<p>" Does anyone know if it is possible to go through rush at Ole Miss, cut no sororities from your own invite list, and end up without a bid?"</p>
<p>From what I understand, possible (it’s always possible). But unlikely if you get your recommendations, have good grades, etc. Ole Miss has exceptionally high placement: about 90% of young women who begin recruitment get a bid. As at other schools, most of the other 10% drop out; they aren’t cut completely. That’s a much higher placement rate than at most big schools in the north, like Illinois. But bear in mind that pretty much everyone going through at Ole Miss is well prepared. They know what is expected, and they don’t waste their time if they don’t have it. That’s why I think any young woman going through SEC rush should talk to knowledgeable SEC people. They know what to do, and they are generally happy to share.</p>
<p>Most schools use a new formula for establishing quota, and it is to have the most girls receive a bid. It limits the bigger, popular houses to the number of invitations each can give at certain parties. It really works remarkably well. There is also a ‘quota plus’ rule, which allows houses to take over quota IF there are girls who have gone to all the parties they could, went to all the preference parties (final) and still didn’t get a bid. Those girls will be placed in one of those houses. At Bama this year, some houses had 20+ over quota because of this rule.</p>
<p>The sororities really want you to join, so panhel works to make sure there are enough houses, that something will work. The rushees have to have an open mind, to not get set on just one house. </p>
<p>^^ 20 over quota? What are the quotas? In my day, at my school, between 55-65. In that case, 20 is a huge percentage. How can they be that far off when they calculate number of women rushing? When some houses take 20 over quota, does that mean every house has made quota? I am googling around trying to find active membership numbers for various sororities at Ole Miss but without success.</p>
<p>adding: how do they decide which groups get to go over quota? Is it an effort to support groups which have less membership? Or do the big groups just add to their membership?</p>
<p>Okay - located a pdf for Alabama rush, 2012. Quota was 95. Yikes. That is a whole lot of young women interested in sororities. Some groups that made quota still got to take additional women. It isn’t clear, at least to me, how many young women may have turned down the bids outside of regular rush. I’m impressed how equal the houses are in membership numbers. very impressed.</p>
<p>The houses at Bama are HUGE - 350 or more members. The chapter of my sorority there took 20 over quota and I asked how. Quota was, I think, 113, and they took 133. I guess that these extra 20 were girls who had gone to 3 preference parties but didn’t make the first list at any of the 3, so they are the ‘plus’. It wouldn’t matter if other houses all had quota because these ‘plus’ girls didn’t go to preference at those houses. I think if a house is at capacity from prior years, they may not get any ‘plus’ girls, but that is controlled by not allowing as many preference invitations - that’s the new system with a formula to determine how many can be invited and limited the biggest, most popular to a lower number; they want those houses to make cuts earlier so that girls can keep options open. So some of the houses get ‘quota plus’ but some don’t.</p>
<p>At my own chapter, it is the biggest house on campus but still got to take “+2” over quota. I have no idea if other, smaller, houses got to take many more over quota or not. At my daughter’s school (same sorority) they only got to take quota while the other houses took +1 and +2, and get to do open and spring rush while DD’s house is done for the year because they are the biggest.</p>
<p>* they want those houses to make cuts earlier so that girls can keep options open. *</p>
<p>I like this. This is what we had to do with legacies we weren’t going to take. They were cut after second round parties. And sent flowers. And someone had to call their mothers to let them know before their daughters were cut. It was horrible, but allowed them to start thinking about what the real options were going to be.</p>
<p>I googled “Alabama rush quotas” and found a pdf from greekaffairs/ua/edu. The second page gives a snapshot of 2012 rush. When the numbers after recruitment are around 300, does that mean they lost members or the groups are growing at an astonishing rate. Do all those OOS students have something to do with this? Have they enlarged these houses to accommodate more residents? Or is living in the house not necessarily an option?</p>
<p>“They have been planning on mama’s sorority their whole life. That doesn’t mean the group doesn’t necessarily want them; they just can’t take all their legacies. Then there will be the high school friends of current members.”</p>
<p>It’s important for this young lady to consider her comfort level in a social setting where girls already know one another from hometowns, versus schools in which no one knows one another til they get on campus. </p>
<p>^ I don’t see that as a problem. Once she’s part of the group, she’s part of the group. Basically that PDF just convinced me she’ll be fine at rush at Alabama. I wish we could find something similar for Ole Miss.</p>
<p>There will be a contingent at elite private colleges who went to the same prep schools or science/math magnet schools. Some have gone to summer camps together for years. It is the same sort of “problem” imho. Basically, I think most students are interested in expanding their social horizons. ymmv</p>
<p>adding: she still needs to collect those recs! : )</p>
<p>“Have they enlarged these houses to accommodate more residents? Or is living in the house not necessarily an option?”</p>
<p>Yes, every group at Alabama has either built a new house, renovated, or is planning to. Im looking forward to seeing them on my visit next month. But even the biggest new houses do not have room for every member of a pledge class to live in. At Ole Miss, the biggest houses only hold about half a pledge class.</p>