is formal recruitment a scam?

Your main point of inquiry asks, "Is Formal Recruitment A Scam?", to which wise women in NPC sororities reply "no".

All sorority recruitment is numbers-reliant, and the number of numbers involved make the system complicated but not hopeless.

As pertains to informal and COB recruitments: Each NPC sorority pursues individual and private methods of COB and/or Informal recruiting.

This places somewhat of a disadvantage to any pnm desiring sorority membership, as some homes do not require an open and public Informal/COB process to gain new members.

This is the strong reason pnms are encouraged to go thru a Formal Recruiment Process which openly ensures tours of (and information on) all the contending sororities being made available to all the registered pnms.

Any sorority equalling or exceeding Campus Total thru a Formal Bid Day cannot COB/informal until their membership numbers again go below Campus Total.

But since a new Campus Total number is formulated within a week following any Formal Recruitment, some homes that equalled/surpassed the old Campus Total thru Formal may now desire new members thru Informal/COB methods to reach the new Campus Total.

It is up to each sorority to individually and privately decide if/when/how to COB/Informal greater membership numbers.