Preference Invites/ Bids
 

Ok, so if you get a preference invite to one sorority (but it wasn't your first choice), can you still get a bid from one that you didnt get a pref invite to? Or are you cut?

It's possible to still get a bid from them if you put them on your bid card AND they put you on their flex list AND go far enough into it to get you. So I'd say it's about 99.9% against getting one from them and 100% that you get one from the group whose pref you attend as long as your campus guarantees bids to those who maximaze their options.

Most campuses pretty much guarantee a bid if a PNM has a full pref schedule and maximizes her options. It doesn't work out the same way if you only have one sorority left in your schedule when there are two or three pref parties. This PNM could definitely still be cut from the one remaining house she has left - it happens all the time.

OP, you were cut by the other sorority. The only way you should be able to get a bid from any sorority other than the pref party you did/are attending is if you don't sign a pref card (basically drop out of recruitment) and some sorority that doesn't meet quota decides to offer you a snap bid. But that is a foolish thing to bet on, if you ask me. Just laying that out there in case someone brings up snap bidding as a good option.

Snap bidding is only eligible to women who maximize their recruitment options at pref. It has nothing to do with them dropping out and in fact they need to sign a pref card. If you drop out of recruitment you are eligible for COB, not snap bidding.

And some guarantee it to all who max their options - no matter what they are. But we don't what her campus does so that's why I qualified it. Either way, it's 99.9% sure the only chance she has is the one where she preffed....and only if she's far enough up their list.

No, quota additions are for only women who maximized their options but didn't get a bid. Snap bids are for any woman who did not receive a bid, whether she dropped out of recruitment after the first round or whether she was cross-cut.

I went to the NPC website and did a search. These links might be useful:

http://www.npcwomen.org/resources/pd..._Placement.pdf

http://www.npcwomen.org/resources/pd...resolution.pdf

The first one addresses quota additions; the second one is a resolution explaining snap bidding.


ETA: Forgot this one, which explains inclusion of PNMs on Bid Lists:

http://www.npcwomen.org/resources/pd...s_Bid_List.pdf


So - what's the consensus, GC?

It means I'm right ;)

"Resolved, That any chapter may prepare a separate Snap Bid List that can be

used at the proper time for determining Snap Bids and that the only qualification
for a potential new member's name to be eligible to appear on that list is that she
has participated in the recruitment process by attending at least one round of

recruitment."

Quota additions = chapter met quota and is getting additional new members
Snap bids = chapter did not match to quota, so they may make phone calls to women prior to bid handout to offer a spot in the nm class. They may be given to any woman who went through recruitment but did not receive a bid.
COB = chapter either was not able to fill quota using snap bids, or they met quota but are still under total and therefore may offer additional bids up to total

I just added another link. My intention wasn't to take sides or start any disputes or anything; I am trying to research information for the PNM who started this thread.

So I am the messenger, and that is that. Please.

Notice my little "wink" smiley?

I just posted a little mini-glossary to clarify the difference between QA, snap bids and COB, because there is always a lot of confusion over that. It's important for people to know the difference, because I know people on GC and at some schools create false hope in some women because they don't really know the way the bid process works.

ETA: For example, I know of some PNMs who heard about snap bidding and dropped out of recruitment when they didn't like the choices they had left, all because they thought the houses they liked could potentially offer them a snap bid later. They didn't know that snap bids only get extended by chapters who don't make quota, and often the women who drop out of recruitment for the reason I just mentioned really only want the top chapters that always make quota.

All it states is that a chapter who invites a woman to preference, and therefore has listed her on their bid list, must be willing to offer her a bid. It doesn't state that she WILL become a member of that chapter, it's just saying that if things work out that way with the matching system, that the chapter must accept her, having already voted to offer her membership. It also doesn't say that a woman who goes through recruitment and attends one preference party will receive a bid to that one sorority.

^^^ missed the wink, I really need new glasses (and did I focus when I read what you wrote in both senses of the word "focus"? Probably not. My Bad).

This entire process is complex, if not complicated. Thank you for the mini-glossary and I hope the OP has an answer or answers.

(Not a big smiley user myself but if I could, I would insert a face that was pleased at the outcome of this exchange).

It is very complicated and confusing!

ETA: I'm only so familiar with this because I was a recruitment counselor one year and on panhellenic exec another year, so got to see how the whole bid process worked.

Yes I mixed the requirements up, however women do not have to drop out or be cross cut to receive one. Some women maximize their options at pref and do not receive a bid, even though this is rare, as not every campus "guarantees" bids.

