aphi

Every new house starts at bottom, so unless they want to take a first pledge class on 10 stunners and not go up to house total, they will not be competing with ZTA anytime soon. That's what happens when you arrive late to the SEC table.

To top tier: that is the perception they like to have, but the truth is that they have a lot of chapters that are not strong. Considered weaker in the south, they just started at some big schools and are currently dead last. They are starting to spread themselves thin with these big colonization projects at major schools and are having a hard time competing in old, deeply entrenched Southern Greek systems. Around the corner at FSU, they are no where near the top.

Because, for first PC right off the bat: there are no older sisters, no officers (and the ones that get elected are inexperienced and from the same PC), no real bigs/littles, usually no house or dining, no local traditions, no (or very few) local alum, no normal rush/pref (since first PC gets put together after formal recruitment is over), first PC usually made up of a group of strangers who mostly were either dropped or dropped out of formal recruitment, usually a bunch of the first PC realize this sucks and drop, there is often constant COB and need to participate in Spring rush just to try and get numbers up, tremendous pressure from nationals because they have a huge investment on the line, it's still expensive even though you don't get the normal benefits of sorority life (not even academic help since you are new and have no test or notes banks) and it will become even more expensive after your new house is built without any alum $, no reputation other than being ranked bottom of the bottom, and no top or even mid tier fraternities want associate with you...other than that, piece of cake.

damn thanks for the insight, i never thought about that before

Why do they always wait until after formal recruitment? Seems like stacking the deck against them from the start.

They wait till after formal recruitment because they have no sisters to rush the 1,600+ pnms going through formal recruitment. They would get creamed, so they recruit when they arent competing against anyone. Also, when getting a first pledge class they are trying to recruit up to house total. They will not be aiming for the best 75+ girls like all the other houses, they are aiming for 200+ girls. This is difficult because with formal rush already over, the most desirable pnms will have already been picked by the other houses.

Building off of all this, how do founding houses twins work? I believe that's what they have instead of big/little

You just give things to each other, you don't get that special first year where you get showered with gifts by your big.

Honestly, it depends on what you want. If you are the type that likes to be on the ground floor of a project, then it might be for you. However, if you read "Uhhhh's" comment and realize that "foundering" is not as appealing as you thought it might be and you want a more traditional first year in a sorority with all the typical bells and whistles, then no, you may not want to start in a brand new chapter, like APhi.