Quote:
Originally Posted by VAgirl18
As an alum from IU, I can tell you that its ridiculously competitive. Things have changed in the past decade, and seriously, recs are taken with a grain of salt. Houses send thank you notes to those who recommended them, they might get another look, and they may get invited to dinner. Other than that, they really don't mean that much. Legacies are more important, although IU's houses don't normally have many legacies..they end up going to other houses. IU's rush is nowhere near conventional and the biggest reason that women don't receive bids is because they suicide, are rude to the initial houses they don't want only to realize that they should have been nicer, or don't have strong enough grades. Oh, and the question everyone hates the most..."what's your liveout policy?" The point of joining is to get the whole experience and the question tells sorority members that the PNM isn't really focusing on the big picture or wanting the full experience.
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While this is good advice, some of the things you say may have been true when you went here but have changed now. You said that not many houses have legacies- the opposite is true. Perhaps your house didn't have many but I know at least 15 girls personally that are legacies to the same house I am, and those are just the girls that I know. I would say each house has at least 10-15 legacies. However, they are in no way an "in" to a house. Basically all it entails is a courtesy invite to a dinner and to 12 party. And I also disagree about the liveout question. Some girls really do want the chance to live off campus and if it comes down to choosing between houses that do and do not allow it, it is important to know before deciding!
I would not discount the value of recs either because having a rec in some houses helps to your overall score during 19 party and will at least have you invited to some pre-rush event. The more things you can do to stand out in a system this large and this competitive, the better.
Also, the reason many girls do not get bids is partially due to suiciding and grades, but a LARGE number of girls who have good grades and good personalities get released prior to pref. I agree that everyone should maximize their options and go to all parties they are invited to, but if someone isn't invited to pref they won't get a bid period.
I feel like deferred rush here is a double-edged sword. It is great that freshmen get a whole semester to assimilate and enjoy college without being in a sorority. However, being here a whole semester makes SO MANY PNM's think they already have an idea of what the "good" houses are, so they don't give others a chance. I would say that there are a good 3-4 chapters (one in particular) here that struggle to get girls to want to join, so until PNM's actually give EVERY house a chance and maximize all of their options, which isn't really the case now, I don't think things at IU have a chance at getting much better.
There are far too many women here who have a strong desire to be in the greek system that fall by the wayside and it is truly unfortunate. VAgirl, I agree with most of what you are saying, but I think that the true reason that so many people go unmatched here is due to the "bed-rush" non-traditional quota system. I am NOT advocating switching to a traditional quota system as the whole foundation of the greek system here is living in the house for 3 (sometimes 2) years. However, it is a hard situation to solve.
Sorry about writing a book, I have A LOT to say on the subject. Anyway, good luck to all going through at IU. The rest of recruitment is about 3 weeks away!