"You'll end up where you were meant to"...

[carnation]

Hey shadokat!

I didn't mean small or new sororities, I meant seriously weak! The kind that even a rushee can tell will fold within a couple of years. There was this one sorority at an SEC school this year that was incredibly awful and had very, very few PNMs return for second parties as opposed to the 200 or so everyone else got. The chapter president's younger sister cried when that was the only pref invitation she got. Very often on a big campus, there are 1 or 2 sororities like that.

At large SEC schools (or just very selective schools), the rushees who seem to have the most choices are those who have not only succeeded in high school but have visited the campus several times in high school and made lots of friends. (Or they already had those older friends in high school.) Often, the PNMs who get overlooked during a mass rush may be from smaller towns or out-of-state or by unfortunate coincidence, went to a high school where there were tons of truly outstanding girls and the sororities know they can't take them all.

A PNM who has been a big success in high school usually wants to pledge a sorority that is really active and visible on campus, the kind who can make her a big success and open doors for her on campus! For instance, at Auburn it was well known that if you wanted to be selected for certain popular activities, you'd better belong to certain sororities that could get your foot in the door because all their members were from those sororities! Otherwise, forget it. At many schools, the sororities make a big deal about showcasing their members who are in outstanding activities-- and woe to the sororities who have little to tell!

What it boils down to is that I've often been in the rooms where rushees get their invites back and I've seen their shock and horror if they were heavily cut. I'd feel really bad if I'd told some of those girls beforehand that they'd end up where they were supposed to, especially if they were left with 1 or 2 very weak groups...and most especially if they already realized, as many savvy rushees do, that most sororities at such schools never have open rush and worse yet, that sophomores on up tend to have very few choices in rush.

[AXOrushadvisor]

Carnation,
I have found being on the other side of recruitment that a lot of the girls who get cut during first round are those that don't "light up the room" when they walk in the door. The girls that are doing really well in recruitment now that Panhellenic has changed its cutting recommendations are girls who are the "life of the party" Not real active in school, but know how to work a room and have a big personality. My niece is a perfect example. 4.0, captain of the dance team, beautiful, fun, involved, but reserved. Her experience...not so good. Did get into a Chapter that was rebuilding was recruitment chair and pretty much turned the Chapter around.