NPC Rush - Can something be done to reduce/eradicate the number of "bidless" rushees?
 

I was thinking this morning of a post in another thread which said:
I go to Indiana University, which has the largest and most competitive rush in the country. There are 19 houses here. Every year about 2000 girls go through rush, while about 800 get bids. Therefore, at IU you are actually a minority if you recieve a bid. Not all Greek systems place nearly all of their rushees.

This kind of bothers me. To me, it seems to be a real travesty that in the above situation, less than HALF of the rushees receive bids (assuming that there were no rushee dropouts, which of course there likely were).

Some people would probably say that if the sororities accomodated every single rushee that wanted them that the chapters would get to be "too big". I'm not sure if "too big" is really a good or valid excuse...wouldn't it be better for the strength of the Greek system to accomodate as many girls as possible who have a sincere interest to belong to a NPC organization? It doesn't seem fair that sororities have 'ceilings' and that once they reach the ceiling, that's it, no more members for that year.

I think for girls who want to join, they should be allowed to join. It saddens me and it just seems very unfair that ceilings are set at these "bigger schools where rush is competitive" and end up denying this experience to women who want to join and go Greek.

It also sounds like U of Indiana does not have much COR going on after Formal Recruitment, as the groups all fill up to capacity right away, and there are so many rushees for so few spots? Why can't the capacity be 'unlimited'?

Please educate me! I'm looking forward to the discussions! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Cutie Pie, I wish I had an answer to this. I know the answer isn't in taking everyone because you do get some rushees who are really slutty or known to be mean, etc., you get my drift...you can't blame the sororities for not wanting them. At the college where I teach, the locals' policy of accepting all rushees has had some real repercussions.

However, the post about IU has bothered me too since the day it was posted. I want to see as many girls get bids as possible and it breaks my heart to see rushees upset. I'll never forget my first day on the job as assistant advisor at a big campus and I had to sit in the room where all the girls got their returns--it was horrible. Pnguintrax has spoken of a new procedure in which quota can be based on the number of girls who go to prefs and that would be a big help.

Then again, one thing that rushees do to themselves is refuse to consider more than 1 or 2 sororities. I don't know how you go about changing entrenched opinions. The answer is not, however, forcing girls to go to parties that they don't want to attend and then penalizing them for not accepting bids they never wanted to accept in the first place by not letting them pledge for a year.

If anyone has any great solutions to this, I'd like to hear them!

carnation, thanks for a great post. I can certainly understand that sororities (or any group/club/organization) not wanting an individual in the membership who might cause problems down the road.

(As an aside, I think girls who are...err...'sexually liberal', probably are due to poor self-esteem, lack of self worth, a history of abuse, or confusing sex with love...but I digress. Ditto for girls who are mean/nasty - I guess I try to believe that people by nature are 'good', and if they're nasty, they are the ones probably most in need of someone to be nice to them and make them feel like they belong.)

I am very interested in discussing this topic of quality rushees who wind up "bidless". Also, you're right in your statement "forcing girls to go to parties that they don't want to attend and then penalizing them for not accepting bids they never wanted to accept in the first place by not letting them pledge for a year." is not the answer, either. As you know, this happened to me, and it was a devastating experience, even 10 years later. So I try to learn as much as I can about the Panhellenic workings, so that rushees are well informed about how to ensure that they get a good, positive outcome in Rush. I know that rushees won't always get their #1 pick, but for a rushee to get one they never ever wanted, or nothing at all, I think is a terrible shame.

Also, I don't know how you go about changing entrenched opinions, you're right, some sororities have the reputation of being more or less 'desirable' than their on-campus counterparts....it is tough indeed.

"For those of you doing the arithmetic at home...never mind the mathematics!" - Dan Rather on election night

Let's look at IU, if all the rushees would get bids.

2000 rushees divided by 19 sororities = 105 pledges each. Assuming they all stay active for 4 years and this rate keeps up, there could be houses with over 400 girls!! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/eek.gif I think 200 is pushing it, I don't know how you could operate a house let alone have sisterhood with 400 girls.

