spring rec

Don't do it. You will solely be a number, not a member. Chapters are required to fill quota so they will take anything they can get. You will not click with the rest of the house as they have already bonded all first semester at swaps and initiation week and homecoming week. You will feel extremely left out and it will be so much harder to build close relationships with girls in your pledge class. Don't take the easy way out, go through rush and get the same experience of every other girl. It's honestly not fair for girls like you to think you'll just get a bid without working hard like all 2000 other pnms.

What an a-hole comment!
First, most houses don't do COB, even spring semester.
Second, if you pledge via COB in the spring, you will be a part of the spring new member class. Period.
Third, even top-tier groups COB, but usually they'll only have a handful of spots and already know who they want. A random girl who signs up for COB is not going to be invited to a top tier house.
Fourth, once you're initiated, nobody cares if you're a COB pledge or a formal recruitment pledge. You're a MEMBER. That's it.
COB is not a guaranteed thing. Only a few sororities will participate, there's no set parties or bid day, you don't even get invited to all the sororities participated (what few there are).
Clearly you have no idea how it works.

Is to pray you become friends with a ton of sorority women your freshman year and that they can recommend you for COB if their houses are participating. The average girl won't know which houses are COBing or when. Even if your name is on the list with Greek Life, the chapters are under no obligation to invite anyone on the list - and if no one in the chapter has ever heard of you, you probably won't be invited.

My house took a few girls via COB my sophomore year. One was the roomate of several members and always hung out with that group of girls. Another was a transfer who went to high school with quite a few members. You typically need to have those kind of connections to get a COB bid.

I would never ever tell anyone about your financial situation. You don't want the word to get out that you may not be able to afford being in a sorority. Make up any good excuse and once you've befriended sorority women (genuinely), mention to them that you're thinking about going through fall rush next year but that you've heard about cob and if their chapter ever is doing cob, you'd love to come to an event. This is probably a conversation you're having right after Christmas break.