Thank you so much, ladies!! I'm still kinda confused tho. So if I got a preference ceremony invite from sorority ABC but not one from sorority XYZ, I could still put sorority XYZ on my bid list?

The bid list is the list the sororities have. Each sorority has their own bid list. You will just list ABC.

You can, but why would you? You want to commit yourself to a chapter that didn't invite you to pref?

I can't speak for how every chapter prepares a bid list, but the odds are good that every girl they invited to pref would appear higher than you on their bid list.

As Alumiyum's post says, the sororities are the ones with the bid list. What you will have is a bid card.

You can put XYZ on your card if you really want to, but your chance of getting a bid from them is very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very small.

They may not have invited her because they had to release a higher percentage of women than most other groups, not because they dislike her. I'm not trying to blow sunshine, but with RFM it sometimes is the truth.

She can list XYZ and ABC (and for that mattter PQR if she feels like it and has 3 slots), but if she hates ABC so much that she doesn't want to list them, she shouldn't. Any PNM has the right to list any sorority on her bid card. She may screw herself out of a bid, but it honestly is her prerogative.

But if she was released, she will not get a bid from them (barring something weird and incredibly unusual). If she cut them, she could be on their bid list, but otherwise, she's not there.

So add a few (hundred) more "verys" on your list.

Depending on the software used, listing a chapter that did not invite you to pref may not even be an option. You may just have to drop out. But seriously, XYZ cut you. Maybe you should focus on the chapter(s) that WANTED you.

Just an FYI...The new MRABA script states that you can only list on your MRABA chapters that you actually attended preference events.

Sure, they may like her. I am questioning how she knows if she likes them. At most schools, prior to pref, you spend a grand total of about two hours with a chapter in the preliminary rounds.

What you said makes no sense. Obviously I would know if I liked them or not, because why else would I want to put them on the bid... And to clear any confusion that everyone clearly has, my roommate is in the sorority and she told me that they really liked me. There were a lot of girls there during rush week, so that could poss be why I didn't get a pref invite. Who knows. Whatev, I'm gonna rush again during formal rush in the spring and see what happens.

Anyways, thanks for the responds, ladies.

And they just weren't that into you. Now you're starting to sound like a sorority stalker.

Wait a tick. Does your school have two formal recruitments per year? Was this formal or informal recruitment?

Perhaps she just didn't want to hurt your feelings.

hahahah obvs, because that's my life goal *rolls eyes*

we have a formal one in the spring, and an informal one in the fall.

perhaps, but i highly doubt it since she was the one who told me out of the blue.


I mean honestly I'm gonna do what I wanna do, which is to rush again in the spring. I just wanted answers to my questions.

wow. just wow.

It obviously is that important to you since you were desperate enough to put the name of a sorority that didn't even think enough of you to invite you to their preference party. But good luck with that formal recruitment. :)

Ah! *lightbulb goes off at last* A PNM, in the early rounds, releases chapter PPP on her responses, BUT chapter PPP does not "release" her and would have invited her to another party(ies). Therefore, it's possible that Chapter PPP MIGHT extend PNM a "snap" bid if that scenario ever came to pass after Preference Night (I get how this works! YAY!). It does NOT work the other way, however (right?). This thread has been so educational for me in terms of so many details I never considered. Someone should write "recruitment rules for dummies" and I'll buy the first copy.

*another lightbulb* More valuable information about the process. And the short and sweet answer to the OP's original question.

*Finally! Permission for a signature line?

*And to the OP: Good Luck.

Please do yourself a favor and listen to this:

Your attitude will not help you. Your roommate might like you. She might like you enough to wish to extend you a bid. That's not the way it works. The entire chapter has to like you that much, and you have no idea (nor does she) whether or not they do. And even if they like you it doesn't mean you'll get a bid. Assuming that you will might very well keep you from being Greek at all.

And by the way, generally speaking, a sorority chapter is not going to appreciate the assumption that a PNM will get in. Learn a little tact and humility.

A little off topic, but when I went through, we were told to write down every sorority we would accept a bid to, whether or not we had gone to pref, so I put down nearly every chapter haha. Obviously I didn't expect a bid to any of those, but I assumed that you could do pretty much whatever you wanted on your pref card?

Wait, this was INFORMAL rush?

Okay, that's a different scenario. I am not familiar with campuses that have bid cards and such for informal rush.

OK, now I am totally confused!

I hereby give AzTheta permission to quote any of my posts for a signature line, now and into the future. :)

:D

What the heck is MRABA? I swear, just when I thought I had it all figured out, here comes some new shit.

It stands for Membership Recruitment Acceptance Binding Agreement. Basically it's what you're agreeing to when you sign your bid card.

Thankies!