University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign Recruitment

[IL Anchor Girl]

Originally Posted by Clara Mom

The Second Invitational starts at 8:30 am on Saturday. Do the girls get their invites on Friday night or Saturday morning?

Clara Mom, I was told they get them on Friday -

[DeltaBetaBaby]

They get their schedules when they meet with their groups to begin the next round of parties.

[Clara Mom]

For all the PNMs going through recruitment at Illinois, here is sage advice (cut and pasted from other ladies here on this thread) going into the Second Invitational:

Cuts will be heavy, because there are so many PNMs going through. 18-13-7-3 means that the cuts get worse as the rounds go on. Be prepared that you might not get invited back to all, or even any, of your favorites. That doesn't mean they all didn't want you back, it just means they had too many girls to consider. All that being said, very few women are released from all chapters. The vast majority not completing recruitment drop out themselves. Here are some things to consider, though, if you don't get all of your favorite invites:

1) You have been invited back to "X" number of sororities. You should try to find new favorites. Some of your favorites changed from Open House to First Invitational, so you know it can happen.

2) At Illinois, tiers and reputations change. Houses once considered "top" have changed over the years - some are like night and day.

3) Every chapter at Illinois has over 150 women. Every chapter has women who party, and women who go to church, and women who study, and women who play sports, etc, etc. Every NPC chapter has a house, and a barn dance, and a formal, and exchanges, etc. Every chapter also has drama.

4) The fraternities vastly outnumber the sororities, something like 50 housed fraternities to 18 sororities. This means that no sorority ever hurts for a social calendar, and every sorority has at least two fraternities that consider that sorority their favorite.

5) Even by the second round, there are so many PNMs coming through, that most of the chapters do not assign hostesses, and the PNM is paired with whomever happens to be next in line when she walks through the door. This means that your experience with the chapter has a lot to do with the luck of the draw. Everyone tries to let PNMs meet more than one active, but again, in such large chapters, the PNM is lucky if she meets 10%.

6) Please make sure you maximize your invitations. Even if there are still some chapters where you are not feeling a connection, please be certain to fill out your preferences completely. If you do not do this, you will lose the opportunity to be a quota addition to one of your top choices, if it comes down to that. If you play by the rules, you have a very good chance of getting a bid from one of the three chapters you pref.

7) When bid day finally comes, if it's not your very first choice, or even your second choice, please remember that even though you have received a bid to join the sisterhood you least wanted or expected, if you give it a chance, you may come to realize that it was the place where you belonged most. Please try to keep your heart open and enjoy the fact that the girls in this chapter really want you.

Finally, the best home for you is where you are invited back, where your new sisters know you are out there and want you, and the Greek universe has a way of showing you and helping you find your true home.

[FSUZeta]

Originally Posted by Clara Mom

For all the PNMs going through recruitment at Illinois, here is sage advice (cut and pasted from other ladies here on this thread) going into the Second Invitational:

Cuts will be heavy, because there are so many PNMs going through. 18-13-7-3 means that the cuts get worse as the rounds go on. Be prepared that you might not get invited back to all, or even any, of your favorites. That doesn't mean they all didn't want you back, it just means they had too many girls to consider. All that being said, very few women are released from all chapters. The vast majority not completing recruitment drop out themselves. Here are some things to consider, though, if you don't get all of your favorite invites:

1) You have been invited back to "X" number of sororities. You should try to find new favorites. Some of your favorites changed from Open House to First Invitational, so you know it can happen.

2) At Illinois, tiers and reputations change. Houses once considered "top" have changed over the years - some are like night and day.

3) Every chapter at Illinois has over 150 women. Every chapter has women who party, and women who go to church, and women who study, and women who play sports, etc, etc. Every NPC chapter has a house, and a barn dance, and a formal, and exchanges, etc. Every chapter also has drama.

4) The fraternities vastly outnumber the sororities, something like 50 housed fraternities to 18 sororities. This means that no sorority ever hurts for a social calendar, and every sorority has at least two fraternities that consider that sorority their favorite.

5) Even by the second round, there are so many PNMs coming through, that most of the chapters do not assign hostesses, and the PNM is paired with whomever happens to be next in line when she walks through the door. This means that your experience with the chapter has a lot to do with the luck of the draw. Everyone tries to let PNMs meet more than one active, but again, in such large chapters, the PNM is lucky if she meets 10%.

6) Please make sure you maximize your bids. Even if there are still some chapters where you are not feeling a connection, please be certain to fill out your preferences completely. If you do not do this, you will lose the opportunity to be a quota addition to one of your top choices, if it comes down to that. If you play by the rules, you have a very good chance of getting a bid from one of the three chapters you pref.