The solution to me is more, not bigger, sororities. There are 19 NPC houses at IU, which means there are 7 NPC houses not there. And that's the problem. As I stated before, my org had a chapter at IU which closed (we are one of the smaller ones nationally) and I asked our expansion VP if they had ever thought of recolonizing it, especially with rush figures like the ones there. She said they weren't - it was too much to try to compete without a huge house, etc. I asked about the possibility of several smaller sororities going in and colonizing at the same time, and she didn't think much of that idea either.

Well, here are my thoughts on that: I joined my sorority for the women in it, not the house. That to me makes the rushees sound shallow, like all they care about is the house. Why not try leasing blocks of apartments for a while? I know there is some sort of NPC rule that if a new chapter comes on campus, it should have resources equal to compete with the other chapters. But what is the good of a rule like that if it keeps women from participating in Greek life? I think it should be up to the STUDENTS to decide what kind of resources are important to them. If a group of girls decides that being unhoused is no big deal and the sorority thrives, who gives a @#%*?

I think it is totally crucial at this juncture for the nationally smaller orgs to get into the larger schools with thriving and (for lack of a better phrase) "nationally known" Greek systems. The more they stay at smaller schools and keep out of the larger ones, the less they will be known, the smaller they will get, etc. etc....as my mom used to say, it's like wiping your butt with a hoop.

Now I'm NOT saying small schools are bad, but I think you need to have chapters at all different kinds of schools and not get stuck in a box of thinking "school type A is for us and school type B is not for us." I think that's why ZTA, DZ & Chi O are so big - they have chapters at all different kinds of schools.

Whew, long post, and a tangent or 2. But that's my solution to the "unbidded" problem.

I like your idea about several small groups going together...the fact is large housed greek systems are tough for any group to colonize on this day and age!! The million dollar housing commitment alone is tough for any organization to handle.

I do also believe that the smaller groups may get smaller in the next few years.

At UCF, we get our quota from how many girls attended all the pref parties. On the first day of rush, we were freaking out bc with the number of girls rushing, it looked like our quota would be 120! But, as the week goes on, girls tend to drop out of recruitment. We did not know what our quota would be until prefs! I think this system works better bc more girls are placed. In fact, just about every girl gets placed. If one of the girls is not bidded by one of their top three choices, they are asked if they're willing to accept a bid from a sorority who did not meet quota (I guess this is snap bidding). This recruitment, we got 71 wonderful new members!

Hey everyone!

I go to Penn State. We have 21 NPC sororities here. I think about 700 girls rushed this year (?) and the deal basically is, if you go to all your parties and rank all the houses you can, you're gaurenteed a bid somewhere. As rush goes on, girls drop out or end up suiciding (I think only 13 didn't get bids) and everyone else got a bid somewhere. A comp matches up all of the houses' lists and the rushee's lists and makes up pretty even sized pledge classes for each sorority. Some girl aren't happy and drop after they've gotten their bids, but for the most part, most of the sororities have around the same # of women (around 70-90 or so).

I understnad that the girls who put down their 3 choices and still don't get a bid, are eligible for 'snap bidding'. When sororities who don't make quota offer snap bids, do they know who they're snap bidding? Are they provided with list of girls who are "eligible" for snap bids?

Or do the " not-yet quota'ed" sororities just provide snap bids (blind) to Panhel and Panhel does the rest and hopes for the best?

Also, is it possible for an unbidded rushee to get a snap bid from more than one sorority? And if a rushee turns down a snap bid from groups who weren't on the rushee's signed bid card, is it also a case of No Going Greek for a year?

Sorry..I know...questions! questions!! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gifPlease let me know...

Hi all,

I actually attend Indiana University and the rumors about the competitive rush are very much true. A little less then half of the girls who go through rush actually recive bids. Part of the problem is space. I'd say about 17 out of the 19 sororities reach their quota. The sororities houses are packed with cold dorms and there's probably no space for any more girls. Some of the sororities here take about 50 girls in the spring and house sizes are about 120 on average. Some of the sororities could add additions on to their house to provide more spaces, but as mentioned above, adding too many girls will weaken the sisterhood.

