COB- Informal Rush Dickinson
 

So I have a question....my daughter's best friend is a sophomore at Dickinson college in PA, and she did not rush even though she greatly wanted to because her GPA was just under the requirement- and they make no exceptions. She took several senior level classes her freshman year and did not fair so well- was a big mistake- since then she has improved her GPA remarkably well. She is very smart and outgoing. I feel so bad for her but was wondering if anyone knows if Dickinson offers COB- I know it usually does not happen unless a chapter does not meet quota (please correct me if I am wrong) but was wondering if this might be an option for her. Its a very small school only 4 sororities total so not sure about that. If not, she plans to rush her junior year which is almost unheard of but she really wants to do so I suppose she will. Thanks for any information you all can share.

Actually, COB has to do with total, as well as FR quota, Stef. That said, if a chapter did not make quota during FR, they can COB to quota, even though they are over total. If they are under total, they can COB to reach total, regardless of how they did in FR. Reading the Green Book will help your understanding of all this! I'm not the greatest at explaining.

She's a sophomore, and her GPA is still not at the minimum? Am I understanding you correctly? Or did her first semester sophomore year elevate her GPA to meet the minimum?

ETA: FR= Formal Recruitment

thanks for explaining that, it definitely helps. As for her GPA- she decided when she started to get all her heavy classes out of the way first, which we all tried to talk her out of doing but she insisted- she did not fair well at all- since then she has worked hard to improve her GPA which was just under the 3.0 requirement- she missed out by 0.6 I believe. She write the sorority and greek life office to make exception and was told absolutely NO exceptions. So, since FR is only done in Spring she will have to wait a whole year to rush. Thus, the reason for my question re: COB, obviously she would have to wait till Fall *if they offered this and Spring 18 if not, and rush as Junior. Hope this helps. She is a sophomore not a junior yet. She knows she made a huge mistake and totally regrets it now but damage is done.

Is the 3.0 requirement to go through recruitment or to join Greek Life? If it's just for formal recruitment, she could reach out to sororities this semester and see if any of them are doing COB rather than waiting until the fall. Whether a sorority is doing COB is determined semesterly so even if they aren't this spring some sororities could be in the fall.

I think its the GPA required by sororities and greek life in order to rush. All her roommates are Theta's so at least she has some friends there. Its most likely she will not rush too next year- will give her additional time to pull up her GPA even though she not too far away.

This is what is on Dickinson College's Panhellenic Recruitment page:
"To be eligible to participate in Panhellenic's Formal Recruitment process, a woman must be a regularly enrolled, full-time undergraduate student who is on-campus and in good standing with Dickinson College, has completed at least 4 credits in one semester, and has a 2.6 or better cumulative GPA. "

Here's my advice: IF there are any sororities doing COB, she could go ahead and sign up for it. She might (or might not) be invited for a visit or two, which may or may not result in a bid. At the worst, she would meet and get to know some girls in the sorority and get a feel for the group. If they offer her a bid - wonderful! If not - she can go through next year.

Generally speaking, Panhellenic can recommend that grades be at a certain level or above, but it's the sororities that decide if someone meets their criteria or not.