why aphi did well

I think that the reason Alpha Phi seems to have gotten "better" girls than DPHIE is because this was the first year of two house pref. More girls probably dropped out of rush or didn't accept their bid because they didn't get the house they wanted. Knowing APHI was colonizing probably encouraged them to drop out of rush even more. Many would rather be a founding member than a member of a sorority that has been bottom tier for many many years. That's just my perspective on the whole situation.

Once they have to go through the formal rush process they will have to work really hard to build themselves up because most PNMs will be focused on top houses