NPC Recruitment and Chapter Listing: Fall 2022-Spring 2023

[FSUZeta]

As far as quota is concerned, numbers vary based on the recruiting strength of a certain chapter and/or length of time/age of a chapter(re:a newly chartered chapter that is still working to establish themselves). The more successful chapters are required to invite back less people because of the high percentage of invitation acceptances-we all know this. Due to this, those chapters will usually have quotas closer to the RFM figure, while newer chapters and chapters that are not most popular may show a considerably larger quota. This is done in the hope that in a few years, those chapters sizes will be closer to or exceed average chapter size.

I would say that the NPC does work to help maximize the number of PNMs who receive a bid, while trying to help the less productive( in regards to meeting total/getting close to total) chapters grow, which may be why there are two ways the rush figures may go. They will advise the CPC to use the method which will yield the most bids matched and highest new member classes. And we can’t forget, any chapter below campus total is allowed to COB until they reach that figure.

[carnation]

Back in the day, what drove smaller chapters to close was that quota would be set after first parties, which gave the more popular sororities huge pledge classes and the less popular ones much smaller pledge classes. Then they hardly had time for activities because they were desperately trying to COB to get numbers up. However, a lot of unbid girls wouldn't have been caught dead pledging any chapter that COBed.

[ChioLu]

The University of Southern California completed formal recruitment in January. Around 820 went through but ONLY 443 joined sororities on bid day! That’s just over 50%. Nearly all of the PNMs withdrew because they did not get their top choices. Quota was 56. I do know that Delta Gamma got 61.

When USC was doing virtual recruitment, nearly all chapters were making quota.

[FSUZeta]

Yes, Carnation and ChioLu!! You both make excellent points about PNMs-they hold the ultimate rush decisions in their hands-they can accept or turn down a bid or drop out of recruitment. We are seeing more and more PNMs dropping out of recruitment when their favorite(s) don’t ask them back. Unfortunately, many have been led down a primrose path where they are certain their desired will pick them up as a COB right after formal recruitment. When that doesn’t happen, they hope against hope that their faves will be participating in informal and refuse to explore other COB opportunities. They are used to getting their own way, having grown up in a generation where everyone is a winner and they all get a trophy. And then, they( and their parents) find out the world doesn’t function that way.

[ZTA72]

I had no idea how lucky I was to get my first choice. To read that 50% drop out of recruitment because of the houses they have left is beyond me.
I would have gratefully joined any group that I received a bid to. Things were apparently different back in the "Stone Ages"!

[shadokat]

At the end of the day, if a PNM goes through and maximizes her options in every round, she'll get a bid to one of the groups that she preffed - or even the ONE group she preffed, and that includes if she wasn't high enough to match at quota.

Today, PNMs just aren't going to give it a shot to see how it goes with a chapter they THINK they don't want. If they don't get the group(s) they want, they drop. NPC has been urging smaller campuses to use a total setting method to encourage growth - say largest chapter size instead of average chapter size or in some cases, largest chapter size PLUS. I think this is a move by NPC to keep chapter numbers up while enrollment numbers at most colleges are dwindling. Ultimately, it's up to the FSL to decide if they're going to use one of these total setting methods or stick with the average or median chapter size.

The other thing many campuses don't do well is rho gamma training and helping rho gammas deal with these women who drop because their schedule doesn't contain a top house. While rho gammas explain to the women that if you drop, you're not getting a bid now, they do tell them that informal recruitment is an option. And let's face it, at many schools, the informal recruitment option is for the groups that the PNM wouldn't go to, so now they feel they've been wronged twice. It's a tough time right now for sure.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by shadokat

NPC has been urging smaller campuses to use a total setting method to encourage growth - say largest chapter size instead of average chapter size or in some cases, largest chapter size PLUS. I think this is a move by NPC to keep chapter numbers up while enrollment numbers at most colleges are dwindling. Ultimately, it's up to the FSL to decide if they're going to use one of these total setting methods or stick with the average or median chapter size.

Yes, and more FSLs needs to understand the NPC SUGGESTION is not a MANDATE.

The other thing many campuses don't do well is rho gamma training and helping rho gammas deal with these women who drop because their schedule doesn't contain a top house.

It's one thing to have your own standards when you're a PNM choosing which invites to accept, and then choosing to drop recruitment when your invites don't match your standards. It takes an unusually mature PNM to understand that the way recruitment is structured and governed means you may never receive a sorority bid that you are willing to accept.

.

[Cookiez17]

All of this! Even though virtual recruitment had its downfalls, I noticed tent talk was down to nothing and PNMs were going off what it should be: conversations and the overall chapter vibes.

