Indiana University 2014 Recruitment

[thetalady]

Originally Posted by als463

Maybe she should be a little less picky at a place where sorority recruitment sounds like a modern day Hunger Games.

I think this has to be BEST quote of this endless thread

I don't ever want to hear Ole Miss rush called "brutal" after all of THIS!

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Indiana mom

Why would a sorority not pick a woman who went through all the trouble to rush over someone who didn't even go through recruitment. That really is allowed? Very disappointing .

Because they 1) are embarrassed at not meeting their quota and don't want to publicize that further by holding open parties; 2) they only have one or two open spots and holding open parties would be a giant waste of time and get up way too many women's hopes for just one or two spots. In this case, it's much much much easier to bid a woman who is known by a majority of the chapter. There's no problem with someone coming in late and feeling out of place if she already knows the sisters. This happens at ALL schools, not just Evil Awful IU.

ETA: There is no concrete evidence that you don't need the same grades to get an open bid. That is a rumor. No national HQ is going to be OK with a woman who has a 2.0 getting a bid, ANY bid, when there are tons of women with 3.5s and above rushing, no matter if every single sister in the chapter knows her.

[blueiumom]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Because they 1) are embarrassed at not meeting their quota and don't want to publicize that further by holding open parties; 2) they only have one or two open spots and holding open parties would be a giant waste of time and get up way too many women's hopes for just one or two spots. In this case, it's much much much easier to bid a woman who is known by a majority of the chapter. There's no problem with someone coming in late and feeling out of place if she already knows the sisters. This happens at ALL schools, not just Evil Awful IU.

ETA: There is no concrete evidence that you don't need the same grades to get an open bid. That is a rumor. No national HQ is going to be OK with a woman who has a 2.0 getting a bid, ANY bid, when there are tons of women with 3.5s and above rushing, no matter if every single sister in the chapter knows her.

I'm hearing this same thing from my daughter. This is a girl with very close ties to the house who apparently did not make grades for formal rush. Keep in mind all the chapters at IU have grade requirements for formal rush that are not only higher than IU's Panhellenic requirements but also much higher than the national chapters' requirements. I have no idea whether this is somehow allowed within the rules, but I can see how it might technically be just fine if her grades met the Panhellenic and national chapter standards. I know it's hard to stomach, (it definitely caused a stir with my daughter just as she is starting to heal from all this) but I get it. I think it was a unique situation.

This whole thing has been such a fiasco, I'm just not willing to get all bent out of shape about 1 or 2 girls.....

[Mom64]

Originally Posted by blueiumom

I'm hearing this same thing from my daughter. This is a girl with very close ties to the house who apparently did not make grades for formal rush. Keep in mind all the chapters at IU have grade requirements for formal rush that are not only higher than IU's Panhellenic requirements but also much higher than the national chapters' requirements. I have no idea whether this is somehow allowed within the rules, but I can see how it might technically be just fine if her grades met the Panhellenic and national chapter standards. I know it's hard to stomach, (it definitely caused a stir with my daughter just as she is starting to heal from all this) but I get it. I think it was a unique situation.

This whole thing has been such a fiasco, I'm just not willing to get all bent out of shape about 1 or 2 girls.....

My daughter heard the same story. She and I just want this whole "fiasco" to be over.

I do wonder why have standards, if there are ways to "hold spots" (daughter's words) for girls who do not meet these standards.

I do not know all the rules but my daughter is aware of two girls approached yesterday by the same house about accepting a bid to a house and they did. Are these consider snap bids? If it's not, I thought informal rush was not beginning until after the new colonization.

For those who have no compassion for girls who didn't maximize their bids or withdrew because they didn't play according to the rules, please note that it doesn't seem all the chapters are either.

It may happen all over but at IU the competition is fierce enough among the girls meeting grade standards, going through formal rush and playing by the rules.

[suzy88]

[QUOTE=als463;2257820]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.[/QUO

Don't really see any connection between military service and sororities.
My only point is 18 year olds make foolish decisions all the time. Not maximizing your options is as foolish as you can get in this recruitment, I agree. You can still have empathy for someone even though they chose badly. You can tell an 18 year over and over that she should go with any sorority that accepts her and she will find friends, but if she perceives that is not "cool" with her peers, she is not going to do it. I have empathy for them because they just don't have the life experience and maturity to make a good decision.

