[kiteflyerzl]

Your group can end up smaller than other groups on campus quickly if you aren't careful about staying at total.

Let's assume total is 100 and quota is 35. Assume every group has 65 women. After formal recruitment you get 30 new members and everyone else takes 35. YOu decide to stay at 95 because you are less worried about quantity than quality. You're 5 smaller than the other groups.

Now 20 seniors graduate. You're at 75 and everyone else is at 80.

The next year, quota is set at 35 again and total is 110. You take 33 women this time and the other chapters take 35 (or maybe more with quota additions). Now they have 115 (which is higher than total but okay since they got there with quota) and you're at 108. You're over total but in two years you've gotten to be 7 below the rest of the groups. You got closer to quota this time but you're growing at a slower rate than the other groups. If this continues, you'll have to do more than make quota to get total and you'll have a long way to go to catch up. Being 7 less than the others may not sound like much but in 5 years you could be 15 or more less and it just grows from there.

I used to have a better example in some of my recruitment material from HQ. I wish I could find it!

When you get to the point where you are only half as big as the other chapters, you can claim that you're happy with your "small" sisterhood all you want but the PNMs will see the size as a weakness. I've watched it go on for at least 10 years with a chapter from my alma mater.

Edit: What the poster says below is true - not making quota once doesn't mean you won't the next year. Like I said, I have a better example somewhere and I will try to find it.