Iowa Recruitment

[DubaiSis]

If my math is right, its Preference. Since they're only having 2, being completely done before gametime shouldn't be a problem. Although roadtripping would be out of the question.

[IndianaSigKap]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

If my math is right, its Preference. Since they're only having 2, being completely done before gametime shouldn't be a problem. Although roadtripping would be out of the question.

Wow...that might have been a serious deal breaker for me at 18. I am a huge sports fan. I hope it doesn't impact the chapters too greatly.

[cinder1965]

Originally Posted by IndianaSigKap

Wow...that might have been a serious deal breaker for me at 18. I am a huge sports fan. I hope it doesn't impact the chapters too greatly.

Hahahahahahha, so laughing out loud at you !!!!

[TAMUAlphaPhi]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

If my math is right, its Preference. Since they're only having 2, being completely done before gametime shouldn't be a problem. Although roadtripping would be out of the question.

According to the information in Iowa's Greek life brochure (online), Preference isn't until Sunday. Friday and Saturday are both the Sisterhood round. If my rec girls are giving me correct information, they can be invited to up to 6 chapters for that round -- but I don't know how many parties are scheduled for Friday evening/night and how many are scheduled for Saturday. I think the scheduling is really unfortunate and hope it doesn't cause havoc with retention rates.

[scrapcat]

I know the girls who it really will impact are the ones who have to travel -cheer, poms etc... Horrible planning two football weekends in a row but such is the nature of fall football in a big 10 world!

[DubaiSis]

The Iowa/Iowa State game pretty much shuts down the state, even in years when neither team is worth squat. My sister has a mixed marriage. She is (correctly) a Hawkeye and her husband is a cyclone. The result is a HUGE weekend.

One thing, if you don't already have season tickets at ISU, you really aren't getting tickets to the game, so it really is just about the tailgating. And if they have round 3 over 2 days, they're not having that many parties each day. So I still contend they can get all the rush events done plenty early, at least for the girls to get their party on in Iowa City, without any trouble. For the cheerleaders, poms, etc., there probably aren't enough of them in any given chapter to negatively impact them, and I'm not sure that freshmen would be traveling with those teams. Does anyone know if freshmen cheerleaders would already be going to away games? When do they make the team? But marching band is a different story.

I concur that the timing is bad at best and potentially deadly for several girls, where rush applies anyway. I think the slightly delayed rush is working at Iowa, but they have to be more in tune with the school schedule!

[GolfersLady]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

One thing, if you don't already have season tickets at ISU, you really aren't getting tickets to the game, so it really is just about the tailgating. And if they have round 3 over 2 days, they're not having that many parties each day. So I still contend they can get all the rush events done plenty early, at least for the girls to get their party on in Iowa City, without any trouble.

But, with a dry recruitment, the fun of tailgating or going to bars even in Iowa City is diminished. Any sorority woman or PNM could be penalized/fined if seen or caught drinking during the recruitment period.

[ISUKappa]

The ISU/Iowa game is always the second weekend in September (or maybe the second Saturday after Labor Day, I'm not sure which). I thought that recruitment started earlier in previous years and was completed by the rivalry game. If they keep the current schedule, they will always run into issues. I know they can almost guarantee there will be football games on the first 3-4 weekends after school starts, and at least half, if not more, will be home games for Iowa. Tailgating -- I mean football () -- is a pretty big deal, why alienate part of your student body from attending?

[DubaiSis]

Iowa seems to be one big petri dish of sorority rush experimentation. They'll try something else next year! If they want to split up rush, they may have to start rush a few days before school starts and then do the rest over Labor Day weekend. That would at least keep them away from football weekends.

[Jill1228]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

Iowa seems to be one big petri dish of sorority rush experimentation. They'll try something else next year! If they want to split up rush, they may have to start rush a few days before school starts and then do the rest over Labor Day weekend. That would at least keep them away from football weekends.

EXACTLY! Last year when we were having the post recruitment Panhellenic workshop, the game schedule was a big bone of contention. Tailgating is important in Iowa

[scrapcat]

School did start later this year. I know when my kid had her bid day it was on Labor Day ( I think that's really good planning!). I did see on the rush schedule that pic is planning a group game viewing. I also like to think that girls who are invested in the process will make smart choices and continue. The numbers will show the effects of the game.

[colordogs]

My daughter going through recruitment echoed the harsh cutting stories. It was far more than I expected!! I know grades were a factor in her case (3.08 Official HS GPA but Iowa rescaled to 2.98...grrrr...) but not for most in her group. I have a relatively good understanding of quota/release and the cuts still seem steep.

[DubaiSis]

I'm wondering if the RFM specialist is a little sharp with the pencil. If they loosened up on the cuts, could quota be a bit larger? I mean we don't want the Polly Perfects inviting another 50 girls to round 2 if the result is they still don't get to invite more girls to pledge but it seems like EVERYONE is having to make oddly large cuts.
RFM experts out there, is there a line beyond which the proscribed numbers are too harsh? How can you tell and how do you resolve it?

[Titchou]

I know just enough about Iowa recruitment to be dangerous...that being said, keep in mind that it's really hard to know which women were released and which dropped out. Not everyone is up front about which category they fall into. And there are always groups which pretty much can invite whomever they want - due to their stats from previous years. It's not a matter of the RFM specialist lightening up. The stats drive the numbers. But it's possible for every woman to be invited back. Some get released from groups A and B and some from only C. But grade releases are usually the first cut.
And the U's vetted GPA is gospel.

[colordogs]

I know the reality of the numbers is ugly...I am from Indianas greek system. I do think, and this is only my opinion, that when you have such harsh cuts after the first round girls who might otherwise stick out future rounds become so discouraged they just drop and this is a detriment to the whole system. The strong well established houses continue to flourish, others miss out on great girls and the system as a whole doesn't grow.

In my perfect world I'd love to see a delayed recruitment where grade evaluation is potentially a more fair comparison..Iowa collegiate work compared to Iowa collegiate work. It also is far more reflective of which students are able to transition to work at a collegiate level. My daughter came from an extremely rigorous independent college prep school and had a great education. However, my heart was breaking for her and i certainly felt a great deal of frustration as my daughter is crying saying she wishes she hadn't done honors and ap so she would have had an easier course load and therefore better GPA.

No easy answers here