[ForeverRoses]

Originally Posted by Mom64

My daughter heard the same story. She and I just want this whole "fiasco" to be over.

I do wonder why have standards, if there are ways to "hold spots" (daughter's words) for girls who do not meet these standards.

I do not know all the rules but my daughter is aware of two girls approached yesterday by the same house about accepting a bid to a house and they did. Are these consider snap bids? If it's not, I thought informal rush was not beginning until after the new colonization.

For those who have no compassion for girls who didn't maximize their bids or withdrew because they didn't play according to the rules, please note that it doesn't seem all the chapters are either.

It may happen all over but at IU the competition is fierce enough among the girls meeting grade standards, going through formal rush and playing by the rules.

Yes those are snap bids. Does your daughter know if those two girls attended pref at that house?

Contrary to what has been posted regarding snap bids-- last year there was a requirement that snap bids only go to women that attended preference ( at least for the first week or two following recruitment). The was set by Panhellenic.

[carnation]

IU being a big university, I'm betting that they have several majors that are available at other state universities. If my daughters had always dreamed of a college life that included Greek life but had been unfairly cut and their majors were just as good at another comparable school and they wanted to transfer--we would be helping them out the door. (For those who don't know, seven of my daughters have pledged.)

Frequently on GC, I see women claim that even without Greek life, you can have a fabulous experience at ABC University. I have seen this scenario replayed many times in the last 14 years, as you can guess, when women were cut from recruitment. The ones who didn't try again or stopped after 2 tries often joined other big-deal clubs like cheerleading or football recruiters.

Not a one of them was pleased with her total college experience. *Every single one* whom I know has told us that she yearned to be Greek the whole 4-5 years and wishes she has transferred.

I realize that some people will now get on here and talk about the fabulous experience you can have without being Greek. Sure, for some people. But if most of your family and friends are Greek, if you've always dreamed about it, if you know you'll always wish you could've pledged, and you can get just as good an education elsewhere...go!

[Mom64]

Originally Posted by ForeverRoses

Yes those are snap bids. Does your daughter know if those two girls attended pref at that house?

Contrary to what has been posted regarding snap bids-- last year there was a requirement that snap bids only go to women that attended preference ( at least for the first week or two following recruitment). The was set by Panhellenic.

I do not believe that one of the girls did and unsure of the other. But if you had to have attended preference, how did a girl get a bid who never participated in formal recruitment?

These rules seem arbitrary at best and maybe that's what it's supposed to be. I find the saying "mutual selection" to be highly overstated. PNMs really have no say in the selection process.

[ForeverRoses]

Originally Posted by Mom64

I do not believe that one of the girls did and unsure of the other. But if you had to have attended preference, how did a girl get a bid who never participated in formal recruitment?

These rules seem arbitrary at best and maybe that's what it's supposed to be. I find the saying "mutual selection" to be highly overstated. PNMs really have no say in the selection process.

That is what I was trying to figure out. One thing about Panhellenic at IU is that it is completely student run. The Greek life office staff try and let the students run it as much as possible. Unfortunately this means they are not always consistent from year to year. Not all of the rules and regulations always clear ( so I was under the impression that the rule about having to attend preference was still in effect).

As for the girl that had three pref parties and dropped? Honestly I would rather she dropped then than wait and drop on bid day or after. At least this way she didn't take a bid and drop-- because even if that spot was filled with a snap bid later, the snap bid didn't get to experience bid night and probably felt the sting of no bid after pref.

[KDCat]

Originally Posted by Mom64

My daughter heard the same story. She and I just want this whole "fiasco" to be over.

I do wonder why have standards, if there are ways to "hold spots" (daughter's words) for girls who do not meet these standards.

I do not know all the rules but my daughter is aware of two girls approached yesterday by the same house about accepting a bid to a house and they did. Are these consider snap bids? If it's not, I thought informal rush was not beginning until after the new colonization.

For those who have no compassion for girls who didn't maximize their bids or withdrew because they didn't play according to the rules, please note that it doesn't seem all the chapters are either.