[SuzyInMD]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

Yes, Carnation and ChioLu!! You both make excellent points about PNMs-they hold the ultimate rush decisions in their hands-they can accept or turn down a bid or drop out of recruitment. We are seeing more and more PNMs dropping out of recruitment when their favorite(s) don’t ask them back. Unfortunately, many have been led down a primrose path where they are certain their desired will pick them up as a COB right after formal recruitment. When that doesn’t happen, they hope against hope that their faves will be participating in informal and refuse to explore other COB opportunities. They are used to getting their own way, having grown up in a generation where everyone is a winner and they all get a trophy. And then, they( and their parents) find out the world doesn’t function that way.

This is harsh. The parents you are referring to are ME and others who were in sororities in the 80s and 90s. My daughter went through recruitment on her campus last year (Spring 2022) and was cut by 5 of 9 houses after Round 1. I don't know if you have experienced this yourself, but it feels crappy to be cut by over half the houses, including all the houses considered to be "top tier." My daughter called me crying, not because she loved those houses, but because it made her feel ugly. Fortunately, my daughter decided to continue and received a bid from her favorite of the 4 she had left. PNMs do not hold the "ultimate rush decision." Yes, they decide whether to continue after being dropped by the "top tier" and "mid-tier" houses and take a bid at all, but unless a PNM has a full schedule she is not deciding where that bid is from. I warned my daughter that there would be cuts, but even I was surprised when she was cut by 5 of 9 houses. Ultimately this is an exclusive system, with the "top tier" houses deciding which PNMs they want, and the "bottom tier" getting the women who decide to continue after they have been cut by the "top tier." Everyone knows the tiers of houses, they existed in the 80s when I was an active and they exist today. (I've lurked here but I joined today to post this.)

[carnation]

It does hurt to be cut so harshly. Panhellenic often leads PNMs down a primrose path by using language that makes them think they are in the driver's seat during recruitment. A very small number of PNMs are but for the huge majority, this is not true.

What many of us who have worked with sororities for years see is that a university may have, say, 16 sororities and a woman is cut by 4, so she drops. Or she is cut by all the "top tier" groups and doesn't want middle-tier so she drops. The thing is, a lot of these women who get deeply cut might have expected it if forewarned. They had lower grades (sometimes under a 3.5) or didn't know anyone in the sororities beforehand or are from out of state. Yes, these things may matter and so may others.

There's always some clueless idiot in online groups who's telling other moms, "Sure your daughter can get a top tier bid without knowing anyone, mine did!" (Often we know where that daughter is Greek and no, she did not.) Or she'll tell other moms that a low GPA is not the kiss of death and on some campuses, it may be.

[FSUZeta]

I’m glad you joined us and I am sorry you feel what I wrote is harsh. Statements here can seem harsh, but reality often is. What I said is experience based-I have advised chapters, PNMs and their parents( and still do) and the phenomenon mentioned seems to be growing exponentially. PNMs and parents are shocked when their high achieving, pretty, sociable, accomplished, smart daughters don’t get asked back to Tau Tau Sigma( top tier sorority). They don’t realize that a high majority of the PNMs fit that description.


A mom in an advisory group I’m in had 2 daughters rushing. The younger daughter rolled with the punches all week and found her people. That chapter was a good, solid chapter, but on the campus is not considered top tier. The older daughter was dropped by the house she had singled out was the only one for her, and even though her remaining choices were fine chapters, in her eyes they didn’t measure up to the one that did not invite her back. Despite being advised to continue and see if any of her remaining chapters might be able to change her mind, she withdrew. Her mother reached out because her daughter regretted her decision and was hoping she might get picked up as a quota addition or snap bid ( I see many girls thinking this is an option). We ( ladies in other Panhellenic sororities and I) advised that, while she was eligible, it was a very small possibility that she be chosen. Those opportunities came and went and mom and daughter started hoping for a COB bid, but only to her chosen chapter. Her dream chapter was not COBing, and did not COB this semester. I advised mom that since younger daughter was so pleased with her chapter that she might begin inviting older sis over for a couple of meals and to just hang out at the chapter house, in the hopes that this chapter might COB in the spring, but daughter stubbornly refused because it was TTS or no one. So she sits in her dorm room miserable, due to her own decision. This is what I’m referring to, and what we see over and over and over. Yet it is the sororities that are called elitist.

[navane]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

I’m glad you joined us and I am sorry you feel what I wrote is harsh. Statements here can seem harsh, but reality often is. What I said is experience based-I have advised chapters, PNMs and their parents( and still do) and the phenomenon mentioned seems to be growing exponentially. PNMs and parents are shocked when their high achieving, pretty, sociable, accomplished, smart daughters don’t get asked back to Tau Tau Sigma( top tier sorority). They don’t realize that a high majority of the PNMs fit that description.

Yes and this is true for many facets of life: college, jobs, sports teams, etc.

