Indiana University 2014 Recruitment

[Sigmapsimom]

Originally Posted by blueiumom

I have a new question related to IU's recruitment this year, and I thought maybe a change of focus might be in order. I feel like panhel's decision to deal with the weather issues by eliminating one round of rush parties - thus going 21 to 12 to 3 - really added to the brutality of IU's already emotionally-charged recruitment process. Since the second weekend of rush was already taking place on a 3-day weekend due to the MLK holiday, I thought it was the perfect opportunity simply to use that Monday to adjust the schedule and still have the normal round of parties. Instead, the girls had their first invitational /12 party on Saturday, preference round/3 party on Sunday, and nothing on Monday. Bids were delivered (or not) on Tuesday. Does anyone know why panhel didn't or couldn't take advantage of that Monday? Just curious.

I agree with Sciencewoman that it would not have made a difference in the number of women who got bids. However, a 21-14-8-3 schedule provides for less dramatic cuts than 21-12-3 and it could have given PNMs assurance that they were at least considered, even if they were later cut between 14-8 or 8-3.

After the usual first round of cuts 21-14, girls get their first idea of where they stand, but still had up to 2 more rounds to meet and impress. They also had an entire week between 14 and 8 party to mourn, and then readjust their focus.

This year the girls went to 21, felt great an entire week not knowing where they stood and many were devastated the next Saturday. The cuts between 21-12 were far more dramatic than they would have been between 21-14. The 21-14 cut, which is normally done that first weekend, is the first time the girls really know where they stand and what chapters they should shoot for. So having it done that first weekend gave them a whole week to rethink things and get excited all over again about new possibilities. Until then, yes too many girls think they are getting into chapters they probably won't, but because there were still 2 more parties they have a chance to reevaluate things. They could go back to 14 and possibly 8 and try to dazzle chapters that they are now looking at in a new light, but that chance was taken from them and they're upset about that. Some chapters they might have had a second chance at, they did not because of the party cut.

It would have changed the outcome for some individual girls, but not the recruitment numbers. Bed quota is still the elephant in the room. However, Cutting an entire round of parties was a mistake regardless, because it gave the impression (and there is some truth to it) that decisions were made even more hastily and arbitrarily than usual.

[blueiumom]

Originally Posted by Sigmapsimom

I agree with Sciencewoman that it would not have made a difference in the number of women who got bids. However, a 21-14-8-3 schedule provides for less dramatic cuts than 21-12-3 and it could have given PNMs assurance that they were at least considered, even if they were later cut between 14-8 or 8-3.

After the usual first round of cuts 21-14, girls get their first idea of where they stand, but still had up to 2 more rounds to meet and impress. They also had an entire week between 14 and 8 party to mourn, and then readjust their focus.

This year the girls went to 21, felt great an entire week not knowing where they stood and many were devastated the next Saturday. The cuts between 21-12 were far more dramatic than they would have been between 21-14. The 21-14 cut, which is normally done that first weekend, is the first time the girls really know where they stand and what chapters they should shoot for. So having it done that first weekend gave them a whole week to rethink things and get excited all over again about new possibilities. Until then, yes too many girls think they are getting into chapters they probably won't, but because there were still 2 more parties they have a chance to reevaluate things. They could go back to 14 and possibly 8 and try to dazzle chapters that they are now looking at in a new light, but that chance was taken from them and they're upset about that. Some chapters they might have had a second chance at, they did not because of the party cut.

It would have changed the outcome for some individual girls, but not the recruitment numbers. Bed quota is still the elephant in the room. However, Cutting an entire round of parties was a mistake regardless, because it gave the impression (and there is some truth to it) that decisions were made even more hastily and arbitrarily than usual.

Exactly. It made an already stressful, often painful process even more brutal than it had been in the past. As if panhel was insensitive to it all . . .

