rush as a sophomore @ IU...
 

ok, here is my story.
while looking at colleges as a senior in high school, my parents made it pretty clear that they did not want me to go greek even though my mom was in a sorority. when i finally decided on a school (Indiana University), me rushing was still pretty much out of the picture and i thought i was ok with that.

i thought wrong.

seeing girls go through the rush process last year and coming home to my best friends that LOVED it and love where they are, i just feel like i made a huge mistake and i am going to go through rush this year regardless of my parents opinions.

my concern is that i keep hearing "some houses won't even look at you if your a sophomore" which i knew going into it, but i was wondering if anyone knew which houses at IU were like this. unfortunately i already have my "favorites" (houses where i know a few of the girls, houses i just like, and a house where i am a legacy, that i actually do really have an interest in) and i don't want to get into the process and be completely crushed. i would rather just know so i can go into it more open minded and maybe get some of my own bias out of the way. i know my thoughts about things will change when i actually go through rush, i just wanna know which houses won't even give me a chance so i know not to be heartbroken.

i don't know if this even makes sense, but i am just so EXCITED to rush this year and i just want to know more about what i am getting myself into.

thanks!!! : )

I'm not sure anyone can tell you which houses care less for sophomores. But IMO, it's better for you not to go into recruitment with the idea that you're not good enough for XYZ in your head. It is more likely that the "top" chapters on campus, the ones who fill quota easily every year, will be disinclined to take a sophomore. However, even the top chapters take sophomores if there really is that connection.

Even freshmen can get cut hard, so go in with an open mind (and heart) and no matter what happens be willing to give those chapters who invite you back a shot.

IU doesn't use a quota system. Chapters decide on how many membership invitations they offer.

Barbara, should we also tell everyone that over 1,700 women were registered last year (2006) for panhellenic recruitment at IU? I think so! A couple houses only gave out 40, 41, 42 membership invitations. Please correct me if I am wrong, since I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I think around 800 PNM's received bids.

It boggles my mind why Indiana insists on recruiting this way.:mad:

It's my understanding that there are only so many beds in the chapter houses, therefore, they set their quotas in order to keep the houses full.

Nebraska (Lincoln) doesn't use quota system either.

I don't remember the exact numbers, either. Unless they are online? Haven't looked.

Thing is, there are LARGER campuses than IU that use quota system and keep the houses full (with waiting lists!). I agree, it boggles the mind.

Their houses are HUGE, too. http://www.indiana.edu/~pha/phachapters/
A lot of the chapters are single-letter chapters.

But it's a choice on the sororities' part to say that everybody has to live in for X number of years. Lots of chapters thrive with only the sophomores and officers (for example) living in.
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LILY_CARTER CAM

Indiana isn't like other schools. I don't know why this is, but it is. There are no Panhellenic rules to prevent them from doing things this way, and I'm sure if it was crippling the system it would change.

Someone more familiar with housing and the Greek culture overall at Indiana could probably give more insight.

I think that there will be a move to change it to a quota/total system in the next couple of years. NPC is aware of it and it really limiting the opportunities for women who want Greek Life.

The other problem is, it is filling beds, but more so the strongest chapters set their quota a good 20 - 25 women LESS than other chapters. This overall is about 60 - 75 bids that could be given out in a quota system a year that aren't. They want smaller PNM classes in order to have the cream of the crop. It's going to be a hornet's nest but I think you'll see IU move to doing quota/total.

To the OP who is originally posted - Don't let being a sophomore discourage you. I would suggest that you think about the reasons you want to be greek. It sounds like you have - sisterhood, friendship, lifetime connections to each other and campus. If you go into recruitment looking for Groups that match the same things you are looking for, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

The reality of the situation is that IU hands out limited bids so having a strong GPA and I would say recommendations might give you an edge. But there are plenty of sororities on campus that provide qualities that it seems that you are looking for, regardless of status, that you can't go wrong. You might also want to check out informal recruitment.

Good luck!

I was wondering if this had something to do with it - if it was a status thing to say "well, WE only took 30 girls because we are more elite."

On the one hand, I think it is silly to bypass total & quota - esp at a school where even "smaller" groups could have big chapters - but on the other hand, I think it would be very freeing to be able to say "we filled our house. We like the girls we have. We don't want any more. We're done with rush for the year. Leave us be." I mean, if you don't want a big chapter, you don't build a big house. It's similar to how the fraternities operate.

It just kind of surprises me that the HQs of the sororities haven't pushed to go to a quota/total system - especially those who have chapters there who would have no trouble filling it.

Right now, they do keep all the beds full. I would imagine in a quota/total system, the less-popular chapters would have trouble doing so.

