Quote:
Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby
I know of so few PNM's who get dropped from every chapter (and the statistics bear it out) at Illinois. My first thought was that this was an effect of having so many chapters, i.e. it's unlikely for a PNM to click with NOONE, but then other schools with a lot of chapters (Auburn, for example) seem to have a much larger number of women who are not invited to prefs.
Any thoughts on why this is? If I had to wager a guess, a lot of women at Illinois know nothing about the chapters when they get there (though maybe this has changed due to the internet?), and I bet there are very few who fall into the trap of going back to the SRCs for first invitational and having nothing later on, when they would have had a bid if they had considered other chapters.
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The number of chapters and size of pledge classes seem just right at Illinois – I’m not sure how many more colonizations it would take to begin to reduce the size of the pledge classes at Bama, for instance. The numbers of PNMs seem to continue to climb – I’m not sure where these will eventually stabilize.
I was thinking about your question, and though I couldn’t find comparable data from Auburn, I looked at comparable data from U of Alabama instead (which also has a comparable number of chapters). I was actually surprised at the numbers –
not what I expected to find given UofA’s recruitment reputation.
Comparing U of Illinois and U of Alabama – 2010 stats for both (most recent figures posted for IL, and free of 2011 colonization variable for U of A) – beginning with attendance number at Open House -- some figures of interest in bold:
U of IL stats:
http://www.odos.uiuc.edu/greek/membership/panhellenicStats.asp
U of AL stats (click to enlarge):
http://img.docstoccdn.com/thumb/orig/121342940.png
U of IL:
Attending Open House: 1258
Total Withdrawals up to and following pref: 325 (approx. 26% of PNMs withdrew during recruitment process)
Released by all chapters (through pref invites): 2
% placed in chapter: 72.2%
Not receiving bids: 23 (approx 2.5% of those signing pref cards)
Received 1st choice: 721 (approx 79.5% of those signing pref cards)
Received 2nd choice: 138 (approx 15.2% of those signing pref cards)
Received 3rd choice: 33 (approx 3.7% of those signing pref cards)
Uof A:
Attending Open House: 1604
Total withdrawals up to and following pref: 154 (approx. 10% of PNMs withdrew during recruitment process)
Released by all chapters (through pref invites): 16
% placed in chapter: 88%
Not receiving bids: 31 (approx 2.5% of those signing pref cards)
Received 1st choice: 1226 (approx 87% of those signing pref cards)
Received 2nd choice: 150 (approx 11% of those signing pref cards)
Received 3rd choice: 28 (approx 2% of those signing pref cards)
The UofA numbers were a lot more favorable than I expected – compare the withdrawals during the recruitment process, as well as the percentage placed in chapters. Thoughts? Maybe SEC recruitment is not as scary as its reputation often depicts!
But we still have more mamas and daddies underfoot on Bid Day. 
ETA:
Auburn: available stats from years 2008-2011 combined, along with comments that accompany stats:
https://fp.auburn.edu/greek/Files/2012cweforweb.pdf
Withdrew from recruitment: 9.74% (most over not receiving a desired invitation)
Released during week (in process): 3.13%
Released Bid Day: 2.2% (all neglected to maximize pref options)
Placed in chapters: 84.94%