Auburn University Rush--Fall 2007

[Momto2gals]

I kind of know the numbers the sororities have now as I have been checking out their websites and such (although a few of them you can't tell) What is the TOTAL number of sisters a sorority at AU can have? I know the most I have heard of is one has about 222 and the least (based on what my daughter told me she has heard) is one that has 100 members. So if a sorority has lets just say the big one with 222 members. They can't accept as many pledges as the one with 100. Is that correct?
oh and by the way. Thanks so much for being so understanding. I went to a university that only had 3 sororities at that time and had a very hard time just getting women to go through rush so I had no problem getting a bid from the one I wanted. This is all very different and scary to us. I have another daughter coming up although she is still quite young. What advice can I give her. What do the sororities at Auburn look for? Is that GPA a BIG issue? Do you need a 4.0 or higher to be considered by the bigger sororities? And if there is a problem with so many going through rush at Auburn, then why don't they have more chapters there? I know at Alabama for instance there is about 18 or more, right? I have been telling my daughter to just pray about it. I will tell her her chances are not that good at being picked up during COB by the ones that she wanted. She should probably join one of the ones she went to today. Thanks for all y'alls help!!

[KSUViolet06]

I'm not sure what the total is now. It varies from year to year sometimes depending on the number of girls the sororities take during rush.

During formal rush, every sorority (no matter what size) can take the SAME number of girls (quota) for their pledge class. Quota is the max number a soroity can take in a pledge class. Quota is determined by the number of girls going through the pref round of rush rush divided by the number of sororities. At a school like Auburn, this number itself is going to be pretty high.

Size only matters when it comes to COB. That's where that MAX number (total) comes into play. If a sorority does NOT reach the total # after formal recruitment, they may do COB until they reach it. So if a sorority DOES reach the total after formal recruitment, they CANNOT do COB because they can't bid anymore girls.

Let me give you some examples. I'm using random numbers since I don't know what quota and total at AU is:

Let's say total is 250. This is the MAX number of sisters a sorority can have.

Sorority A already has 222 girls. Quota is 60. On bid day, they get 60 girls (the most they can take in formal recruitment). 222+60= 282. This sorority is over total and CANNOT do COB.

Sorority B has 100 girls. Quota is 60 and they get 60. 100+60= 160. This sorority is under total and CAN do COB until they get to it.

[AGDee]

Total at Auburn University is 160 according to my most recent membership report. Last year, quota was 58. That means that every chapter could take 58 women no matter what. If, after taking those 58, they still had fewer than 160 members, then they could COB. Quota is fluid from year to year, based on the number of women going through recruitment so it may be higher or lower than 58.

My thoughts about the sororities with huge chapters like Auburn are this..

No matter which one you join, if there are 100+ members, you are going to click with/get along with some group within that membership. With that many members, there are going to be scholars, partiers, socialites, athletes, etc. I think she should stick it out. You will see, if you read a lot of these recruitment threads, that sometimes the sororities do a better job of picking who fits best with their membership than the PNMs do and MOST women who accept a bid from a chapter that may not have been their first choice all along still find a wonderful home in that chapter.

So, I agree with the poster who said that she can only accept ONE bid and there are TWO sororities who see her great qualities right now, so why not see how it goes with one of those? COB is a rarity at Auburn.

[carnation]

It's really hard being a PNM. It's really hard being the mom of a PNM (veteran of 6 rushes here). It's awful being cut as a PNM but it's devastating watching your daughter being cut.

As an Auburn alum, I would advise your daughter to go all the way through pref parties and see what happens. If she doesn't end up with a bid, she should register immediately for COB. I corresponded with an Auburn mother last year whose daughter went unbid and then at the end of the semester, she received invitations from 3 or 4 sororities to come to informal parties. She ended up with a sorority she loved!