recruitment '17

My daughter also got a call around 7 this morning...no bid. She is also in state, had a great resume with lots of rec, etc. She felt a little rejected, but is ready to move on. She may or may not do COB. There are so many ways to get involved at Auburn.

Sorry to hear. You are right, so many ways to have a terrific college experience. After all, they are at Auburn.... pretty awesome regardless. Good luck to her.

Sorry to hear this, but this is what happens when PNM's do not maximize their options. This is a consequence of SIP; no bid.

Your daughters got dropped because they didn't maximize their options by listing all the sororities they attended preference for on their bid card. No sympathy here. They weren't high enough on the sorority they suicided for's bid list. This is clearly communicated multiple times in the process. Your entitled daughters were sure they measured up when they didn't. Let this be a life lesson for all of you.

No one is ever told they are "safe" if they refuse to maximize their options. Your daughter just heard what she wanted to hear.

SIP is single intentional preference. It is when you don't list all the houses that you pref on your card. If you only list one house, and you are not high enough on their bid list, no bid for you. If you list both houses, you are guaranteed to get a bid - this is what is meant by maximizing your options.

The girls were NOT guaranteeed a bid this year.

SIP = Single Intentional Preference, otherwise known as Suiciding. PNM's who attend pref round are guaranteed a bid if they rank each house they attended on their MRABA card. PNM's who attend two prefs but only put one house down are saying that they will accept a bid from that one house or none at all. This will leave a PNM without a bid to any house for two reasons: if their one preferred house reaches quota before they get to her name she will obviously not get a bid, and also not ranking each house will make her ineligible to be a Quota Addition to either house. Quota Additions guarantee a bid to either house for PNM's who ranked both houses on their card but failed to match to either house. The PNM is guaranteed a bid for Maximizing Her Options, so she is then matched with one of her pref houses even though this puts the house over Quota. Usually she is matched to her first choice preference house, but could also be matched to her second choice based on relative chapter sizes. So SIP, or Suiciding, is very limiting and most often does not work out for the PNM.

My understanding is that if you get to pref and have two parties you will be offered a bid from one of those houses. i feel this new systems hurts pnms and the sororities. 😡

The PNM must rank all houses where she attended pref to be guaranteed a bid. This is from NPC. What is 'new'?

@what

This is not a new system. RFM has been being used for years. The only girls it really affects are the ones who only want the "top" sororities.

Newsflash: if you give all the sororities a chance, every sorority would be a top sorority.

Double Newsflash: All the sororities here are great. They all have socials, leadership positions, campus leaders, etc. It's just girls who are "I'd rather be gdi than join...." that screw up the system.

@leelee

My apologies for using the word new. I have just never heard of so many girls being dropped so much on pref or bid day. And these are great girls who did maximize their options (those dropped on pref) and gave every sorority a chance.

Oh and news flash to you, I believe all sororities at Aubun are great and I hate how certain ones feel the need to rank and put them in tiers. Those people need to grow up and remember that high school is over!

And second news flash to you, I'm in what they would call a top sorority around here.

Girls who maximized their options on their MRABA card were not dropped. Girls who suicided or who voluntarily dropped are the ones going bidless. If you have any evidence to the contrary then report it. Otherwise you are just shooting off your mouth.

The girls (and their parents) in all the information they were told/given were told that even if you put both sororities down that you preffed that you were not guaranteed a bid. They were told that historically 90% of the girls got either their first or second choice so they did away with the 3rd pref party. To which the parents were all saying well what about that 10% that would get their 3rd choice as opposed to nothing???

"All women who maximized their options in recruitment and attended all recruitment events during the process and are not matched
in the bid matching process are placed as quota additions." This is national NPC rule for RFM and includes transitioning from 3 prefs to 2. PNM's who accepted all invitations during recruitment throughout the week and ranked each house every time (did not 'drop' a house all week) and attended at least one pref are guaranteed bids. Violation of national NPC rules if this doesn't happen.

@what

I don't know why so many are getting dropped on pref day, but the ones without bids are because of SIP.

RFM has helped the system. My mom and aunts have told me lots of stories about how before RFM the larger sororities would continue to invited more girls than they could give bids too, just so everyone would see how many girls were attending their pref parties.

The smaller sororities would have half-empty pref parties and then the pnms wouldn't want to join because they saw empty rooms and thought the chapter was going to close.

So, you have girls getting led on by a sorority that was never going to bid them and girls refusing to join a sorority because they thought no one else was going to join them. RFM has helped level the playing field.

And, I know I'm coming off as a beyotch in my messages. This all started with people blaming JM and a new sorority. Auburn is better than this.

FWIW, I'm in what is considered a middle house and happy about it.

@wait and @what

PNMs were most certainly guaranteed a bid if they maximized their options and listed all their pref sororities on their bid card. Exact same standardized process we've used for years.

Your daughters did not do this. That is the ONLY way they would receive a bid if they attended at least one pref party. So either you don't understand the system and what your daughters did after preference, or your daughters are lying about maximizing their options. Plain and simple truth.

That is 100% not true. We follow the NPC's RFM system that's been used here and across the US for many years. You're either making things up or unable to understand basic English.

No one ever explained quota additions to my daughter or to me. If that's the case that should have been made crystal clear. My daughter preffed 2. She loved one, but really felt no connection with the other. She thought she was doing a good thing by only putting down the one she knew she wanted so that she wouldn't potentially take away a spot from someone else who really wanted the other sorority.

