For all the PNMs going through recruitment at Illinois, here is sage advice (cut and pasted from other ladies here on this thread) going into the Second Invitational:
Cuts will be heavy, because there are so many PNMs going through. 18-13-7-3 means that the cuts get worse as the rounds go on. Be prepared that you might not get invited back to all, or even any, of your favorites. That doesn't mean they all didn't want you back, it just means they had too many girls to consider. All that being said, very few women are released from all chapters. The vast majority not completing recruitment drop out themselves. Here are some things to consider, though, if you don't get all of your favorite invites:
1) You have been invited back to "X" number of sororities. You should try to find new favorites. Some of your favorites changed from Open House to First Invitational, so you know it can happen.
2) At Illinois, tiers and reputations change. Houses once considered "top" have changed over the years - some are like night and day.
3) Every chapter at Illinois has over 150 women. Every chapter has women who party, and women who go to church, and women who study, and women who play sports, etc, etc. Every NPC chapter has a house, and a barn dance, and a formal, and exchanges, etc. Every chapter also has drama.
4) The fraternities vastly outnumber the sororities, something like 50 housed fraternities to 18 sororities. This means that no sorority ever hurts for a social calendar, and every sorority has at least two fraternities that consider that sorority their favorite.
5) Even by the second round, there are so many PNMs coming through, that most of the chapters do not assign hostesses, and the PNM is paired with whomever happens to be next in line when she walks through the door. This means that your experience with the chapter has a lot to do with the luck of the draw. Everyone tries to let PNMs meet more than one active, but again, in such large chapters, the PNM is lucky if she meets 10%.
6) Please make sure you maximize your invitations. Even if there are still some chapters where you are not feeling a connection, please be certain to fill out your preferences completely. If you do not do this, you will lose the opportunity to be a quota addition to one of your top choices, if it comes down to that. If you play by the rules, you have a very good chance of getting a bid from one of the three chapters you pref.
7) When bid day finally comes, if it's not your very first choice, or even your second choice, please remember that even though you have received a bid to join the sisterhood you least wanted or expected, if you give it a chance, you may come to realize that it was the place where you belonged most. Please try to keep your heart open and enjoy the fact that the girls in this chapter really want you.
Finally, the best home for you is where you are invited back, where your new sisters know you are out there and want you, and the Greek universe has a way of showing you and helping you find your true home.