Length of Pledging for different groups?

[greekdee]

Back in my day, pledging lasted an entire semester or quarter. Initiation took place the next semester/quarter after it was verified the member had made grades and was academically eligible.

I know that many sororities and fraternities have shortened the pledge period. How do they determine academic eligibility -- by mid-term grades or is it based on the members GPA at the time of pledging?

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by greekdee

Back in my day, pledging lasted an entire semester or quarter. Initiation took place the next semester/quarter after it was verified the member had made grades and was academically eligible.

I know that many sororities and fraternities have shortened the pledge period. How do they determine academic eligibility -- by mid-term grades or is it based on the members GPA at the time of pledging?

We aim for 6 weeks unless that lands you on Thanksgiving weekend or something and it has to be adjusted. It should be within 8 weeks. We go by grades at time of recruitment. If they don't make grades that term, they participate in the same program as other initiated members who don't make grades.

Honestly, not initiating due to grades was a rare thing when we had a longer program and waited for grades. It is still a rare thing for members to not make grades. For most chapters, it is less than 2% of the chapter and, in the chapters for which I have access to such statistics, it isn't usually the newest initiates who haven't made grades.

Since making that change, Alpha Gam's overall average GPA has increased significantly. It may have made the chapters more careful about not recruiting grade risks.