Formal vs. Informal Recruitment

[christina213]

Hi everyone!
I've been lurking around here for a couple weeks and I think I've decided I want to rush next year (I'll be a sophomore). My school has formal rush in the spring, and a few chapters have an informal rush in the fall if they are under a quota. So I have a couple questions about informal recruitment-

-How does informal typically work? From what I understand, you visit whichever houses are recruiting and then if they like you, they'll offer you a bid? Is this correct or do you still have cuts, preference parties, etc? I'm sure this is different for each campus, but I was just wondering what the general situation was.

-If you are accepted to a sorority, do you still go through a pledge process similar to the formal pledges? Ex. Getting a big, big/little week (or would you do this when the spring pledges do?), initiation, etc.

-Which girls are considered your "pledge class"? The small amount of girls that are accepted with you during fall during informal recruitment or the girls accepted through formal recruitment in the spring?

I think that's all..I'm really excited to rush! Thanks for all your help in advance.

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

Originally Posted by christina213

Hi everyone!
I've been lurking around here for a couple weeks and I think I've decided I want to rush next year (I'll be a sophomore). My school has formal rush in the spring, and a few chapters have an informal rush in the fall if they are under a quota. So I have a couple questions about informal recruitment-

-How does informal typically work? From what I understand, you visit whichever houses are recruiting and then if they like you, they'll offer you a bid? Is this correct or do you still have cuts, preference parties, etc? I'm sure this is different for each campus, but I was just wondering what the general situation was.

-If you are accepted to a sorority, do you still go through a pledge process similar to the formal pledges? Ex. Getting a big, big/little week (or would you do this when the spring pledges do?), initiation, etc.

-Which girls are considered your "pledge class"? The small amount of girls that are accepted with you during fall during informal recruitment or the girls accepted through formal recruitment in the spring?

I think that's all..I'm really excited to rush! Thanks for all your help in advance.

For us, yes you would go through everything that a women who rushes in formal goes through and you will be initiated priot to formal recruitment. Your pledge class would be those women who also went through informal.

At my alma mater we also do formal in the Spring and have informal in the Fall for anyone who isn't a freshman. In past years, we've had 20-30 women participate and we usually take 8-10 (campus is smaller with 4 sororities).

[KSUViolet06]

In my chapter, we held informal in the spring. We had a week of events. One night would be a movie night, the next night might be ice skating at the ice arena. each night would be a different activity with a different group of sisters so that the girls who were interested in us could meet everyone without having to meet us all at once (that's overwhelming).

At the end of the week, we extended bids to however many girls we chose. All of the women who received bids during informal were part of the same new member (pledge) class.

Those girls woud have the same things in their new member period as the girls who go through formal recruitment including Big/Little Week, I-Week, and a Bid Night cookout!

I joined my chapter through informal and my new member period was just as enjoyable.

[christina213]

Thanks for the replies, now I'm even more excited!

[fantASTic]

I went through informal, though ours is in the winter. Our process:

Each sorority that wants to hold open recruitment in the winter plans their own events. The girls try and recruit PNMs to come to them, and interests can come of their own free will as well. After several events, there is a Preference and bids are issued. Each girl who receives a bid for informal is in your pledge class. In my sorority, all events which occur during formal recruitment [as far as big/little stuff, we do a new member social, stuff like that] still happens during informal. You would be a full member by the time formal recruitment started in the spring, assuming that you received a bid and went through.