indiana university recruitment questions/advice

[AXOrushadvisor]

Wow! I had no idea schools limited the number of women that could pledge like that. I would imagine the "good" houses take less women and the struggling houses have more openings. That would make it extremely competitive and stressful on the PNM. At times, it seems, that we worry to much about the Chapters and not enough about the PNM's.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by AXOrushadvisor

Wow! I had no idea schools limited the number of women that could pledge like that. I would imagine the "good" houses take less women and the struggling houses have more openings. That would make it extremely competitive and stressful on the PNM. At times, it seems, that we worry to much about the Chapters and not enough about the PNM's.

If an important facet of being in a sorority at IU is all the women living in the house, then limiting the amount of women is not "worrying too much about the chapters and not enough about the PNMs." Would you rather the chapters take on more members than they felt comfortable with or that they would have to deny the experience of living in the house? Each campus's culture is different and they do what works for them. IU has apparently found that living outside the house is not something its sorority women want.

Oh, and newsflash - at ALL schools the struggling houses have more openings. That's why they are struggling.

[FrankSwim2008]

I have NO idea how to do this rushing thing at IU. I just decided to do it, literally at the last minute, tonight. And, I just started asking for recs and I have a few questions. Where do I "turn in" the recs? I should send them asap, right? Do I really need 2 from each chapter? How do I get two from every chapter, that's almost forty recs? Not about recs but, how much does legacies influences IU decisions, especially Aunt legicies?

I'm now freaking out so help would be very much appericated!

Thanks!

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by FrankSwim2008

I have NO idea how to do this rushing thing at IU. I just decided to do it, literally at the last minute, tonight. And, I just started asking for recs and I have a few questions. Where do I "turn in" the recs? I should send them asap, right? Do I really need 2 from each chapter? How do I get two from every chapter, that's almost forty recs? Not about recs but, how much does legacies influences IU decisions, especially Aunt legicies?

I'm now freaking out so help would be very much appericated!

Thanks!

You have ALOT of questions. It's kind of hard to tell someone every single thing they need to know about them in one post. Also, you're cutting it close since IU recruitment starts kind of soon, and it might be difficult to locate rec writers at this time, but it's worth a shot

These threads are long, but will tell you 90% of what you need to know about recs (how to get them/what they are/etc.). Please read them:

http://greekchat.com/gcforums/showth...ecommendations
http://greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=54403

(this is just for info purposes, the list isn't intended for use anymore because it is considered bad form to solicit recs via the internet)

Note: Recs don't guarantee a bid. They're just a standard thing that girls have at some schools. but that doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't go through recruitment just because you don't have them. It's not impossible to rush at IU without recs and get a bid, but be aware that you could face heavier cuts early on.

Another note: Every sorority has a different policy regarding what makes someone a legacy. For example, my sorority doesn't consider nieces legacies, but some others do. Being a legacy does not guarantee that you'll get a bid to that sorority.

I can tell you that your rec writers will know where to send them, you don't turn them in yourself.

[AXOrushadvisor]

Originally Posted by 33girl

If an important facet of being in a sorority at IU is all the women living in the house, then limiting the amount of women is not "worrying too much about the chapters and not enough about the PNMs." Would you rather the chapters take on more members than they felt comfortable with or that they would have to deny the experience of living in the house? Each campus's culture is different and they do what works for them. IU has apparently found that living outside the house is not something its sorority women want.

Oh, and newsflash - at ALL schools the struggling houses have more openings. That's why they are struggling.

I went to a school where total was more than the number of women living in the house. It was a priviledge to live in the house. I don't think it makes any difference how many spots there are in a house. Our house was strong with 1/3 of the women living in.. 44 to be exact.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by AXOrushadvisor

I went to a school where total was more than the number of women living in the house. It was a privilege to live in the house. I don't think it makes any difference how many spots there are in a house. Our house was strong with 1/3 of the women living in.. 44 to be exact.

