2015 Indiana Recruitment

Just wondering why some on the list don't have numbers posted from last year... Kappa, Chi O, AGD... and speaking of Chi O I've heard that they only asked 400 girls back for the "16" Party.. is that possible? How can they be that harsh after what is basically an Open House?

[IndianaSigKap]

Originally Posted by Life is good

Just wondering why some on the list don't have numbers posted from last year... Kappa, Chi O, AGD... and speaking of Chi O I've heard that they only asked 400 girls back for the "16" Party.. is that possible? How can they be that harsh after what is basically an Open House?

The number of women a chapter is allowed to invite is calculated using RFM, which uses the acceptance rates from the previous years to predict how many women the chapter will need to invite back to make quota. For example if a chapter has a 90% return rate that means that 90% of the women they invited to the same round last year ranked them in their top group (accepting the invitation). So if a chapter's quota is 45 and they have a 90% return rate, they will only be allowed to extend a small number of invitations to preference.

[navane]

Originally Posted by IndianaSigKap

The number of women a chapter is allowed to invite is calculated using RFM, which uses the acceptance rates from the previous years to predict how many women the chapter will need to invite back to make quota. For example if a chapter has a 90% return rate that means that 90% of the women they invited to the same round last year ranked them in their top group (accepting the invitation). So if a chapter's quota is 45 and they have a 90% return rate, they will only be allowed to extend a small number of invitations to preference.

I apologize for the double-post; but, I wanted to separate this out.

So....for those readers still trying to work this out. Here's how I interpret what IndianaSigKap said:

Sorority ABC is a strong recruiting chapter and Sorority XYZ is a weaker recruiting chapter. Quota is set at 45.

ABC historically has a 90% return rate. Therefore, 45 x 100 = 4,500. 4,500/90 = 50. ABC can only invite 50 girls to preference round.

XYZ historically has a 70% return rate. Therefore, 45 x 100 = 4,500. 4,500/70 = 65. XYZ can invite 65 girls to preference round.

Some people might look at this and say, "OMG! ABC is sooo mean! How can they be so harsh?!" When, really, the system is trying to give the PNMs a statistically higher chance of getting a bid.

Thanks for the explanations... it makes sense. Just trying to understand the process. I don't do helicopters.

[IndianaSigKap]

Originally Posted by navane

Sorority ABC is a strong recruiting chapter and Sorority XYZ is a weaker recruiting chapter. Quota is set at 45.

ABC historically has a 90% return rate. Therefore, 45 x 100 = 4,500. 4,500/90 = 50. ABC can only invite 50 girls to preference round.

XYZ historically has a 70% return rate. Therefore, 45 x 100 = 4,500. 4,500/70 = 65. XYZ can invite 65 girls to preference round.

Close, but not that literal. It's not a direct correlation between return rate and number of invitations issued. There are some other factors that are used as well.

[navane]

Originally Posted by IndianaSigKap

Close, but not that literal. It's not a direct correlation between return rate and number of invitations issued. There are some other factors that are used as well.

Ok thanks. I was trying to come up with some kind of illustration that would help the Moms here get the concept. I know that RFM is real-time and last year's return rates aren't necessarily the sole factor. My main concern was the focus on why some chapters would seemingly cut so many more girls than the next house. Though, I couldn't think of an easier way to explain it to someone on the outside.

[33girl]

Early and severe cuts seem harsh, but the old way - where some chapters would keep inviting as many girls back as would accept their invitation, some of whom they had ZERO interest in, and then cut them either right before or after pref - was way, way, harsher. You have to remember these are the kind of chapters who can make everyone feel welcomed and like they fit in. And some chapters just genuinely don't want to cut anyone because they want to keep giving everyone a 3rd and 4th and 5th chance. With these kind of numbers, that doesn't work either.

[TriDeltaSallie]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Early and severe cuts seem harsh, but the old way - where some chapters would keep inviting as many girls back as would accept their invitation, some of whom they had ZERO interest in, and then cut them either right before or after pref - was way, way, harsher.

This. And then you end up with a zillion girls who are devastated when they receive their pref invites and end up dropping on the spot. And hate the Greek system the rest of their life because they were led on and then dropped.

The only thing wrong with RFM is that it wasn't started sooner. I can only imagine how many chapters might have been saved from closing across the country if it had been started ten to fifteen years earlier.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Life is good;23again224

Just wondering why some on the list don't have numbers posted from last year... Kappa, Chi O, AGD... and speaking of Chi O I've heard that they only asked 400 girls back for the "16" Party.. is that possible? How can they be that harsh after what is basically an Open House?

How long is IU's rush again? Because if someone needs life flighted in a helicopter they're going to be SOL as all the helicopters are busy.

In all seriousness, as I stated in a previous post, this is deferred rush and the rushees have had a whole semester to get to know sorority members. So no sorority is going solely on what happened at an open house.

[Katmandu]

RE: Chi Omega invitation numbers.

1st: We don't know how many they invited back. Rumors swirl around during recruitment and most of them are inaccurate.

2nd: If they are a strong recruiting chapter with stellar returns, yes, their invitation list will be small, because almost everyone says, "yes". Chapters with strong returns don't need to invite a lot of PNMs to have a full house and a full pref and a full NM class.

