this is how sororities vote on PNMs
by: Active
Sharing this for OOS girls or girls without friends in sororities who know nothing about rush to even the playing field. Pnms should understand how it works so here is how.
Each house pre-scores girls. What this looks like at each house is different. Some stalk your Instagrams some don’t. In general they rank you based on a system of points that gets added to your score from the girls you talk to in the house. So like .5 for high gpa, .3 for holding a leadership position, .25 for 4+ activities, .5 for being a legacy, .25 for a good rec letter. Other sororities do the opposite where having points hurts you and a ‘perfect candidate’ would have a 0 but having no involvement gets you 6, having no rec letter gets you 1. If depends on the specific sorority’s ranking system but it’s all the same concept.
Rec letters can also help your pre score because they help the sorority know you. It’s an easy way to cut girls for thinking they aren’t serious if they don’t have one (some nationals don’t allow this openly anymore).
Hometown votes if you know girls in the sorority they might vote on you. Again varies by sorority but they can vote on you and then this vote will be factored in with everything else. This means it can really help you if you’re a bit shy in a house having another good score weighted in will protect you from getting dropped. On the other hand if someone doesn’t like you in the sorority they can no vote you where they tell their recruitment team why you shouldn’t get a bid.
Your first round conversations matter still despite this but sororities do have a rough idea of who they want now they don’t get every one of their top picks so there is still room. You can kind of tell what a sorority pre ranks by through looking at who is in their house. The party hot girl houses look at instagrams the most. The smart girl houses look at gpa. They all care about those things a bit but you can see where you might do better based on that.
Some sororities score the conversations through one overall rank on either a 0-4 or 1-5 system. Some have lower numbers being people they want and some have higher numbers being people they want it varies by their system. Some sororities don’t allow you to vote people a 3 because they want it to be clearer where to cut. When it comes down to who they are cutting each day they will go through and ask if anyone wants to speak to save the girl from getting cut. This is why it’s important to make an impression. Not every house does this though or only does this for later rounds.
Other houses vote on if you show their values, so if you show all 4 values you get a 4. The values are broad things like presentable/individual worth, leadership, academic, volunteering so make sure you talk yourself up and try to weave that into conversations.
So what gets you a top score? Being a standout being the kind of person that a room radiates to. What gets you a low score? Not talking, answering in one word, or not fitting the vibe. If you come across as a major party type girl and are at the smart girl house even if you are smart it won’t matter you’ll probably be cut. The same is even if you have a good conversation but talk a lot about religious things you do you will be cut from the party house. Some of it is fit. Sororities tell the actives to use low and high scores sparingly. Most people end up in the middle. (Continued in comments)
#1 by: Active
This is dangerous because by the later rounds sororities don’t want girls who landed in the middle.
It also makes it easier to be cut so try to stand out and be memorable about something you talked about. Each sorority is told a number of girls they can bring back each round based on how they have performed in past years so a sorority might have liked you but if you’re 301 and they can only bring back 300 girls it doesn’t matter. Example of how girls are told to vote:
1: no conversation, did not like, not put together, not like current sisters, no connections in house
2: dull, did not present herself well, seemed nervous, would not be a chapter asset
3: doesn’t stand out, looks fine, average nice girl
4: memorable, looks good, connections in house
5: perfection, literal model, will be the next chapter president
Seem excited, don’t complain (yea it will be hot don’t complain about anything), don’t be boring or shy. Ask questions about the sorority!! They want to know that you are interested. Recruitment is a weird time so even if you are normally outgoing talking to this many girls will be exhausting and stressful. When answering questions give the girl things to work with. “What dorm are you in?” “Oh I live in XXXXX I love it I met my roommate randomly but we’re already getting close. We binge watched XXXXX all last night.” She doesn’t want to talk about what dorm you’re in any more than you want to.
Break the script and pivot off. If she is just asking you a bunch of questions it’s bad. This is like a job interview in some ways but not like that. It shouldn’t be she asks and you respond that will get you low or average ratings. Get it to feel like a normal conversation. Show her that you’d be fun at mixers (not by talking about boys or parties but by seeming happy, friendly, outgoing, funny, positive) and also someone she can relax in pajamas with at the house (kind, funny, happy, positive, friendly, sweet). The dorm you live in, your major, where you’re from don’t show her who you are so it’s fine for a bit but get it into other topics. Give her enough to work and make sure you highlight stories showing you’re involved, have fun with your friends, and are excited. She’ll also appreciate it because it is hard on the actives to keep the conversation going too.
I only know with certainty how my sorority does it and bits and pieces from when my friends in different ones talk about it. This is the info I wish I had as a freshman but it might not be accurate for every house. I’d guess that all the houses are probably 80% the same on how they do it though.
Rush sucks but you hopefully have a house you like and if you don’t stay until just before initiation. If it’s not the sorority experience you want drop. Join clubs on campus and make friends. Rush is harder as a sophomore but try its better than being sad about the one you’re in! There are so many ways to make friends here outside of Greek life!
Comment#2 by: Great Advice
All this is pretty spot on. The best point made is that those basic questions are not for pnm's to simply give an answer, they are an opportunity to SHOW YOUR PERSONALITY. The dorm example given above shows how it should be. Questions are also not to have a therapy session: "How's it going so far" is not for you to tell us how it's actually going. WE KNOW it's hot and humid, WE KNOW you're tired and stressed, WE KNOW it's confusing and overwhelming, WE KNOW your feet hurt - please find something else to say, something upbeat or funny.
#4 by: Ms
One more thing to remember is that they only know who you show up as at the house. If you’re introverted and would be super outgoing and fun but don’t show that during rush you can’t get mad you didn’t show them. It’s exhausting but you have to be your best self during rush and if you can’t do informal recruitment in the spring or rush next fall once you have friends in other houses
#6 by: Grove
Only part I don’t agree with here is that sometimes it’s better to drop after pref. After pref you’ll sign a MRABA which just means that you can’t rush again for a year. If you would be unhappy in either house you had for pref then dropping before signing the MRABA means you can do COB your freshman year. COB is mostly for people who have friends in houses already so if you go that route make friends in other houses through clubs or your dorm
by: yeah butJan 3, 2024 4:09:44 PM
Yeah but keep in mind two things: 1) some chapters still have a 'once cut, always cut' rule, so you aren't getting a second chance with those no matter how many friends you have there; 2) if you fail to secure a COB you really like your freshman year, getting a bid as an older pnm is going to be almost impossible - there is no secondary quota for upperclassmen and freshmen are far more desirable for those bids.
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by: COBJun 4, 2023 11:38:39 AM
Not really. There is always a chapter vote to give any bid, but COB is a completely different thing and we only consider girls we already know for one of those bids, which are few and far between. Your BEST chance to get a bid and also have THE BEST new member experience is in fall recruitment. If you think COB is a back door to beat the competition and get your pick of houses, you are very much mistaken.
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