Univ.of Illinois Recruitment FALL 2012
 

Recruitment at the University of Illinois has started, and I was wondering if anyone knew how many girls had signed up to go through this fall? and/or what the general quota has been the past few years? Thanks!:

No idea how many women signed up this year. However, thanks to irishpipe's awesome threads, here's quota numbers for past several years:

2011 - 53
2010 - 45
2009 - 47
2008 - 53
2007 - 48
2006 - 57

I remember '06 -- that was my freshman year (I rushed for a day but dropped out before even finishing open house round because I was overwhelmed with LIFE!...Dad was hospitalized for a few weeks, broke up with a long term boyfriend, adjusting to living away from home...yes there was a lot going on). My roommate finished though and mentioned that they had really large new member classes that year. I believe her class was 62?

The rest of the years seem pretty average. I imagine the decrease from 2008 to 2009 is because of a new chapter and I'll bet increase from 2010 to 2011 has to do with there being one less chapter. Based on that and the fact that the rest of the country seems to be seeing increases, I would bet we will be seeing quota in the 50s this year.

This is always fun to look at too: http://www.odos.uiuc.edu/greek/membe...lenicStats.asp

I SWORE they had 2011 added, but maybe I'm just going crazy.

Just to add some more numbers that go back a little further, quota when I was there was always around 50, except 2001, when it fell to 43. So it looks like it has held steady around 50 for a very long time, which is pretty interesting in the context of the huge growth we are seeing elsewhere.

ETA: To be clear, I was there from 1999 - 2002, and there were 19 groups at the time.

From the other Illinois thread:


1,098 is probably spot on! When I was there, you were emailed a giant spreadsheet with all the PNM's names and group numbers, so if this is the list she was talking about, then I'd say its right.

Since Illinois has had roughly a 73% bid rate over the last several years (based on the numbers in the link I posted), I'm going to guess that pledge classes are going to be in the low 40s this year. A little bit smaller than what they're used to!

(Please note I'm just playing around with numbers...I know there's a very specific way to calculate quota, but I don't know what that is. I just like numbers sometimes :D)

Although it's been since the 90's that I was there I always look forward to hearing a Illinois story. Hope everyone is having fun today.

Got to speak briefly on the phone with my little sister during her break -- she's having a bit of a hard time accepting some of the "cuts" that happened, but she has been really enjoying learning more about the houses who invited her back for this round! I really hope it works out for her. And good luck to everyone else! :)

I was in a weak recruiting chapter at Illinois, and I had a great experience. Please, please reassure your sister that being greek at Illinois is awesome NO MATTER WHICH CHAPTER.

I've said as much, and hope she takes it to heart! It's tough -- she has a good attitude, but her feelings are hurt. I just hope she sticks with it! It's going to be a long week of waiting before they get their invites for the next round!

HI all! I just got a text from my daughter, who has 2 more houses to visit on this round of 13. It seems like a GRUELING process!

Does anyone know how recommendations work? I am under the impression that it requires a house to invite the girl back for the 2nd round (1st invite). But that is all.

Can anyone confirm that? And is it true that if a girl "plays by the rules" and goes to every house on her list, she is guaranteed a bid?

Thanks to anyone who has information regarding the process here at UIUC. (I went there for college, but got cut at the end of the sorority rush process in 1978 AND 1979, lol)

A few of us GC regulars are from UIUC. I was chapter president, so I was pretty close to things, but that was in 2001. At that point in time, very, very few women had recs. Some chapters would go ahead and find recs on everyone they wanted to bid, some would not worry about recs for women that an active sister personally knew, and some didn't bother with them at all. From what I've heard, the importance of recs has grown more recent years, especially among the chapters who have to do deep cuts early on, but there are still many women who have successfully recruitments without finding their own recs.

What else would you like to know about the process? Under RFM, if you play by the rules AND are invited to at least one pref party, you will end up with a bid.

Thanks for your reply. What does RFM stand for?

