Super Competitive and/or Very Large Recruitments 2012 Meta-Thread
 

Now that its summer, there are probably a lot of PNMs scrambling to get Recs written; or at least realizing they have to. And soon it will be a season of many questions regarding recruitment this fall. So I thought it would be a good thing to put together a starting place of sorts of all the super competitive recruitments that are commonly a topic of huge interest on these boards.

If the mods think this is a good idea, maybe we could sticky it until recruitment is over. As much as we would love PNMs to learn how to use the search function once many threads start appearing it could be quite overwhelming to find the most important information.

However if the mods think this is a bad idea, feel free to delete.
As long as this thread stays active I will continue to update it as more interest is shown for various schools. Also feel free to add any other schools I may have missed.

Special thanks to Irishpipes' super recruitment thread

NPC Recruitment & Chapter Listing: Fall 2012-Spring 2013
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=125397

These extremely helpful threads are stickied to the top of the Sorority Recruitment forum. They should be the starting point for any PNM looking for information on recruitment. Since I am feeling especially helpful this morning I've decided to add them to this:

adpiucf's MUST-READ amazing and comprehensive General Advice
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ad.php?t=54403

Schools where you absolutely positively need recs
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=112718

Recommendation Caution to PNM's
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ad.php?t=53908

Upperclassman Quota (for PNMs and parents to read.)
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=121221

NB to PNMs: Remember to ALWAYS check with your campus Panhellenic/Greek Life Office for the best recruitment information. While Greekchat can be incredibly helpful, it is NOT a substitute for getting specific information regarding your school's recruitment.

DO Get those Recs written in time; Be gracious and polite; and Plan ahead!

Good Luck Class of 2016!

Schools currently listed: University of Alabama; University of Arizona; University of Arkansas; Auburn University; University of Georgia; University of Kentucky; Louisiana State University; University of Mississippi; University of Texas

University of Alabama (Bama)
City: Tuscaloosa, AL
Dates: August 11-18, 2012
Chapters: 17 (1 does not participate in FR)
2011 Quota: 73+7

U of Alabama Fall 2012 Recruitment Dates
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=126335
Alabama Recruitment
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=106696

University of Arizona
City: Tucson, AZ
Dates: August 15-21, 2011
Chapters: 11
2011 Quota: 83

University of Arizona Recruitment Dates
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=125438

University of Arkansas
City: Fayetteville, AR
Dates: August 12-19, 2012
Chapters: 8 (+2 colonies for Fall 2012)
2011 Quota: 131

U of Arkansas Fall 2012 Recruitment Dates and Schedule
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=125375
Alpha Chi Omega and Phi Mu - Arkansas
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=126264

Auburn University
City: Auburn Alabama
Dates: August 7-13, 2012
Chapters: 17
2011 Quota: 62

Auburn Recruitment 2012 [Currently the more popular/active thread]
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=125165
Auburn Fall 2012 Recruitment Dates
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=125389

University of Georgia
City: Athens, GA
Dates: August 7-13, 2012
Chapters: 17
2011 Quota: 62+10

U of Georgia Fall 2012 Recruitment Dates and Schedule
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=125372

University of Kentucky
City: Lexington, KY
Dates: August 11-16, 2012
Chapters: 13
2011 Quota: 62+10

U of Kentucky Fall 2012 Recruitment Dates
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=125373

Louisiana State University (LSU)
City: Baton Rouge, LA
Dates: August 11-19, 2012
Chapters: 10
2011 Quota: 84

LSU Fall 2012 Recruitment Dates (Louisiana State U)
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=125388

University of Mississippi (Ole Miss)
City: Oxford, MS
Dates: September 16-23, 2012
Chapters: 9
2011 Quota: 117+10

University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) 2012 Recruitment
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=125443
Ole Miss Recruitment
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ad.php?t=99388

University of Texas
City: Austin, TX
Dates: August 21-28, 2012
Chapters: 14
2011 Quota: 51+13

University of Texas Recruitment August 21-28, 2012
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=124995

Obviously, I'm not a moderator, but as a mother with a daughter who will be going through recruitment at one of these schools, I think it's a fabulous idea that would be very helpful to PNMs as they "cut their teeth" on greek chat and become accustomed to searching the threads. Thank you for doing this.

You're very welcome. I thought it could have some use. And I just love collating information; making lists; etc!

bump with the addition of two useful threads:

Thanks for bumping these KSUViolet06

The importance of conversation/personality during recruitment
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ad.php?t=99720

How much is appearance weighed during rush?
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=105842

Another great thread to mentally prepare a PNM for a super competitive recruitment. Nobody ever wants to think about it happening to them, but it does happen sometimes.