As for expansion, I wouldnt say that it's difficult. AOPi, which had been absent from the university since 1995, recolonized last year and were able to get 150 girls...without a house. Plus the quality of girls that they were able to get without having a reputation was quite high. They already have a fairly good rep on campus. AOPi is buidling a new house that will hold 120 girls. If you're a sorority and you want to expand to IU, I say go for it. There arent very many abandoned fraternity houses on campus or fraternity row to occupy, that could be your only trouble. I wouldnt necessarily worry about numbers though. You'll get the number of girls you need and probably the quality too. Too many GREAT girls get left out of a house because there either isnt enough space or they dont get the bid they wanted.

If you want to expand to our campus, e-mail me and I'll see if I can get you the contact info for the right people.

Fraternities always welcome more sororities =)

just my two cents.

XP2K

CutiePie--The sororities definitely know who they're snapping. They're given a list of all the girls who didn't get bids. At most schools a sorority can also snap a girl who dropped out before Pref. (Doesn't matter if she choosed to drop or if she was cut from every house.)

At my school the chapters recieve their pledge class list first thing in the morning. Then from 11am-1pm all the chapters who didn't meet quota are allowed to call girls and offer bids. From 1pm-2pm chapters that met quota but not total are allowed to call. Before 11am the girls Rho Chis are supposed to call them and let them know what happened. Unfortunately the year that I called a girl to give her a bid, her Rho Chi hadn't reached her yer! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/mad.gif That was a little akward. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif

The snapped pledges then come to bid day just like everybody else does and the rest of the pledge class is pretty much clueless unless they choose to talk about it.

[b]SoCalGirl[b/], I emailed you at your GreekChat address. I hope to hear from you.

Thank you for your post. I have learned so much from this website, it is incredible. So, thank you to everyone! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif I'm not even in a sorority (yet), but I'm petitioning to be an alumna initiate. I will be sure to let you know how it turns out.

Only a few more questions:
1. Is it permissible for an "unbidded" rushee to get a snap bid from more than one sorority?
2. If a rushee turns down a snap bid from groups who weren't on the rushee's signed bid card, is it also a case of No Going Greek for a year?
3. What if a rushee attends her Preference Parties and then drops out of Rush (or she "refuses" to sign a Bid Card?) What happens then? Is she eligible for snap bidding too?

There are at least two different threads on this board regarding snap bidding and how it works. If you use the search feature, you will find them. There may also be a related thread on the Greek Life forum.

Barbara
Rush forum moderator-ess

Hey CutiePie2000. Don't worry about asking too many questions. After all, that's what these message boards are for. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif Ok, I'm going to try to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge.
1. I don't think that has happened before. At least not to my knowledge. Does anyone know what the answer to this one is?
2. I am 99% sure that it doesn't apply to "No Going Greek" for a year. A friend of mine did not get any of her top three choices and was asked to pick up a snap bid by another sorority. She turned it down. That Fall, a sorority on our campus was starting over again and did informal recruitment. My friend ended up joining that sorority.
3. I think that in order to be considered for a snap bid that you had to fill out your bid card and not get any of your choices.

Can you get more than one snap bid? Yup! As long as you haven't said yes to a house, you can consider as many bids as you like.

If you didn't bid match, and turn down your snap bids; I'm pretty sure that you're eligible to do informal rush.

If a rushee hasn't signed a bid/pref card, she is still eligible for informal rush. The only exception I've ever heard on this is at Longwood College. We learned that back in the fall from a rushee.

Originally posted by CutiePie2000:
Only a few more questions:
1. Is it permissible for an "unbidded" rushee to get a snap bid from more than one sorority?
2. If a rushee turns down a snap bid from groups who weren't on the rushee's signed bid card, is it also a case of No Going Greek for a year?
3. What if a rushee attends her Preference Parties and then drops out of Rush (or she "refuses" to sign a Bid Card?) What happens then? Is she eligible for snap bidding too?

1 - Yes. The purpose of snap bidding is to allow those chapters that did not match quota to obtain it on bid day. In fact no one should know if a women received a snap bid except the Advisor and maybe the rush chair. Typically she would get her snap bid before all the women go to the chapter house to receive bids and she would just go with the other new members...no different.

