Too many choices may cause groups to focus on looks

[APhiAnna]

At a competitive recruitment, deferred would make it WORSE I think. The pressure would still be there for sororities to figure out who they really want before rush even starts due to huge cuts, but instead of only being able to come up with a third of the pledge class (recs, legacies, hometown connections, etc) I have no doubt in my mind that some sororities would have pretty much decided their ENTIRE pledge class before rush even started. The dirty rushing would get out of control, and I think it is safe to say that if a PNM was not going to certain fraternities or a member of certain organizations, she would be cut even more harshly and have less of a chance of pledging.

In a non-competitive recruitment, I think there are a lot of benefits for considering deferred. But at those super intense SEC schools (and their counterparts elsewhere...Texas, Southern Cal, Florida State, etc) I think it would cause so much dirty-rushing and pre-selection that it would alienate a lot of PNMs.

Let's put it this way: these schools are labeled competitive for a reason...even with regulations from Panhellenic, nationals AND their recruitment advisor, if they are given any way to make rush more cut-throat (giving them 3-4 months to observe and interact with PNMs on campus) sororities are going to take the bait. Some are going to pioneer it, and the rest will be forced to compete to pledge their top picks.

[violetpretty]

Virginia Tech is a moderately competitive school with a deferred recruitment. Registration begins on the first day of fall semester, and PNMs are added to a Panhellenic listserv. They are notified of events that chapters choose to open to PNMs (ie philanthropy events, sisterhood, programming)...but there's a catch...PNMs don't know what chapters are participating until they get there and there is a limited number of spots for each event, so PNMs must RSVP.

I am one of the biggest deferred recruitment cheerleaders on this site, and it's because it affords chapters and PNMs to get to know each other in authentic ways instead of relying more heavily on appearance and trying to fool PNMs into thinking that all sororities are equally popular. Please. There is plenty of tent talk in fall recruitment.

I think campuses need to redefine what is considered dirty rushing. Befriending PNMs, showing them what sororities do in a typical week, talking up all sororities is NOT dirty rushing. Bid promising IS. It just blows my mind that some schools with deferred or delayed recruitment discourage/disallow interaction between PNMs and chapters (except during actual recruitment).

As for the tiers debate, as a disciple of I Heart Recruitment, I believe deferred recruitment helps "lower tier" chapters. They simply need to take the responsibility to get out there and meet women that first semester. When PNMs make connections, they're less likely to care about tiers. That doesn't mean having a recruitment party every week. It means meeting women.

As far as numbers are concerned, yes it is true that deferred recruitment schools in general have smaller numbers than fall recruitment schools. I don't think this is a negative, because retention is generally higher. Academically, everyone is being judged the same when recruitment begins and you've weeded out the PNMs who can't handle college coursework, whereas in fall, you're banking success based on high school. Besides, at academically competitive schools, it can be a game of splitting hairs, and you don't really know who is going to make it and who won't until after a semester.

I think "with deferred recruitment, there are so many opportunities to get involved that women forget Greek life" is an excuse. It's an excuse to not get out and meet PNMs. Seize that opportunity to find the women who would make good members instead of only waiting for the “always joiners” (keep the door open for them of course).

I think setting a separate quota for freshmen, sophomores and juniors/seniors is important because it doesn't make a chapter feel like it has to choose between a freshman and a sophomore. Every chapter is entitled to the same number of freshmen. That way, the culture is less "one shot at a bid". There's a chance for women to make themselves known if they transfer in or do not discover Greek life until after their first year. There's nothing inherently wrong with an upperclassman as long as your chapter isn't top heavy.