NWgirl's Fall '07 Recruitment at University of Washington!

[KappaKittyCat]

Originally Posted by Benzgirl

Even though it was hard, you made a very mature decision. As others have said, you might consider Informal. It's less stressful and gives you time to evaluate your options.

Benzgirl, I believe the OP said she'd already signed up for COR.

NWgirl, I usually don't post in these, but I just have to add a plug for COR. That's how I joined. I knew formal recruitment wasn't for me. I'm the kind of person who needs to take my time to get to know people at my own pace. COR allows you much more time to be yourself and feel comfortable with your surroundings.

Good luck.

[violetpretty]

I'm glad you went all the way through preference. You took it all in and then made your decision. Nothing wrong with that. It is very mature of you to drop out given your reasons, instead of the "Waaaahh I wasn't invited back to XYZ and my remaining options are beneath me" that lots of PNMs feel. Informal recruitment allows you to meet sorority women in a much more authentic way. Best of luck, whatever you decide!

[honeychile]

Best of luck with COR, NWgirl. It's a lot easier for many women to really get to know the sisters, and frankly, may be a lot more closer to the original concept of recruitment. Please stick around and keep us posted!

[northwestgirl]

Thank you all for your support. Please know that I am VERY happy with my choice and informal parties are already starting for me.

Which brings me to my question, does any uw alum know what happened at bid day? I heard from a friend's mom that over 300 girls didn't show up. I am sure that this is exaggerated, but I noticed that chapters pledge classes look at LOT smaller then they said they would be. I didn't know that informal started on bid day...I thought this was strange...not that I'm one to know....

Oh, and my friends are very happy with their houses!!!
One recieved a bid from Alpha Gamma Delta, one from Delta Gamma, one from Delta Zeta and one from Thetas!!! They are very very happy!!!

Two of my friends also dropped out, and one decided that she's not going through informal either, which was sad.
I'll keep everyone posted with informal!

And again, thank you all.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by northwestgirl

Thank you all for your support. Please know that I am VERY happy with my choice and informal parties are already starting for me.

Which brings me to my question, does any uw alum know what happened at bid day? I heard from a friend's mom that over 300 girls didn't show up. I am sure that this is exaggerated, but I noticed that chapters pledge classes look at LOT smaller then they said they would be. I didn't know that informal started on bid day...I thought this was strange...not that I'm one to know....



And again, thank you all.

I'm noy a UW alumna, but maybe I can offer a little insight:

300 girls sounds like a bit of an exaggeration. I'm not a UW alumna, but I can tell you that sometimes (for whatever reason) chapters don't make quota or girls decide at the last minute to drop out before prefs or not to accept their bids, which can lead to the varying sizes of pledge classes. It happens at many schools for any number of reasons.

As far as informal goes, chapters have to wait until formal recruitment is over to start informal. At most schools, this means they can begin as soon as Bid Day because that event officially marks the end of formal recruitment.

[violetpretty]

According to irishpipes' recruitment results thread, quota was 30 this year and 30 last year. People were saying that a record number of women registered, so maybe they were expecting the new member classes to be bigger. What probably happened was that a lot of girls either dropped out before preference and they probably had a lot of girls suicide.

[UWcutie]

Originally Posted by northwestgirl

Thank you all for your support. Please know that I am VERY happy with my choice and informal parties are already starting for me.

Which brings me to my question, does any uw alum know what happened at bid day? I heard from a friend's mom that over 300 girls didn't show up. I am sure that this is exaggerated, but I noticed that chapters pledge classes look at LOT smaller then they said they would be. I didn't know that informal started on bid day...I thought this was strange...not that I'm one to know....

Oh, and my friends are very happy with their houses!!!
One recieved a bid from Alpha Gamma Delta, one from Delta Gamma, one from Delta Zeta and one from Thetas!!! They are very very happy!!!

Two of my friends also dropped out, and one decided that she's not going through informal either, which was sad.
I'll keep everyone posted with informal!

And again, thank you all.

There was not over 300 peeps that didn't show up. The people that didn't come were just the girls that didn't recieve bids. All the houses had pretty big new groups.

Wow you have a friend in DZ?!!! That is where I am. Fun times!

Good luck with informal recruitment!!! <3

[honeychile]

Three Hundred women not receiving bids is much too many, though! SIP/Suicide needs to be seriously discussed, or maybe Panhel needs to check out the other possible reasons for this. Were Release Figures used, or maybe used for the first time? They do take a little getting used to using, at some schools.

When this many people are spurned at ONE school, it makes the whole Greek System look bad.

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

Originally Posted by honeychile

Three Hundred women not receiving bids is much too many, though! SIP/Suicide needs to be seriously discussed, or maybe Panhel needs to check out the other possible reasons for this. Were Release Figures used, or maybe used for the first time? They do take a little getting used to using, at some schools.

When this many people are spurned at ONE school, it makes the whole Greek System look bad.

I don't read either message as saying 300 women didn't get bids and I would find that HIGHLY unlikely at the UW.

The first posted a 3rd person "rumor" that she had heard that 300 women didn't show up on bid day and the second simply said 300 didn't not show up and that women who didn't come simply didn't get bids. She never said how many didn't get bids.

