so confused
 

I participated in recruitment in the spring and got a bid to a sorority at a small private university. I couldn't get pinned because my gpa was a teeny bit lower than the required chapter gpa. I have made gpa now but my question is, do I have to go through the recruitment all over again?

The only people that will be able to answer this question are the people in your chapter. Ask an older friend or a member of the council. We're not there, so we don't know the circumstances are or what type of a chapter you are even talking about.

My bid came from a panhellenic chapter and I signed my bid card on the first day at bid day celebration which is why I am confused.

Check with the chapter that gave you the bid. If they have formal recruitment in the fall then you would go through recruitment then. If formal is in the spring and if the chapter wishes to still pledge you and if they have a spot available then you may be allowed to pledge in the fall.

Oh, I understood that incorrectly. Still, talk to the chapter.

I definitely agree that talking to the ACTUAL chapter members (not even internet sisters of the chapter) is the best thing to do

Agreed. You know, I never understood why someone would take the time to come here and post a question like this in the first place. How would we know what someone's unknown sorority on an unnamed campus would do? If it was me, my first instinct would be to ask my New Member Educator or someone in the chapter if I needed to rush again. (???) I dunno....maybe I'm just weird like that.

.....Kelly :)

Even if you signed a bid card, once your grades were double checked you were not allowed to be registered as a pledge with the chapter - so you are technically "free." It's kind of like signing up to get a credit card and then not actually getting it because your credit history is bad. The credit card company won't keep checking and then send you a card when your credit history gets to where it should be. You have to fill out the application again.

I would contact the chapter and let them know that you are still interested in pledging them and see what they say before you go through signing up for rush all over again (especially if you have to pay a fee to do so).

Did you go through the pledge period and then did not go through initiation because of your grades?

She said she "didn't get pinned" - i.e. did not go through the formal pledging ceremony. I take that to mean she didn't begin her pledge program at all.

Am I the only one who thinks that this is strange that this would happen in the first place? During formal recruitment, every PNM's GPA is on the master list. During informal recruitment, we explain to PNMs that no chapter can offer a PNM a bid without first getting a copy of her transcript. Unless she lied about her GPA (and the chapter found out after bid day) I don't see how this would happen.

I thought with most sororities, once you signed your bid card, you had a year to "come back", if you don't get initiated then for whatever reason?

I've tried to get in touch with someone but haven't been able to. I didn't lie about my grades and was told they would be okay but I guess they weren't. I go to Chapman by the way if that helps.

She may have pledged ChiO, who waits for semester grades before initiating, or there may be a school rule that they have to wait for grades to initiate. Or the school my be on a quarter system.

I'm not so suprised. As an advisor at a small school, we once were notified after pref night that one of the PNMs was ineligible, due to grades. There was no master list that the school would provide the GLOs. Even worse, we were not allowed to know their GPAs during recruitment registration!! It was considered a violation of the PNMs' privacy! The PNM would put her GPA on the registration form, then the school would photocopy the registration cards - but black out the GPA!!

it could be that the college reconfigures the reported h.s. gpa; many do.

Sprinkle - You mention that you have tried to get in touch with someone, who? I think you need to drop by to see your chapter president and ask her this question. Just let her know you are wondering what your options are, and she can explain the options to you.

If they're not housed (I don't know if Chapman is) then "dropping by" becomes super difficult. The chapter president, vp and new member ed (different groups have different names for the positions) are the women you would ideally speak to about this. You may also want to try to contact the Greek Advisor and Panhellenic VP Recruitment. If worse comes to worse, you could hang outside a Panhellenic council meeting and wait for the chapter president afterwards.

Of course if you come off too overzealous it could seem stalkerish. :)

Ya think so? No, there's no Chi Omega chapter at Chapman.

Plus, she said she "didn't get pinned" which to me, sounds like she didn't begin pledging, and this was in the spring, so there would be a college GPA available.

OP, I wasn't accusing you of lying, but just trying to understand how this could have happened.

[hijack]
Nut, since many campus Panhellenics allow the new member period to be 6 weeks maximum, yet Chi Omega's policy is to wait for grades, something's got to give at a campus with a fall FMR. Do some Chi Omega chapters ignore the Panhellenic policy and wait to initiate their new members until they have first semester grades, do they ignore Chi Omega policy and initiate after 6 weeks, or do Chi Omega rules trump the rules of the campus Panhellenic and it's ok for them to wait?
[/hijack]

I don't know. Their might be some exceptions, but for the most part, I don't think it's an issue -- and it certainly hasn't seemed to hurt us during recruitment.

I would say that if she has tried contacting chapter members with no luck then 1) contact an advisor (if you know a number) or 2) contact HQ/EO

This question has been brought up, the assumption has been that you didn't go through the pledge period (when you said pinned), but it could also mean you didn't get initiated. If you didn't get initiated, someone from the chapter should really be talking to you about this situation. Heck, if you didn't go through the pledging/new member process, they should be talking to you about this.

Do I understand this correctly? Chi Omega requires new members to make grades before initiation? Are you sure about this? Many campuses require 6 to 8-week new member periods, and refuse to allow chapters to have semester-/quarter-long NM periods...including campuses with ChiO chapters.
I'm confused.:confused:

Several XOs have stated that XO waits a semester for grades. The search function sucks and it was actually carnation who said it, but I found this:

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...t=45371&page=2

From what I read here: http://nm.chiomega.com/benefits/defa...humbs2&thumb=6 grades must be demonstrated before initiation.

Thank you, OTW.
I wish ALL NPC groups waited that semester/quarter. It would give NMs more time to learn the basics about their fraternity/sorority.

Exactly. That's why I asked Nut about it.

I know that the Chi-Os at my school initiated the same weekend as everyone else (8 weeks after bid day). Or at least they pretended to. LOL.

Maybe this was because we had a deferred recruitment?

I didn't go through the new member period because i didn't get pinned. The sorority doesn't have a house so I don't know how else to get in contact with them. :( should i wait until the fall or look for them on facebook? I'd really like to know what to do but I don't want to seem like a stalker! Eek!

Do not contact them via Facebook!

Since school's letting out for the summer, it's probably best to wait until the Fall. There's really nothing anyone can do right now anyway. You'll be able to explain your situation to someone then and they'll let you know what your options are, as SoCalGirl said earlier. :)

Agreed! These are important questions you have about your status within the org. Contact someone in person or by phone. Important and personal info shouldn't be discussed via the internet. If you want to use Facebook to contact someone about setting up a meeting or to get their phone number, that's ok.

Exactly -- with deferred, you've already "made your grades" at the school where the chapter is located.

Ah ha. Thanks for the clarification.

OK, is it that you just don't want to go through recruitment again? If you didn't even make it to the pledge ceremony, you don't really have any attachment to this sorority. Or is the issue that you want to join a sorority in the fall and aren't sure whether your bid is still "active" at the first sorority?

Which GPA did you miss? The one Panhellenic requires to rush, or the one the sorority requires to pledge? If Panhellenic let you rush with a gpa that was below the requirement, I'm going to guess that your bid was not valid. Also, if the chapter gave you a bid, but your gpa was too low for what is required for membership, they should therefore have not given you a bid and again I'm going to guess that your bid is/was never valid.

Thank you ladies for all your help! I will get the information from someone as soon as I can get ahold of one of them. I'll let you know.

:]