This happens at many schools. IU is an exception to the rule (actually, to several rules). It's not like your school. It DOES matter how many spots are in a house, because that's what a chapter's total is.

I'm not sure what your point was but I hope that cleared things up for you .

[FrankSwim2008]

Originally Posted by AXOrushadvisor

I went to a school where total was more than the number of women living in the house. It was a priviledge to live in the house. I don't think it makes any difference how many spots there are in a house. Our house was strong with 1/3 of the women living in.. 44 to be exact.

Yeah, just as 33girl said above, here at IU almost all the girls live-in all four years. The number who live out is really, really, small. And, our Rho Gam even told us to judge houses in the mindset that you'll be living in the house and with the girls for 3 and a half more years.

[VAgirl18]

As an alum from IU, I can tell you that its ridiculously competitive. Things have changed in the past decade, and seriously, recs are taken with a grain of salt. Houses send thank you notes to those who recommended them, they might get another look, and they may get invited to dinner. Other than that, they really don't mean that much. Legacies are more important, although IU's houses don't normally have many legacies..they end up going to other houses. IU's rush is nowhere near conventional and the biggest reason that women don't receive bids is because they suicide, are rude to the initial houses they don't want only to realize that they should have been nicer, or don't have strong enough grades. Oh, and the question everyone hates the most..."what's your liveout policy?" The point of joining is to get the whole experience and the question tells sorority members that the PNM isn't really focusing on the big picture or wanting the full experience.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by VAgirl18

As an alum from IU, I can tell you that its ridiculously competitive. Things have changed in the past decade, and seriously, recs are taken with a grain of salt. Houses send thank you notes to those who recommended them, they might get another look, and they may get invited to dinner. Other than that, they really don't mean that much. Legacies are more important, although IU's houses don't normally have many legacies..they end up going to other houses. IU's rush is nowhere near conventional and the biggest reason that women don't receive bids is because they suicide, are rude to the initial houses they don't want only to realize that they should have been nicer, or don't have strong enough grades. Oh, and the question everyone hates the most..."what's your liveout policy?" The point of joining is to get the whole experience and the question tells sorority members that the PNM isn't really focusing on the big picture or wanting the full experience.

Good advice. Being nice is universal to ALL recruitments.

I've seen it happen where girls are rude to all but one or 2 groups, then are stunned when they end up with like one invite because the ones they wanted didn't want them, and neither did the ones they were so rude to.

Girls, you never know who will cut you or ask you back so it's best not to shoot yourselves in the foot by being rude.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Good advice. Being nice is universal to ALL recruitments.

I've seen it happen where girls are rude to all but one or 2 groups, then are stunned when they end up with like one invite because the ones they wanted didn't want them, and neither did the ones they were so rude to.

Girls, you never know who will cut you or ask you back so it's best not to shoot yourselves in the foot by being rude.

There's this girl I just met a few weeks ago… we’ll call her Melissa. My bf is a Delta Chi and is still in school, so every so often I’ll go to the house and hang out. On initiation nights, they invite girls over to help them celebrate. Melissa was there, and I only knew her because she had randomly requested to be my friend on Facebook a few days earlier (I assume she saw that I was friends with the brothers?) I told her I knew who she was, she still asked how I was aware of who she is (even though I knew that she knew), I told her it was because of the friend request, and she said, “oh, no.. you must have just seen me on your bf’s page.” After that, we talked a bit (I couldn’t avoid her) and eventually she asked how long my bf and I had been together. I told her just over a year and she responded with, “That’s nice. Do you trust him?” I said “yes…,” and she said, “Oh, good luck with that.” Throughout the entire night she pretended to be my friend around everyone else, but she’d make comments like that to me periodically. And she'd TRY to get as much attention from my boyfriend as possible, but it definitely wasn't working. I was civil to her because I thought she might have been good friends with one of the brothers… she isn’t. Some people told me that she expressed interest in joining a sorority. She now wonders why members of all three chapters avoid her like the plague.

