The Best Strategy for a "Weak Recruiting" Chapter

[DubaiSis]

When priorities have to be made, you do have to decide (like it or not) to give up on somebody. If you have 50 girls on the rush floor and 60 rushees at a party, and we all understand that double rushing is almost a guaranteed loss of both girls (if they have a choice), you have to decide who you're going to lose. I'm not saying put your WORST rusher on the BEST rushee. But put your best rushers on the biggest part of the bell curve. then the C rushers with the A rushees. And the F rushers with the F rushees.

But I think the part of this equation that may not be happening is knowing who your A rushers are and who your F rushers are. If you don't know this, the whole discussion is moot. And hopefully with some good rush prep and some real motivation, you can turn a C rusher into a B rusher and an F into a C because obviously you don't want any F rushers on the floor.

Changing subject a bit, what do you think of having every rusher prepared with a topic of discussion, pre-determined by each rush team? I did this in my team because a problem we had was everyone in the chapter talking about the same 1 huge point of pride for us. It was something every member was very comfortable talking about but it became ridiculous REALLY fast. So in my group, one talked about academics, one sports, one pop culture, one leadership (all examples). If we stuck to our topic we didn't repeat each other. Or is this too staged?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

Changing subject a bit, what do you think of having every rusher prepared with a topic of discussion, pre-determined by each rush team? I did this in my team because a problem we had was everyone in the chapter talking about the same 1 huge point of pride for us. It was something every member was very comfortable talking about but it became ridiculous REALLY fast. So in my group, one talked about academics, one sports, one pop culture, one leadership (all examples). If we stuck to our topic we didn't repeat each other. Or is this too staged?

It might be ok to have as a fallback, IF women don't get crazy and think OMG WE ARE TALKING ABOUT JUSTIN BEIBER WHEN I AM SUPPOSED TO TALK ABOUT THE STEELERS.

[carnation]

To the top!

[SweetHomeStL]

Thanks for the bump on this one. I am another one of these statistic geeks that find this discussion fascinating. Wondering if anyone has any thoughts on how going virtual is going to help or hinder these WRCs this year?

I think that it will definitely help them during during open house & philanthropy rounds. They can put together some great videos and give the PNMs a good look at the fact that every chapter has the same type of events and offers sisterhood, friendship and a group of friends to be their home on campus.

BUT - I think that there may be a much larger number of girls dropping out of recruitment altogether once they get their invitations back and can’t understand why they were dropped from 50% of the chapters based on an intro video they turned in and haven’t actually met any of those “mid-tier” or WRCs in person.

[carnation]

That's a good point.

Lots of PNMs don't understand that especially at big schools, cuts are often made ahead of time. They have to be. You can't discuss 1000 girls in one night. Also, some schools don't make it clear that the sororities are really in charge of cutting until maybe prefs. The websites say things about when the girls make their selections and don't really talk about how heavy the first cuts are, due to RFM.

[NYCMS]

Originally Posted by carnation

(snip) Also, some schools don't make it clear that the sororities are really in charge of cutting until maybe prefs. The websites say things about when the girls make their selections and don't really talk about how heavy the first cuts are, due to RFM.

THIS! And how many times do we hear girls say "I kept ranking Houses A and B last so why did I get invitations back from them? I don't want them". As if the low ranking meant those houses would drop off their list. I've known less than a handful who 'wrote their own ticket' - like a fantastic girl from Jackson, MS who rushed at Ole Miss where every top and mid tier sorority wanted her. Her final two houses (considered tops per campus reputation) were in a dog fight for her. I think the language used when I rushed (late 70's) made it clear we weren't choosing, the sororities were (except maybe at pref) because I never once thought I got to pick. I knew I'd be fortunate to have a house invite me back and ultimately extend a bid.

Originally Posted by SweetHomeStL

BUT - I think that there may be a much larger number of girls dropping out of recruitment altogether once they get their invitations back and can’t understand why they were dropped from 50% of the chapters based on an intro video they turned in and haven’t actually met any of those “mid-tier” or WRCs in person.

I agree with Carnation that many girls don't understand how cuts (as we called them) work after the first round and they can be severe from the larger, most popular houses. That said, I think many girls may drop for the reasons you point out. I also think virtual rush could help the girls who are overwhelmed by the noise, tent talk and crowds - they could shine in the virtual setting so we could see more of that personality making it through than in previous times.

[PGD-GRAD]

My wife and I were talking about this and she mentioned this point: In some ways it may be much easier for girls to drop out after the first (or any virtual) round.

It may well be because they were released from the mythical “top” houses, but they’ll say: “I just don’t come across well on a screen. They didn’t get a chance to meet the “real” me. I always do better in person, etc. etc.” Then they’ll use any of these to drop out.
This may not happen at all...just another thought.

[carnation]

Bumping for the 2022-23 recruitment season!

[FSUZeta]

Originally Posted by PGD-GRAD

My wife and I were talking about this and she mentioned this point: In some ways it may be much easier for girls to drop out after the first (or any virtual) round.

It may well be because they were released from the mythical “top” houses, but they’ll say: “I just don’t come across well on a screen. They didn’t get a chance to meet the “real” me. I always do better in person, etc. etc.” Then they’ll use any of these to drop out.
This may not happen at all...just another thought.

Oh but it does. I have seen that happen many, many times. . Either from daughter, mother, or both. Never mind that every PNM is participating virtually. Never mind that it was plainly stated that the first round would be virtual when they enrolled in recruitment. Never mind that there are a plethora of accessible videos that share great advice on how best to present yourself in an online recruitment session. Never mind that they had more than ample time to practice before the big day. The fact of the matter is, in sorority recruitment as in life, the more prepared you are the better the outcome. And being willing to re-evaluate yourself and your options might be the difference between a fun 4 years of college, and wondering what might have been.