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Before Recruitment begins, I thought I'd explain my college's Recruitment format. It's pretty standard deferred recruitment, with all events held in campus facilities since most chapters are unhoused. Even though some do have houses, the college feels its more equal if everybody has their events on campus.
The first night of Recruitment isn't really Recruitment at all – it's a big Info Session on how Recruitment works. I remember finding this very helpful because as a PNM, I knew absolutely nothing about Greek Life. The only people I knew who were Greek were my Dad and my Aunt, neither of whom had been very involved or had much to say about the process. At the Info Session, the Director of Greek Life discusses the basic format of Recruitment and introduces the Rho Chis.
The second night of Recruitment is No-Frills. No decorations or sorority-specific items are allowed, though every sorority has its own room. PNMs visit all the sororities, but do not rank. They are required to attend all the sorority parties, and because we do not have a very large number of orgs and the parties are short, this is done in one day.
The third night is Philanthropy round. PNMs again attend parties for all chapters, though the parties are slightly longer and involve a craft for the group's Philanthropy. After this round, PNMs rank their choices and chapters make their first cuts.
The fourth night is Sisterhood round. PNMs are cut from one or more orgs, and must attend all parties to which they are invited (they cannot decline or 'regret with interest'). At the end of the night, PNMs rank again and chapters make the second round of cuts.
The fifth and final night is Preference. PNMs are cut from two or more orgs, and must attend all Prefs to which they are invited. Suiciding is not allowed. After Pref, all PNMs sign a Preference card (unless of course, they choose to drop out) and chapters draw up their Bid lists. Bid matching is done that night.
Bid Day takes place the day after Preference. PNMs may receive only one Bid. Should they accept, they attend Bid Day celebrations with their new sorority that evening, after attending a short presentation where Rho Chi affiliations are revealed and Recruitment is officially closed. They then enter the New Member period and are initiated 6-8 weeks later, towards the end of their freshman year.
I apologize if this seems obvious to most of you! I know some readers may not be very familiar with Recruitment.
In general, Recruitment at my college is not very competitive for PNMs. Recs are rarely used, but legacies are taken very seriously and almost always get a Bid to their legacy chapter. However there is often very steep competition among chapters for certain PNMs. Since as small percentage of women go through recruitment, there is a lot of competition to get the "best" PNMs. The PNMs are usually totally oblivious to this (even though it often goes on all Fall!). Because Recruitment is deferred, many chapters have a good idea of which PNMs they hope to pledge and which PNMs they want to avoid.
The cuts are usually not very harsh and it's not unusual for many PNMs to have a "perfect rush", with a full schedule each night. Generally not too many PNMs drop out, and those who do often receive snap bids.
It is very rare that a PNM would go unmatched – usually it only happens to a handful of girls every year. If they do go unmatched they often pledge one of the local sororities on campus, though occasionally they will re-rush as sophomores (usually with a similar degree of success). PNMs are often cut because of age. Recruitment is almost all freshmen, though a small number of sophomores do participate (usually because they participated last year but did not get a bid from their top choice). Though the sophomore do often get bids, it is usually not to the "top" chapters.
Overall, our Formal Recruitment tends to be a pretty positive experience, and even if it's not – well, it only lasts a week!
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