active sister ama

I feel like this has been covered pretty extensively in this thread but I'll summarize:
A lot of it is based on "who you know." So it tends to be girls who went to the same high school (usually private schools) as current members, know them well from extracurriculars, or have some other connection to active sisters. This is usually where the bulk of preliminary lists come from. Clothing/attractiveness is also a consideration, but it's usually less important than connections are.

We have complex formulas that most members (including me!) don't have access to, but I think they incorporate ratings from during the round, prior connections, and gpa. These formulas are used to create a list of girls, and the top X number of girls are invited back while the bottom Y of girls are cut. Houses meet with all of their members and read through everybody that they are cutting, and sisters can choose to defend girls who they don't want to be cut. So you could be ranked lowly during a round and be on the cut list, but if you have a friend in the house they could choose to defend you and the house as a whole could vote to keep you based on your friends' recommendation. My house at least doesn't really take girls off of our cut list, but it really varies.

I have also said in a previous post that houses vote differently. So if the whole house does not vote and the sister you talked to does not have any spectacular to say about you, your position is definitely in trouble regardless of who you know, unless it's the recruitment chair or something. Lists mean different things for different chapters. Chapters are generally encouraged to get familiar with every PNM on the list, so if they get paired with one of them, the sister will know that the PNM is already viewed very favorably by the chapter. But hypothetically yes you could get cut. I still do not fully trust the 'system' aka the computer. I have seen a lot of girls and chapters get screwed over. Just have a positive attitude going in because unfortunately you cannot change the dumb computer thingy.

If she is offering to go off campus with you or buy you something, that is technically against rush rules. Obviously you would have to get reported first, but please be smart. If the active sister is offering to meet up soon campus and you pay for your own food, that is perfectly ok as long as she does not hotbox you. We are encouraged to get meals with PNMs whom we like in order for them to meet other sisters. Not everyone says yes, but you give yourself another opportunity to make an impression if you do get a meal. In terms of logistics, maybe try a salad or bowl? I feel like pizza, burrito, and sandwich are super awkward to eat in front of people sometimes, especially since you pretty much have to use your hands. You could just say that you are not that hungry and get a tea or yogurt and sit with her while she eats, so you are consuming something, but it is not messy.

If you mean during rounds, we still give treats during Pref, and if I'm preffing you and you don't eat your dessert, I'll eat it when you're gone because it's so good (and I'm in a top tier! We eat!). I remember being so nervous about whether to eat the dessert or not, but honestly just eat it if you want and don't if you don't want... It will not make a difference.

First and foremost, have an open mind. I know adpi and axo sometimes get put down on this website, but they both have a lot of cool sisters and have ok reputations on campus. Basically they're seen as more "sweet" and "nice" than "hot" and "rich" like some other sororities are. Aopi is viewed as nice, but also incredibly awkward and personally I would drop them if I got a bid there based on reputation alone.
Also remember that if you do drop, you can rush again as a sophomore when you'll probably have more friends in sororities.
BUT a lack of connections doesn't mean that you will get cut from everywhere, and you still have a decent chance of getting a "good" house. I would say to try and have conversations that are memorable--if we have twenty conversations a day about how great chipotle and jeni's are, the one that we have about a girl's passion for healthcare will stand out. Be active during your conversation and don't treat it like an interview where the girl you're talking to asks you a list of questions, but ask her questions and act like you're interested.

They usually just say Barack as a way to say politics but still have it fit in the B theme.

But also you shouldn't talk about those things unless a girl brings it up and you can't change the subject easily. They're probably also testing you and how you respond so don't be super awkward about it. If you bring the B's up during rush though, there definitely is a risk and it's probably safer to stick to stuff that isn't controversial.

they most likely weren't trying to see how you react or anything like that. maybe they liked you and felt comfortable talking about that! kappas by reputation dont really care about following those types of rules

Honestly if girls are taking about that stuff in front of you it's probably because they felt comfortable around you i dont see why everyone is trying to spin things so negatively

Kappas are like that nationwide. Ignore them as they ignore you.

Yeah we don't do that type of snake stuff at my house, but that's cute.

They probably do game stuff like that during your pledge period and your four college years, just to strengthen the bonds and keep it smart and classy by keeping it quiet. Only come to us if you don't like what we do to you, we'll take care of you. Don't go outside for help, don't tattle on us or we'll change the locks and your key won't fit anymore. Their DePauw chapter got away with that years ago, kicking complainers out and not pulling the charter.

I was hoping that someone could answer that for me too. Like if you are in the 3.7 range or above, could that help you? especially for top tier?

that was not the question...

Awkward said I answered the 'wrong' question. Mmmm. Here is a simple answer that might be a bit clearer. GPA does matter but only to a certain point - at most houses the certain point is the minimum GPA or slightly above. GPA matters more at some houses vs others (if you know our system you can figure out which houses I'm talking about here...). I can just speak for what I have seen in our house. GPA is very important but with equal GPAs we focus on other factors. Its unusual for GPA to tip someone over the line as beyond the baseline GPA the other factors are really what we discuss and focus on in our discussions. I guess a point to Awkward is that if a person has a 3.7 but doesn't tick any of our other boxes then we would toss the name out. We are looking for people we want to spend time with and assuming that they meet the min. GPA then we focus on the other factors. Hope this helps.

That's going to vary a lot between houses. Each chapter will have different rules for when they can let legacies go. Gpa is definitely a huge factor first round. Attractiveness will be a big each round so obviously don't slack on your appearance any round. How well you can keep conversation is a bigger factor in later rounds because you'll spend more time at the each house. Towards the last days a big factor will be if they see you getting along with girls in the chapter. So, if they can't picture a group of girls within the chapter that you would fit in with then chances are you will be scored low.

there is a ton of new member stuff right after recruitment but it slows down after about a month. and yes pledge classes will go out together for a little while

It can help, yes! It would get your name more known to the sorority and girls would look out for you in school/out more if they think you were a good fit.