[violetpretty]

I have not seen QAs hurt small chapters at my alma mater. In fact, the two NM classes that I saw at my time at UMD with the most QAs were from small chapters.

QAs are obviously unfair if a campus isn't using RFM. However, with RFM, chapters will be issuing the number of invitations that will most likely result in all chapters making quota. However, if a middle tier chapter does significantly better than in previous years, they are likely to make quota plus because their bid list is longer than RFM "thought" it needed to be. Simply put, large numbers of QAs are the result of a chapter doing better than expected per RFM.

I believe that a PNM should be guaranteed a bid from ONE of her preference party chapters as long as she has maximized throughout recruitment and ranked all her chapters. Say a PNM is invited to 3 "top tier" chapters for pref at a large campus, but she's near the bottom of all three lists. Since such chapters must make huge cuts, they have a fairly short bid list because they have a high acceptance rate. Said PNM probably does "belong" in a top tier chapter if she was invited to 3 top tier chapters. Is it really fair to her or the chapters to not get a bid to any of those? Do you really think said PNM would consider or fit in the small struggling chapter? I doubt it.

If a chapter has higher than expected success one year, they will have to release more PNMs next formal recruitment due to RFM. I think it all evens out. You shouldn't see the same chapter getting large numbers of QAs year after year. I see no reason to punish PNMs when a chapter does better than expected.

I'm not entirely sure what the protocol for matching QAs is; I've understood it varies from campus to campus and depends on current chapter size, PNM's preference, and where she falls on the chapter's list.

Also, with the advent of the quota range, quota is set such that it balances the number of chapters making quota, and the number of PNMs being placed, to ultimately equalize Panhellenic chapter size. If quota is too high, more PNMs are placed (likely in their first choice chapters) but smaller chapters are less likely to make quota. If quota is too low, more chapters are likely to make quota, but there will be a lot of PNMs unplaced, and matched as QAs, which will still result in massive inequality in NM class size. Quota ranges are used to find the best scenario.