Indiana University 2014 Recruitment

[Griffins&Quills]

Does IU use flex lists? Doesn't it diminish a PNM's chances even further if she decides to suicide bid, like it does elsewhere? Or is that not true of IU?

[ForeverRoses]

Originally Posted by Griffins&Quills

Does IU use flex lists? Doesn't it diminish a PNM's chances even further if she decides to suicide bid, like it does elsewhere? Or is that not true of IU?

Yes we use flex lists. And if a pnm doesn't maximize her options (and suicides) then she is not eligible for quota additions if the chapter decides to take them.

[Griffins&Quills]

Originally Posted by ForeverRoses

Yes we use flex lists. And if a pnm doesn't maximize her options (and suicides) then she is not eligible for quota additions if the chapter decides to take them.

Ah thank you. That's what I wanted to know.

[sigmagirl2000]

Originally Posted by Sigmapsimom

But do the unhoused chapters have quota per se? I thought the chapters set their own quotas at IU.

Look at the numbers posted earlier in the thread. Each year 300-500ish women get released from the process (not by choice). This means that no chapters have invited them back. Just because they don't have a physicals house doesn't mean they don't have other reasons for setting a quota before hand, like needing to be able to fit into available rooms for meeting, events, etc. You may not know what the quota is, but it's still there, and I'm sure their RFM specialists know to expect PNMs to react this way towards these chapters and have some idea of what percentage of women will decline the party invites based on the numbers and even just a few years of history. The system will account for such things, and at the end of the day, hopefully these chapters will match with young women who will be excited to be greek and will give it their all.

[614]

My daughter almost went to Indiana, but in the end opted for Illinois. After reading this, I'm so glad she did!! This rush sounds like a complete nightmare and I doubt she would have had a bid. She's adorable, but very reserved and we are not from Indiana so she would have known no one in any house. Quite frankly, I don't get the need to live in so much. My Illinois daughter will live in 3 semesters as did my other daughter who went to Michigan. For both, 3 semesters is/was more than enough. Both my girls have lots of friends in other houses and outside of Greek life all together. It seems like all that living in limits your exposure to so many potential friends since you're so holed up with your sorority sisters. I went to a school without sorority houses and I would have loved nothing more than to spend a year living with my pledge class, but more than that, no thanks!!

[suze81]

I agree with much of what you have expressed here. IU Panhellenic made the decision to eliminate a FULL ROUND (and to incorporate the skits into the first round). This decision impacted the opportunity for PNM's and chapters to get to know one another. Our girls missed out on the opportunity to talk with at least 2-3 actives in every chapter because of the decision to change the first round from mostly conversation to one which included the skit presentation. Some of the rounds were lengthened, but still the elimination of one round meant bigger cuts at each round and less time for chapters to truly have a sense of who the PNM's were in order to make an informed decision about how well a PNM would potentially fit into and contribute to their chapter.

What was so incredibly urgent about completing the process by Tuesday? It seems irresponsible for IU Panhellenic to do so, particularly given the amount of concern and dissatisfaction with the organization which has been expressed on this forum and elsewhere BEFORE this decision was made? Clearly they do not have an interest in listening to their students and parents and making positive changes.

[ASTalumna06]

And another thing that has been pointed out here on Greekchat numerous times:

Sometimes chapters know PNMs better than they know themselves.

We've read numerous stories where a PNM falls in love with a chapter, doesn't receive a bid from them, "settles" on another chapter, and finds that they never truly belonged in that other chapter anyway. They LOVE their sorority and couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

Some chapters have particular personalities, or things they're looking for in PNMs, or things they're not looking for, or any number of things, that can let them know that a PNM is not a good fit for their chapter. The sororities (perhaps inadvertently) are sometimes making the best decisions for the PNMs by not offering them bids. That might sound strange, but we've also read stories about PNMs falling in love with a chapter during recruitment, accepting a bid from them, and later regretting it. Some of those people have openly admitted that they fell in love with that chapter for all of the wrong reasons (e.g. reputation, colors/symbols, the best house, etc.). And sometimes chapters just provide the best recruitment experience - food, decorations, chanting, great conversations, emotional pref parties - and then fall flat once "real-life" kicks in, giving new members the feeling that they were simply too caught up in the experience of it all to really notice what the sisters were truly like.

Regardless, don't get angry with the chapters. This is a complicated process and every experience of every PNM is different. Sometimes things work out and sometimes they don't, on both the PNM and chapter side of recruitment.