Thank you for sharing providing clarity

I know you are hurting right now because things didn't go your daughter's way, but sorority chapters are private social organizations that choose their own members. Even their national organizations do not and cannot dictate chapter membership selection. No one is owed a bid, not even legacies. Sororities are doing the choosing in this process, not the PNM's. With that said, houses MUST release girls each round. RFM rules are in place so that all chapters have a chance to thrive and the most number of girls can find a home. The current RFM system has developed over time and many, many recruiting years, and gives every girl her best chance at sorority membership. It is so much better than it used to be. These same NPC practices that apply to Auburn apply to other schools as well. Any girl who is not willing to at least give a chance to a house who wants her back will end up at not having a house.

The system is not "flawed." It works seamlessly at placing all PNMs who play by the rules and maximize their options. Your daughter thought she was too special to do this so no bid for her.

Sounds like I hit a nerve. I'm just an observer with an opinion as I know some young women going through recruitment. I don't have any girls and will disregard the previous and potentially new nasty sentiments headed my way.
Based on comments, many of the sorority members seemed upset by how this years recruitment went down. Maybe some new ideas could help but I'm truely not invested at all in this.

Wishing the best to all Auburn students starting this school year.

No, @Flawed, you have not touched a nerve with actives or alumnae or anyone who is actually knowledgeable or invested in Auburn recruitment, or NPC recruitment in general. We have been doing our recruitment for years as per NPC guidelines, and every year there are plenty of disgruntled Mommas and former PNM's who did not get what they wanted and vent their frustrations on here, an anonymous website, posing as chapter members and casting blame. You are no better, an admitted outsider with no daughters or direct understanding of a process you only think you know from greekrank. You are ridiculous.

Wow, girls don't get the house they want so their moms and whoever else come on here and complain that there's something wrong with the system. Went bidless because they didn't follow instructions to maximize their options or felt that they were too good to give some of our other great houses a chance, houses where they were wanted and welcomed. They say it's not fair and it's the sororities' fault. Wow.

I will say what some other folks were too nice to say: Your daughter (...and you) think she was too good for her second house. Guess what? She was not "good enough" for the house where she did not get the bid. Perhaps she is not as attractive, as intelligent, or as personable as the girls who got bids at that particular house...or, perhaps, she went into pref giving off a vibe of entitlement that comes from having a mom like you who has repeatedly told her she IS better than other people. If she IS such a fabulous catch, she certainly would have contributed greatly to the house she refused to list on bid card.
If your daughter is ANYTHING like you, this situation was a win for the Auburn Greek community.

If your daughter can't find a handful of friends in chapters as large as the ones at Auburn, maybe it isn't the chapter's fault but your daughters.

Anyone who says the system isn't flawed is delusional. (and probably on Panhellenic) BUT I know they do try to tweak things the best they can each year. Y'all don't be snarky to people who feel like there are flaws cause there definitely are! No matter what anyone says, yes they did make the sororites cut heavier percentages than in the past early on. Yes, there was a lower percentage rate of girls who got bids this year. We really didn't have enough people to add that 18th sorority when so many are struggling to keep numbers as it is.

That's just how rush is. The entire process is BS. It's superficial, and makes girls question their worth.

(This is coming from someone who was in greek life)

You poor thing, @So sad. Your heart is breaking, as it does every time? Troll. Auburn houses are all full of "top" women and those "deserving" girls you are talking about make their "lower" houses amazing. This is why there is no top and bottom; every house is great and those who got bids today are lucky to be in any one of them.

I'm not a troll and you have a good point that's made me reevaluate. All sororities are filled with great girls but I've realized that the fraternities are the problem. The sad truth is that you won't find the best fraternities like Theta Chi, Sigma Nu, Fiji, KA, or Beta giving the time of day to any girls in sororities they don't deem "top tier". The problem is that the fraternities actually aren't all great like the sororities are. With the way their rush is structured, the better frats are much more prestigious socially, have much more attractive guys, and are overall more appealing for girls. The superficial attitude of these guys outcasts the majority of Auburn's great girls and in turn drastically affects their college experience. Girls know this coming into rush and that's why there's such a sadness about getting dropped down to the "lower" sororities.

Just because your daughter didn't get into a top tier doesn't mean she was "deserving" and others who did were "undeserving." You're a sick woman. Here's the truth: those sororities WANTED the new members they got. They DID NOT WANT your daughter. She didn't measure up to their standards. The sooner you understand this and encourage your daughter to be happy where they actually wanted her, the sooner she will adjust and the better time she will have in college. None of the sororities are below your daughter or anyone else. Accept that and move on.

@Eyes rolling, do I sound like a mom to you? I'm a junior girl in a sorority that's just gotten sick of the process. I'm 20 years old. Goodness...

You are imagining that frat boys have way more importance to sororities than in real life. Our sororities are not dating services, they are sisterhoods and so much more. How insulting to say the fraternities 'outcast' sororities and their attitude "drastically affects their college experience." As if they have that kind of power! Your attitude is disgusting and shows your old age; you probably think that Auburn women are here for their MRS degrees. As far as social life, sorority women are individuals and so are the fraternity members; the good-looking, sweet, fun girls are welcomed at all parties, get asked to formals and date nights, and get all the attention they care to have regardless of their letters, and the same goes for the women's opinions of the frats. That is the way of it, not your outdated outlook. Reevaluate that. No wonder you are @So sad.

It's painfully obvious you're an angry mom. A sorority member would be busy with bid day right now. GTFO mom troll! There's nothing wrong with the process. It works.

Okay you girls have gone off the deep end. No mom would post like that, let alone know who the Top 5 fraternities are like she does. She probably just some ticked girl that's still grudging from her own rush. I'd bet my entire life on it.

What a disgusting comment. Undeserving girls? Lower sororities? You're vile.