<p>Oh yes it was me. =P I abandoned my coat in later rounds.</p>
<p>What was the number for quota? Did everybody get it? Anyone get quota plus?</p>
<p>I was told that just over 800 girls began the week, and that quota was set at 40/house. Don’t know about quota plus…</p>
<p>Also, Motherdear, I know that you have been involved with Panhellenic in the past. Could you shed some light on the issue of exactly who gets a bid. I have always thought that everyone who finishes Rush, doesn’t abuse the system (skipping parties, etc) and hands in a bid card with three choices on it was pretty much insured a bid. (In other words, divide the number of girls who finish Rush by the number of houses…) Maybe not to their first choice house, but a spot nonetheless. Is that correct?</p>
<p>That’s almost correct. Usually quota is set after round 3 not after Pref Night. It would be the number of girls who participated in Round 3/ number of Panhel houses.</p>
<p>At a 3-party Pref Night like UVa (some smaller Panhels have 2-party Prefs), each house can invite back 3x the set quota. So if quota was 40, they can each invite back 120 which your Rho Chis would divide evenly for each party. The houses then divide the 120 PNMs into 1st, 2nd and 3rd lists the way the PNMs rank their pref night houses as 1, 2, and 3.</p>
<p>Then the Panhel has to match the choices of the PNMs with the choices of the chapters in what is called bid-matching.</p>
<hr>
<p>Great analogy from a UMd alumna
“I like to think of the first bid list as a “box”. If you’re in the box, order doesn’t matter. If you’re in the box you can be matched to that chapter. You stay in the box until you are matched somewhere. If you’re not in the box, you “wait in line” (aka the second bid list). You stand in line in order. If you are the next one in line to go in the box, you can only move into the box if someone already in the box matches elsewhere.”</p>
<hr>
<p>A problem can arise when a girl who gets invited to 3 pref night parties might be near the bottom of the third list for her 3 groups. Hopefully she can get picked up as a quota addition as explained below.</p>
<p>"Say you have three sororities, A, B, and C. 120 potential new members (PNMs) attend preference parties, so quota is 120/ 3 = 40. After “normal” bid matching is completed, A and B each match to quota of 40; C matches only 30. 10 PNMs are unmatched.</p>
<p>Sororities A and B may each accept one quota addition. The PNMs who are accepted via quota addition must not have ISP’d (intentional single preference = go to two pref parties and only list one sorority on the pref card).</p>
<p>Sorority C may snap bid any woman who participated in any part of FR and did not match. (So, say Suzie Q was invited to pref by A, B, and C; chose to go to A and B; but then didn’t match to either A or B. C might then snap bid her.)</p>
<p>And now say Suzie Q plus the 10 women matched through bid matching all pledge C. C can then also go ahead and COB 9 additional women – even if that puts them over quota."</p>
<p>Your Rho Chi should be able to tell you what is the next step. Are there any houses who didn’t make quota? Are there any houses that did make quota but are still under ceiling? These houses would be able to do informal recruitment or Continuous Open Bidding.</p>
<p>My apologies if this is a “Ladies Only” thread, but this Sorority rush and bid process is interesting, and complicated. I wonder how often it works out that a girl is offered by her first choice House, as Powderpuff was? BTW, congratulations PP.</p>
<p>For someone like me who was at UVa in the late 60’s/early 70’s, this topic is a bit surreal. My first two years at the University, there were NO WOMEN on Grounds during the week (except for a few Nursing School students). My third year about 450 ladies were admitted, with another 550 or so admitted when I was a fourth year.</p>
<p>So when I saw the picture in yesterday’s CD featuring some of the girls who were participating in the last day of Rush activities, I could only think “My, haven’t we come a long way from what we (gentlemen) used to think of as the ‘good old days’?” The University my son encountered when he enrolled this fall is quite different from the one I enjoyed for four special years. IMO, the admission of women at UVa not only made the school different, it also made it better. Thanks, Ladies.</p>
<p>For the sake of clarity, I must say that when I went into rush week, I followed everyone’s advice about not having my heart set on one sorority in specific. In the beginning I did not have a first choice. So it really wasn’t until the week progressed into themes and then house tours that I realized I had certain preferences, and ultimately prompted me to start this thread. All the prior posts and advice are so true, it’s not until I actually met these different sororities, that I was able to find where I fit best. I do feel kind of lucky though!!</p>
<p>Here is what my daughter heard from one of her friends:
“I was talking to X about sorority rushing at UVA and she said one sorority just got up and walked away from one of her friends when she told them she went to a public
school! And another girl asked her other friend how many yachts she
owned!!”
Did anybody have a similar experience?</p>
<p>Not here. My daughter went to a public high school. She just completed recruitment at UVA, and had a very positive experience. Though naturally through the week she felt more comfortable with some houses than others, she said the girls at all 15 sororities were so very nice. Her roommate graduated from a public high school and also had a great week. I have a difficult time believing that story.</p>
<p>I know my name makes it seem like I’m a guy, but I just use my brother’s name to protect my anonymity. I’m very much the cute little sorority girl at UVA.
I rushed and had a fairly good experience. The closest I heard to anything like what guillaume said, was when people were talking about Spring break. Several girls spoke about plans for “Cabo” or “Aspen”. I’m fairly well traveled so it didn’t phase me, but I could see it not being perceived in a nice way by some folks, particularly depending on the wealth of one’s family.
I didn’t quite get my first choice, but I’m happy where I am. I think I freaked out too much during round robbins and had expectations that weren’t based on anything substantial. It was so cold, and I had no idea what to expect, and there were so many girls. How do you stand out?? I got cut from what some folks might call the “first tier” sororities. It hurt my feelings at first, but after a few hours and phone call to my Mom, the ache passed.
