IU soroity rush statistics
 

Hi,

I am a concerned father regarding IU's sorority rush statistics.

Well, if I'm correct, they have a bed rush, meaning that the sororities only take the amount of girls that they have available space for in their house.

IU is possibly the most competitive campus for sorority recruitment in the US ( over 400 women went bidless in 2011). You daughter should still go through if its something she's really interested in, but she should make sure she keeps those grades up, doesn't commit social blunders, secures recommendations for every chapter, and keeps an open mind by being open to each group. Best of luck to her, as difficult as it may seem, it only takes 1 bid.

I don't understand. What is your concern? How does it involve you and what can you do to solve it?

He's probably concerned about his daughter getting a bid or not, as any parent would be.

"Soroity" is my favorite misspelling of "sorority" ever.

PConn, if you have a specific question about the process you can PM me. I am an alumna of Indiana and have acquaintances who are still there on campus. I would advise you to search the threads posted here about IU and read through those.

I don't think this is a real parent.

The misspelling doesn't necessarily mean anything. My dad is extremely intelligent, but he always complains that he has fat fingers and therefore can't type well, so he makes typos all the time, haha. Not saying that this is definitely a real parent, but it is possible!

And lest we forget, there are 2 new unhoused sororities who seem to be taking large pledge classes. This isn't going to fix anything or guarantee any girl a bid (I'm sure they are still being selective) but it can only help. I would advise anyone making their ranking decisions to keep 1 or both of these chapters in play after the first round. This, as much as any campus, is a place for strategic ranking, not just ranking in order of favorites. All of the chapters are good; it's just that some are good and SMALL.

Dubaisis, Do you know if either of those chapters will have houses anytime in the near future?

I know that the Theta Phi Alpha chapter is actively working to acquire housing.

I don't have any inside scoop but I would guess 1-they REALLY want to get housing and 2-it won't happen in the collegiate life of most of their current and new members. Like most colony situations, the work these girls do now will pay off for the next generation of sisters. But I also think, based on the success in terms of numbers alone, that there is sufficient interest in sorority life that housing is AN element of the experience, but a lot of girls are bright enough to understand it's not the whole deal. Hopefully Sigma Kappa and the few others who are currently unrepresented there will get on board soon. There is absolutely room for everyone and then some. Plus, with the success of the unhoused chapters, the housed chapters may ease up about having live out sisters. But I understand that the campus culture is different than other campuses, and they like that. I don't expect a full turn to, for instance, only allowing the sophomores to live in, but having your chapter size be such that the seniors don't have to live in would help balance the interest in sorority membership with the desire to keep a rein on your chapter size.

I agree with Dubaisis that there may not be new housing within the next 3-4 years. I have been told that the chapter had been presented with a few different housing options ( probably off campus) and I know our HQ have also been working on housin for our IU chapter. I am so proud of our chapter's overwhelming success thus far, and it looks like Alpha Sigma Alpha is also doing very well.

I am bolding this- because you are correct. The campus culture is different. I will be interested to see the quotas in January to see if those groups that currently have live-out options keep quotas about the same as last year or if they reduce the size of their NM class- in order to reduce the number of live outs.

I hope TPA (and ASA) find housing- and that if one finds housing the other does as well.

I'm derailing, but I couldn't help but giggle at the bolded. This is in no way offense to your father, but all I could think of was this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DtbPOXFk00 :D

Lol! Too funny.

It's not because of the misspelling. It's more to do with the diction + one post and no follow up.

Ah yes, I agree with that.

Why is it that every time you bring up these two chapters, you mention the large pledge classes?

I am not trying to speak for her, but the pledge classes at IU tend to be on the small side due to the bed rush when compared to the number of women who register. The chapters who allow live outs are able to take larger pledge classes. Last year the smallest new member group was 25 and the largest was in the high 80s low 90s, I believe. I recall that Theta Phi's pledge class was 65+, the second largest group. But they may not choose to take that many women this year, who knows? Since the campus has no chapter total requirements, the chapters can take as many women as they can house or as many as they want.

I just think "soroity" is really fun to say and I kindof wish it was a real word.

I mention it because the presumption by many, it seems, is that unhoused chapters would crash and burn. Of course a brand new and 1 year old colony are not proof that they won't crash and burn, but it does tell me there are plenty of girls willing to give them a shot. Most of these girls may have wanted a housed sorority situation but chose practically and are presumably making the best of the situation they have.

Plus, the process I assumed would happen is they would appeal to a specific group of women who prefer a less rigid lifestyle and thus would have a good but much smaller sisterhood than the housed chapters. But I still thought that would be a perfectly acceptable situation - alternatives are not necessarily a bad thing. So I was wrong. They colonized with significantly more members than I assumed, and then in their first formal rush, they took a number on the high end of the range of quotas. And ASA seems to be on target for similar success.

As an outsider I can't speak to the success of the chapters in any way beyond the numbers. But using numbers alone, both new colonies seem to have done really well. And this seems to be worthy of further analysis.

