Quote:
Originally Posted by UofISigKap
The withdraw numbers are a bit of a bummer though. Of course that happens for many reasons.
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I think that many girls are just not prepared for the fast and furious rate of decisions (and often, rejections) that are made at U of I, with RFM and so many houses doing this all at the same time. The return rates for some houses were so high this year that they had to make really difficult decisions about who to invite to next round and who could not be brought back.
One NM who did get a bid commented to me that she was shocked that so many wonderful girls didn't get into their top choices. I got the sense that maybe there are still a lot of unrealistic expectations out there, even with RFM in full play. Over and over at U of I, I hear about the same two houses that evvvvveryone from our area seems to want. I mean, with 1400 girls going through, aren't these girls reminding themselves that hey, a few hundred are walking through these doors after they do,with grades that are just as good, and personalities that are just as sparkling? And that maybe, just maybe, there might be 10-15
other houses where they could be (or learn to be) just as happy?
When I went through recruitment (not at Illinois) I felt at pref round that I would have been happy in either house. I figured-both of these sororities have a good national rep and nice people in the chapters, so they must be doing something right, and each one had positive features. It's really such a shame that there's a lot of myopia about the process, despite what panhellenic does to support and educate the PNMs. Is there something in the kool aid that makes certain girls so hellbent on just one or two houses out of 20+? Yes, we all fall "in love" with certain houses, and the hard sell during recruitment makes it easy to fall into the illusion that you're going to be an xyz. But the thing is, you can't be doing this just because you want a sorority to help define your identity.
I have to say, I feel for the chapters that perceived as more "middle of the road" on campus-dealing with rather sulky NMs who are don't really want to smile for bid day pics and are still grappling with the fact that they pictured different letters on their cute new tote bag. Maybe I'm just getting old, but my crabby view is fast becoming-just move out of the way and give it another go next year then, so the chapters can get people who really want to be there, and so you can spend a year maturing a little more.
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