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  #1  
Old 10-21-2009, 01:32 AM
Indiglow Indiglow is offline
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COB Recruitment

Hello! I was just wondering about the whole COB process. I've searched here, Googled there, and asked a couple people, but I was wondering about other schools overall.

I'm a junior (attending a big California school) who rushed in the fall, but was, unfortunately, not given a bid. However, I spoke to Greek Life who referred me around and long story short, I got an invite from a sorority's recruitment person for COB. I have seen threads in which repliers said that it's best to improve yourself so that you have more to offer (in terms of GPA, etc.).

I will be attending, but I feel like it might be too soon after FR for me to show any considerable changes/improvement. I think I would do so much better in a casual environment because formal ones are a little scary, but then again, the numbers do stand against me and all that. Basically, my questions are:

- Do COB PNMs have better chances if they were rejected before? And I know that will vary, but I'd still like to know your opinions/experiences. I.E. I was rejected from A & B, but the invite came from B.

- Do juniors tend to stand better chances in COB? (Hopefully, not competing against so many underclassmen.)

- How does COB go at your school? I know it's made up of a week or so of 'regular' events, but how does the bid stuff go? Is there a usual process for all NPCs or does it vary?

- Anyone know of any successful junior COB stories? I'd love to hear them.

Last edited by Indiglow; 10-21-2009 at 01:35 AM.
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  #2  
Old 10-21-2009, 10:03 AM
littleowl33 littleowl33 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Indiglow View Post
- Do COB PNMs have better chances if they were rejected before? And I know that will vary, but I'd still like to know your opinions/experiences. I.E. I was rejected from A & B, but the invite came from B.
If a sorority has already rejected you once, it's not going to increase your chances of getting a bid your second time around with them. Honestly, it probably will decrease your chances. Like most posters say, you need to bring something new to the table, even if it's just being more outgoing, friendly and conversational than last time. I've seen a lot of PNMs who were nervous wrecks during FR come out of their shells at COB, which is a more relaxed environment - so that's something you can definitely work on.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Indiglow View Post
- Do juniors tend to stand better chances in COB? (Hopefully, not competing against so many underclassmen.)
It depends on the school, but generally the younger you are, the better your chances. Do you know if juniors regularly get bids? Also, are you COBing this semester or in the spring? If it's this spring, keep in mind that you'll only really be active for your senior year (you'll be un-initiated most of the spring). So you can't really blame a sorority for preferring to give one of their open spots to a girl who can be active for 3 years as opposed to just 1.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Indiglow View Post
- How does COB go at your school? I know it's made up of a week or so of 'regular' events, but how does the bid stuff go? Is there a usual process for all NPCs or does it vary?
I think it varies by group and by school. We do a week of events, then girls receive their bid over the phone the night of the final event (we vote directly afterwards). But other groups may come to your room to give you a paper bid, or invite you to their house/suite/chapter room to pick it up. There's almost always some kind of Bid Day celebration, but usually not as lavish as for FR.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Indiglow View Post
- Anyone know of any successful junior COB stories? I'd love to hear them.
I'm sure there are some around here. At my school (which sounds pretty different from yours... it's a smaller, liberal arts type school on the east coast) we have extended COB bids to juniors, but only really in the fall. Last year we took 3 juniors and 3 sophomores, and this year we took 8 sophomores and 1 junior. We prefer sophomores for the reason that they have more active years, but if juniors really stand out we'll take them. Usually they are not girls who went through any kind of recruitment before, though. We did take one junior last spring, but we didn't know she was one - she was a transfr student so her credits were weird. Though I don't think that would have changed our decision - we all loved her!

I don't mean to sound too discouraging - if you want to do it, go for it! You don't know until you try. There ARE success stories for girls in your situation, but you really have to give it your all.

Last edited by littleowl33; 10-21-2009 at 10:05 AM.
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  #3  
Old 10-21-2009, 10:24 AM
KSUViolet06 KSUViolet06 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Indiglow View Post
Hello! I was just wondering about the whole COB process. I've searched here, Googled there, and asked a couple people, but I was wondering about other schools overall.

I'm a junior (attending a big California school) who rushed in the fall, but was, unfortunately, not given a bid. However, I spoke to Greek Life who referred me around and long story short, I got an invite from a sorority's recruitment person for COB. I have seen threads in which repliers said that it's best to improve yourself so that you have more to offer (in terms of GPA, etc.).

I will be attending, but I feel like it might be too soon after FR for me to show any considerable changes/improvement. I think I would do so much better in a casual environment because formal ones are a little scary, but then again, the numbers do stand against me and all that. Basically, my questions are:

- Do COB PNMs have better chances if they were rejected before? And I know that will vary, but I'd still like to know your opinions/experiences. I.E. I was rejected from A & B, but the invite came from B.