2. No --snap bidding does not hold the same rules as Formal Recruitment Preference card signing.

3. Yes --theoretically any women who participates in any part of formal recruitment --even just open house--and then drops out in eligible for a snap bid.

Well, reading all of this worries me. I am a current high school senior and I plan to rush at U of AL next fall. I have thought about this over and over and it is beginning to stress me out...I would be happy to know that just one house wanted me, and I can't make sense of the women that turn down bids. It is difficult to describe, but the aspect of Greek life is so intriguing to me. I look forward to the NPC rush, the only down side will be waiting to find out about bids. If there is a way to increase my chances I would be glad to hear. Because if there are bidless rushees at IU then there may very well be some at UA! Thanks a bunch.

Thank you to:
[b] ZTAngel[b/],[b] SoCalGirl[b/] and
[b]coffeemug[b/] for your answers! I have learned such a tremendous amount about the NPC Rush process on this board, it is quite remarkable. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

First of all, the campus should have more houses if they can't accomodate all of the rushees. I don't believe it's fair for a woman to go bidless unless she suicides a sorority. It's truly sad that 60% of IU's women don't get bids. That would make me not want to even bother.

I know on one campus, they petitioned for a new sorority, and a new national came in and started up to avoid from chapters having too many members. Also, they should consider raising total slightly, to at least make rush a 50/50 proposition.

Also, women on the campus could unite and form a group and then get a national to back them that isn't on the campus. Just a thought...

Heather

For those of you wanting info on snap bidding, I can tell you that it's a good thing if it works. If a woman is given a bid in the "snap" process, she does not have to accept it, and can COB. BUT, if she suicided, she can't do anything for a year. This also applies to any woman who drops out of rush.

We have these rules on our campus to avoid sororities telling women that they can just drop out of rush and they'll COB them. This happened a lot, and it caused huge problems.

Shadokat,

According to National Panhellenic rules, if a woman does not receive an invitation to membership during formal recruitment bid matching, she is eligible for further recruitment either by snap bidding or C.O.B. This applies to any woman, regardless of the number of preferences listed on her preference card. If a potential member lists one choice or three, and doesn't get an invitation to join, she can be snap bid or pledged via C.O.B. Intentional single preferencing is strongly discouraged as it limits the opportunity for a girl to receive an invitation for membership.

There are times, however, when a potential member only attends one preference party and, therefore, has no choice but to put down one selection on her card. If this woman declined an event invitation 'with interest', she can put down the names of those groups on her preference card, if she wishes.

It is only when a potential member refuses to accept the invitation offered to her OR when a pledge drops out of a chapter before initiation, that the woman is ineligible from participating in recruitment for one calendar year.

Barbara
Rush Forum Moderator

This is what I don't get. People say that they are out for quality not quantity...so why is it that you would COB or snap bid somebody that you didn't even put on your bid list? There is a sorority at my school that tries to pick up every single bidless rushee...even though they didn't put them on any of their lists. Does anybody else do this, if so, could you please explain to me why you do this?? I know why the group at our school does it, because of numbers, their national is alwasy breathing down their necks.

I was gonna put this under the dirty rushing thread, but it's more dirty bidding than rushing. In answer to your question, at my school, once you sign a bid card, whether you are matched or not, you can't rush, informally or other wise for a year. That being said, you can receive snap bids, at least at my school, from any house. I got caught in a year where all 70 rushes wanted the same 3 houses and quota was 6. Many many girls did not get matched, including myself and my best friend. I ended up getting snap bids from 4 houses, only one of which I had put on my pref list.

