Texas A&M Recruitment...as a junior?

[AOEforme]

Originally Posted by Texasmom15

AOEforme - thanks for the information. She will be shocked to know that she could have listed both houses - she did get a bid from her first choice but had she listed two she might not have felt so much pressure on bid day (available from 10-3 to receive the dreaded phone call that notifies you that you do not have a bid).

Thanks again.....

At least it all worked out for her in the end! I hope she loves her new chapter!

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by Texasmom15

Maybe she didn't have to suicide.....

She was invited to 3 pref parties and thought that she had to do an "all or suicide" on her card. Since there was one house she didn't fit, she thought the rules were that she could then only suicide. She would have happily accepted a bid at either of the other 2 houses.

She absolutely could have listed 2 of the 3. That's what I did. Happens all the time. Case #109374856 of uninformed bad RG advice.

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by TXalum1

Whoever told you juniors get priority in recruitment misled you. You had a bid in hand, which is difficult for a sophomore at A&M, and walked away because it wasn't what you wanted. That is your chance. It won't happen next year because until the sophomore quota was implemented this year, it seldom happened for sophomores. I know a number of young women in the Greek system there so this is not supposition on my part.

So if there was a sophomore quota or sophomores were included in an "upperclassman" quota, the OP can't claim she was cut for being a sophomore, because she was only competing against other sophomores/upperclassmen.

[TXalum1]

Originally Posted by violetpretty

So if there was a sophomore quota or sophomores were included in an "upperclassman" quota, the OP can't claim she was cut for being a sophomore, because she was only competing against other sophomores/upperclassmen.

That's the way I understood it. They wanted to give the sophomores, especially the transfers, more opportunities to join sororities. It was tough, tough for a sophomore to get a bid the last few years.

[amperches]

Originally Posted by violetpretty

So if there was a sophomore quota or sophomores were included in an "upperclassman" quota, the OP can't claim she was cut for being a sophomore, because she was only competing against other sophomores/upperclassmen.

I'm not claiming that the fact I'm a sophomore was the reason I was cut. I know that there were other factors that played into being cut from the sororities I liked. There is an upperclassman quota (it was put into effect this year), but I am not sure of the actual number of upperclassmen needed in order to fill that quota.

[LadyLonghorn]

Originally Posted by Texasmom15

Kat,

Thanks for the explaination, that helps. Ranking is a much better way to view the process and would likely lead to less PNM confusion.

My daughter wasn't traumatized by returning to the pref party - she was traumatized (maybe not a good word for tears after an exhausting but exciting week) by having to suicide. She had heard about suiciding and just never thought she would be in that position. She was very excited to visit and re-visit all the houses. Unfortunately the one she cut three times was just not a good fit....really nice girls, but not interested in the same things she was. My daughter kept saying how nice they were and how welcome they made her feel, but the activities they enjoyed were not the activities my daughter was hoping for.

I would venture to say she would have had a perfect recruitment experience if she could have put all of her pref parties in rank order - instead she felt she really didn't fit one chapter and therefore had no choice but to suicide.

Last time I checked, none of the chapters at TAMU were into torturing puppies or eating raw sheep eyeballs. It's hard for me to imagine an entire group of girls being into the exact same things and all of those are things your daughter finds repugnant.

And she did not "cut" chapters. She ranked them. That's why your first choice may not be on your next invite list even though you didn't "cut" them.

[LadyLonghorn]

One other thing. Even with the new upperclassman quotas at some of the big Texas schools, re-rushers are still at an extreme disadvantage. Those who are being looked on most favorably to potentially fill those openings are transfers and first time rushers.

[Katmandu]

^^^Yea, I wish the whole idea that PNMs are cutting chapters would go away. They are RANKING them.

It's almost as if the girls think that this annoying chapter that keeps inviting them to parties after the girl has "cut" them is somehow preventing other (more desirable) chapters from inviting them back.

[TXalum1]

Originally Posted by LadyLonghorn

One other thing. Even with the new upperclassman quotas at some of the big Texas schools, re-rushers are still at an extreme disadvantage. Those who are being looked on most favorably to potentially fill those openings are transfers and first time rushers.

How true! We all know stories of pnms who sign up for recruitment again (and sometimes again) because they are trying for XYZ. Don't do that.

You had a bid. You didn't accept it. Move on, please.

[pabeta1530]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

No, the other way is for recruitment numbers to go in the tank, AND during this year she makes close friends with, say, 15 sorority women who are in the right houses. Then she would stand A CHANCE. However, with recruitment trends in the south as they have been lately, I don't see that as an actual chance.

