What makes a certain university a "competitive" school to rush at?

[FSUGirl94]

I do not understand what makes certain universities "competitive" when it comes to rushing sororities. I thought that the number of PNMs who sign up for recruitment constituted levels of competition, but I have been corrected; a user here on GC told me that larger numbers of girls signing up for recruitment just means larger pledge classes. I have been told that FSU has the second most competitive rush in the country and that it will be even worse this year because of AOII's recolonization, but I don't necessarily believe that. Can someone please clarify this for me?

[AOII Angel]

No, I don't think anyone would say that FSU's recruitment is the "second" most competitive in the country. There are several very competitive Greek schools. FSU is quite competitive. FSUZeta can answer more about it. Having AOII colonize this year does NOT make it MORE competitive. It gives women more opportunities to join Greek life than had previously been available since AOII will try to reach chapter average (or close) during our colonization recruitment which occurs AFTER formal recruitment in the first part of September. Upper class women will have an opportunity to find a place in our new chapter. The colonization process is very selective, but many spots will be available for interested women.

[thetalady]

Originally Posted by FSUGirl94

I do not understand what makes certain universities "competitive" when it comes to rushing sororities. I thought that the number of PNMs who sign up for recruitment constituted levels of competition, but I have been corrected; a user here on GC told me that larger numbers of girls signing up for recruitment just means larger pledge classes. I have been told that FSU has the second most competitive rush in the country and that it will be even worse this year because of AOII's recolonization, but I don't necessarily believe that. Can someone please clarify this for me?

"Competitive" does not necessarily refer to whether or not a young woman can get A bid to A sorority in an extremely competitive recruitment.

It does mean that it may be really tough to get a bid to Pi Zeta Popular sorority because many, many girls want to pledge there... usually for the sparkly purple panty hose That is why we stress over & over and over that girls need to keep their options and their minds open to ALL of the possibilities.

[DubaiSis]

In general, I think a sense of competition is because there is a strong sense of "best" and "worst" chapters and winning at rush. If you've done your homework (gotten your recs in, etc.) and can be willing to happily accept however rush works out for you, it wouldn't really be more competitive than anywhere else. If you have lost sleep for months about what it's going to take to get into the Awesome Alphas or Beta Beauties and will die a horrible death if you get stuck with the Gross Gammas, then rush is going to seem VERY competitive to you.

While there are girls who get cut completely from rush, those girls are remarkably few and most of those will be because of grades. So in other words, if you just play along, you most likely will find A home. A home in the Awesome Alphas or Beta Beauties? I'm not saying that. But I will say that if you make the most of whichever house you end up in, you will be happy and make memories to last you a lifetime.

[Hartofsec]

FSUGirl,

Your chances of finding a Greek home are probably better than usual this recruitment since a GLO will be colonizing and providing additional opportunities for upperclassmen.

But I think you will drive yourself crazy trying to gauge your "chances" based on your circumstances and what you read on the internet. This will likely cause any stress you have about rush to escalate.

You can't control what effect your class standing and GPA will have on your recruitment at this point. You can only control what comes next -- and that includes mentally preparing yourself for a busy week. Worrying about your chances and how "competitive" the process may be will not help you navigate the upcoming recruitment week.

Some motherly advice -- it's time to stop worrying about the process and finding reasons that you may not succeed. The only way you will definitely never find a Greek home is never to try.

It's time to rest all you can, breathe deeply, and think positive thoughts -- imagine the new friends you will meet in your rush group, and how great you will look in the outfits you chose. From this point forward, your mental preparation could make all the difference in not only your enjoyment of the process, but also in your outcome.

All the best to you -- hoping you find your Greek home!

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by Hartofsec

FSUGirl,

Your chances of finding a Greek home are probably better than usual this recruitment since a GLO will be colonizing and providing additional opportunities for upperclassmen.

But I think you will drive yourself crazy trying to gauge your "chances" based on your circumstances and what you read on the internet. This will likely cause any stress you have about rush to escalate.

You can't control what effect your class standing and GPA will have on your recruitment at this point. You can only control what comes next -- and that includes mentally preparing yourself for a busy week. Worrying about your chances and how "competitive" the process may be will not help you navigate the upcoming recruitment week.

Some motherly advice -- it's time to stop worrying about the process and finding reasons that you may not succeed. The only way you will definitely never find a Greek home is never to try.

It's time to rest all you can, breathe deeply, and think positive thoughts -- imagine the new friends you will meet in your rush group, and how great you will look in the outfits you chose. From this point forward, your mental preparation could make all the difference in not only your enjoyment of the process, but also in your outcome.

All the best to you -- hoping you find your Greek home!

Very good advice!

[FSUZeta]

FSU is a competitive recruitment-I would not say that it is the 2nd most competitive in the nation. Frankly, I would not know which campus would be #2-in my view, they are all competitive in their own way.