It may happen all over but at IU the competition is fierce enough among the girls meeting grade standards, going through formal rush and playing by the rules.

You have no information beyond rumors that chapters have broken any rules. Rumors fly like crazy during recruitment and afterwards and 99% of them are wrong.

Snap bids are within the rules. They are designed to let chapters pick up women who rushed and were not given bids. They are designed to help women like your daughter.

I know you and your daughter are feeling raw. I'm sorry that IU is so messed up. The chapters aren't cheating, though.

[Benzgirl]

I'm not planning to read through 55 pages, but doesn't IU use RFM so that more girls would get cut early rather than after Pref?

[AGDee]

One key thing to note is that some women who DID receive bids may decide not to follow through because the chapter that bid them was their third choice and they believe they are too good for that chapter, just as some believe they are too good for the chapters that invited them to preference and decide to drop before pref because of that. In most cases, chapters are allowed to replace those women immediately with whomever they choose, as long as that woman didn't sign a pref card and then didn't accept a bid.

A woman who ends up cut because she is a grade risk (meets the minimum, but not by much) but who knows and is liked by many women in the chapter can get a bid that way.

In spite of the fact that there are women who go to three prefs and sign their bid card including all three chapters, there are also chapters who don't make quota because women they really wanted dropped out of recruitment because those women didn't want to go there. Chapters that don't make quota are probably able to continue to pick up women for a few days at least, even when there is a colonization on the horizon.

I'm speculating, of course. I don't have real numbers or data to base that on, but it is how I usually see it work. I don't work with this particular chapter anymore so I don't have access to any actual numbers anymore.

[AZTheta]

Okay, it's time to take the cotton out of your ears and put it in your mouths. It's reached the point that all empathy and patience has been consumed by the whining and rumor mongering. Dee said it, just above, and others have also said this nicely, multiple times, earlier in this Thread That Will Not Die. Here it is, no frills:

1) Membership selection is private. A chapter can issue a bid to whomever they want. Period. What happens after that is internal and is chapter business, including whether or not a new member has the required GPA. End of story.

2) IU chapters do not operate on a quota/total system. The individual chapters can take as many or as few members as they want. Got it? A chapter can choose, after formal recruitment, to bid whomever they want (including women who did not go through FR). Again, that is chapter business.

3) Stop making excuses for 18 year olds not understanding the meaning of "maximize options." There is a difference between dropping out of recruitment when you still have invitations, and going all the way through in good faith (including Preference), filling out the MRABA, and not receiving a bid. A HUGE difference. That is the crux of the issue; that is the sticking point of bed rush. That is what we NPC alumnae are saying. Bed rush: one campus in the entire NPC uses it. Animal Farm, anyone?

IBTL.

[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.

[Iu mom]

Originally Posted by carnation

IU being a big university, I'm betting that they have several majors that are available at other state universities. If my daughters had always dreamed of a college life that included Greek life but had been unfairly cut and their majors were just as good at another comparable school and they wanted to transfer--we would be helping them out the door. (For those who don't know, seven of my daughters have pledged.)

Frequently on GC, I see women claim that even without Greek life, you can have a fabulous experience at ABC University. I have seen this scenario replayed many times in the last 14 years, as you can guess, when women were cut from recruitment. The ones who didn't try again or stopped after 2 tries often joined other big-deal clubs like cheerleading or football recruiters.

Not a one of them was pleased with her total college experience. *Every single one* whom I know has told us that she yearned to be Greek the whole 4-5 years and wishes she has transferred.

I realize that some people will now get on here and talk about the fabulous experience you can have without being Greek. Sure, for some people. But if most of your family and friends are Greek, if you've always dreamed about it, if you know you'll always wish you could've pledged, and you can get just as good an education elsewhere...go!

Well said carnation our whole family is Greek and IU WAS the only university with the exact program my daughter wanted- a science (kinesiology) degree WITH dance- it's VERY VERY difficult to be admitted to this program with its audition admission process as well as having to get into IU at the same time- as an IU-of-stater we pay and it's fine because if what IU offers - that being said from a family if Greeks and many very active alum she WANTS to be greek AT IU and that won't be satisfied by a club membership - so we are still hoping for a COB