And god forbid this struggling chapter does a drastic improvement this year and becomes a contender. And don't think it can't happen. There are a lot of girls who had to make cuts early in recruitment who might be more than willing to COR the bad house because they know that more than likely this is their only chance because they're freshmen and sophomores have virtually no chance there.

Please forgive me for the clumsy Paris Hilton allusion. Returning to the matter at hand, DubaiSis creates a valid scenario for amperches to emerge on top. If all the planets align correctly, she could be in a much better position than now.

Using my own example as a template, I watched my house move from struggling to successful in two years because the brotherhood picked good, dynamic pledge classes from freshman through junior years, which led to picking more of the same. If we could do it, anyone can.

The game ain't over until it's over; I'm betting on amperches to pull it off.

[greekalum]

Do you know amperches? Because from what I can tell, it seems unlikely for any rerushing junior to "pull off" rerushing to get a better house. Or do you have a magic 8 ball telling you that A&M's goingt o have a ton less PNMs next year?

[kddani]

Originally Posted by pabeta1530

Please forgive me for the clumsy Paris Hilton allusion. Returning to the matter at hand, DubaiSis creates a valid scenario for amperches to emerge on top. If all the planets align correctly, she could be in a much better position than now.

Using my own example as a template, I watched my house move from struggling to successful in two years because the brotherhood picked good, dynamic pledge classes from freshman through junior years, which led to picking more of the same. If we could do it, anyone can.

The game ain't over until it's over; I'm betting on amperches to pull it off.

You have no idea what you are talking about. You are a fraternity man who went to Allegheny College. Allegheny is nothing like A&M (I'm from Pittsburgh and have many friends who went to Allegheny).

You obviously know nothing about the competitiveness of rush at schools like A&M. Please stay in your own lane.

[Texasmom15]

Originally Posted by Katmandu

^^^Yea, I wish the whole idea that PNMs are cutting chapters would go away. They are RANKING them.

It's almost as if the girls think that this annoying chapter that keeps inviting them to parties after the girl has "cut" them is somehow preventing other (more desirable) chapters from inviting them back.

Let me state again that I am very new to Greek Life and have a lot to learn. I think you are correct that it would help for the PNM's to be reminded that they are "ranking" chapters rather than "cutting" them. PNM's are frequently reminded during the recruitment process that this is a "mutual selection" process, so that also lends to them believing they are "cutting" rather than "ranking". Some are surprised that a chapter they "ranked" toward the bottom of their list never actually leave their dance card.

This is a great forum for those of us that are learning......that said, I want to reiterate that my daughter did not find any chapters "repugnant", but rather out of 12 houses, she found one that she was not a good fit for. Why is this so surprising, are the PNM's expected to fit everywhere? I stated that she thought the girls were very nice and did a good job making her feel welcome, but they were involved in activities different than what my daughter was looking for.....from there one of the posters jumped to stating that she found this house "repugnant" and that as far as she knew "none of the chapters at TAMU were into torturing puppies or eating raw sheep eyeballs".....WOW that is a huge jump from "they were really nice but I didn't fit".

[DubaiSis]

TexasMom, don't sweat it. This thread has just touched a lot of nerves, and I know that's not what you said. The key point to take away, and I think you did, is that your daughter never CUT a single house. She ranked them lower and expected them to be gone. And although we hate for any PNM to not give a house a chance, the fact is that there are times for a girl to decide on one (or two) or nothing. We just hope and reiterate ad nauseam that on some campuses "or nothing" can really mean no house, no Greek life, no 50 year pin, etc. And maybe taking that last choice house wouldn't be so terrible after all, particularly in light of what you get for the rest of your life.

I'm glad it worked out for your daughter, and I'm sorry she had to make a difficult decision when her expectation was to have 3 houses on her preference card, any of which she'd be happy to take. The reality is not that many girls have the perfect rush and end that way. Thankfully in her case it was just a few minutes of stress, and not having to decide whether to take the house she was offered or not.

[Texasmom15]

Thanks DubaiSis

You are correct, I did take away the "ranking" versus "cutting" information which helps in understanding the process. My daughter is very happy - already attending chapter events with her new sisters and thrilled that she not only ended up on a house but that she met so many great friends during the recruitment process (from every house).

As a mom, I am glad to know that none of the chapters are torturing puppies or eating raw sheep eyeballs......kinda funny now that I read that line again. I won't sweat it and again, thanks for the info.