pref advice for pnms
by: Active
Listen up ladies. I want to explain how pref works so there is no confusion about invites/cuts.
I first want to say that even if you get two houses you HATE for pref, you should still go to their pref parties. You’re not obligated to rank them afterwards or sign anything. You can drop out after the parties and still be eligible for COB. (But if you rank them and sign your pref card you will be ineligible for other bids for a year.) And in that case, you should accept your bid and stick it out up until initiation. If you still hate it, you can drop before initiated. But once you have your bid, you can’t rush or COB for another year anyway so you may as well give your house a shot.
Now onto how the numbers work. First of all, quota is determined by # of girls who are invited to at least 1 pref party divided by 12 (the number of houses.)
The cuts going into pref can be brutal. Because whoever a house invites back to pref is somewhere on the bid list. The house has to absolutely be willing to extend them a bid if they come to pref.
However, all houses invite more pnms to pref than they can extend bids to.
Each house has a bid list with EVERY pnm that came to their pref party. Yes, every one of them is on the bid list. However, WHERE you on the bid list will determine where you get a bid.
(continued in comments...)
#1by: Active
Let's say you pref Pi Phi and Gphi. You rank Pi phi #1, and Gphi #2. And let's say quota is 105. You have to be in the top 105 on Pi Phi's bid list to get a bid. If you’re not in Pi Phi’s top 105, you’ll get a bid to Gphi no matter where you are on their list. Even if you’re at the very bottom of their list, you’ll still end up with a bid there and will be considered a quota addition. (this is how houses end up with more girls than quota.) Even if you were #250 on Gphi’s list, you’ll still match there if you maximized your options. That doesn’t mean Gphi will get 250 girls. It means they may indeed get their top 105, but a few more girls lower down on their list who didn’t match anywhere.
Now, you may be wondering, why can’t you get a bid to your top choice then if you’re far down on the bid list? The answer is, you can, as a quota addition. You can still get a bid to Pi Phi as a quota addition, but you’re more likely to if you’re higher up on their list. Say, #120.
After bid day, a lot of girls say things like, “Oh I ended up in XYZ because they wanted me more. Even though I wanted ABC and they wanted me really bad, I was higher up on XYZ’s list so that’s where I matched.” NOPE. That’s not how it works. Pref is the only round where “mutual selection” is actually a thing. You won’t automatically end up in the house that wants you more. You’ll end up in your top choice, but only if you’re high enough on the bid list.
Commentby: .
Actually, that's not quite how it works. If the PNM is high enough on GPhi's list she'd get GPhi. BUTif she's isn't high enough on either list and since she maximized her options by listing both her pref houses, then she will get one of those two as a quota addition. The system tries its best to place all quota additions with their first choice soriority, and that usually happens when both houses are the same recruiting strength and size (and in this case, with PiPhi and GPhi that would be true). But if the second choice is a weaker recruiting chapter or lower on numbers, then she will get her second choice.
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#2by: Active
Also, the reason I say you should attend your pref parties even if you hate the houses you got is because SO MANY pnms change their mind about houses after pref. I've met countless girls who went into pref miserable and wanting to cry about the houses they got, but then completely changed their tune.
Preference ceremonies can really give you insight into what a house is really like. But if you're still completely unwilling to accept a bid, drop out.
But before you do that, you should really think hard about why you rushed in the first place and what you really want. You probably rushed for the sisterhood and friendships. Guess what? Every single house on campus can offer you that. Even that one house you "can't picture yourself in." Tons of girls end up in that one house they hated, and end up loving it. Give it a chance. You never know.
by: Asdfghjkl
How do rankings work? Like, how does a house decide on where you fall on the bid list?
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by: Active
First of all, I only know how my sorority does it. Every house does it differently and it's kept very secret so I can't speak for other houses.
You've been getting scores throughout the week. In my house, each active that you speak to gives you a score. At pref, the pnms are listed in the order of the highest scores from throughout the week at the top, to the lower ones at the bottom.
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#5by: ?
Thank you so much this was super helpful! So this is going to sound like a super dumb superficial question but if I'm preffed with a house I love and a house I don't really care for at pref on top of casually telling the house I love that they're my number 1 can I nicely tell the house I don't care for that I don't want to be apart of their chapter and then they'll move me down possibly on the bid list giving me a higher chance to have a higher rating in the house I want? Or if I say that will I be dropped from rush in general because it's insulting.
by: ?
like let's say I'm #150 with the house I want and #130 with the house I don't want, if the house #130 I'm preffed with doesn't like me because of a comment I make during pref then they can't move me down to #160 and then automatically I'm higher as a #150 on the house I likes list aka a bid?
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by: well
I wouldn't tell the one you aren't as interested in that you're not interested in them, you still may end up there. Sorority>GDI
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by: active
Don't tell your second choice you're not interested.
If you know you absolutely would not accept a bid there, then you absolutely should suicide. But if you're smart and actually are willing to join any sorority that extends a bid to you, you should maximize your options by listing both houses.
However, if you'd rather be a GDI than your second choice, suicide.
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by: active
Also, I'm guessing the house you're not interested in is a bottom house? Bottom houses don't have the best return rates, so even if they moved you to the VERY bottom of their bid list, it's extremely possible, even very likely that you would still get a bid there. (If you didn't match at your top choice)
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#7by: active
#8by: hellooo
How is everyone feeling? Just a reminder to be gracious and accept any bid you get. The letters you see on your bid card tomorrow will represent the girls who want you as a sister. If you don't get your first choice, they didn't want you, and there's no point in dwelling.
#10by: Mostly accurate
You are correct all but one crucial part. If you are not in Pi Phi's 105 and not in G Phi's 105 you don't auto get G Phi. You become a quota addition. That is why all chapters have different number of pledges. Quota additions typically go to the PNM's first choice, in this case, Pi Beta Phi.
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by: Active
Oh, I want to clarify that you can also still end up in your top choice even if you're not in the top 105, IF girls from their top 105 match with a different house. If that happens, it will bump down to the next girl on the list. That's why houses invite more girls than they can extend bids to. Because on the off chance their top girls don't want them and match somewhere else, they need "backups" for lack of a better word.
And no, you will never know where you fell on the bid list. Ever. Well, if you're a legacy you can assume you were at the top, because most houses operate under that policy. But other than that, you'll never know.
You'll also never know whether or not you were a quota addition. Once bids are issued, everyone is the same and numbers don't matter anymore.
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