Finally, the best home for you is where you are invited back, where your new sisters know you are out there and want you, and the Greek universe has a way of showing you and helping you find your true home.

good advice for any campus! would you mind changing the highlighted word, "bids" to "invitations"? during formal recruitment, bids only happen after pref. round, and a PNM can only receive one.

[Clara Mom]

Okay, I made that change, and added a paragraph on accepting bids. I think I will print this out and send it to my daughter, without telling her, of course, that I had anything to do with.

[DubaiSis]

It's sage advice and DOESN'T sound like you're saying - you'll take what you're given and like it!

[Clara Mom]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

It's sage advice and DOESN'T sound like you're saying - you'll take what you're given and like it!

Yeah, i was trying to get away from that. I thought about starting it out:

For all you A Plus Blessed Girls who have never not gotten everything you have ever wanted and worked for ...

It's hard as a mom because you know there most likely will be some disappointments, and you are hundreds of miles away and powerless to help. Not that there would be anything you could do, but still ...

[pearlalum]

I'm relatively new to GC and pledged decades ago in the East Cost. So, please forgive me if this question has already been asked. Why do Illinois and Iowa do their recruitment process over two weekends? It seems like it would add to the stress for the PNMs and certainly for the Moms. Thanks.

[Cruise4fun]

Originally Posted by pearlalum

I'm relatively new to GC and pledged decades ago in the East Cost. So, please forgive me if this question has already been asked. Why do Illinois and Iowa do their recruitment process over two weekends? It seems like it would add to the stress for the PNMs and certainly for the Moms. Thanks.

It doesn't seem that unusual to me (maybe because I live in the midwest). My alma mater went over 2 weekends with only 4 chapters that last time I visited. The chapter I advise went over 2.5 weeks with only 2 NPC's and one local. They try to not have too much on school nights and class schedules.

[DubaiSis]

Originally Posted by pearlalum

I'm relatively new to GC and pledged decades ago in the East Cost. So, please forgive me if this question has already been asked. Why do Illinois and Iowa do their recruitment process over two weekends? It seems like it would add to the stress for the PNMs and certainly for the Moms. Thanks.

My understanding is a lot fewer girls drop out if they spread it out over 2 weekends instead of doing it all the week before school starts. It seems to us that the stress would be unbearable, but I guess the opposite is true. They go to the first 2 rounds, then go back to their lives, their classes, etc. and find out that there are perfectly good women in every chapter, so they stick it out. Iowa's drop out rate is still horrendous but it's improving, and Illinois' drop out rate is fabulously low.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

My understanding is a lot fewer girls drop out if they spread it out over 2 weekends instead of doing it all the week before school starts. It seems to us that the stress would be unbearable, but I guess the opposite is true. They go to the first 2 rounds, then go back to their lives, their classes, etc. and find out that there are perfectly good women in every chapter, so they stick it out. Iowa's drop out rate is still horrendous but it's improving, and Illinois' drop out rate is fabulously low.

Interesting. I kinda wonder if this is why "tent talk" is at a comparatively low level at Illinois, too. Maybe I was just oblivious, which is also possible.

My non-greek roommate could care less, my brother and his friends had nice things to say about every chapter, and it was only talking to other PNM's that I felt like the gossip came out.

[pearlalum]

Thanks for the response Cruise4fun. Maybe the ones I'm thinking of that do it all at once are the schools that recruit before classes start.

[TriDeltaSallie]

Back in the day, Michigan State went for two weeks or longer. We were still on quarters and school didn't start until late September. Between home football games and the Jewish holidays... Sometimes it was really a long, drawn out process. One year was especially bad. I think rush went for a full three weeks. It was awful for everyone involved.

I see MSU does it in eight days now. Of course, there are less chapters and fewer rushees so it's possible. There's no way we could have done it in eight days back then.

[DubaiSis]

I think the unicorns pooping rainbows mentality is enhanced in the bubble that is rush the week before school starts when all you have to do or think about 24 hours a day for a week is rush and which sorority is the best and worst, and there's nobody there to point out this is a group of friends, not the holy grail. Getting a couple days' reality check can only be good for the girls.

From the sororities' side, I'd be pushing for a week, pushed through, all before school starts (and really, wouldn't July be better?), but for the rushees I'd push for this new trend in spreading it out a bit.

[Clara Mom]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

I think the unicorns pooping rainbows mentality is enhanced in the bubble that is rush the week before school starts when all you have to do or think about 24 hours a day for a week is rush and which sorority is the best and worst, and there's nobody there to point out this is a group of friends, not the holy grail. Getting a couple days' reality check can only be good for the girls.

From the sororities' side, I'd be pushing for a week, pushed through, all before school starts (and really, wouldn't July be better?), but for the rushees I'd push for this new trend in spreading it out a bit.

What she said.