Washington and Lee Recruitment...what is it like?

[33girl]

Here's something I wondered about...

If there is going to be a significant contingent of women who are only interested in being in the colony (upperclassmen, ADPi quintuple legacies, what have you), won't it kind of suck for the girls in the other sororities to have to (un-PC here) waste time being nice to them?

Or is it a moot point since they'll get cut on the first night?

[breathesgelatin]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Here's something I wondered about...

If there is going to be a significant contingent of women who are only interested in being in the colony (upperclassmen, ADPi quintuple legacies, what have you), won't it kind of suck for the girls in the other sororities to have to (un-PC here) waste time being nice to them?

Or is it a moot point since they'll get cut on the first night?

LOL. This question makes me laugh.

I would guess that a lot of upperclass women are going to register with the sole purpose of joining ADPi. At W&L, there's always a handful of sophomores that rush but usually no juniors or seniors. I think some juniors and seniors will probably rush with the intention of going ADPi or nothing. The sophomores will probably be open to ADPi but also looking at the other groups (frankly, a lot will depend if they didn't receive a bid period their first year, if they didn't like the bid options they got, or if they just didn't make grades freshman year).

Quite honestly though, I don't think that will be significant contingent of upperclass women going through recruitment. There are usually like MAYBE 10 sophomores going through. Max. So maybe, possibly, like 30-35 upperclassmen total? That would be a huge stretch I think though. I just don't know. And TBH some of the women who really desperately want to join the new group might not still be... the ideal candidates.

I think all the groups at W&L will be nice to the girls. I was always impressed that the "top" group at W&L ran the nicest recruitment and people always had the best experience with them even if they knew from day 1 they would not get a bid there. Also, I was always impressed that girls who knew they wanted to join that group were nearly always (there were a few exceptions) very friendly and open during recruitment, despite the fact that we both knew they didn't want to join my group. LOL. I can't say that for all the groups at W&L, by far.

I would think the juniors & seniors get cut at the established houses pretty quickly. Everyone will know why they are rushing. Sophomores, it's anyone's guess. I've seen people who got rejected at one house one year join it the next because the people in their class are on board with them joining.

I would think there's a lot of ADPi legacies at W&L, but frankly if they're from certain backgrounds they might want to join the top established group over an untested group. Just being brutally honest there. I do think that some people who are less concerned about reputation will want to join ADPi as legacies. Or if their mom is a national officer or something of that sort.

Frankly, I guess my question is how "significant" the contingent of women who are going through recruitment ONLY for ADPi will be. I think most women will probably be looking at established houses as well as ADPi. And again, due to issues surrounding quota, there's a chance that a lot of women who put some other house #1 and ADPi #2 are going to end up in ADPi just because of the numbers game. The competition for the established houses is going to be really intense.

The other thing to consider is that I think one of the #1 factors affecting recruitment at W&L is friend groups. So you make all these friends on your hall first semester freshman year, and the girls all want to join a house together. I've seen this affect recruitment a lot of times in cases where one of the girls could get a "higher tier" group and she ends up joining the "lower tier" one to be with her friends. So maybe ADPi could nab a bunch of friend groups in this way.

[kath888]

I could be getting this mixed up with another school, but I remember reading in a college guidebook once something that i've always wondered about.

some girl was describing w&l recruitment and how it was great because people who don't get their first choice get placed in their 2nd choice, so noone gets left out. perhaps i am misinterpreting this, but how would that work out? is it just that by the time they get through to pref round they are guaranteed a bid if they "maximize their options"?

actually looking back on this now, that is probably what they meant. i was just so confused i guess because of how it was phrased...which i don't remember exactly. but if you have any insight i am curious

[breathesgelatin]

Originally Posted by kath888

I could be getting this mixed up with another school, but I remember reading in a college guidebook once something that i've always wondered about.

some girl was describing w&l recruitment and how it was great because people who don't get their first choice get placed in their 2nd choice, so noone gets left out. perhaps i am misinterpreting this, but how would that work out? is it just that by the time they get through to pref round they are guaranteed a bid if they "maximize their options"?

actually looking back on this now, that is probably what they meant. i was just so confused i guess because of how it was phrased...which i don't remember exactly. but if you have any insight i am curious

There is no guaranteed bid system at W&L. Some schools guarantee you a bid if you maximize your options throughout recruitment - this is true. W&L does not.

That said, if you maximize your options, you will more than likely get a bid at W&L. It's a very small number who completely "fall through" recruitment (as it's known on campus) due to all the sororities releasing them. The majority of women who don't receive bids at W&L don't receive bids because they choose not to join certain groups.