[Indiana mom]

My daughter was one of the casualties of rush. She showed up early to participate in rush under the most undesirable weather conditions, visiting house after house in freezing weather . She had three preference invites for the last round but ended up bid less. She was crushed and curled up in a ball crying while her friends were posting pics and tweeting about what sorority they were in and how happy they were.
She also had two legacies .
She found out today that a girl who did not go thru recruitment was offered , and accepted, a snap bid from one of the sororities. She had no excuse for not going thru rush , she just didn't want to Rush at the time . This is so unfair to all the girls who put in hours after hours during a very long recruitment. Not to mention the fee they all paid for Rush. Is this process of taking a girl who didn't Rush even allowed?
As a mom, I am horrified at how the bed quota is allowed to exist at IU. Wonderful young women are being crushed . This unfair system is brutal on our children.
I sent my daughter to IU for growth and gain. Never once did I imagine it would
Rip my daughters self confidence right out from under her. Come on IU - make this right! After all, this is happening on your University.

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by Indiana mom

She found out today that a girl who did not go thru recruitment was offered , and accepted, a snap bid from one of the sororities. She had no excuse for not going thru rush , she just didn't want to Rush at the time . This is so unfair to all the girls who put in hours after hours during a very long recruitment. Not to mention the fee they all paid for Rush. Is this process of taking a girl who didn't Rush even allowed? .

No. You would have needed to go through recruitment to be offered a snap bid. Are you sure it was a Snap and not COB?

[Indiana mom]

I was told it was a snap bid. What is a cob?

[IndianaSigKap]

Originally Posted by Indiana mom

I was told it was a snap bid. What is a cob?

Snap bids are bid given out immediately after bid matching and up until 24 hours after bid matching to girls who went through recruitment, but did not match with a chapter.

COB is continuous open bidding what most people call informal recruitment. Chapters who did not make quota or are under campus total can offer bids to either reach quota or total. I thought was there would be no COB until after DPhiE had concluded it's recruitment on the 29th.

[NewToGreekLife]

My daughter also just participated in sorority recruitment at IU and I wished I had read this forum a few weeks ago so that she and I were better prepared. She is a pretty and popular girl so I never really anticipated her not getting into a sorority and perhaps she would have except right or wrong, she dropped out of recruitment on Preference day as she was not sure she wanted to join any of the 3 houses she was invited back to. None of them had been on her original list of houses she was interested in and she said she just couldn't see herself living there. One of her best friends did the same. Two other friends went through Preference day and received no bids. Most of her friends that received bids were legacies, were from out of state or were both. She also knew a girl who did not go to IU last semester as she did not have the grades to get in but was able to transfer in this semester and got into the house her best friend is in. I do feel a big part of IU rush is connections and I do agree that they need to change the antiquated bed quota policy and open up more opportunities for girls who would like to participate but do not have as many connections. I am glad they are opening new sororities but for most, the house is important so until these chapters have houses, they will not be an alternative for some girls. My daughter received one of these houses on Preference day but the other 2 were housed chapters just not ones that she had enough interest in to want to live there for the next 3 years.

[Katmandu]

Originally Posted by NewToGreekLife

My daughter also just participated in sorority recruitment at IU and I wished I had read this forum a few weeks ago so that she and I were better prepared. She is a pretty and popular girl so I never really anticipated her not getting into a sorority and perhaps she would have except right or wrong, she dropped out of recruitment on Preference day as she was not sure she wanted to join any of the 3 houses she was invited back to. None of them had been on her original list of houses she was interested in and she said she just couldn't see herself living there. One of her best friends did the same. Two other friends went through Preference day and received no bids. Most of her friends that received bids were legacies, were from out of state or were both. She also knew a girl who did not go to IU last semester as she did not have the grades to get in but was able to transfer in this semester and got into the house her best friend is in. I do feel a big part of IU rush is connections and I do agree that they need to change the antiquated bed quota policy and open up more opportunities for girls who would like to participate but do not have as many connections. I am glad they are opening new sororities but for most, the house is important so until these chapters have houses, they will not be an alternative for some girls. My daughter received one of these houses on Preference day but the other 2 were housed chapters just not ones that she had enough interest in to want to live there for the next 3 years.