The problem with the process of allowing certain houses to have the snap bid list before houses that reached quota can have it allows for the potential of dirty bidding, as happened to me and my best friend.
We both got snap bids from a house at our school, which will remain nameless. We both wanted Gamma Phi and had it put at the top of our bid card. My friend asked the girl who called her from XYZ if there was a possibility that she would receive a call from her number one choice. I asked the same question when I was called and we were both told no. It was a lie. My friend accepted their bid, cause she wanted so badly to be a part of the greek system at my school. I did not, because I wanted to be a Gamma Phi, not just a sorority girl. At 3 o'clock, on the nose (when, it turns out, the houses who made quota got the snap bid list) both my friend and I got called from Gamma Phi. It was a total shock and I, of course, accepted the bid right away. My friend, however, could not. She was stuck. She had to either refuse the bid from the other soror and be non-greek for a year, or simply stay where she was. She chose to stay at the house she had already accepted and I joined Gamma Phi.

My point is that the system is inperfect. In the end, it worked out well for the both of us, but the potential for dirty bidding is there when actives are incharge of offering the girls on the snap bid lists their bids. I just wanted to share my story because it was really a bad first impression for me and my friend of the greek system at my school, and also underscores the above asked question. Some houses really do want to go for quantity not quality. And as much as I love and respect my best friend, some girls are more intent on joining ANY house, than a particular one. These two issues join together to make houses either very weak or very strong. (Side note: with practices such as 'dirty bidding' the house that my friend joined ended up encounting a lot of problem with disintrested sisters who joined just to be in a sorority).

Leslie



[This message has been edited by gphi2k (edited February 20, 2001).]

Leslie,
If your friend verbally accepted the bid from XYZ, then got a call from Gamma Phi Beta (who she truly wanted), would she have been able to "get out of" being in XYZ, since she didn't actually sign a bid card yet?

If these girls deceived you into thinking that there was no way that more bids were forthcoming, then a formal complaint might have been the way to go. Did your friend have to wait a year, but did she get Gamma Phi in the end? Please let us know.

In this situation, snap bids can be accepted verbally, without actually signing a bid card. It's stupid. Verbal acceptance is binding. The girls at Gamma Phi were great and put in a complaint to Panhell at our school. Originally, Panhell said 'Tough. She accepted XYZ's bid. If she's that hell bent on joining Gamma Phi, she'll be willing to wait a year." Nice huh? It was all the more difficult because the Panhell president was in our house, and she had also mislead my friend into thinking she would not be called (she did not know my friend wanted Gamma Phi so I don't think it was personal). It caused a big controversy, but my friend decided that in the end, she didn't mind being in XYZ and that fighting what happened would mean XYZ would find out she didn't want them as badly, and if she lost, it would be difficult for her to be accepted at XYZ. So she gave up. She became a member of XYZ, not Gamma Phi. I was upset as were all the girls in my house who were trying to fight for her. But as I said, some girls just want to be in a sorority.

Leslie

CutiePie,

Technically, yes the woman could've accepted the bid from Gamma Phi if she had not yet signed a bid card.

I just did bid matching at a campus where nine women out of 45 went bidless (20%) because they all wanted the same two houses, and those two houses reached quota by the time they got to these women. And in most cases, these women either intentionally single pref'd or only put down the two houses. Now, with that being said, quota was 7 and only the two "popular" houses made quota. So instead of opening up the possibility of snap bidding, they are letting all those bidless women COB, which means the top two houses will take all those bidless women through COB. If that isn't a prescription for dirty rushing, I don't know what is.

On my campus, we had a big problem with sororities telling women to intentionally single pref their house, and told them they wouldn't get a bid through formal rush, and that then the women could COB. And this worked for awhile. Then, finally, the Greek Advisor listened to the complaints of the smaller groups who thought this was the case, and they made a rule that any woman who intentionally single prefs a house and doesn't get a bid cannot COB at that house. This did cut down on intentional single preferencing, and it also stopped a little of the dirty rushing.

It's a shame that women go bidless. What's a bigger shame is that sororities give women the idea that they have a chance to get a bid by inviting them to preference, with no intention of offering a bid in the first place.

But that's all just my opinion http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Leslie,
Is she happy now, or does she still kind of harbor the wish/ that she was a Gamma Phi?

Believe me, I know where girls are coming from when they initially think "better to go Greek somewhere than not at all".
The important thing is to be *happy* no matter where you finally end up!

[This message has been edited by CutiePie2000 (edited February 20, 2001).]