When I went through rush many many years ago, I had recs for all of the houses (my mothers friends did that for me). So then, I was invited back to all of the houses. At that time, I think we had to pick 5 or 7 to go back to. I picked "the top houses." I was invited back to 1 for the final stage, but didn't get a bid from them.

Looking back, I think I picked the wrong houses to go to after first round. Because I had a rec, I was invited back, but in reality, I wasn't a good match for those houses. FYI, I was a GDI for all 4 years, and loved every second of it, so there definitely is life as a non-Greek, contrary to many opinion. But my daughter is interested in joining a sorority, so I hope it works out for her.

The way recruitment is done from an invitation standpoint has changed greatly since the 70's when you went thru. For schools where you absolutely have to have a rec (see sticky on this topic for a good list of them) even that may not get you invited back as the chapters are limited by RFM (Release Figures Methodology which NPC regulates). Based on an average of recent prior year returns, chapters are told how many they can invite back for each round. So it chapter A has recs for 1000 women but can only invited 800, then at least 200 of those will be released by that chapter. The number of invites given will vary by chapter based on their prior performance (how many invites they issued and how many attendees from those invites). So chapter B may get to invited 900 and chapter C 700 and so on.

Your daughter will be ranking the groups at the end of each day. So the computer will match her top ranked chapters with her invitations. So say she goes to all 18 the first day. She'll rank them all. So say she can attend 12 parites the next day and gets 13 invites. The computer will drop her lowest ranked chapter and she will get a list of jsut the 12. And so on the next day, etc. So in essense, where you picked the invitations you accepted, the computer does it for her based on the invites against her rankings. She won't see all the invites, just the ones the computer assigns her to.

The basis for this is to level the playing field for all groups so that no groups invite back tons of people only to drop them at pref. And it makes every chapter be more targeted in their efforts. So, your daughter will be required to attend all the parties slated for her - called maximizing her options. If she doesn't attend them all (even if she is slotted to go to her bottom ranked group) she could be dropped from recruitment or not get a bid at the end.

Hope this helps.

My niece and 4 other rec girls went through last year and the cuts were surprising with the new RFM system. Delta Beta Baby and many of the other ladies will have the correct answer for you, so I'm not going to even try to explain it as I will mess it up as I just learned about it last year. I went through rush - it wasn't called recruitment in the days I was there and cuts did not seem to be so severe in the beginning. But the cuts still came and later so this way does seem to make sense. I worry that the pnm's don't understand the volume of girls coming through the first parties. It's overwhelming on the other side as well...it really is. I would always suggest recs if you don't know any of the girls because that introduces you before the first day even starts. In my day it seems there were 20 girls named Debbie a day. My personal feeling was the first round of invites were more a matter of numbers...I know it doesn't feel that way, but there are over a 1,000 girls going through and possibly 60 or so (I have no idea what quota is) are going to receive a bid.
I was not invited/or cut from chapters after the first round and it felt terrible, happened 2nd round as well, but I wouldn't change a thing about my experience because my house was a perfect fit for me.

Edit - I just saw your RFM question was answered while I was typing this.
Perfect answer...I wish I knew as much, but this is the best place if you have any questions because the GC's on here really know their stuff backwards and forwards!:)

http://www.slideshare.net/AFLV/npc-r...-figure-method

Thank you all for your patient explanation!! Based on your explanation of RFM, I was able to google it, and found the above link, which is a slideshow explaining RFM rationale! I have to say, it's brilliant!!!! I'm so glad it is done this way now. It makes total sense! In my day (yes, they were all named Debbie then...and Cindi, and Nanci,) A lot of the girls were cut at the end, and a whole bunch of "weak" houses weren't getting filled at all. And then of course the houses got weaker and weaker.

Thanks again. My daughter is done with the round. She is having a hard time picking her top 7!!

It really is so much better than before...and allows for everyone to be placed. And that's the better outcome.

Keep us posted on your daughter. Hope she has a great experience.

