Do Sororities @ BIG 10 SCHOOLS have UPPERCLASSMEN QUOTAS??!?!?!?
 

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knew if sororities at BIG 10 schools have sophomore or upperclassmen quotas they NEED to fill during formal recruitment??? I've heard of TCU having quotas for sophomores that they need to fill during their recruitment, so it puts sophomores at an advantage? TCU is a southern school where recruitment is more competitive than at midwestern/northern schools like the BIG 10, so I'm hoping this is true.

At many schools that do have an upperclass quota, the sororities choose not to use it. It's never required.

Hold on. From the 2018 NPC MOI:

Upperclass quota
Some campuses find the use of an upperclass quota valuable in situations when there is a significant number of upperclassmen who are interested in recruitment, and/or the campus historically matches a low percentage of upperclass potential new members in the recruitment process.
The determination to implement an upperclass quota must be made by the College Panhellenic, before recruitment begins and in consultation with the RFM specialist and the NPC area advisor. Upperclass quota is not the answer for every campus but rather in circumstances that will help place upperclass women who have traditionally not been placed.

Once a Panhellenic votes to establish an upperclass quota, individual chapters may not opt out of accepting those women without consulting their inter/national organization, the fraternity/sorority advisor and the RFM specialist before recruitment begins.


So, you're asking if any Big 10 schools have an upperclass quota? Suggest you look for your school in irishpipe's thread and see if there is an upperclass quota listed for your school. That's the best answer I can give.

PS Sophomores (and above) are never at an advantage during Formal Recruitment. Wanted to disabuse you of that notion. What the upperclass quota does is pretty well explained in the quote I provided from the MOI.

Only 1 university I know of where it is possible for upperclass women have an advantage: UCLA. But under certain circumstances.

But you have to get in first (10% acceptance rate), though UCLA does accept many transfers students (due to ppl dropping out and Director of Admissions wanting to keep graduating classes the same size as the previous year, or larger).

The 1st year women ALL have fantastic credentials as that’s how they got into this US News & World Report Top 25 school! Freshman make up 67-75% of the NMs that go thru recruitment.
The sophomores/juniors/seniors (25-33% of the NMs) who go thru recruitment here fall in 1 of a few categories:
A. Existing students who excell in grades, good conversation skills, present themselves well (no designer labels needed), community service, student activities/leadership and made friends with some current members. Even if these women went thru 1st year but did not join a sorority. This group tends to do very well.
B. Transfer students who posses the 1st 5 from above, whether or not they know any members — though it always helps to know members. These NMs tend to do well.
C. Existing students who had any combination of: less than stellar grades, not joining any activities or doing volunteer work, not getting to know current members at all, or — more likely — UNbecoming behavior (think ... being drunk in public EVEN ONCE, bad reputation, dress like they are going to a club during recruitment, embarrassing social media, talking bad about other sororities). These women tend to NOT do well at all in their 2nd recruitment.
D. Existing or transfer students who might have great grades and have activities/charity work, but don’t stand out in a crowd (i.e. don’t present themselves well, very shy/pauses in conversations/not great in crowds). These NMs can struggle in formal recruitment but can do well in COB (Continuous Open Bidding) or Informal Recruitment.

Last year, New Member classes were around 75,with approx 50 freshman and 25 upperclass. That’s 1/3 of the NM class! And most groups take quota additions!

I advise for my chapter at UCLA and we usually have a handful of UCs that either didn’t go thru formal, went thru formal but either didn’t get a bid or got a bid to a different group and realized that group wasn’t a good fit.

I know better than to use absolutes, ChioLu. My dumb. Would agree with you that UCLA is an anomaly when it comes to upperclasswomen and FR. THANK YOU for your wonderful post explaining the system there!

An upperclassman quota isn't going to help, much less give an advantage to, someone who was completely dropped as a freshman and hasn't done anything in the year following to make her a more attractive PNM.

Definitely an anomaly. I almost used that exact word.

I've kept my GPA up, stayed out of trouble (no parties/no drama), joined a few clubs my freshman year on campus, and have upped my wardrobe a bit. Are these ways of making me a "more attractive PNM" or are there still better things I can do?

Have you become friends with any women in sororities?

And no one is saying don’t attend parties for your whole freshman year, just don’t do anything stupid while you are there.

Have you practiced striking up conversations with people you don't know? Sales associates in stores, people waiting in a line with you, etc. This will help you. Every teenager could work on their conversation skills since the proliferation of smart phones. Look people in the eye when they speak. Make appropriate reactions to their conversation. Smile. It seems really simple, but some people do struggle with it. Recruitment conversations in the early rounds are nothing but chance conversations with strangers.

Those are all good, but what's really key is to meet members before rush and try to build relationships - you need girls in a house to "go to bat for you" during voting, which is even more key as a sophomore. As someone else wrote, even if houses do have to fulfill an upperclass quota, those slots are limited and the girls who've already connected well with members have improved their odds of getting one.

I'd work on getting to know members this summer as much as you can - and do it in a friendly, sincerely interested way - not in a desperate, "gotta meet members so I can get in" way.

And as another poster wrote, work on your conversational skills - don't talk over a member or hog the conversation (many girls do, often due to being nervous), don't be so quiet that the member feels like she has to drag a conversation out of you (that makes the member have to work), and be sincerely interested in knowing the girl and her sorority.

And as much as possible, try to relax and have fun.