That's basically why most sororities would do it, unless there is a huge stigma on campus about coming in under quota. What I love is when a national tells the chapter to bid anything with a pulse to get numbers up, so the chapter does, then 4 months later the national comes back and tells them they should be more selective. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/rolleyes.gif Arrgh, don't even wanna go there.

I agree that people should go where they would be happy. Here we have two parties on pref night, and I went to both like a good rushee and kept an open mind to the end, but I knew that I would only be happy in Chi Omega. I love the girls in the other sorority and some of my closest friends are in that house, but I just never connected with them. Anyway, I didn't want to list this second sorority. At all. And my PX advised against it and said that I might not get a bid unless I was high on the XO list and I might end up regretting it. I decided that I would rather be independant, than be in this other sorority. It just wouldn't be right to settle for these girls. I really love these other girls too, but I just didn't feel it and couldn't give them everything. So, in the end I suicided for XO, and it worked out great.

Rushees need to go where they feel like they belong. I honestly believe that I would not have regretted being independant if I haven't gotten XO. It is just where I feel at home and I wouldn't have felt right in that other house.

I get so angry with people who pledged GLOs because they want to be like those girls, because they are the most popular with their fav. fraternity, or for some other idiotic reason. Almost all of them have ended up dropping out, and because their pledge time is so short (like 6 weeks) they have been initiated and cannot join a GLO where they really feel at home. It really is sad. OK - that is my two cents worth.

Allie http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/tongue.gif

[This message has been edited by Allie_XO (edited February 20, 2001).]

It worked out in the end just fine. We had been best friends since junior high, so in many ways, joining different houses expanded our previously parallel social circle. It also brought better relations between our houses. She ended up becoming an XYZ through and through. So in that way, it all worked out in the end (i guess she would never have joined the house if she didn't think it was possible to be comfortable in the house). But it did leave a bitter taste in both our mouths where Panhell was concerned. To this day, I believe that system to be corrupt, at least at my school. I could be baised, but that's what an experience like that will do to you.

Leslie

Leslie,
I have emailed you privately. Believe me, I know what it is like when the Panhellenic rules don't work out in your favor!
Glad that you both made the best of a less than perfect situation!

Allie--

While I respect your commitment to your beliefs and where you wanted to go, I guess I see it this way. A lot of people go through recruitment, and they think they know where they want to go and all that. But some of them end up hating their groups for numerous reasons like older sisters hazing them, or realizing that the women they thought they met at recruitment aren't really the women they thought they were.

As a PX, I highly advised against single preferencing, because I learned something interesting about sororities. They hardly ever cut enough women to help eliminate the disappointment of women single preffing. Unfortunately, sororities who don't cut enough women end up leading on women who they would never give a bid to, and that's the sad part. And this is the reason we tried to encourage listing more than one group on a pref card.

I hope this doesn't offend you, because I think you're incredibly lucky to be part of something you're so committed to, and I feel the same way about my organization. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif I just wrote this because I wouldn't want a rushee reading this to think that single preffing is the way to go all the time. Sometimes women end up loving their houses, when at first they thought they didn't connect.

Shadokat - I know exactly what you are saying. I was just responding to the idea that some girls would rather be ANY greek, that not a greek at all. I decided that I would rather be a XO, but if not, I would rather be independant.

Rushees need to go with their heart. I think that single prefing is OK if and only if a rushee knows that they would not be happy in one of the houses. However, I do understand that a lot of people are not self-aware enough to know that. Also, if a rushee likes one house over the other, but still likes the other, they should definatly put both down.

Anyway - I think that rushees need to keep an open mind, but they also need to be honest with themeselves. That is all I was saying.

Allie http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/tongue.gif

------------------
Some of my collegues think that the chemicals we are experimenting with cause brain damage, however I think that fish crunchy bits of salami my new red hippie noodle. Naked pool frogs?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by CutiePie2000:
[b]I was thinking this morning of a post in another thread which said:
I go to Indiana University, which has the largest and most competitive rush in the country. There are 19 houses here. Every year about 2000 girls go through rush, while about 800 get bids. Therefore, at IU you are actually a minority if you recieve a bid. Not all Greek systems place nearly all of their rushees.