- Do juniors tend to stand better chances in COB? (Hopefully, not competing against so many underclassmen.)

- How does COB go at your school? I know it's made up of a week or so of 'regular' events, but how does the bid stuff go? Is there a usual process for all NPCs or does it vary?

- Anyone know of any successful junior COB stories? I'd love to hear them.
*I always tell PNMs not to expect to get a bid from a chapter that has dropped them before. Sure, it DOES happen sometimes that a girl can came back and wow a chapter and receive a bid the 2nd time, but that's generally the exception and not the rule (at least as far as my experiences at my school).

In general, something has to be different the second time around in order for you to be seriously considered.

*I would say that the chances that upperclassmen have just really depend on your school. At some schools, chapters generally just prefer freshman PNMs. At others, there are a mix of class standings. I find that if chapters prefer freshmen during formal, they likely do for COB as well.

*Every chapter tends to do this differently. At my school, the chapters would generally have a few days of events, then a Bid Day event for those girls who received bids. So even though the girls joined informally, they still got a Bid Day.


*My Little Sister was a junior transfer when she received a bid. However, my school is probably a bit different from yours.

Just present yourself well and see what happens. Good luck.
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Last edited by KSUViolet06; 10-21-2009 at 10:28 AM.
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  #4  
Old 10-21-2009, 10:29 AM
ree-Xi ree-Xi is offline
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I would go over in your head what you did and said during FR.

If Sorority B invited you to COB, that means they want to get to know you better. The good thing about COB, especially if it's by invitation only, is that you have a better chance of getting to know more girls, and more girls getting to know you.

I would first assess your conversations. Were you shy? Worried about your class standing? Try to think of topics to talk about, that highlight your best assets. For example, do you have a high GPA, are you involved in the community or campus, possess leadership skills and experience, have a hobby or skill like dancing, speaking multiple languages, play an instrument, or are you really into music? Sharing this type of info lets others into your world. You may find commonalities, or you may find that people are impressed or interested, even if they don't share the same hobbies.

I also suggest that you try the 2-1 method. It works well in interviews. For every two things you share about yourself, ask one question - whether it's about the sister or the sorority. This will demonstrate that you are also interested in learning more about THEM. Think ahead of questions you might ask. Go beyond "what is your major". Stay away from yes/no questions. People may remember the questions you ask just as much as the questions you answer. Some ideas for questions - What are your favorite classes? What do you like to do outside of class? What kind of movies do you like? What do members of the sorority like to do during their down time?

And speaking of assets, assess what you wore to FR. It's not important that you wear trendy, designer duds, but that you present yourself in the best possible light. Wear clothes that FIT and flatter you. Wear something you are comfortable in, so that you aren't fidgeting. The point is to not worry about your clothes and relax.

NO ONE can answer whether or not you have better chances with COB vs. FR, whether or not your class status will matter on your campus.

As for what events they will have, ask. They may have a schedule, or the events may be invite-only on each round (every one does COB differently). I think you should just relax and enjoy the company. They invited you, so they must have an interest.

As for the bid process, I can only share what mine was like (I only did COB, second semester, freshman year). We had to be by our phones for a period of time on that particular night. If you got a call, you were "released". If you were given a bid, during that time, you got a knock on your door and a sister handed you your bid, and she brought you to the chapter room for bid night. But that was a long time ago!!

I swear, the older I get, the more the phrase "Be yourself" makes more and more sense. It's the best advice I can give you. And remember, if you don't get a bid, at least you made some new friends. Everyone can use a new friend.

Good luck!!
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  #5  
Old 10-21-2009, 12:02 PM
33girl 33girl is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ree-Xi View Post
If Sorority B invited you to COB, that means they want to get to know you better.
Yes, if they expressly invited you, even if they cut you, it does mean that and also that they may have had some misfires with some of the women they invited back at formal rush (i.e. thought those women would be pledging them and didn't).

Quote:
Originally Posted by ree-Xi View Post
As for the bid process, I can only share what mine was like (I only did COB, second semester, freshman year). We had to be by our phones for a period of time on that particular night. If you got a call, you were "released". If you were given a bid, during that time, you got a knock on your door and a sister handed you your bid, and she brought you to the chapter room for bid night. But that was a long time ago!!
You may not receive any absolutely defining answer one way or the other - i.e., just because they don't give you a bid now doesn't mean they won't give you a bid ever. So if you just don't hear anything, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're off their list forever. I know it might be difficult, but if this is the case, DON'T bug the sorority about what their decision is.
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  #6  
Old 11-04-2009, 05:39 PM
IHeartSephora IHeartSephora is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 33girl View Post
You may not receive any absolutely defining answer one way or the other - i.e., just because they don't give you a bid now doesn't mean they won't give you a bid ever. So if you just don't hear anything, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're off their list forever. I know it might be difficult, but if this is the case, DON'T bug the sorority about what their decision is.
I just saw this and I know this sounds stupid but if you didn't get a call, how SHOULD you behave? After not getting a call myself, I tried to remain friendly to the ones who bothered to continue to say hi and talk to me. But, then it's like it feels pointless to act as if you are good friends when they didn't extend a bid to you. So I often became withdrawn to most of the girls of the sorority I COB'd unless they said hi first.
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  #7  
Old 11-04-2009, 07:10 PM
33girl 33girl is offline
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Just remain friendly. Don't act p.o.'ed or withdrawn or anything like that. But don't be pushy, either.

