allowing them to go over total even if the number of women going through rush and the subsequent quota set would have warranted it? If I'm pulling this out of my butt or confusing it w/ another school please correct me. Obviously if houses can't hit total now it's kind of a moot point.

Yes, and last I heard that's still the case but I could be wrong.

The clip from this document is from 2002. I can't find anything newer:
"I. Phase 1 – Quota


Determined at this time Based on historical data, and what had been happening in the past few years, this team came up with the following:
A. Quota/Cap

Quota would be the number of vacancies to maximum of 25 to Campus Total of 100

I.E. If group ZYW has 70 members before Formal Recruitment, they can take only 25, leaving 5 vacancies for them to COB to Total of 100.

If group ABC has 80 members, then 20 will be their quota as that this would put them at Campus Total of 100.

The goal is to move to a Quota/Total format with 3-5 years once recruitment numbers have stabilized as well as chapters being healthy.
B. Campus Total

At this time, Campus Total will stay at 100
C. Release figures

We will continue using release figures
D. COB

Continuous Open Bidding will be strongly encouraged as Formal recruitment will no longer be able to be relied on to reach Campus Total."

Woohoo, a Columbus recruitment thread!

Hello from your neighbors out on the loop ;).

Thanks, everyone, for the well wishes! I know as the days pass by, I'm getting more and more excited about my future endeavors and hopefully finding a sisterhood that I truely belong in. I'm so nervous though too! During break, I went shopping for some clothes for each round which, if i do say so myself, are all adorable :)

For those that don't know, OSU has 14 sororities that go through formal:
Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Epsilon Phi
Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Omicron Pi
Alpha Phi
Alphi Xi Delta
Chi Omega
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Gamma
Delta Zeta
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Pi Beta Phi

Hey bellefille, I hope you have a fabulous recruitment. OSU is such a wonderful school, with lots to do and great sororities. Please dress warmly, so you don't freeze your keister off any more than you have to! (DD had friends who bailed from recruitment because of horrible weather last year.)

As to quota system, I believe it was changed as of this autumn. In the past, as said before, your house could have a maximum of 100 girls. Even if you still had room under quota. So, for example, if quota was 25, but a house was at 78, they could only bring in 22 new members. (78+22=100).

IF I understand what DD was TRYING to explain to me, now you can have up to 100 members before Formal, and then bring in quota at Formal, without worrying about the 100 girl ceiling. So, consequently, informal (which was for sophomores and up only) this autumn was a bit different, I think all sororities participated, because they had more spots available. As a result, a few houses already have around 90 girls due to strong informal recruiting numbers, when they normally would have had around 70-75. So even if a house has 90 girls, they will be able to bring in up to the quota number, probably 25ish?, as compared to the past, when they would only be allowed to bring in 10. Based on numbers on OSU's website, it looks like 9 of the 14 sororities can make 100 if they hit quota of 25. A few others are a just a couple of girls away from that. I was kind of surprised at the change, as there are still a few chapters who consistently do not come close to 100, and that this would hurt them more. But the powers that be must be seeing increased numbers and stronger interest in sororities.

So in other words, they did this 100 person cap for several years and it still didn't help the struggling groups? If there were multiple groups not hitting total, why didn't they just lower it in the first place?

I'm all for helping chapters that need help but apparently this method didn't work, and it's not fair to the girls who got denied a chapter they may have wanted and who wanted them because the quota system wasn't being used normally. The fact of the matter is, if you're under total you have to fix it yourself in the off semesters...so you can go into rush on an equal footing. Panhel regulations aren't going to help you.

(And yes, I know I sound like I'm contradicting myself. But membership caps are not the same as total.)

Rooting for Kappa - since we have eliminated the codes...

oo i'm excited for this one since it's at OSU! One of my best guy friends is a sigma chi there and hes totally into the whole greek life scene...I hope your recruitment turns out to be amazingg!!!

Good luck and have fun with recruitment! One of my really good friends was a Buckeye and in the Greek system there -- she had an absolute blast.

:)