This may ramble a bit, but hopefully it makes sense.
During informal Recruitment (sometimes referred to as C.O.B. - continuous open bidding), the prospective members are not required to visit every house and not every house can accept new members (see below*). The process is still mutual selection, but it is less structured. Potentials visit the houses they are interested in, many chapters will hold events specifically for this purpose. Sometimes there are time limits on COB, sometimes not. A potential may be interested in more than one house and vice versa. When the houses offer bids, the potential member can accept or decline the bid as she sees fit. Usually houses are required to all submit bids at the same time so that rushees don't decline a bid, hoping for a bid from another house.
During Formal, the Rushee lists her top 3 houses and contracts to accept a bid from any of those 3. During bid matching, the preferences of the rushee are matched with the preferences of the houses, hence, mutual selection. For example:
Suzi Rushee's preference card
1. House A
2. House Q
3. House B
House A #1 list
Suzi rushee
House Q
Suzi's not on their list
House B #1 list
Suzi Rushee
Becasue Suzi's first choice was House A and she was on House A's #1 list, she will get a bid from House A.
*During formal recruitment each house, despite the size of the chapter, is allowed to take up to a certain number of new members (quota). Not all houses will take quota and sometimes a house may be allowed to go over quota, but only by a small percentage. Once Formal recruitment is over and a chapter has not reached a population equal to or greater than campus ceiling (sometimes called 'total'), they are allowed to continue recruiting members until they reach total. Campus ceiling/total is a size number set by the college Panhellenic. It limits the size of chapters and insures that all chapters can compete on an equal footing. For example, on my former campus (small, non-residential). Total was 60 and few chapters ever reached that. Usual chapter size was around 45-50. On larger campuses, total may be as high as 150 or more. If a large house takes quota, which can be a huge number, the chapters can often swell to be over 200 women. A smaller house, struggling with numbers, would be at a disadvantage if this large house could continue recruiting members.
One thing that is stressed throughout Recruitment is the benefits of being Greek, not of being a member of House A, Q or B. Although it's important to receive a bid from your top choice, you really can be happy in (almost) any house if you put forth the effort. A person that receives a bid from her #2 or 3 house shouldn't turn it down - she must consider that those houses really want her as a sister. If a woman receives a bid and does not accept it, she will not be allowed to 'rush' for one full calendar year (thereby eliminating her chance to join during informal/COB).
Some women do not get bids because the houses that wanted them were not on their pref cards. In these cases the houses can 'snap bid' these women - ask them specifically to join their chapter. Snap bidding should take place within the 24 hours following the distribution of bids.
Barb
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