The ones who are staying friendly with you might not have been able to do enough to get you a bid and feel bad about that anyway. The worst thing you can do is blow them off. Although hopefully they're aware enough to realize if the majority of the sisters are not in favor of bidding someone. We had a sister who continually invited girls to open bid parties that no one (and I mean that literally) else was interested in bidding - we finally had to tell her to stop because we didn't want the poor girls to get their hopes up.
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  #8  
Old 11-05-2009, 05:06 AM
AlphaFrog AlphaFrog is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IHeartSephora View Post
I just saw this and I know this sounds stupid but if you didn't get a call, how SHOULD you behave? After not getting a call myself, I tried to remain friendly to the ones who bothered to continue to say hi and talk to me. But, then it's like it feels pointless to act as if you are good friends when they didn't extend a bid to you. So I often became withdrawn to most of the girls of the sorority I COB'd unless they said hi first.
Are they only worth being friends with because they are in a sorority and may eventually be able to get you in?? You know, sorority women ARE allowed to have friends that aren't in their sorority. If they sense that you are only trying to be friends with them to get into their sorority, that might be turning them off. If you seriously just let the sorority thing go and just let the friendship take over, the sorority thing may follow later.
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  #9  
Old 11-05-2009, 09:53 AM
33girl 33girl is offline
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Thanks sister, that's what I was trying to say as well.

And as canned as this sounds...most sorority members realize that not everyone is right for their sorority, or for Greek life in general. That doesn't mean they dislike them or don't want to be friends with them.
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  #10  
Old 11-08-2009, 05:17 PM
stargirl007 stargirl007 is offline
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I recently went through COB recruitment at a somewhat competitive southern school (around 500 girls go through rush in deferred in the spring for 8 sororities) so hopefully I can help a bit.
Not every house will participate in COB obviously, at my school the only ones that participate are the ones that did not meet quota during formal recruitment. We have 8 sororities here but only 3 participated in our COB for the fall.
I went into COB as a junior myself, but I feel like a lot of it really does have to do with the amount of girls that each sorority can take. Naturally, they will take younger girls - but I think you really have to put yourself out there and show them that you would be an awesome addition to their group.
It helps to know girls, whether it's from class or other clubs. I was already involved in several other organizations on campus so I did recognize a few of the girls.
I would look into your school's greek life office and ask more about your COB - ours was one informal night in the student union where we got to meet girls from all 3 sororities, and pretty much get onto their contact lists. Not all of the COB events are open, most of them were actually invitation only. If there's a night such as this during your COB, I highly recommend going to it - I was given a calendar of all COB events from all 3 sororities that were COBing - so I was able to plan my schedule for the next couple of weeks accordingly, making sure I made it to events of both of the houses I was interested in (pretty much if the event said it was open to everyone, I went to it).
As far as my bid was concerned, I was invited to two preference events the night before bid day - and they just made me fill out a sheet that allowed them to access my student files (mostly to look into my past as far as sorority recruitment was concerned to be sure that I was indeed eligible, and also to look at my course records to look at my GPA and other things of that nature, and also to confirm it with the greek life office so they could officially offer me a bid).
As far as actually getting the bid, it was extremely informal. I received a call from my sorority's recruitment VP to offer me a bid & to come to the house to celebrate a couple of hours later.
As far as COB is concerned, just really be yourself. The girls want to get to know YOU - and COB is an awesome time to just be able to get to know some of the girls on a bit more personal level. They want girls that they can actually see as their SISTERS, the girls they will see as great friends. Bottom line though, I believe my key to getting my bid was outstanding involvement, great grades & overall just showed them who I was. I was completely relaxed & natural, I just acted like my plain old self. I didn't change anything about who I was just to get into a certain house. Just keep an open mind about the process too, the house you may think is for you, may not necessarily be the best fit.

I actually have to head to my new member meeting now but I should edit this back in later with some more detailed information

Last edited by stargirl007; 11-08-2009 at 05:20 PM.
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