Yeah for all this info! My daughter texted a bit ago and has really enjoyed this first Round of Invitationals. She said the same thing about it being difficult to now narrow down these great houses for next weekend. I was a member of the Pledge Class of '76 so things have changed soooo much! Keeping my fingers crossed for her when she gets the next list back!

Prior to 2000, the women got a list of invites, and chose which ones to accept. Since then, they have done it as they do now, where the women rank right after each round of parties. I think this works better and increases retention for a variety of reasons.

DeltaBetaBaby- I totally agree! I like the ranking system a lot. Things move quickly and the girls don't have as much time to dwell on the 'rejection' aspect of recruitment. Still in awe of the size of pledge classes, though…..!!!!

Looking forward to recruitment starting back up tomorrow and hearing how everyone is doing. Hope everyone is having a great week!

I believe that recruitment starts up again on Saturday? The last few years they have been going Fri-Sat-Sun on the first weekend then Sat-Sun-Mon on the second weekend instead of Fri-Sat-Sun both weekends. I thought they were doing that again this weekend but I could be wrong?

You are correct. Is there no game this weekend, or are the parties just afterwards?

You are right...I got ahead of myself!

Did you have weeknight rush? I am 100% positive that part of first invitational was on Tuesday night when I was a PNM, though I can't remember if that was true once I was an active.

Yes we did have weeknight rush. We did it the week before school started and went straight through. Maybe there was a day in between somewhere, it's hard to remember perfectly, but it sure felt like every day.
I actually liked it that way and I only remember one time I ran into a girl that was going through rush at the time. It was so hard to try and pretend I didn't see her. I would be worried the whole 2 or 3 weeks about accidently saying hi to a PNM.

No idea, but I know they typically plan around the game if there is one.

I know, it's just too exciting!!!! :D

According to the very poorly updated (:mad:) panhellenic website, here's the schedules:

Saturday 9:15 am - 6: 30 pm
Sunday 11:15 am - 5:45 pm
Monday Bid Day starts between 5pm - 6pm

Also, is it that difficult to update a website? It's got the 2011 Recruitment Booklet on there, but if you actually click on the "Recruitment Events" link, they have the correct information.

Thanks for the perfect info! Yes, they need to update the website, I saw the 2011 on there as well so I didn't even check it.
Now if it could just be Saturday!

Okay now I can correctly say I'm looking forward to recruitment starting back up tomorrow! Very exciting!

I just updated how my rec girls are doing so far in the other thread which I have no idea how to link. But the cuts were tough this round and the ladies are more worried about being cut completely tomorrow.
A has 6 houses, B has 3 houses and C I haven't heard the houses back yet but her mom did say she texted she was headed to her parties but that was all she told her.
They all have houses they are happy to go back to, but they all think tomorrow there will be zero invites regardless of what I tell them about maximizing etc.
I do think a lot of pnms are telling them they are having a perfect recruitment so they think it's just them. I told the ladies they had to ignore that because anyone can say anything and their recruitments sound like a majority of the ones I hear about. I hope everyone is having a good day and please remember the houses that invited you back see something in you and feel good about that and try to not focus on anything else.

When I rushed, there were these two girls on my floor, who were roommates from the same high school, and they were both super-set on XYZ after first invitational. All week, they were talking about how they were going to be XYZ's together. I also had XYZ in my top 5, and I thought it would be cool to be in XYZ with two girls down the hall.

So then, we got "revised" invitation lists. I had been dropped by XYZ. I was sad, and had a mini-breakdown about going from 9 invitations to really only 5, but I got over it. That same day, one of the girls from down the hall told me that her parents weren't letting her finish recruitment. She obviously, then, stopped hanging out with the group rushing (as we were all-consumed with rush), and her roommate went on to pledge XYZ.

I realized a few months later that, very obviously, the one girl had gotten dropped from XYZ, and withdrawn from rush on her own accord. This was the year that put XYZ on a serious upward trajectory in recruiting strength, and as such, their cuts between first and second invitational were extensive.