I'm a Fire Captain. Competing to get hired as a professional firefighter is like running the gauntlet. You have thousands of people (literally) applying for 30 or so spots for a city fire department academy. Nearly all candidates are top notch people - EMT/Paramedic, college degree, fire science classes, volunteer firefighter experience, athletic accomplishments, strong community service resume, etc. It can take years and many tries to get on with a fire department.

I got hired at a big city fire department - 4,800 people applied for 30 spaces. 744 of us passed the written exam with a "tier 1" score. After reviewing resumes, 300 of us were invited to interview. I made Top 30 and was hired/got selected to the academy. GET THIS: In my academy group, we had, for example: an Army football player, a guy with a master's degree from Harvard, an Army Ranger, and a multi-season contestant from America's Ninja Warrior. Ridiculous. LOL Here I made top 30 out of 4,800 people and yet I felt like I was one of the weakest recruits in the group because everyone was just so excellent.

Like I said, the same goes for many things in life. When you're competing at a place where everyone is a high achiever, it's hard not to feel lesser. Sororities included.

I just watched a documentary on PBS Independent Lens which is along these lines. The episode is called "Try Harder!" and it's about Lowell High School, the #1 public school in San Fransisco. The students at this school are extremely high achievers competing to get into the nation's most prestigious universities. These students would blow most other public school students out of the water at any other high school; but, here, they stress over not being the best of the best of the best.

Link "Try Harder!": https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/...es/try-harder/

My point is that PNMs clinging to this idea that they are surely qualified for all of the best top tier sororities can bring about disappointment when walking among other PNMs who are equally as excellent. It's hard not to feel like a failure in that environment. But it's important to keep a perspective on it....the big picture. That they *are* excellent, but so is everyone and thus the whole system is very strong (including the "mid-tier" sororities). It's good to have a grasp on that concept now, when they are young, so as to set themselves up to successfully navigate when they are competing in the real world later on.

[Iota_JWH]

Cal State - San Marcos Quota 16, AOII welcomed 22 new members!

[AZTheta]

Originally Posted by Cookiez17

All of this! Even though virtual recruitment had its downfalls, I noticed tent talk was down to nothing and PNMs were going off what it should be: conversations and the overall chapter vibes.

Curious as to your source(s) for accessing tent talk across the NPC world? That's a broad statement and I couldn't imagine looking for tent talk anywhere online (why would I?), but maybe that floats your boat? I mean, I'm reasonably certain there was a lot of online chatter and texting that was private. I can say that at the UofAZ very little changed when there was virtual recruitment. Same old same old.

Originally Posted by navane

Yes and this is true for many facets of life: college, jobs, sports teams, etc.

I just watched a documentary on PBS Independent Lens which is along these lines. The episode is called "Try Harder!" and it's about Lowell High School, the #1 public school in San Fransisco. The students at this school are extremely high achievers competing to get into the nation's most prestigious universities. These students would blow most other public school students out of the water at any other high school; but, here, they stress over not being the best of the best of the best.

Link "Try Harder!": https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/...es/try-harder/

My point is that PNMs clinging to this idea that they are surely qualified for all of the best top tier sororities can bring about disappointment when walking among other PNMs who are equally as excellent. It's hard not to feel like a failure in that environment. But it's important to keep a perspective on it....the big picture. That they *are* excellent, but so is everyone and thus the whole system is very strong (including the "mid-tier" sororities). It's good to have a grasp on that concept now, when they are young, so as to set themselves up to successfully navigate when they are competing in the real world later on.

Thank you navane, carnation, FSUZeta, cheerio, and shadokat for your posts on the topic of PNMs and recruitment. Perfectly stated and I've copied your posts into a word doc to be quoted when the time comes (as it will, sure as the sun rises in the East). Navane, my mother graduated from Lowell as did a coworker. Talk about elitist and competitive. Yikes. They both made sure people knew where they went to HS. Seriously. Yes I'm rolling my eyes so far back I can see last year. Neither of them were anything special IMO.

Fact: All NPC chapters have some schools where the chapters are considered "top" and others where they are "bottom" (mine included). Do I care? No. Should I? Should anyone? *shrug*

SuzyinMD, harsh words also need to be said and heard. Not all life lessons come wrapped in pretty paper. As I remind myself frequently, in the immortal words of Sir Mick and Mr. Richards (aside: how is Keith still living? utterly amazed!): "you can't always get what you want". I believe that if you don't get something you think you want there is a reason for it and quite possibly (even probably) something better is coming along instead. What I gain from disappointment I've been able to use to benefit myself and others. Bottom line: I learned my place in the food chain decades ago, and am glad of it. "Pick yourself up, dust yourself off " (I hear my grandmother singing to me now). Resiliency needs to be coached and encouraged. Life is not fair. Nor do I expect it to be so. Stopped that expectation many many moons ago.

Go find a telescope and check out the comet before it's too late.

[Titchou]

Bravo, my favorite kite flyer!!!