cross cut?
 

can someone please explain how a crosscut happens?

I have heard this term used to mean that a PNM has been cut from all of the houses she preffed.

If a PNM attends pref at a sorority and is not high up enough on their bid list when they are doing bid matching, she will not receive a bid. It is possible that this could happen at each chapter she prefs.

Something else to keep in mind, NPC policy is if a PNM participates in the entire Recruitment process in good faith and maximizes her options (meaning no single preferences i.e. suiciding) she is supposed to receive a bid from somewhere. Perhaps as a quota addition. The question then becomes is that Panhellenic organization following NPC policy?

While I don't know about that, if she was on two houses bid lists, it would be VERY rare for her not to get a bid. Not saying it doesn't happen, but the numbers involved don't work that way often.

In 1999, 6 of my 11 PNMs were cross cut (I was a recruitment counselor). I'm still traumatized from those phone calls!

Couldn't it also be termed a "mismatch" if the PNM did not get a bid from any of the houses she preffed at and she did not "suicide" on her pref card? How is a crosscut different from a mismatch?

Let's say Sally PNM ranks her preference chapters this way:

#1 - aaa
#2 - ccc
#3 - fff

Let's say that that the bid list number where the groups list Sally is as follows:

AAA - list 3
CCC - list 2
FFF - list 3

If any of those groups fill to quota from their first or second lists, Sally PNM can hope for, at best, is either a quota addition or a snap bid from a group not on her pref card.

ON that thought.. what is a quota addition?

I've heard this term (crosscut) used anytime a girl is cut by every house she visits during a particular round. I've always heard "mismatch" used after prefs because houses have to put every girl they pref on their bid lists somewhere, so technically they are not cutting anyone, even the girls at the very bottom of their last lists.

Back in the day, it referred to when a girl would rank ABC first and DEF second after prefs but ABC would put her on their second bid list (which they would never get to) and DEF would put her on their first and she'd end up bidless.

In that situation, why wouldn't she be matched to DEF?

Yes, they probably are. The question then really is whether it's a bid she wants.

I think that was back when they were perfecting the matching system. I seem to remember something about if you were on the #2 bid list of your #pref, you could end up getting matched with them, even if there were spots at your #1 because of a flaw in the system.

She put them second (in carnation's example). They would first go through all the women who put DEF first and THEN go to those who put DEF second only if DEF still had spots.

The process is set to match all those who picked each other #1 so that the most women (and groups) get their first choices.

Ah... got it. Thanks.