I just hate that it fixes the size of the community regardless of demand. With a quota-total system, no one forces a chapter to take quota. Ok maybe they get pressure from HQ to take quota, but ultimately, they can cut more than the number recommended with the RFM. If a top tier chapter only wants to take enough to fill their chapter house, then that would help the middle and lower tier chapters by creating more spots in the chapter although not all members would live in the house.The quota-total system, while imperfect, is designed to place the maximum number of women and maximize the size of the chapters. I can only see their community growing as a result of a quota-total system. Until they change, there will be tons of women who ARE willing to join any chapter who can't for no reason other than space. Indiana is probably one of the few places where all of the members live in the house. If they have more sign up than chapters can take, that means that there are plenty of women who want to live in the houses.

/rant

Quite honestly there are some chapters that cannot keep their houses full and they NEED to.

There is somewhat of an old row/new row feel - the older houses are literally older and smaller, the newer are mansions and on the outskirts of campus. No one has ever outright mentioned it to me but that's the only thing I can think of.

I think if IU did go to quota/total it will help the smaller chapters - they might actually even out. It seems like women are more likely to go heavy for the strongest chapters if they get cut they are out - and maybe a lot of other women with them (tent talk). If they increase quota, women will stay longer and have a chance for a bid.

Who knows though, if it's already socially stratified so much, it could be the same problem but now with a quota/total.

And to 33girl - the NPC HQs may not have thought it was a problem b/c their chapters are 120+ and they are excelling in every area of their own standards. Plus I think every national would want to be on IU's campus so why rock a boat?

There are a few I know that I think are going to put up quite a fight.

i am a freshman at IU and I cannot wait for rush either!! every girl i talk to is in love with rush and said its the best time of their life! im really nervous though because it seems super competitive! Does anyone know if recs play an important role here? i know they are not mandatory, but I am still getting them. and also, i was told the 1700 girls that start out in the rush process cuts down by almost half by the end of recruitment.

That's true - even if they're in the toilet in IU land, they may be the queens of everything in Nu Mu land. I would hope the sororities would take the overall environment into account when handing out awards, etc. Then you have the other side of the coin - the chapters that excel on a campus where the competition isn't very fierce (i.e. there are only 2-3 sororities) receiving tons of accolades and national awards, and chapters at huge schools like IU who are probably doing 10 times the work getting shafted for those things because they are below quota at their school (never mind their quota is the size of small school chapter's whole Greek system).

I'm not sure which is worse. DZ I think has different "tiers" of national awards, i.e. there's a small system award for best programming and a big system award. Then again, they can do that because they've got a gazillion chapters.

But I don't think there's much drama--most people who want to get into a sorority do, even if it's not their first choice. Disclaimer here--I was totally a slacker sorority sister, never an officer, more concerned with the drama in my personal life, etc., so I can't say anything with authority, mainly because I don't remember that much:o--but I know we also had some flexibility because we also could take Lincoln girls who didn't count against your house size. ("house" meaning the building, not the chapter).

I asked about quota/total when my daughter went to Red Letter Day last winter and the greek life rep said they have no intention of going to that system. So unless somebody comes in and forces them to do it, I don't see it changing at Nebraska. It seems to work there.

Come back abelle06! I'd love to read your story.:)

Well, sure, the system is doing fine. The problem is experienced by the open-minded PNMs who are excluded for no reason except campus tradition. If you're in the system, then you aren't one of those PNMs. But the campus panhellenic ought to be concerned about them.

Nationally, it seems that NPC has moved away from the model where the sorority system is meant to be an elite echelon for a certain slice of the college population (a concept the NPHC seems to have retained), and toward a model where participation is accessible to all interested women. I'm not saying one philosophy is better than the other, but I see NPC moving along that spectrum, and IU seemingly isn't coming along on the ride.
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Toree cam

i will for sure be back! i'm incredibly excited for rush. so far i have had invites to check out houses from a few girls that i know and it's been great seeing the houses and getting to meet some of the sisters. next week is the first meeting of the recruitment process and I CAN'T WAIT!!! i will definitely let you guys know what happens to me : ) THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!

yay!! good luck hun!

I don't know, IMPO, the system sounds like it has flaws. To only take enough girls to "fill the beds" is going to leave alot of awesome PNM's out in the dust. I mean seriously if you have 1700 PNM's (or more) going through recruitment, there is still only 19 houses.

If the campus doesn't do a quota system, do they have a total?

does anyone know if UW Oshkosh uses the quota system?

Unless things have changed this year, UW - Oshkosh does use a quota system. Their recruitment is quickly approaching! :)

yes, it starts tomorrow!!!