While more obvious forms of insults might rarely happen, it's still a good example of why you should be nice to ALL sorority members, both before recruitment and during. As “competitive” as sororities might seem on the outside, they can actually be a lot closer than you think. And none of them want to see anyone ruin the reputation of Greeks as a whole. If you’re rude to one member of one sorority, it means you insulted their entire chapter, and possibly all of the chapters on campus. And when that happens, you won't receive a bid to those one or two sororities you had your eye on and were EXTREMELY nice to at recruitment parties.

[HoosierGirl89]

Originally Posted by VAgirl18

As an alum from IU, I can tell you that its ridiculously competitive. Things have changed in the past decade, and seriously, recs are taken with a grain of salt. Houses send thank you notes to those who recommended them, they might get another look, and they may get invited to dinner. Other than that, they really don't mean that much. Legacies are more important, although IU's houses don't normally have many legacies..they end up going to other houses. IU's rush is nowhere near conventional and the biggest reason that women don't receive bids is because they suicide, are rude to the initial houses they don't want only to realize that they should have been nicer, or don't have strong enough grades. Oh, and the question everyone hates the most..."what's your liveout policy?" The point of joining is to get the whole experience and the question tells sorority members that the PNM isn't really focusing on the big picture or wanting the full experience.

While this is good advice, some of the things you say may have been true when you went here but have changed now. You said that not many houses have legacies- the opposite is true. Perhaps your house didn't have many but I know at least 15 girls personally that are legacies to the same house I am, and those are just the girls that I know. I would say each house has at least 10-15 legacies. However, they are in no way an "in" to a house. Basically all it entails is a courtesy invite to a dinner and to 12 party. And I also disagree about the liveout question. Some girls really do want the chance to live off campus and if it comes down to choosing between houses that do and do not allow it, it is important to know before deciding!

I would not discount the value of recs either because having a rec in some houses helps to your overall score during 19 party and will at least have you invited to some pre-rush event. The more things you can do to stand out in a system this large and this competitive, the better.

Also, the reason many girls do not get bids is partially due to suiciding and grades, but a LARGE number of girls who have good grades and good personalities get released prior to pref. I agree that everyone should maximize their options and go to all parties they are invited to, but if someone isn't invited to pref they won't get a bid period.

I feel like deferred rush here is a double-edged sword. It is great that freshmen get a whole semester to assimilate and enjoy college without being in a sorority. However, being here a whole semester makes SO MANY PNM's think they already have an idea of what the "good" houses are, so they don't give others a chance. I would say that there are a good 3-4 chapters (one in particular) here that struggle to get girls to want to join, so until PNM's actually give EVERY house a chance and maximize all of their options, which isn't really the case now, I don't think things at IU have a chance at getting much better.

There are far too many women here who have a strong desire to be in the greek system that fall by the wayside and it is truly unfortunate. VAgirl, I agree with most of what you are saying, but I think that the true reason that so many people go unmatched here is due to the "bed-rush" non-traditional quota system. I am NOT advocating switching to a traditional quota system as the whole foundation of the greek system here is living in the house for 3 (sometimes 2) years. However, it is a hard situation to solve.

Sorry about writing a book, I have A LOT to say on the subject. Anyway, good luck to all going through at IU. The rest of recruitment is about 3 weeks away!

[VAgirl18]

Originally Posted by HoosierGirl89

While this is good advice, some of the things you say may have been true when you went here but have changed now. You said that not many houses have legacies- the opposite is true. Perhaps your house didn't have many but I know at least 15 girls personally that are legacies to the same house I am, and those are just the girls that I know. I would say each house has at least 10-15 legacies. However, they are in no way an "in" to a house. Basically all it entails is a courtesy invite to a dinner and to 12 party. And I also disagree about the liveout question. Some girls really do want the chance to live off campus and if it comes down to choosing between houses that do and do not allow it, it is important to know before deciding!

I would not discount the value of recs either because having a rec in some houses helps to your overall score during 19 party and will at least have you invited to some pre-rush event. The more things you can do to stand out in a system this large and this competitive, the better.