So, to make a long story short (too late!), women LIE to save face all of the time. Heck, one of the women on my floor got 18 out of 19 possible invites for the first invitational, and made up a long rambling excuse about why she didn't want the 19th house anyway.

(and obviously, I know you know this, I am just reminiscing)

my daughter tells me that everyone she has talked to has 7 houses on their schedule. People ask to see hers, and she's embarrassed to show only her 4!

Is 7 the max today? I assure you that plenty women do not have 7. Also, it only takes one it only takes one it only takes one.

And to be a narcissistic hijacker, my thread is here.

Most everyone says they have the max parties and most everyone dropped every house they did not return to. I have heard that so much I cannot begin to express how easy it is for anyone to say whatever they want. It's not polite to ask anyone to see their list, that's for someone to offer to show and I really wish the pnms did not do this. 4 houses are wonderful...seriously she is doing very well!

Yes there are 7 parties today, but I haven't heard from anyone that has confided in me in actually having that many to go to.
I am going to read your story now, which I never saw so thanks so much for posting...I love reading these!:)

I can assure you, just like everyone else, this is false. There's a lot of game playing among young ladies during such a stressful time - people have their little strategies for coping and hoping. Try, try to get her not to share that info or get caught up in what anyone else is doing, although I know it's really hard. It's not quantity, it's quality and focusing on what you have, not what you don't have. It truly does only take one. Best wishes to her.

IT ONLY TAKES ONE
 

IT ONLY TAKES ONE.

I REPEAT IT ONLY TAKES O-N-E.

I know it hurts not to have a full schedule.

Those other girls may have more parties.

Things can change on dime during Recruitment. Those girl's schedules can drop from 7 to one orNONE in a heartbeat.

My daughter did NOT get back all 7…and according to her, she hasn't met ANYONE yet that has! I totally agree with DeltaBabyDelta, DGIllinois, IL Anchor Girl and BAckbOwlsgIrl….it appears that there are some fairly insecure girls going through rush (as always!) and find it necessary to 'say' they are going to 7 parties….. Very rare, indeed. There were some deep cuts this round as expected. I am really hoping my daughter gets at least 2 tomorrow….but we'll see!

I don't know how rare it is, but things have gone very well for my daughter SO FAR. For the first round, she was invited back to her top 13 choices. Yesterday, she was invited to 7 houses, and 6 were from her top 7 choices. The one that did not invite her back is supposedly one of the top tier sororities...whatever that means...but it really did not click with her and the lack of an invite was no real surprise, nor was it disappointing.

She is very nervous for today when they go down to 3. I think what has worked so far is that she did not have her mind set on a particular sorority. My guess would be that if a girl is obsessed with a certain sorority, the other houses may sense this. Obviously there are many factors, but she was been excited to visit each house, and her enthusiasm probably helps.

At this point she has a definite favorite, but she seems to really like most of the 7. She is worried about going from 7 invites to zero. I guess the pressure is different for everybody. As it has gone pretty smooth so far, her top 7 are pretty popular ones, and she feels this makes it more likely that she will not get invites. But I have a feeling it will work out. I think she loves the one because she really clicked with them, and I would guess that they can see her enthusiasm and clicked with her as well. We shall see. As somebody else wrote, the road to get there doesn't matter so long as she gets there.

Good luck to the girls today (and to the moms waiting for news)! Will they be able to let you know where they are headed today?

The good news is … it appears that for the girls finishing the week, the numbers are very favorable in regard to receiving a bid. According to the most recent numbers (2010) on the link lovespink88 posted earlier, only about 2.5% of those signing a pref card did not receive a bid (and it is possible that some of that number did not maximize their pref options).

Also favorable (same year) is that only 2 were released from all chapters during the process (the 360 girls who withdrew during the process seem to have skewed the “percent placed in chapter” number to seem a lot less favorable).

Hoping for a happy ending for all of you – is it customary on this campus for parents to attend bid day?