wtf cob

COB stands for continuous open bidding. If a house is not at chapter total (which is entirely possible even if you hit quota during formal recruitment), they are allowed to recruit throughout the rest of the fall semester and/or the winter semester to attempt to get their number of members up to chapter total. This usually manifests itself in one of two ways:

1) A house had slightly more people who rushed as sophomores and graduated or graduated in three years or dropped before senior year than expected and they need to fill a few spots to get to total. These houses will usually be recruiting early in the fall to get the couple of people they pick up initiated with their formal recruitment pledge class.

2) A house is decidedly below total and needs to pick up as many people as they can. This might happen in the fall but most frequently happens in the winter, resulting in a separate winter pledge class. For examples of this, look to AGD, AEPhi, and GPhi in the not-so-distant past or (likely) to AOPi this year.

Hope that makes some sense!