If you are worried about the number of PNMs enrolled in recruitment, don't be. If all of you make it to pref. round that means there are X number of PNMs to be divided among the y number of sororities. To make it easy, if FSU has 2 sororities and 100 PNMs, if all the PNMs make it to pref. round then quota is going to be 50. Panhellenic tries to accommodate all the PNMs so that they each have a place.

My advice would be to be realistic. Find the chapters where you would immediately fit in-where you feel the most comfortable and where the members appear to be most like you. Most everyone is going to be charming to you. Look around the room. Especially in the later rounds, don't just look at the members, but at the PNMs who they invited back. Don't worry if it is not Phi Zeta Popular. You need to be happy and comfortable. And most importantly, realistic.

If you have more FSU specific questions, you can PM me.

[amIblue?]

I agree with everything that has been said here, but I'm wondering, what exactly is the #1 most competitive recruitment? Indiana? Alabama? Arkansas? Ole Miss? Texas? UGA? They're all tough, and so are a bunch of other schools.

I almost feel like trying to rank the competitiveness of recruitments is similar to tiering chapters on a single campus. Even if you're at what is traditionally considered a non-competitive campus, you still have that whole "I hope they like me" thing going on. That's nerve wracking no matter where you are. Certainly, it's more intense at certain places, but it's still there.

To the OP, try not to worry about things like this so much. Enjoy your recruitment. The best thing you can do is to enjoy your conversations and be the best you can be.

[33girl]

I would say Arkansas, Texas or Ole Miss simply because the number of sororities is so disproportionate to the number of PNMs and because it's been so hard for a new group to come on. That makes it competitive all around - i.e. it's even competitive for a new sorority to succeed.

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I would say Arkansas, Texas or Ole Miss simply because the number of sororities is so disproportionate to the number of PNMs and because it's been so hard for a new group to come on. That makes it competitive all around - i.e. it's even competitive for a new sorority to succeed.

That's not really where I was going, but you still haven't picked one, so I guess that's my point.

[ASTalumna06]

I would think Indiana could also take the cake with their "bed quota" system. Putting a limit on the number of bids going out, regardless of how many PNMs go through, in my opinion, makes it more challenging to have a successful recruitment (assuming that "success" means simply getting a bid, and not factoring in how many PNMs got a bid to their "dream" chapter)

[Hartofsec]

Just general speculation, but it seems to me that the schools where recs are more a necessity than a frill are perceived as "more competitive." At these schools, recs increase a PNMs opportunities for party invitations (and the lack thereof will probably limit opportunity). I'm sure the laborious process of securing these probably makes it feel very competitive.

Many of these same schools also have high numbers of well-prepared PNMs and abundant legacies, along with home-state/hometown stronghold chapters. As mentioned earlier in the thread, PNMs who have their hearts set on a few chapters that fall into this category will most certainly encounter competition -- these chapters cannot pledge every sharp PNM from a particular high school or city.

For those recruitments using RFM, the likelihood of a PNM finding a Greek home is very high, regardless of the number of chapters and PNMs. Speaking for my alma mater anyway -- the number of PNMs released from recruitment is not as high as most people might imagine:

http://greekaffairs.ua.edu/documents...r2002-2012.pdf

[magnoliacurious]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I would say Arkansas, Texas or Ole Miss simply because the number of sororities is so disproportionate to the number of PNMs and because it's been so hard for a new group to come on. That makes it competitive all around - i.e. it's even competitive for a new sorority to succeed.

You would certainly be a much more authoritative judge on this matter than I would, but I think it's worth mentioning that for the last two years Ole Miss had a 90%+ rate of girls who signed up for recruitment getting placed in a sorority while Alabama had a mid to upper 80% placement rate. I don't know all the circumstances at both schools, but to me a lower placement rate seems a surface indicator of more competitiveness. I believe it's obvious to most of us here that both schools recruitments are among the most competitive in America.

[DubaiSis]

I would say Indiana because the competition for ANY space is competitive. At a Bama, Texas, Ole Miss, if you have a fully open mind, you will very likely find A home. At Indiana nobody can make that claim. There, more than anywhere else, making your choices strategically is critical.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

I would say Indiana because the competition for ANY space is competitive. At a Bama, Texas, Ole Miss, if you have a fully open mind, you will very likely find A home. At Indiana nobody can make that claim. There, more than anywhere else, making your choices strategically is critical.

But Indiana also has deferred recruitment. You have a semester to get your shiz together and get the "I really want to be XYZ" out of your head and embrace the "but I'm really a better fit with ABC." In a completely housed chapter, fit is more crucial than at most places. What I'm trying to say is you shouldn't have to use strategery (har) by that point.