[FuzzieAlum]

I agree with 33girl in sentiment, but I think that sadly most of the time there is a house (or equivalent) to worry about. Even if the advisors and nationals weren't putting on pressure, even if all the other chapters weren't that much larger, you'd still have to make the mortgage, or get the money together for repairs, or have X number of sisters to keep your university-designated space. Chapters can and do say "screw the space," but experience has shown time and time again that it does not work to be unhoused when the other sororities are - whether that's fair or not. You have to work three times as hard to be half the size of the other chapters.

As far as the original question - my campus is one of those where as many people join via informal rush as formal. They've swapped formal rush back and forth between fall and spring without much impact.

Generally here's what the chapters do: The semester formal rush isn't being held, most sororities will have maybe three weeks of casual events - movie nights, coffeehouse hangouts, ice skating. They'll poster like mad. They get a big class that way. Also, they give out "reading days" bids. These are the days at the end of the year between classes and exams, and chapters, even the at ceiling ones, can give out bids to replace their graduating seniors.

The chapters that are smaller will really put the CONTINUOUS into Continuous Open Bidding. I'm not kidding, events month after month ... it's really wearying for the sisters, and I'm not sure the results justify it.

The thing is, the way most girls join is that they hadn't considered Greek life, but their friend Susie joins Mu Mu. They hang out with Susie and her sisters sometime and think, "Hey, they're cool. Maybe I'll rush. I'll look at Mu Mu, since they're cool, and I'll check our Nu Nu since they have this great reputation." The only way a girl looks at smaller Pi Pi is if a friend is a member, and with fewer members there are just fewer friends to draw in that way.