Advice for PNMs: Not getting a bid to your 1st choice.
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=106678

Even though it's deferred and not until December/January, having Indiana's recruitment on this list might be beneficial. We are our own 'special snowflake' recruitment ;)

Oh I am definitely one of those who think that Indiana's bed rush make it arguably the most competitive rush in the country!

This thread wasn't supposed to be a definitive list of the most competitive recruitments.

Since I've noticed every summer there are always a bunch of repetitive threads started by PNMs especially asking questions about these schools I just wanted to be helpful to create a little starting point for PNMs. Especially if lots of new threads are created drowning out the informative ones.

All the threads I linked to were kindly created by their respective OPs with recruitment info and links to each school's panhellenics.

If you (or any other Hoosiers) starts a thread with IU 2012 recruitment; I'll gladly add it to the list!

Panhellenic Love,

28StGreek

ps thanks for linking that thread Zillini! You're experience/wisdom from advising at Bama is definitely much appreciated on GC!

You should probably add the University of Florida and University of Arizona to your list, and perhaps the University of Oklahoma.

I am sure I most definitely will be adding them as we get closer to fall. Its just as of now actives/alumna from those schools have yet to start an informational thread. And so far it looks like only the Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas threads are getting any attention. No doubt that will change over the next few weeks.

But thank you for your feedback!

If I've missed any competitive school recruitment threads for Fall 2012 let me know so I can add them to this for the benefit of PNMs!

And now they will have absolutely no excuse about getting all their research done before asking repetitive questions!

Hope y'all are having a wonderful day!

Panhellenic love,

28StGreek

bump

Added the Alpha Chi Omega and Phi Mu colonization thread to the list for Arkansas

University of Arizona added to the list

after some advice, and judgement from more knowledgeable GCers the list has been edited. Sorry Sundevils!

sorry cowboys!

I don't think OSU should be on the list. OU is more competitive than OSU, and neither are to the level of the SEC. Both have lots of very nice mid-tier chapters that an open-minded PNM can get bids from. They are large recruitments but not ultra-competitive.

ah with the large quota numbers and 'must-have-recs' advice it sounded like you pokes had it super competitive.

I always thought with their close proximity to Texas that the Big 12 was a kind of SEC-lite when it came to recruitment.

So I should just be looking out for SEC school threads popping up? (and do I ignore A&M and Mizzou threads?)

If only there was an official list haha (although I know the existence of something like that would be highly controversial)

The Greek system at OSU does not dominate the social scene at the school, so it isn't social suicide to be non-Greek. Most PNMs will have recs, and because of that they are necessary to avoid silly early cuts. It is competitive for the top 3-5 chapters, but other than that it isn't cut throat.

Oklahoma's recruitment comes very close to being ultra-competitive, as Greek life is extremely important at OU, and it is tough socially for non-Greeks. Greeks are highly influential and upperclass PNMs have a much tougher rush (although not impossible.). In fact, OU probably belongs in your thread as much or more than some other schools listed.

But, neither school has scores of PNMs who go bidless, unless they drop by their own choosing when the top tiers drop them.

Southern California
 

Recruitment is a bit later than some of these universities, but I think SC could be included in this list.

USC has more international students than any other university in the U.S. It is not unusual to have women from other countries, especially Canada, in new member classes.

So would a good characteristic of cut throat competitive campus be that "Lower Tier XYZ" is still better than being a GDI?

I knew about Oklahoma, its just as of yet no one has created a recruitment thread for OU, nor has there been an increase in threads by PNMs asking about OU specifically.

Well I'd obviously be the first one to agree with this! But the purpose of this meta-thread was to provide a helpful starting point for the myriad posts that PNMs create when they could easily find out the answers to their questions in preexisting threads.

There has yet to be an SC thread created, and I've noticed in the past there aren't that many threads created over SC recruitment. But once recruitment picks up it might be added.

As for other schools, which ones should I look out for as we get closer to the start of recruitment?

Updated the Auburn entry to include the thread started by AUAZD2001

Auburn Recruitment 2012
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...d.php?t=125165

This one is getting much more activity than the initial one I had linked to

Just a general question will "SEC" recruitment still be a byword for super ultra competitive cutthroat recruitment now that SEC technically would include Mizzou and TAMU?

I know Mizzou is pretty competitive but I've been recently educated about the more nuanced difference between Super Competitive as oppose to just Big Rush competitive.

It actually seems to me like it would be the opposite. The fact of the matter is that there are very few women who are dropped by every chapter, even at "competitive" schools. Even if a woman ends up with no invitations for a given round, it she typically would have had invites if she had ranked differently in a previous round (and RFM is doing more and more to eliminate this scenario).