If your daughter didn't participate in pref then how did she know she didn't like the chapters? Many minds are changed at pref parties, so you can't really know that that bed quota interfered with your daughter's recruitment if she dropped out.

I know that everyone is saying hundreds of girls went to all the prefs, maximized options, and didn't receive bids, and that is, as we know, the case for some---even many, but I also suspect there was a lot of this ^^^.

[cinder1965]

Originally Posted by NewToGreekLife

My daughter also just participated in sorority recruitment at IU and I wished I had read this forum a few weeks ago so that she and I were better prepared. She is a pretty and popular girl so I never really anticipated her not getting into a sorority and perhaps she would have except right or wrong, she dropped out of recruitment on Preference day as she was not sure she wanted to join any of the 3 houses she was invited back to. None of them had been on her original list of houses she was interested in and she said she just couldn't see herself living there. One of her best friends did the same. Two other friends went through Preference day and received no bids. Most of her friends that received bids were legacies, were from out of state or were both. She also knew a girl who did not go to IU last semester as she did not have the grades to get in but was able to transfer in this semester and got into the house her best friend is in. I do feel a big part of IU rush is connections and I do agree that they need to change the antiquated bed quota policy and open up more opportunities for girls who would like to participate but do not have as many connections. I am glad they are opening new sororities but for most, the house is important so until these chapters have houses, they will not be an alternative for some girls. My daughter received one of these houses on Preference day but the other 2 were housed chapters just not ones that she had enough interest in to want to live there for the next 3 years.

I am very sorry your daughter was disappointed, however, she will get little sympathy from me and likely many others on GC since she did not maximize her options. She was invited to three pref parties and didn't attend any of them? That is really unfortunate because had she given them another chance maybe she would have found something more. Sort of how you feel if the sororities on her "list" would have given her another chance they would have found something more and offered her a bid. Secondly, there were PNMs who would have jumped at the chance to attend 3 pref parties.

Frankly, I am more concerned about the girls who took recruitment to the end, maximized their options and did not get a bid. THAT is heartbreaking. I don't mean to sound harsh, but I don't believe your daughter's situation is heartbreaking.

[TriDeltaSallie]

Originally Posted by cinder1965

I am very sorry your daughter was disappointed, however, she will get little sympathy from me and likely many others on GC since she did not maximize her options. She was invited to three pref parties and didn't attend any of them? That is really unfortunate because had she given them another chance maybe she would have found something more. Sort of how you feel if the sororities on her "list" would have given her another chance they would have found something more and offered her a bid. Secondly, there were PNMs who would have jumped at the chance to attend 3 pref parties.

Frankly, I am more concerned about the girls who took recruitment to the end, maximized their options and did not get a bid. THAT is heartbreaking. I don't mean to sound harsh, but I don't believe your daughter's situation is heartbreaking.

I agree. Well said.

[suzy88]

Originally Posted by cinder1965

I am very sorry your daughter was disappointed, however, she will get little sympathy from me and likely many others on GC since she did not maximize her options. She was invited to three pref parties and didn't attend any of them? That is really unfortunate because had she given them another chance maybe she would have found something more. Sort of how you feel if the sororities on her "list" would have given her another chance they would have found something more and offered her a bid. Secondly, there were PNMs who would have jumped at the chance to attend 3 pref parties.

Frankly, I am more concerned about the girls who took recruitment to the end, maximized their options and did not get a bid. THAT is heartbreaking. I don't mean to sound harsh, but I don't believe your daughter's situation is heartbreaking.

