Two comments, as I have been doing bid matching for the last 6 years as rush advisor --
1. ANY WOMAN WHO IS INVITED TO PREFERENCE SHOULD BE THOUGHT OF AS A POTENTIAL MEMBER BY THE SORORITIY INVITING HER. So it shouldn't matter whether that woman is matched in quota additions or not. The sorority still liked her enough to invite her to their preference party and put her on their bid list. They KNEW that they were potentially extending a bid to her. And NO ONE I know of thinks of quota additions as "wow, we had to take 3 girls we didn't like so much" -- they ALWAYS think "wow, we got to get three more great girls for our pledge class!!!). If they don't think that way, maybe they need to think harder about who they invite to preference. And frankly, after doing this for many years I can tell you that I would rather have a class of girls who really wanted to be in my sorority than a class of girls who we "had to have" who really didn't want to be with us. It is more often that not that the girls who were "top of the list" do NOT go on to be the really strong members. I think this attitude of seeing quota additions as having to take members we "really didn't want" is negative and elitist. With our overall shrinking numbers as greeks we should be jumping for joy for EVERY SINGLE PERSON who wants to join our sororities or fraternities.
2. QUOTA ADDITIONS ARE OFTEN A WAY TO KEEP FROM HAVING TO HAVE SYSTEM DROPS, WHICH SUCK. We have had a struggling chapter on our campus for years. They have a FABULOUS advisor who recognizes that girls who pref the more popular chapters are likely NOT going to take a bid from this chapter if they don't match from their two preferences, and has allowed the other chapters to take quota addditions even though this chapter is usually FAR from quota. Is it entirely fair? No. But is it fair to have girls who participate in rush all week and ARE wanted by chapters (b/c they were invited to their preference -- see comment #1) be dropped because another chapter is struggling? I think it is FAR BETTER to make the more popular chapters cut larger numbers earlier in the week so girls have to consider other chapters than take these women to preference and then not offer them a bid.
TO ANY POTENTIAL NEW MEMBER -- I really really hope that you all believe that EVERY member of a pledge class is considered a valuable and cherished new member. In my experience we are all THRILLED to have a new member except a bid to our fraternity.