I got called back to a good # of theme nights. Then went to 5 house tours. I was really tired and cold then, and seriously thought about skipping out and just going back to my dorm room. I was a little disappointed about the sororities that had not invited me back, and because I had put hope in them, I was sort of bummed with the whole process.
However, once I stopped whining, and decided to have fun, I did!! The places that invited me back were very nice and I felt like I connected with them, and they with me! I’m in a good place now! Rush was wonderful (in retrospect), I was just too tense in that I didn’t know what to expect. The biggest mistake I made was not relaxing and just enjoying the whole experience. I made myself sick with worry. Once I figured that out, it was a hoot!! Fun, fun!! I got a very nice bid from a really nice sorority, and they are my sisters now!</p>
<p>Well, my D. had a good and not so great experience with rush. She also went to a public school, No. VA area. She is very cute (but looks kinda young for her age), was well liked and was captain of 2 sports team, won a big end of year award and scholarship, etc. She fully expected to be invited back to the “top tier” sor. but after 2nd round was cut by them (even though she already felt like she “didnt fit” with several). She felt very comfortable with several of the sor. she had left, one in particular, and ended up pledging. Since that time, a couple of her “guy friends” said that she was much prettier than the other girls in her sor. so now she is starting to feel she should have just not pledged and is second guessing her decision…no she is not so shallow as to think looks are everything, but she knows that other students often “stereotype” you based on where you belong and frats mix with “like” sororities. Now she thinks maybe she should have just not pledged and waited to do informal next year. She seems depressed and a bit overwhelmed. I am urging her to stick it out a bit, get to know the sisters and then if she feels her decision is wrong to act accordingly…anyone else have suggestions? What happens if you decide not to pledge? Luckily we are close and have ongoing dialogue about this. One other note, there were a couple of the “top tier” sor. that were “nice” but really gave her an OBVIOUS top-to-bottom look when she walked in the door. Needless to say, parting ways with them was easy.</p>
<p>mckin43- The problem is that sororities don’t’ have “pledging” per se. You accept the bid and you’re “in” However, if she is truly uncomfortable she could de-affiliate, but if she wanted to join another sorority she would have to wait for a year. I would certainly encourage her to stick it out longer, it’s only been about a week and I really don’t think she should get too upset based on the opinion of some of her first year guy friends who don’t even know what frat they’re in yet, they might not end up where they want either. Plus, there’s nothing wrong with being the prettiest girl in your sorority 
And yes, frats do mix with like sororities however, there are many pretty and nice girls that aren’t in what are considered to be in the top sororities for whatever reason and still date guys in top fraternities. If I met a really good looking and cool girl from a non “top” sorority I certainly wouldn’t care, I admittedly would maybe say to myself, hm I wonder why she isn’t in one of them, but it wouldn’t matter to me at all.</p>
<p>mckin43,
I’m sorry to hear that your daughter is having doubts about her sorority. I don’t want to repeat the excellent advice from chrislong=cool, because his post is perfect. I hope she hangs in there and finds a nice home in her sorority. Keep us updated? I’m glad that she has such an open relationship with you.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for your encouraging words. Seems that over the weekend D has done a lot with her new girls and really thinks they are down to earth and genuine, have similar humor, etc. and really likes them…plus she has already been to some frat rush mixers and apparently made some connections 
and had a great time…so I think she is off and running! Apparently a lot of the girls that have pledged other sor. are jealous of the lengths her sor. has gone to to make her/the other pledges feel welcome, given them very imaginative t-shirts, toast glasses, etc…Right now it appears to be good…I’ll keep you all posted!</p>
<p>Ah! Thanks for the update!</p>
<p>New Member period is always a little bit anticlimactic although the women have it a lot better as compared to the guys.</p>
<p>I know in my D’s GLO, each new pledge is paired up with a different sophomore every 3 days so that the girls can all get to know each other well before the Big Sisters are assigned to the Little Sisters after Washington’s B’day weekend.</p>
<p>One thing I would do to show your support is to send your D flowers on the day of initation to the sorority house. Each woman’s GLO has a flower which you can find out online. You may also want to see what the other mascots and symbols are and find something cute. A stitched-letter shirt is a wonderful gift for a new member. PM me your D’s affiliation and I can point you in the right direction.</p>
<p>I made my D several lettershirts using fabric that had her symbols on it. I have been collecting (and have been given) owls, fleur-de-lis, and keys for decades so my eye can spot them a mile away. As of last year I am also on the lookout for my D’s symbols which has been lots of fun.</p>
<p>Update;;;D is doing great …enjoying UVA on many levels and made tons of friends. Thx Motherdear for your advice. Now it looks like a very bad roommate situation is about to be resolved (something that has been bad for quite some time but it was not so easy to get anyone to make a change),so hopefully her last few months of the year she will continue to be in her groove!!! Thx again all!</p>
<p>Tell us about the roommate situation! How does one work this out in mid-year? I love my roommate–but I’m just curious about the process.
I am loving my new sisters! I am so glad to hear that this Spring should be a very nice one for your D.</p>
<p>well…the roomate was given options for moving but did not like her other options …so…after wasting admin, RA, and Housing office time and energy she is goinf to stay put…and there is nothing my D can do</p>
<p>…didnt finish my post…so they are making the best of the situation, which is what my D tried to talk to her about in the first place! year will soon be over and D has found her niche so she is making the best of the situation…but is unfortunate that she does not feel comfortable in her own room…</p>
<p>…I actually feel sorry for the roomate in a way since she seems to be the one that does not “fit” with the other girls in the dorm and seems unhappy…</p>