I understand what you are saying, it is a common problem that women don't maximize their options. This is very easy for you to point out, because you have been around for a while and understand that you need to maximize your options to win at this game. However, these 18 year old women don't understand this. You are too hard on them. Please have some compassion. They don't know the game as well as you do.

[als463]

Originally Posted by suzy88

I understand what you are saying, it is a common problem that women don't maximize their options. This is very easy for you to point out, because you have been around for a while and understand that you need to maximize your options to win at this game. However, these 18 year old women don't understand this. You are too hard on them. Please have some compassion. They don't know the game as well as you do.

So, first I agree with cinder and other posters that this was not an unfortunate situation. This young woman was sitting in a spot that another girl could have been in and she chose not to attend the parties. That sounds incredibly selfish. I feel no sympathy for her. Second, I want to point out your statement about being "18" and not knowing the game as you claim these women don't understand. You do realize you can join the military at 17 with a parent's signature--right? als463, how is that relevant? Well, if we have young men and women fighting for our country at an age we have all decided is adult enough to make decisions regarding life or death, I'm not going to sit here and boo-hoo because Suzy Snowflake decided not to maximize her options and now she has no sorority to call home. Maybe she should be a little less picky at a place where sorority recruitment sounds like a modern day Hunger Games.

[cinder1965]

Originally Posted by suzy88

I understand what you are saying, it is a common problem that women don't maximize their options. This is very easy for you to point out, because you have been around for a while and understand that you need to maximize your options to win at this game. However, these 18 year old women don't understand this. You are too hard on them. Please have some compassion. They don't know the game as well as you do.

I will respectfully disagree, that is why they have Rho Gams and I am quite sure this was explained to them repeatedly.

[Iu mom]

Originally Posted by cinder1965

I am very sorry your daughter was disappointed, however, she will get little sympathy from me and likely many others on GC since she did not maximize her options. She was invited to three pref parties and didn't attend any of them? That is really unfortunate because had she given them another chance maybe she would have found something more. Sort of how you feel if the sororities on her "list" would have given her another chance they would have found something more and offered her a bid. Secondly, there were PNMs who would have jumped at the chance to attend 3 pref parties.

Frankly, I am more concerned about the girls who took recruitment to the end, maximized their options and did not get a bid. THAT is heartbreaking. I don't mean to sound harsh, but I don't believe your daughter's situation is heartbreaking.

My daughter maximized til the bitter end, juggled rush with being in a show for the university, headed back to school with concerns about a sick relative at home, was a legacy and is registered for informal - she is devastated as all friends got bids and now she is watching girls get COB. She is the total package but can be shy sometimes when you first meet her- which having less parties was definitely a down fall for her had she had more rounds that would have 100% dissipated - she told me that she won't lose faith she wants to be greek. If not now next year even with the hurt. She is one if the most generous and dedicated people I know. She has turned down modeling jobs, professional dance options and other universities because IU offered her everything she wanted in a college experience .... On paper... But this bid less time for her has hurt so much but she prays daily she's offered a cob option. Things happen for a reason is my mantra but this is sad state events for her. She is maturely keeping her head up and hoping.

[cinder1965]

Originally Posted by Iu mom

My daughter maximized til the bitter end, juggled rush with being in a show for the university, headed back to school with concerns about a sick relative at home, was a legacy and is registered for informal - she is devastated as all friends got bids and now she is watching girls get COB. She is the total package but can be shy sometimes when you first meet her- which having less parties was definitely a down fall for her had she had more rounds that would have 100% dissipated - she told me that she won't lose faith she wants to be greek. If not now next year even with the hurt. She is one if the most generous and dedicated people I know. She has turned down modeling jobs, professional dance options and other universities because IU offered her everything she wanted in a college experience .... On paper... But this bid less time for her has hurt so much but she prays daily she's offered a cob option. Things happen for a reason is my mantra but this is sad state events for her. She is maturely keeping her head up and hoping.

THIS is what I am talking about being a heartbreaking situation. Truly it is.