[33girl]

If you're the only chapter that does this and you do it as a weeklong effort, it WILL make you stand out, and not in a good way. A better way might be to have several events after formal and every month or so after, and then choose a pledge class in the fall.

Are you open bidding to quota/total after formal rush?

Are you receiving a list of women who went through formal the semester before and either were cut from the other chapters or dropped out?

Are the parties open to anyone who is eligible? If so - and you are the only chapter having to COB - I would discontinue this practice and make the parties invitation only. You need to find girls who want to be in YOUR sorority, not A sorority.

Oh, and you can have a slight theme (like XYZ Picnic or something) but don't go overboard with skits and costumes - informal rush is supposed to be just that - INFORMAL. Take advantage of the openness to get to know the girls better and talk with them more.

Not to tread into membership selection stuff, but do you want them to come back because they need to go to x number of events before getting a bid, or just because you want to get to know them better? Try asking different groups of girls to different events. That way you can spend more time with each of them.

The whole idea is to make the rushees feel that they are special and chosen - not that you just want them there to get your numbers up.