I was Greek at Indiana University and I went through Rush 2 times. So I can tell you a little bit about IU's Rush.

While it is true that 2,000 women apply to go through Rush, MORE THAN HALF of them are cut for grades (by Panhellenic, across the board) after the first round of parties (which takes place before first sememster grades come in. Once those 1st semester grades come in, PanHell checks them against the list of registered rushees, and makes cuts accordingly).

So now you've got about 1,000 girls vying for 800 spots, and yes, it is very competitive.
In my first year of Rush, (when there were 21 NPC groups on campus), I NEVER got cut from a single house, and I ended up going to my first 2 choices for pref night (pref night was on a 2-party system then; it is on a 3-party system now), and I STILL didn't get a bid; I got cross-cut, which is a ridiculous thing that can happen, and is a fluke.

Well, I was devastated, but I got over it, and went through Rush again the next year, and ended up pledging the same house I had pref'd the year before. So it all worked out for me, and I really enjoyed my second year through Rush much better--I learned more, and made better decisions in forming my regret lists after each round of parties.

So, from 1,000 women, you have to get down to 800. That leaves 200 women without bids. It is truly a shame. As someone else mentioned, however, IU is missing at least 4 NPC groups that I can think of . . . Just in the time that I was there, we lost Tri-Sigma, Sigma Kappa, and AOPi . . . and at least on the part of the last two, it was NOT because they didn't have big and beautiful houses, because they did! In at least two of those cases, the women were poor recruiters. Their Rush skills were just totally lacking, and that was (perhaps) due to a lack of support from their Advisory Board, I assume. I did think it was a shame when each of them closed, 2 of them in particular, because I felt that they could have been great chapters with the right support from a number of directions.

Well, I don't know if I've shed any more light on this subject, but I thought I would give you my insight. IU's rush is big, but it is a wonderful, fun, supportive greek system. For years, IU's Panhell Council has wrestled with ways to fit 1,000 girls into 800 bids . . . and come up short every time. It is a shame, I know, but at this point there isn't much that can be done about it.

------------------
Oh, Kappa Kappa Kappa Gamma,
I'm so happy that I am a
Kappa Kappa Kappa Gamma,
Nobody knows . . . how
happy I am!

AOPi has since returned to the IU campus. The current NPC groups on campus are:

Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Epsilon Phi
Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Omicron Pi
Alpha Phi
Alpha Xi Delta
Chi Omega
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Gamma
Delta Zeta
Gamma Phi Beta
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Pi Beta Phi
Phi Mu
Sigma Delta Tau
Zeta Tau Alpha

Missing are: Tri-Sigma, Sigma Kappa, Alpha Sigma Tau, Theta Phi Alpha, Delta Phi Epsilon, Phi Sigma Sigma,Alpha Sigma Alpha

800 sorority girls. I've died and gone to college heaven http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

bump!

800 was just this semester's pledges. The total number is probably in the thousands. Ill guess 2-4k...

*bump* because of all of the questions about bidless pmns.

I think imsohappythatiama made a point that Indiana is a unique situation. Because of the split-rush schedule with Round One in November and the conclusion of rush in January, grades play a much different factor than at most schools. Most of us, while rushing, didn't have college grades yet (fall rush) or knew what our GPA was (spring rush). At IU they don't know what their grades are yet but those unknown grades do play a part. I think the split-rush schedule also gives rushees a lot of time to find other friends and activities, lose interest, or change their mind and decide Greek life is not for them, which could account for a lot of girls dropping out.

Does anybody know why Indiana uses the split-rush schedule? As far as I know, they're the only school that does things that way. Have they always done it that way, or was there a time when they used a more standard approach to rush?

I just saw that another large school is going to start using the split schedule, danged if I can remember who.

Another prob at IU is that the size of your house determines how many women you can have, where at most schools it doesn't matter if house A holds 20, house B holds 50, and house C holds 70 - everyone is held to the same quota/total. I do think that IU is the only school that does this.