Informal rush at Indiana U
 

Much like many other girls who went through formal recruitment at Indiana U, it didn't go the way that I'd hope. As a sophomore, I recieved heavy cuts and ended up with only 2 houses at 12 party, one of which I disliked. I went ahead and visited both, and was cut by the house that I liked following 12 party and thus dropped. I was wondering if anyone knows much about the informal process at IU, I was told by a few current greek friends that informal is generally better for sophomores. I don't want a top house, although one house that almost always does informal was a house that I did not like. Just wondering if anyone had any advice on informal at IU or chances for a sophomore during informal. Thanks! :D

KSU--

I'm not sure how much you know about recruitment at IU...I think there's a few other stories that girls posted so if you want to know how cutthroat it is, read those :]...I was told by several people that the reason I recieved such heavy cuts was because I was a sophomore (my grades are well above the cut off and above all individual chapters' requirements, although not perfect--that's what I get for pursuing a difficult major, haha) and that informal is better for sophomores. I know most of the houses don't do it, however, after going through 19 party and the like, I got an idea of which houses I liked and which I did not, and the houses I liked most tended to be what could be considered "bottom tier." I was really just wondering if anyone knew much about the informal process here at IU or whether they recommend it for someone like me. Thanks!

I think we all know how competitive IU's recruitment is. KSUViolet was trying to tell you, in a nice way, that you may be out of luck; the chapters may have hit ceiling/total after recruitment and therefore won't be looking for any new members this term. If you want to find out if any of the chapters you liked are doing COB, the best way may be to tell someone you know in those chapters that you're interested in any opportunities. You can also check with the greek life/student life office, but many times they don't know the details of COB.

I'm guessing that part of what makes them "bottom tier" is low numbers. Did those chapters not invite you back? I'm really confused by your statement.

I got invited back by only two chapters, although I won't say which ones, I will just say that they are considered 'bottom tier' at IU.

I was just trying to get my point across that I wasn't doing COB because I wanted a better chapter or because I dropped due to not getting a top house (which many, many girls do). I genuinely liked houses that have some bad stereotypes and again, I won't say what those are, but I'm sure you can guess. They're considered bottom tier (which I think is completely stupid, how is your house better than someone else's?) and that led me to believe that there could be a really tiny chance they were doing COB, even if it's just for a few spots in their PC.

I'm still confused. Are you saying the "bottom tier" chapters that you like have already made quota and bidded up to total?

I don't think she knows if they bidded up to total. She's looking for an answer on which houses at IU may be doing COB, and how she can get invited to the events.

OP, even if the chapter is "lower tier," they still might have big numbers. I am not familiar with the chapter sizes at IU, but I've always heard that all the chapters there are generally better-than-the-average-bear. Is it possible that even the lower tier groups are now above total following recruitment?

If you are still interested, go for it! As a fellow midwesterner, I know all about IU's recruitment and I'm sure a HUGE reason you were released from most of the chapters was dude to the fact that you're a sophomore. I think your best bet is go to your greek life office and ask which houses (if any, and hopefully there will be one or two) are doing COB and how you can be considered. They will have more answers than anyone on Greek Life (unless we have some IU Panel reps on GC). I have a feeling there are houses doing COB (at a school with only 4 chapters and nearly 800 girls rushing for 150 spots, we have at least one chapter that still does COB. Good luck, and keep us updated!

Does Indiana have a varying quota based on bed space in the house, or am I totally smoking crack on that one?

yeah, I reread this and clocked myself in the head - I forgot they have that funky quota/total thing there.

IUhoosiergirl, why did you go through recruitment as a sophomore? Did you rush last year? Are you a transfer student?

FrankSwim--

I'm not a transfer student and I didn't rush last year because, well, it's a bit of a long story. I knew no one that had gone greek either at IU or any other school, so I knew very little of the process other than the stuff you see in movies. Only one girl from my floor rushed last year, so that didn't help any either. I had considered rushing last year but was unsure, and felt that because I had heard rush was SO competitive, I didn't want to be another person for people to compete with when I wasn't sure. I didn't want to be at houses at 12 party, for example, when I wasn't sure if I wanted to be there, especially when there are other girls who know they want to be there or love the house. As cheesy as it sounds, I didn't want to take a spot at a party or a house away from another girl who genuinely wanted to be there.

However, this year and after seeing what girls in houses were really like and all the opportunities for philanthropies and things like IUDM and IU Sing, it made up my mind to go through and give it a shot!

I don't mean to hijack this away from the IU topic, but this seems impossible to me at any school. 800 PMNs? 4 sororities? Only 150 open spots making quota at about 37? If this isn't an exaggeration, something clearly needs to be done on this campus.