Quote:
Originally Posted by carnation
This one has a bunch of other chapters. I've really never heard of a campus like this. See, at most competitive campuses I know of, there are some chapters that are often considered "more desirable" than others but in this day and age, you don't get mass dropouts from hugehuge numbers because so many girls consider themselves lucky to get a bid anywhere. At this school, no. If they don't get one of those 3 groups, bye.
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Even before you posted this passage, I was going to make a point along the lines of the way the tier structure descends. Based on only my GC-related understanding of SEC Greek systems, it seems like a lot of the most competitive SEC schools have many chapters that are considered very strong, with only one or two chapters considered weak (if that).
This is pure speculation here, but I'm betting that if there's more parity RRS-wise, then the cuts to PNMs become a little more random. And when you see a friend get released by a chapter she loves, but that you don't really like, you're better able to appreciate that chapter as desirable and worthy of a second chance.
When I was an undergrad, there was a perceived "top 6" and "bottom 5" with almost no middle ground. I don't know if there was actually a big natural break in recruitment strength at that spot (although, I suspect there was), but the perceptions create a feedback loop that affects retention for the chapters.
As for the notion of what's "competitive", my own definition is when a PNM who has put in a considerable amount of time and energy into prepping for recruitment, and who has very good paper stats, is likely to face severe cuts anyway.
For example, I wouldn't consider UCLA a competitive campus because there are so many women who sign up for recruitment at the last minute (around 1/3 of total PNMs). A chunk of women just aren't particularly socially adept, either. If you're presentable and can carry a conversation, you're probably going to do pretty well.