Assigning Bigs/Littles

[FSUZeta]

my daughter is newly initiated, and i think that her chapter used a novel solution to what could have been a big big sister/little sister problem.

there were more girls participating in recruitment last year(2005) and consequently larger pledge classes than this years. all the girls who were pledges last year wanted little sisters and there were not enough for everyone to have one. at first, the officers were going to use gpa to determine who would get a little sister-the higher the gpa the higher on the list you would be. then they came up with a unique solution-some new members would get two big sisters. my daughter was one of the lucky new members who got two bigs-she was delighted, because she was having a difficult time deciding which of the two girls who ended up being her bigs to list as first. the bigs don't seem to mind that they are sharing one little and they even came up with a term for themselves-they call themselves bigsters.

when the chapter i advise was a colony, they randomly drew names out of a hat to determine matches for "crown" sisters-since they were all new members, there could be no bigs and littles. Crown sisters performed the same functions as big/little would have.

congratulations on your election and good luck with the colonization process!

[akdphi_cherry]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

then they came up with a unique solution-some new members would get two big sisters.

This kind of reminded me of my pledge class- it was pretty small and whatnot, but most of the girls had already had a little, so two of my pledge sisters ended up having the same big! Haha, they got to be such good buddies during pledge we could immediately see why they should be "twins"

But yeah, we put down our top 3 active sisters that we'd like to be our big and I'm not sure how they matched us, but it was probably the same way, excluding those who already had a little or were too busy to have one.

[nate2512]

we normally try to match our with someone close to the same major

[AOE2AlphaPhi]

We do the matching system, with pledges only allowed to rank members who don't have a little (usually sophomores or informals)

[Credential101]

Each of the new guys puts down their favorite 5 brothers in order.
Each active brother puts their favorite in order.
Pledgemaster then figures it all out.

[rufio]

my chapter is small, 25 guys, and were selective of who we extend bids to. avg 5 pledges a semester. so we try to match up bigs and lil's with who has similar personalities, who will bring the most out of each other and who is a good compliment to whom. Our VP Member Ed usually decides but runs his choices through eboard. we have a little unspoken rule not to match a pledge with the brother that introduced him to the chapter so we can get the associate members to create ties with other brothers. i suppose picking bigs and littles is gonna get harder for us as we grow larger and not everyone is as close as we are now.

[SigKapNSK]

the new member class writes down 5 and the potential bigs write down five, but ultimately it is up to the VPNME to assign everyone, its her job to know all the new members and find their perfect fit! i had never ever talked to my big before but after getting to know her, i absolutely love her!! so i think it works out pretty well

[PSKPike]

First we ask all the current brothers who would take a little. Then we tell the new members to put down their preferences from 1-5, and the current brothers do the same. I was in the first class to take a little brother and in my opinion it worked out great. There really is no perfect way to do it, and some one is not gonna get their first choice every time ( I actually didnt) but it still can work great however you do it. The big brother/little brother (or sister) part of greek life is great. Even though I graduated last year I still keep up with my little brother, just check in and see how things are, and see if he needs anything. It really is an important part of the whole experience in my opinion.

[Corsulian]

New members record their year, hometown, hobbies, majors, and top 4 (and why)

Brothers do the same.

Match.

About 1/2 are easy--having each other as number ones. There are always a few quiet new members--you can use the other info to ask brothers if they'd be interested.

We tried to limit certain brothers with low GPAs or ones who were graduating (I took a little brother my graduating semester--but he had previously stated that he's fine with it and most of our alumni--including me--live near the college anyway).

[SigmaNuHX766]

Well we have the candidates (pledges) pick their top 5 choices for big bro....then we have a chapter meeting about it and pretty much just ask "you were his first pick, want him? no okay, 2nd pick you want him? okay cool" etc etc.

works pretty well for us

Seems that great minds think alike! That's how we've done it many times in the past.

We've also done the "You bid him, he's yours" method because most of our recruiting is from close friends outside the chapter. This wasn't as effective... but it works, and encourages recruiting. If you want a little, you've gotta bring them in with this method.

[Faith4Keep]

Our chapter does the matching system. NMs rank who they want as their big, then the VP calls the members to see if they want that person as their little.

There are a couple problems with this system... in my case, I knew who I wanted as my big, and she wanted me, so when I ranked 2-10 I wasn't really thinking. Well, when they called the sister she was sleeping (it was really late!) so instead they matched me with my #2 (who did pick up her phone). I like her, but we are definitely not sole mates.

I like the idea of giving the pledge class before preference. There are cases in my chapter where sisters can have 2, 3, even 4 littles depending on how long they have been in the chapter and if they were given 'twins' one or more years. While I think that bigs/lils should be paired up with someone that they like, there's no reason that one person should have 4-5 littles and another person have none. We are all sisters, anyway. The more popular sisters will always be 'requested' more often from the new memebrs so we have to start disappointing NMs

[AOII Angel]

I think that any system should work, but you'll have failures no matter how you choose. Sisters who think they like each other one month may end up not speaking the next. Sometimes having sisters choose their own bigs or littles may cause resentment if the popularity contest gets out of control. If this is a consistent problem, it may be in the chapters best interest to change the policies. Either way, people will end up ticked off!

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Zeta13Girl

Since I pledged the chapter has changed the big\little process.

We use to have all the potential bigs and the pledges rank each other and then the new member coordinator would match them up. We found that bigs and littles that ended up getting matched together did not always click or work out..... My case ex: I recieved my big had no idea who she was attempted to become close to her but she had another little who she liked more and we never bonded...in our chapter when we become sisters bigs are suppose to buy there littles AT LEAST one set of letters I didnt receive any.... but I do value my letters more now I think then I might have had my big given them to me

NOW before recruitment starts we send a sheet of paper around and have sisters who absolutley do not want a little to write their names down. Then the rest of the sisters are fair game for the pledges to choose from. Usually we do big \little activities for the pledges to get to know sisters and give out temp bigs(picked out of a hat). then when the pledges feel they are ready enough to make a descision they list all the sisters available in order of who they want... they are encouraged to choose a sister they feel comfortable going to to talk and confide in. the new member coordinator then call up the number ones on the list and if two pledges have picked the same person as a big she asks that sister which pledge she would like for a little.

ssorry I wrote a book

How far into pledging were you when you did the ranking type matching?

This is something you shouldn't do right away - you should wait at least 2-3 weeks depending on the size of the chapter & the amount of time the pledges have had to get to know the sisters & vice versa. The person you think is super cool on bid night might not be as good once you get to know her (or to be more positive, you might find someone else you like more).

[SigmaPezY60]

We ask our associate members to submit their top 3 choices for their Big Sister. We encourage them to choose sisters that they feel a connection with, would like to get to know better, or someone they look up to. We also ask the members who want to take a little to submit their top 3 choices for littles.

Sisters who are graduating and are the end of their Big/Little Family line get first priority. Sometimes sisters have littles who do not finish the Associate Membership process. Then the Associate Member Educator matches the AM's with their picks. It is rare that the AM's don't get paired with their first choice, unless their first choice isn't taking a little.

When I pledged my first choice wasn't taking a little, but it worked out because my Big is her little!

[SororChic6]

The PM usually assigns littles but who gets them is determined by how long you have been active and then by age.