School with Lowest Percentage accepted?

[naraht]

Does anyone know what the college/university is where the smallest percentage of the women who go through rush are accepted?

[carnation]

Maybe a school with a bed rush, like Indiana.

[IndianaSigKap]

Originally Posted by carnation

Maybe a school with a bed rush, like Indiana.

That's exactly what I was going to guess since placement rate is about 50% depending on how you figure it and if you figure in the women who attend open houses but don't have the grades to return in January.

[naraht]

Originally Posted by carnation

Maybe a school with a bed rush, like Indiana.

Just to make sure I understand, Bed Rush is basically "Alpha Sigma Alpha expects to have 15 open beds in the house in August and Delta Gamma expects to have 30 open beds in the house in August. Therefore the number of pledges that Delta Gamma can take is higher than the number that Alpha Sigma Alpha can take and those pledge numbers are (more or less) calculated from the number of open beds."

[CutiePie2000]

Originally Posted by carnation

Maybe a school with a bed rush, like Indiana.

Sorry to be an ignoramous, but what is a "bed rush"? I've never heard this term before.

[irishpipes]

Originally Posted by CutiePie2000

Sorry to be an ignoramous, but what is a "bed rush"? I've never heard this term before.

Each chapter determines its own "quota" based on the number of available beds in their house. This number is not calculated with any regard to the number of PNMs going through recruitment. So, if a sorority has 30 seniors graduate, they have 30 open spots. The physical houses at IU vary in size greatly, so the size of the chapters do also. Tri-delta might have 25 spots while ADPi might have 80. In any case, there tend to be WAY more PNMs vying for spots then there are spots available.

In a "normal" system, if there are 800 PNMs attending preference parties, and 19 chapters, each chapter will try to take a quota of 42. If there isn't space to live in the house, live somewhere else. At IU, if there are 800 PNMs attending pref and the available bed spots total to 450, 350 PNMs are just out of luck. This creates a lot of resentment among those PNMs who are left out after completing the process.

[naraht]

Originally Posted by irishpipes

Each chapter determines its own "quota" based on the number of available beds in their house. This number is not calculated with any regard to the number of PNMs going through recruitment. So, if a sorority has 30 seniors graduate, they have 30 open spots. The physical houses at IU vary in size greatly, so the size of the chapters do also. Tri-delta might have 25 spots while ADPi might have 80. In any case, there tend to be WAY more PNMs vying for spots then there are spots available.

In a "normal" system, if there are 800 PNMs attending preference parties, and 19 chapters, each chapter will try to take a quota of 42. If there isn't space to live in the house, live somewhere else. At IU, if there are 800 PNMs attending pref and the available bed spots total to 450, 350 PNMs are just out of luck. This creates a lot of resentment among those PNMs who are left out after completing the process.

Ouch. So theoretically, a chapter could have all of its seniors decide they want to stay for a 5th year and a second degree and end up with a quota of zero?

[DubaiSis]

Originally Posted by naraht

Ouch. So theoretically, a chapter could have all of its seniors decide they want to stay for a 5th year and a second degree and end up with a quota of zero?

I don't believe many if any of the NPC chapters at Indiana would allow a 5th year senior to live in. Even in my chapter when the house wasn't full, we still didn't have 5th year seniors live in. They were alumnae and that's that.

But as always, IndianaSigKap brings up a great compromise. If you increase your quota by just 5 you have virtually the same chapter size (and only have to allow for a few live-outs), but the system as a whole can accommodate WAY more girls. And that's a way for some chapters who do want to increase their size but don't want to completely throw out tradition to add 5 or 10 girls and not stick out as having done so.

[KSUViolet06]

I'd guess it's them. Everywhere else, the system is set up to place as many women as possible. Most placement rates (even at the SEC schools like Bama, Ole Miss, etc) are in the 90% or above range.

[IUHoosiergirl88]

As much as it pains me to admit it, I'd think it's IU. We have a god awful placement rate between bed numbers and drop outs

[carnation]

Here's a quote from the 1978 Arkansas Razorback (yearbook):

"Bid Day meant more disappointments than usual as 623 women competed for only 264 spots."

Arkansas had bed rush back in the day. I will never, ever see what the reasoning is behind it. If recruitment numbers are high, why should everyone need to live in the house?

[KSUViolet06]

^^^^Man. That's less than half!

Could you imagine what GC would be like during recruitment season if everyone still did it that way?

[carnation]

KSUViolet--no, but I remember what it was like on campus. I posted my rush story, including how my roommate and one of the other cheerleaders each went to 2 prefs and didn't get a bid.

Somewhere out there are hundreds of women who should have been Greek at Arkansas who weren't and harbor huge resentment against sororities.

[Cheerio]

How will IU's Bed Rush change with ASA and TPA as non-housed sororities (since there is no Campus Total)?

[IndianaSigKap]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

How will IU's Bed Rush change with ASA and TPA as non-housed sororities (since there is no Campus Total)?

Bed rush won't change at all for the 19 housed chapters. ASA and TPA can set their own quota based on how large they would like to be. At Indiana size does not equal strength. Tri Delta has a smaller, yet beautiful, chapter house with virtually no live outs. Even though they are the smallest chapter on campus, they are very much sought after by PNMs. I am sure HoosierGirl88 can confirm that size does not matter in this case.

Originally Posted by ladybug12

Why does Indiana want to be the special, perfect snowflake, and rainbow campus? I certainly understand campus traditions, but times change.

This is definitely the problem. The Indiana chapters and their alumnae base does not want to change. I do think chapter size plays a huge role in that reluctance to change. I do believe there is a fear that chapters will get to 200+ members. Chapters range from 110-165 in the fall, then after January recruitment their numbers increase anywhere from 30-90 depending on the size of the pledge class. I have heard that the last few chapter meetings of the year are awfully crowded. Also, the chapters like the elitism. They believe that since half the women who start recruitment don't receive a bid, it makes them feel like they accomplished something. I know that may sound harsh, but I hear it almost every time I am on campus.

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

Ladybug12, I think that's why they are doing some non-housed expansion. It's a big risk on the part of the sororities who choose to do it because for all the talk about not needing a chapter house and this provides more girls the opportunities and benefits of membership, etc. etc., there has to be actual girls who will sign on the dotted line.

I think back in the day sorority = house so the thought of being in a sorority and not living in just didn't equate. Now of course that is not true, both for schools without chapter houses and for chapter memberships that far exceed the house capacity. But change comes slow. And the chapter houses at IU are huge. I can completely see them thinking their chapter sizes as currently housed are perfectly big enough. So you can expand by adding more housed chapters, with land being a huge road block, or adding non-housed chapters which goes against 100 years of sorority tradition. I think the non-housed option can succeed with some very painful growing pains in the process. And it's not going to be quick. But I guess time will tell!

I hope that the unhoused chapter idea does work. I hate to see so many great young women who can't participate in Greek life because there just aren't enough spots. If IU isn't going to move away from bed rush, the unhoused chapters are a viable alternative.