Informal recruitment... chances of getting a bid.

[kmk09]

Hi everyone I'm a sophomore currently going through the informal rush process. It's my first time rushing, I didn't do formal last year. At my school, all 16 sororities are doing informal recruitment this fall, and in the past week and a half, I've talked with girls from every house (during the first "open house round") and then visited the 8 houses in which I had the strongest interest. Since then I've narrowed it down to four, attended all the events put on by each, and I still have several more events to go to in the next several days.

Since it's informal recruitment however and I'm not guaranteed a bid, I'm starting to get nervous I won't get a bid anywhere. Honestly, I do feel like I've felt a solid connection with each house so far, I've had some great conversations with a number of sisters at each, I have a really good GPA, and I think I've made good impressions on everyone. I'm just a worrying type of person though, haha. It will be a real bummer if I don't get a bid. What kinds of criteria are used to decide who gets a bid during an informal rush? If I wasn't offered a bid, could I go through formal recruitment this winter?

Thanks so much for reading/answering, hopefully my questions don't sound too silly, but I've perused these forums and haven't found much about informal recruitment conducted in such a manner (where all the sororities participate).

[excelblue]

Every chapter is different, so you just have to continue being yourself, making connections, and hoping for the best. Based on your description, it seems like you've been giving all of them a chance and doing the right things, so you shouldn't be too worried. Just remember: if you get any bids, you can only accept one and it better be for a house that you feel an extremely strong connection to. Often, the stronger you are connected to one house, the weaker you are connected to the others. With that in mind, hang in there and good luck!

As for eligibility for formal recruitment, your campus seems to be somewhat unique in the sense that it does it in the winter. Your best source of information would be the greek life office. However, I think that in most situations, only participation in a formal recruitment will disqualify you from anything else.

[cali_gossip]

I did the same joined through informal recruitment. At our school there was an information night where they let you know which houses were going through recruitment and from then on we went to whatever houses we were interested in rushing. I went to three houses and stayed for a while at each one. I connected to the girls in Delta Zeta so I decided to solely go to their events and stayed the whole time while I met all the actives. The second to last night I was taken to a room and given my bid by the VP of Recruitment and President.

If you don't get a bid through informal you should be able to go through formal recruitment in the winter. Usually it's only if you accept a bid and later decide the house is not for you that you must wait a full calendar year before you go through recruitment again.

[southbymidwest]

So are you worried that you won't get a bid at all, or that you won't get a bid from any of the 4 that you have narrowed your list down to? Even though all sororities are participating, there could very well be a difference in the number of young women each one will be taking. Please be open-minded, and try and look at houses as to fit, regardless of perceived popularity. Be yourself, be confident but not arrogant, be personable, and go to as many open house activities as you can fit in. You might want to stop by some of the houses that were #'s 5-8 if you have the chance. Meet as many sisters as you can in each chapter, and good luck! You have the opportunity to get to know the chapters a bit more in-depth than you probably could during formal recruitment.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

I'm rather surprised to hear that all 16 sororities would be doing informal rush. Are all 16 below campus total? I'm almost wondering if some of those 16 don't have bids to give out at all.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

I'm rather surprised to hear that all 16 sororities would be doing informal rush. Are all 16 below campus total? I'm almost wondering if some of those 16 don't have bids to give out at all.

Since they don't do formal until winter, presumably many/all would be under total due to graduation last spring. That is, if total has been set appropriately. They may just all choose to be at total when they do recruitment, then the new member class is a bonus.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by kmk09

Hi everyone I'm a sophomore currently going through the informal rush process. It's my first time rushing, I didn't do formal last year. At my school, all 16 sororities are doing informal recruitment this fall, and in the past week and a half, I've talked with girls from every house (during the first "open house round") and then visited the 8 houses in which I had the strongest interest. Since then I've narrowed it down to four, attended all the events put on by each, and I still have several more events to go to in the next several days.

Since it's informal recruitment however and I'm not guaranteed a bid, I'm starting to get nervous I won't get a bid anywhere. Honestly, I do feel like I've felt a solid connection with each house so far, I've had some great conversations with a number of sisters at each, I have a really good GPA, and I think I've made good impressions on everyone. I'm just a worrying type of person though, haha. It will be a real bummer if I don't get a bid. What kinds of criteria are used to decide who gets a bid during an informal rush? If I wasn't offered a bid, could I go through formal recruitment this winter?

Thanks so much for reading/answering, hopefully my questions don't sound too silly, but I've perused these forums and haven't found much about informal recruitment conducted in such a manner (where all the sororities participate).

We can't really say what the criteria are for getting a bid, as we are not members of those chapters and membership selection is private info.

If you are not offered a bid, you ARE eligible to go through winter recruitment.

I know it's hard to do, but you have to relax, if you are nervous about being cut, you won't have a good time or make a good impression.

[kmk09]

I think that all the PHA sororities on my campus have spots to fill because of the seniors that graduated in the spring.

I'm just worried I won't get a bid at all, although I doubt any houses other than this "final four" would even consider me at this point in time, since I've only visited all the others maybe once or twice. And as for the #5-8 houses I kinda ruled them out because they just didn't feel like the right place for me. So no worries, I didn't choose these four because I think they're the most popular or anything, they're just the places where I've had the best conversations and felt the most comfortable. I went back to two of these houses tonight and still liked them both, although I did feel an even stronger connection to one in particular. There are two more recruitment events tomorrow night, and one last one on Friday. I think they'll be calling to give out bids at the very end of the week so wish me luck And thanks for the input everyone!

[FSUZeta]

i think your feelings are normal. look at it this way, the best case scenario is that you receive a bid to a chapter you want to join and the worst case scenario is that you don't, in which case, you have the opportunity to re-rush during spring semester, if you so choose.
good luck to you, and please let us know.

[southbymidwest]

Good luck tonight and tomorrow night! I hope you shine!

[kmk09]

Bids went out today! And.... I'm an Alpha Chi Omega! All that worrying for nothing, haha. I actually got a bid from another house too, but it wasn't one I was interested in. I'm so excited to become a part of the Greek community at my school

[nittanygirl]

Congrats on AXO!

[Tulip86]

congratulations!!

[southbymidwest]

Congratulations to you and A Chi O! Great group!

[cali_gossip]

Hooray! Congratulations on Alpha Chi Omega! See you had nothing to worry about :]