Iowa State??
 

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I don't know anything about Iowa St. recruitment, but definitely go to the greek weekend. They'll tell you everything you need to know then...no need to worry before then.

Paige -

Welcome to GC. I'm thrilled to see you're considering Iowa State. I graduated in 2001 and loved every minute of my college experience at ISU.

While not as large as UIUC, the Greek Community at Iowa State is very strong and has a long history on campus. There are 13 NPC sororities at ISU with two non-NPC sororities also belonging to the Collegiate Panhellenic. Each chapter has its own strengths and I believe there is truly a place for everyone who goes through recruitment with an open mind. All of the NPC chapters (and many of the fraternities) are housed in a 4-5 block area informally called "Greekland" and all chapters are within walking distance to campus and campustown. The Greek community is very involved with campus events, with chapters participating in Homecoming events, Greek Week, VEISHEA and Varieties. Recent campus leaders have been members of fraternities and sororites and chapter members are involved in a variety of clubs and organizations on campus as well as athletic and club sports teams.

Greek Getaway is a great way for high school seniors to visit campus and get a better feel for the Greek Community. Usually held during the weekend of Greek Week, you get to see first-hand how chapters work together and the events they participate in. You will stay overnight at a sorority and have a chance to visit or tour quite a few more. There are many activities planned for the weekend; last year they had a block party, casino night, live music and all the Greek Getaway attendees got to watch the Greek Week Lip Sync finals. I had a lot of fun when I went *coughcough* ten years ago *coughcough* and almost everyone who went to Greek Getaway says it was a great way to learn about Greek life before actually going through recruitment.

Formal recruitment at Iowa State is held the week before classes begin in August. I would say recruitment is somewhat competitive compared to other midwestern campuses, but not as competitive as say UIUC, Mizzou, Purdue or IU.

If you haven't already, I'd check out the Greek Affairs website at Iowa State: www.greek.iastate.edu.

If you have any other questions about ISU, feel free to PM me. :)

UIUC is not competitive. Fewer than 5 girls/year get released from all chapters, on average, out of 1200 or so.

I'll clarify:

Competitive meaning there are usually less than 350 women going through recruitment for spots in 13 (or 15 if you count the two non-NPC) chapters. Pledge classes have ranged from 16-21 the past three years and chapter total is 85. Perhaps competitive isn't quite the right word. Recruitment can be stressful (as any recruitment can), but it is not as stressful, IMO, as it seems to be at campuses with larger chapters. With 15 sororities and 30 fraternities, the Greek community itself is rather large compared to some Universities, but it feels smaller and close-knit.

bluefish81 can also give her perception of Greek Life at Iowa State.

That's a lot of sororities for 350 rushees!

In the Northeast there are also often more sororities and smaller pledge classes, rather than the other way around. Many people prefer it to being in a chapter of 200.

Maybe it is a unversity thing in the Northeast? For example, Hofstra just keeps letting groups coming on (men and women). An "anti-sorority sorority" formed in the late 1980's - they then got roped into panhel to "control" them and today they are the newest NPC group on campus.

When I was an undergrad we had 5 NPC and 3 locals and my chapter was 80 women (it took a while to get quota total working so this was before it got going). Quota in formal recruitment in spring 2006 was 8 and total is 50. Chapters are much smaller today. Groups have to take new member classes in the fall just to keep themselves in the 40 range so their national offices don't put them on warning or probation.

I wouldn't say that - I mean, the Panhel still has to vote to let them in. I honestly think it's just a difference of cultures.

As far as the national offices, well, I think it's a question of if you go there, this is what you get. You're not going to get LSU/Ole Miss/UF size chapters. The important thing should be whether they have enough people so that the chapter works efficiently and maintain their size. If a national can't countenance that, then they should either not go there or pull out of those type schools rather than continually harangue the women about their size.

Most groups do have to take pledge classes in the spring and fall, but you gotta remember, a class of 8 is not the same as a class of 50 - i.e. you're not going to have to have the whole world stop the way you do for a huge formal rush or a huge class.

Hi Paige,
Definitely check out the Greek Community website if you haven't already. It'll let you link to all the chapter websites on campus too. Have you done a campus tour yet and visited a chapter during your visit? I know that I gave a bazillion house tours during my time when prospective students were thinking about ISU during EIS Days.

I'd definitely recommend going to Greek Getaway as well. ISUKappa gave you the basic lowdown. I know that some years, prospective students have been able to stay at two different chapters in addition to touring a few other chapters on Saturday and I think the cost is maybe $40. Last year they ran a deal where if you went with a friend you got a discount (they also offered a discount if you went through Formal with a friend). It's a great chance to get a better feel for the Greek Community as a whole, plus the school if you're still not sure which school you want to attend.

I would say that it isn't as competitive as Illinois, I don't know if recs are needed at Illinois but they are not required at ISU, though they are accepted. I know that in the fall of 2005, every chapter did a little bit of informal recruitment in the fall, although total has been lowered since then. I think that all of the chapters are great, I had a friend in just about every chapter when I was in school. And if you do choose to attend ISU and go through formal I think you'd be able to find the one that fits you best.

Formal Recruitment is a four day process running Sunday through Wednesday prior to classes starting. The first round PNMs attend 13 parties. The second day is skit day. PNMs attend nine parties. Four party day is next. This day is several things: philanthropy, house tour, food day and financial info sheets are provided. And then Preference night.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

If this number doesn't include the amount of women who drop out, ISU is pretty close to that number from 2001 -2005(excluding women who SIP'd).

It is, and there also used to be a few more NPC chapters! The two associate chapters do not participate in Formal Recruitment. I think the largest group that I can recall going through Formal Recruitment (in the past decade) was around 430 or so and that was in 2000.

Yep. Zeta Tau Alpha left in 1996, Alpha Phi left in 1998 and Alpha Xi Delta left in 2003. I was on CPC in 2000 and the VPs of Recruitment really worked hard at promoting the Greek Community, especially to incoming freshman during their senior year of HS.

Even though it seems like a lot of chapters for a few PNMs, I think the system works well for Iowa State. Many of the chapters are strong, older chapters within their respective organizations. Even those that are significantly under total seem to be financially viable, even with a chapter house to maintain, and have strong sisterhoods to offer those who possibly want to belong to a somewhat smaller chapter.

I wasn't criticizing the Iowa State system, that's great if it works for them. I was just surprised.

When I was a freshman in 1980, I remember the Iowa State ZTA's came to help with rush, but unfortunately did not have a successful rush and the Nebraska ZTA chapter closed that year. The only thing I remember about them is that they were all really pretty! That's sad to see that their chapter closed, too.

Thanks for the clarification. I sound like a broken record in a lot of these threads, but I try to distinguish between campuses where a lot of great women fall through the cracks and campuses where very few women fall through unless they decide on day 1 that they must be an XYZ.