3rd: If that number is correct, its not "harsh", it's reality. It would be less kind to pad their numbers, invite massive numbers of girls who fell in love with the group, get their hopes up because of an invitation and then get dashed in the end. Early cuts allow girls to re-focus and dance with someone else.

ETA: love it 33girl. Whap, whap, whap.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

That's a great way to do name tags! Right before I started school they eliminated the custom name tags the chapters at Iowa did. They did cutesy and VERY involved construction paper name tags for every girl attending every party. It was a huge amount of work. With all the other crap going on can you imagine keeping all that straight before parties? And the girls spending all summer cutting and gluing the name tags together for the several hundred that would have been needed! Oh the horror. And this was before RFM so everyone invited more girls and you never knew how many girls were gonna show up the next day.

I just found my Alpha Gam scrapbook from college and I have all my name tags from all the parties! So fun But yes, tons of work- and my alma mater had a small greek system.

Originally Posted by ItsGreekTooMe

I'd figured that an objective criterion that disqualifies girls from consideration would be disclosed to PNMs, just as the 2.8 is. Silly me.

I'll use a non-recruitment related analogy here. My college academic program was Occupational Therapy. In my program, they accepted 50 students per year and there were typically more than 250 applicants. Although the program had specific GPA requirements (must have a 2.5 overall and at least a 3.0 in some specific courses) and requirements for health care field volunteer hours (at least 60), nobody with a 2.5 and only 60 hours was accepted because it was so competitive. In reality, the lowest GPA accepted was a 3.5.

ETA: I have a rec girl at IU this time around

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by Katmandu

RE: Chi Omega invitation numbers.

1st: We don't know how many they invited back. Rumors swirl around during recruitment and most of them are inaccurate.

2nd: If they are a strong recruiting chapter with stellar returns, yes, their invitation list will be small, because almost everyone says, "yes". Chapters with strong returns don't need to invite a lot of PNMs to have a full house and a full pref and a full NM class.

3rd: If that number is correct, its not "harsh", it's reality. It would be less kind to pad their numbers, invite massive numbers of girls who fell in love with the group, get their hopes up because of an invitation and then get dashed in the end. Early cuts allow girls to re-focus and dance with someone else.

YES. To all of this.

Originally Posted by AGDee

I'll use a non-recruitment related analogy here. My college academic program was Occupational Therapy. In my program, they accepted 50 students per year and there were typically more than 250 applicants. Although the program had specific GPA requirements (must have a 2.5 overall and at least a 3.0 in some specific courses) and requirements for health care field volunteer hours (at least 60), nobody with a 2.5 and only 60 hours was accepted because it was so competitive. In reality, the lowest GPA accepted was a 3.5.

Yeah, and the fact that *one* applicant with a 2.6 got into the program after single-handedly curing cancer does not change the fact that YOU need to have a 3.5.

[wsucalsigmakapp]

Originally Posted by Katmandu

RE: Chi Omega invitation numbers.

1st: We don't know how many they invited back. Rumors swirl around during recruitment and most of them are inaccurate.

2nd: If they are a strong recruiting chapter with stellar returns, yes, their invitation list will be small, because almost everyone says, "yes". Chapters with strong returns don't need to invite a lot of PNMs to have a full house and a full pref and a full NM class.

3rd: If that number is correct, its not "harsh", it's reality. It would be less kind to pad their numbers, invite massive numbers of girls who fell in love with the group, get their hopes up because of an invitation and then get dashed in the end. Early cuts allow girls to re-focus and dance with someone else.

ETA: love it 33girl. Whap, whap, whap.

These are all excellent points, and in the long run, every women going through recruitment should strive to be in a chapter that she fits in with the members and that wants her to be a part of that chapter. Who wants to be surrounded by women who were "pushed or forced" to accept you. Regardless of how harsh it sounds, getting cut from a group may be a blessing in disguise! =)

[KDCat]

Originally Posted by Life is good

Just wondering why some on the list don't have numbers posted from last year... Kappa, Chi O, AGD... and speaking of Chi O I've heard that they only asked 400 girls back for the "16" Party.. is that possible? How can they be that harsh after what is basically an Open House?

Think of it like interviewing for a job. Resumes matter and connections matter. They looked at resumes and they looked at who the chapter knows and decided who gets the interview.

[navane]

Originally Posted by Life is good

Just wondering why some on the list don't have numbers posted from last year... Kappa, Chi O, AGD... and speaking of Chi O I've heard that they only asked 400 girls back for the "16" Party.. is that possible? How can they be that harsh after what is basically an Open House?

I really want to drive the point home here that the chapter(s) are not being "harsh". They are being *required* to cut more girls.

My understanding of the RFM (Release Figure Method) style of sorority recruitment is: the more successful a chapter is at recruitment (the more popular they are), the more girls they have to cut. In effect, it is expected that they won't have any trouble filling their parties and, therefore, are not allowed to over-invite a surplus of girls that don't statistically have a chance of getting a bid. That way, as others have pointed out, the chapters don't get the hopes up of girls that aren't as likely to make it to the end.

The chapters that historically have a lower return rate are allowed to issue "extra" invitations in order to increase their chances of getting a full pledge class. Again, by the stronger recruiting chapters releasing more women earlier, it allows those PNMs to more realistically focus on the chapters that want them and not on "dream chapters" that they didn't have as good of a chance with.