Also, the reason many girls do not get bids is partially due to suiciding and grades, but a LARGE number of girls who have good grades and good personalities get released prior to pref. I agree that everyone should maximize their options and go to all parties they are invited to, but if someone isn't invited to pref they won't get a bid period.

I feel like deferred rush here is a double-edged sword. It is great that freshmen get a whole semester to assimilate and enjoy college without being in a sorority. However, being here a whole semester makes SO MANY PNM's think they already have an idea of what the "good" houses are, so they don't give others a chance. I would say that there are a good 3-4 chapters (one in particular) here that struggle to get girls to want to join, so until PNM's actually give EVERY house a chance and maximize all of their options, which isn't really the case now, I don't think things at IU have a chance at getting much better.

There are far too many women here who have a strong desire to be in the greek system that fall by the wayside and it is truly unfortunate. VAgirl, I agree with most of what you are saying, but I think that the true reason that so many people go unmatched here is due to the "bed-rush" non-traditional quota system. I am NOT advocating switching to a traditional quota system as the whole foundation of the greek system here is living in the house for 3 (sometimes 2) years. However, it is a hard situation to solve.

Sorry about writing a book, I have A LOT to say on the subject. Anyway, good luck to all going through at IU. The rest of recruitment is about 3 weeks away!

Actually, I completely disagree with your statements for a multitude of reasons. Yes, I am an alum from 06, but I still keep up with the members of various chapters at IU and was there for 19 Party this year. I'm not saying that houses won't accept large amounts of legacies, but seriously...legacies are what gets you invited back for 12 if you choose to do so, not recs. Attending dinners and stuff gives you a feel for the system, but it also eggs on dirty rushing or puts into their minds that they want one house or else. Not everyone does their matching the same, so you can't say that it will get them back to 12...don't make it sound like they'll be guaranteed back. I know three people personally who weren't invited back to places for 12 even though they had strong recs...and this was last year.

I've been around the system for a fairly long time and can tell you that in the past five years, the majority of women have dropped out because they didn't want to come back from break early, didn't have the grades, or were just not getting the one house that they wanted back. Its a requirement to attend all parties and all houses that you're invited back to in order to continue into the process. Obviously its a given that if you don't go back for 3 party that you won't get a bid...but, also, a number of houses snap bid and keep it under wraps...some of those houses are on 3rd Street.

The system may not be perfect, but its fine as is. Would you rather have 1600 people going through rush, have them all get a house, and have pledge classes of 70-90 people or would you rather actually KNOW your sisters and every member of your house? Yes, the bed quota may not be ideal, but life isn't always fair and most people who make it to bid day will get a bid somewhere...its their own decision as to whether they accept it or not. The deferred rush is a good idea because it breaks up a massive amount of events and gives women a chance to think about whether or not they'd actually like to be in a house. It also weeds out people for grades and if they don't come back from break early, it also proves that they're not really dedicated to joining. Let the women have a real college experience before they're thrown into a house. Let them get to know the people that they're living around. Let them adjust to college life.

As for the house thing, I already know you're talking about my chapter. Everyone who is associated with IU's greek system surrounds themselves with the stigmas and rumors, so don't even try to hide that. I had the opportunity to join a 3rd Street house and a few others but chose my chapter because I saw beyond the BS and rumors and found real people that I clicked with. Most people don't realize that its the advisors that have been screwing up rush for the chapter for the past few years, not the members themselves..it was never the chapter's idea to bring in others...it was the advisors'.

The liveout question is dumb. If a house is overfilled, then they'll have liveouts...otherwise, you pay a large fee to liveout or are cramped in. As someone who lived out, you miss a lot of things and its far better to be living in and getting the entire experience. It may get annoying and tense, but you're far better off living in your soph and junior year and maybe living out senior year. Why not ask meaningful questions like how you help with your philanthropy or how you know that your sisters will be there for you.