[violetpretty]

How many originally registered? Quota was 30 and there are 16 chapters, so around 480 girls got bids (plus a few QAs, minus a few for the chapters that did not make quota). If you add 300 to 480 to say 780 girls registered, I'd maybe believe that 300 girls were not placed because a lot of them dropped out at some point, but that still sounds pretty high.

[33girl]

I have the feeling this is like that girl who posted from (I think) UGA saying something like 2000 girls went through rush and only 800 got bids. When in reality, it was 2000 that SIGNED UP INITIALLY and through cuts and dropouts through the course of rush, the number was greatly reduced. Heck, some of those women probably dropped out after the first party.

There probably was a large difference between signups at UW and the end of rush, and I wouldn't doubt if 50 went to 100 went to 300. I think sometimes rumors like this get started just to make things look more "elite" or something.

[northwestgirl]

Hello All!

Sorry, in the midst of starting school I haven’t had the change to check this thing in a while. First off, I was a little taken aback when I hear that someone could think that I was a part of spreading a rumor to make my school seem “elite”. That could not be farther from the truth! The main reason that I voice my concerns or thoughts on this forum is that I know that I am speaking to knowledgeable people that could perhaps spread some of that on to me. As I have said before, I know nothing about this experience. Am I sad that it didn’t work out for me? Of course! But, as always I know that everything happens for a reason, and I have faith that perhaps informal is better for me.
When I voice these “rumors” as many have referred to them to, it is because I had trusted adults and friends from my life come to me with this information. Of course, some of them might be coming from a hard place, but it is out there…and I wanted people to know every side of this experience. People leave recruitment sometimes very hurt. This I have learned for sure. Many women even from this forum have pm-ed me about their experience. Some of them too made their choice to drop out; some of them had the decision made for them. And I guess that is the part that I wasn’t prepared for. The many women that by round two had been eliminated from the process. It just seems sad to me.
I guess perhaps the only thing left that I question is how on day one (where there was, I think we all can agree – more than the usual amount of women there) we were all guaranteed that if we maximized our options, there was room in at least one house for us. Yes, we were told it might be cramped – but we were told it was going to be there. Now, bid day passes us by with pledge classes ending up at around the same numbers as last year - if we were informed that there was housing for all of us , why are only a few (as in, the normal amount) doing informal? When apparently there are empty beds in these houses that were planned to be filled? And sorry if I sound bitter or angry…honestly I am not. Especially me, who made the choice to drop, I just got…mad I suppose, when I got phone calls from friends after they got THE phone call the morning of bid day in tears.
Oh, and as far as that “informal” bit that I talked about last time…you were right, it wasn’t informal. I guess that I actually made some sincere friends over the course of this whole thing, and we had a great week…even though I wasn’t officially in their newest pledge class…
Thank you all for listening…and for my girls at UW who have pm-ed me – whoever you all really are – I wish you all the best! I hope you all – greek or not – are enjoying your first week of the school year!!!

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

Originally Posted by violetpretty

How many originally registered? Quota was 30 and there are 16 chapters, so around 480 girls got bids (plus a few QAs, minus a few for the chapters that did not make quota). If you add 300 to 480 to say 780 girls registered, I'd maybe believe that 300 girls were not placed because a lot of them dropped out at some point, but that still sounds pretty high.

Last week I was told that somewhere around 550 signed up originally for recruitment.

[sarasmile]

Originally Posted by northwestgirl

I guess perhaps the only thing left that I question is how on day one (where there was, I think we all can agree – more than the usual amount of women there) we were all guaranteed that if we maximized our options, there was room in at least one house for us.

I think the important thing to remember here is that many of the women who ended up bidless (yourself included) made a choice to drop out of recruitment.

Maximizing options doesn't guarantee that a PNM will get her favorite house - it just means that there will be room for her to receive a bid in one of the chapters. In your case, you still had 2 chapters left - had you stuck with recruitment, you very well might have ended up in one of those 2 chapters.

I'm not saying, of course, that you should have joined the chapters if you didn't want to be there. Just pointing out that no Panhellenic promises were broken in your situation.

Also, something to keep in mind is that hurt feelings don't just happen on the PNMs part. The 2 chapters who invited you back liked you and were still interested in having you be part of their sisterhood. When you dropped out of recruitment, someone in that chapter experienced disappointment. You might very well have been someone's "rush crush"! When the active members saw your name on the drop list, it was an ego blow to them too. (Surely if you were someone's rush crush, she couldn't help but be disappointed that you'd rather drop out entirely than join her house.)

Hopefully everything works out for you at UW - whether you end up joining a sorority or decide to get involved in student life through other groups.


P.S. I don't think that anyone was accusing you of deliberately spreading misinformation - the inticracies of bid matching are confusing even to sorority members and alumnae! All you can do is repeat what has been told to you, and certainly no one would fault you personally for any factual errors in that info.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by northwestgirl

Sorry, in the midst of starting school I haven’t had the change to check this thing in a while. First off, I was a little taken aback when I hear that someone could think that I was a part of spreading a rumor to make my school seem “elite”. That could not be farther from the truth!

I didn't mean you sweetie, I meant the friend's mom who told you. And maybe not even her. I was just saying that SOMETIMES I think the sorority members at some schools further these rumors so they look more elite. Whether that's what happened here, I don't know.

If the mom's daughter didn't get a bid, she might have swallowed this whole because it made her feel better. I know I would feel better if my daughter was one of 300 disappointed people instead of 1 of 10 or something.