Theta Phi Alpha at IU is a fully installed chapter. :)

Not sure how I missed this thread, but I feel like I should chime in since I'm from IU
-Even if TPA's IU chapter is actively seeking true 'Greek' housing as IU sees it, it's not likely they'll find it anytime soon. IU's administration is vehemently against using any more land for Greek houses. It's been that way for a long time, and it will continue to be that way for a long time. Unfortunately, it's just how things are
-I don't have the exact numbers, but I do know that TPA's retention wasn't necessarily the best. While they took a PC of 65+, I believe they initiated less than 50. That's not particularly surprising given that they're relatively new and unhoused, but I'd be interested to see if this continues this year.

I wouldn't necessarily proclaim that the campus culture is different just yet. IU is still very entrenched in the 'live in all possible years' mentality, and it will take a lot (more than just 2 unhoused chapters and an unhappy NPC) to break that at many of the chapters.

I'm actually not exactly sure what type of housing they are seeking, it could be something off campus. As far as the bolded, not true at all. I know they took a pledge class of 55-56 during formal recruitment and I'm not sure of the exact number of initiates, but according to official reports from HQ the chapter enjoys well over 90% retention rate, and the chapter has done nothing but exceed our expectations at every turn. We are super proud of our IU sisters, and they tell us that the IU greek community has been nothing but supportive of them :)

You are just digging the hole deeper. Cease.

(In other words, your posts have been the equivalent of "OMG, you look great, you lost a TON of weight!")

I know they are a fully installed chapter, but for the purposes of this discussion, their history as a colony and a new chapter is pertinent. They are still in establishment mode, as any logical person would expect. There was certainly no slight intended. I'm rooting for the success of all of the chapters, new and old, at IU. Go Big 10!

They initiated 60 women, which means they most likely took more than that as a pledge class. You always get a few drops when you have larger PCs. In addition, they initiated 5 women this fall following COB. I won't pin a retention rate on an exact %, but I would lean more towards ~85% than >90%. When you're looking at retention rates >95% at most chapters, that's something to keep an eye on over time. I'm happy that they're finding success, and I'd love for them to get that number up and keep their amazing women!

Thank you for your support, I'm glad we found such a great greek community to be a part of.:) Though it has been reported that our retention is much higher than you claim and that we are well on track for success at IU. Additionally, we had originally set our own chapter "total" at 100 ,but due to overwhelming interest we increased it. An IU collegian recently told me that the chapter has 130 members right now.

This weekend at the football game, I was asked a lot of questions by a group of PNMs who will be going through recruitment this year. One of the girls is from the east coast and her mother is an alumna of a chapter on campus. Her mother told her she was most likely to get a bid from her chapter during recruitment. I had a very delicate discussion with the daughter that lead to her calling her mom and I chatted with her on the phone. The mother was not aware that she needed to send something in to her chapter to verify the legacy status. I, also, explained to her that her chapter may have close to 100 women going through who are legacies. She is not an active alum and had no idea that she needed to send in a notification form. She got online while she was on the phone with me and located the necessary form. I really liked all of these girls and I hope they fare well in January.

I will be curious to see if the placement rate rises this year with 21 chapters. The registration period is now closed. If the placement rate remains in the area it has been, I wonder if IU will open for expansion again? There are only 5 chapters not currently represented.

WOW IndianaSigKap! Thank goodness you were able to help out this legacy and her mom. I think that there are lot more misinformed sorority member moms, like the one you spoke with on the phone, out there than we realize.

Indiana's recruitment is brutal. Thank goodness I never have to live through recruitment week again. My daughter ended up pledging a house last year but many of her dorm friends were not so lucky. Five of them went all the way through preference and did not get bids. Four of those pledged Alpha Sigma Alpha this fall. They did not want to go through formal recruitment again. They are very happy with their decision! With regard to legacy status it does not mean much here. My daughter and 6 of her pledge sisters were legacies at other chapters from their mothers and were cut immediately after open house round. My house had over 100 legacies going through and were only taking 39 girls. Luckily my daughter's house allows seniors to live out so as to give more girls opportunity to join.

As am Indiana alumna, I wish that more chapters had senior live out allowances! Each chapter could pledge more girls and give more great girls the opportunity to be Greek. As other posters and I have said many times, IU is the only campus where a small pledge class is a good thing. On most campuses, large pledge classes equal a stronger recruiting chapter.

I am sorry that your daughter was cut from her legacy house, but glad that she was cut early on in the process so that she and the other sororities knew that she was a "free" agent, so to speak. Hopefully other houses will follow your daughter's sorority lead so that more girls can be placed.

I just hope that they stay happy and they are truly happy rather than just relieved.

I haven't walked around the Bloomington campus since ASA was colonized, but when I was there in late August, I did see lots of girls in TPA letters. So going by the assumption that women would not wear letters unless they were happy, I would say that the TPAs are very happy.

I hope the new ASAs feel the same way. now if only they would tell us how many women signed up for recruitment!

Yes the new ASA's are happy. They were able to obtain leadership roles right away and really want to make a name for ASA on campus!

I think if the national organization will continue to support them throughout the year, they have an excellent chance for success! I was on campus in the late 80s/early 90s when three sororities were colonized in a fairly short amount of time and two of the three left campus shortly after colonizing. One of the chapters received little or no support from its national after chartering. I hope both Theta Phi and ASA will continue to receive national support for 2-3 after they charter.

Last weekend on campus I saw a couple of girls wearing ASA letters and I had to do a double take since I am not used to seeing them. :)