I think it's great that you're all trying to think of ways to make everything better.
There are three concerns I have with DeltaBetaBaby's idea:
The first is regarding whether or not PNMs will be hurting themselves through the rankings. How often have we seen a rush thread where Rhonda Rushee disliked ABC in the first round. When she got her invites she wasn't that thrilled to see them on the list. Then, when she goes to their next party, she's wowed by it and realizes how great they are. By using the suggested system, PNMs may hurt themselves by accident. After all, they sometimes make silly decisions, *especially* after the first round when they've only had 10 minutes in each party.
The next concern is about whether or not it's fair for the sororities to have the "inside knowledge." Yes, in a way they would be doing a "mutual selection" - Rhonda Rushee ranks them and then the sororities invite based on whether or not she's interested. HOWEVER, I feel funny about that. Technically, couldn't it be the other way around? Couldn't the PNMs be given a list of how each sorority ranked *them* and then the PNMS could make their selection from that?? See, I just think that this system gives one group (sororities vs. PNMs) slightly more power than the other. How come the PNMs don't get to know whether or not a sorority is "really" interested in them??
I think I prefer the "they rank, I rank and a third party matches us up" system that's currently used. Yes, it's not fun to have to waste time on people who don't want to be there, but there will *always* be people and groups who put on fronts like that.
Finally, with forced rankings, I imagine it gets sticky when a PNM likes several groups equally. For example, say a campus has 7 sororities: SK, AOII, DZ, AXO, ADPi, ZTA, and DPhiE (just randomly grabbing org names!) After the first round she LOVES AXO - it's her favortie. Ok, fine, its #1. However, she really likes ADPi, AOII and ZTA *equally*. She'd be happy to be a sister of either of them. She really can't think of any reason to put any of these three above the other two so she just flips a coin or puts them in alphabetical order. Finally, she's either neutral about or dislikes, DZ, DPhiE and SK. So, her ranking comes out looking like this:
1) AXO
2) ADPi
3) AOII
4) ZTA
5) DZ
6) DPhiE
7) SK
Now, say ZTA really LOVED her. They put her at the top of their list. Using DeltaBetaBaby's suggestion, they'd get a printout of the PNM rankings and would see that she put them 4th out of 7. They might be heartbroken to think that she only thought they were "so so" when in reality they could have just as easily been #2! They may try to invite her back in an attempt to win her over....or, depending on the recruitment situation, they could cut her not wanting to risk it.
Yes, PNMs currently have these forced-rank situations anyway. The difference is that the *sororities don't get to see it*.
Then again, I'm not in an NPC group so I could be completely and totally way off base!
Just my 2¢ (it looks more like $2 worth!)
.....Kelly