So, when women would rather drop out of rush than be in XYZ, I'd consider it more competitive than when a bid to XYZ is still considered awesome.

Well what about schools like Alabama, or Arkansas or LSU; where I would have thought being Greek was better than not? I am sure one would argue that those 3 would be on the proverbial list of the most competitive recruitments?

It's a fine line. But I would say that there are a large number of those at these schools for whom XYZ would be not acceptable.

You could avoid the issue altogether by changing your thread to include competitive and large recruitments. Both are interesting. :)

My understanding is that there are/have been struggling chapters at all of those schools. That wouldn't be the case if being in ANY chapter was better than being in no chapter.

I have tried to formulate a response to this question many times over the years. It's tough to define - sort of, when you see it you know it kind of thing.

But taking a stab at it, I would say that a competitive campus is one where you have to have recs, it's on the PNM to get them, you definitely won't last if you don't have them - and maybe extra ones or letters of support also, and where you would drop out if you only had the lowest of the lowest left on your list unless you were realistic enough going in to know that would be all that's available to you because you had failed to get recs or because you don't meet the critera for most chapters (grades, activities, etc).

And this is still probably not clear enough - but I do know it when I see it!

If you had to pick a single, objective criteria of "competitive", I think recs would be it. If you need to get recs on your own, it's an indicator that you need to be preparing for recruitment well in advance. That, in turn, indicates that most of the women rushing come from communities where they would know about rush before they got to campus, i.e. there is a strong Greek presence, and being an XYZ vs. an ABC "means something".

Contrast that with a no-rec school: you can probably sign up when you get to campus, borrow clothing from someone on your floor, and if you go home on break and say you pledged XYZ, your high school friends only care inasmuch as it's cool if someone else pledged the same group at a different school.

That's why I put that first in my list - recs, recs, recs.

Good description, Titchou.

Yes, you certainly have a better perspective than I; from where I'm sitting up here North of the Mason-Dixon line, it seems like recs are portents of much larger differences when it comes to how Greek life fits into the culture.

I wonder if another measure could be that there is a percentage of PNMs who will transfer to a different school if they don't get one of their choice sororities?

That, too, AA....unfortunately!

Thank y'all for the input. Really this thread was started to help PNMs avoid having to start dozens of unnecessary threads when their questions are most likely already answered in an existing thread.

Especially since a particular few schools are regularly at the top of the "I don't know anything about Greek like but I'm going to a LargeSuperCompetitiveSouthernSchool HELP" style of threads.

The premise wasn't just to separate certain schools from the rest because of the 'competitive' title, but really to give a starting point for PNMs and hopefully avoid all the repetitive questions threads that they start! If it was just about competitive schools I'd most definitely have put Southern Cal on the list, but I've noticed very little interest exists for SC in recent years so, thus not on the list (at least yet!)

But I'll take Irishpipes advice and adjust this thread's title

ps So if you think your school is Super Competitive and/or large and deserves to be on the list but isn't. Its probably just a matter of time before it does as we get closer to the start of Recruitment.

I can't seem to figure out how to change the thread title?

I don't think you can change a title - but your could change the premise in your initial post. And I'm not criticizing your thread - it just seems from what you've written that you intend to be a helpful source to PNMs, and there are many very large recruitments that your thread could point to.

If the point is to help prepare PNMs to have the best recruitment experience, whether the school is highly competitive or just moderately competitive doesn't really matter. A little inside knowledge can open more doors to the PNM and broaden her choices. (For example, Oklahoma State - with no recs you might get a bid, but you would probably get cut from 8-9 chapters on day 1. Not exactly the array of options a PNM would like.)

"Competitive" is such a loaded word. You don't need recs at Penn State, but I can hardly think that it wouldn't be called "competitive." The fact is - even if it's the sorority on the "lowest tier", if there is someone getting a spot instead of you, you would still say rush is "competitive."

The only truly "non competitive" rush would be one where all the PNMs always get the sorority they want.

I totally agree with everything you've said. Yes technically all recruitments are competitive; and from a mathematical standpoint only bed rushes are truly 'super competitive'.

But I really only titled this thread because I feel that PNMs have some idea in their heads of which campuses are 'super competitive' (ie. most SEC schools; will the term 'SEC' rush be used less now with the addition of Mizzou and A&M?)

And these schools tend to be the focus of a lot of unnecessary question threads started that can easily be answered from existing discussion.

Whether that sort of thinking that leads to some Panhellenics being 'more competitive' than others is problematic and should be changed is beyond the scope of the intention of this thread!

Well, the assumption would be that they all "get the sorority they want" since they put that group on their bid card. z