Sorority rush voting

I’m rushing next year and I want to know so that I can be prepared bc I already rushed and I didn’t really know a lot before the process

Excellent advice. And to add, go in with an open mind. That means, don't get your heart set on the top few (you can basically forget those now_ and don't think you're too good for the 'bottom' ones. They are all good here and our lowest-ranked houses would be mid to top at most other schools.

But networking with sorority members is up to the pnm, so knowing a little bit of how voting works helps pnms understand the process better so they don’t come into rush naive and possibly blind sighted. Sometimes girls may be upset if they got dropped and take it personally but if they’re aware beforehand that it’s a numbers game and that you need to know enough members it may provide clarity and soften the blow of being dropped. I know some girls who thought they really connected with houses only to be dropped the next day, so if they knew it’s not personal and is mostly based on connections/numbers it may help them handle the rejection. A lot of sororities rush girls before recruitment and for those who maybe weren’t reached out to or don’t know anything about rush, knowing that you need to know girls may help them through the process and help them realize how competitive rush actually is here. Obviously all of the houses are great here but with rush comes rejection and pnms are in a vulnerable state so pnms should know that being dropped doesn’t mean that the girls didn’t like you.

Because of the computer algorithm the NPC uses, not even members of the chapter know or can guarantee if you will be going back to a certain house, even if they rank you high and you rank them high. The Panhellenic Council is very open about this algorithm. You can look it up.

How does that work though? Like if a sorority rated a pnm really high and a pnm rated a sorority high, wouldn’t that mean that they should come back for the next round? I thought if you have a high score that made the cutoff you’re good for that round? Also how many sorority girls in a house vote on a pnm? Like 3-5 girls that they talked to?

Yes, if you are high enough to make a chapter's cutoff, whatever that number is, then you are on their invitation list. As far as voting, each chapter does it differently as you have been told but it is ALWAYS a concensus of the ENTIRE membership in some way. The few actives you talk to have direct input and influence, but they don't have the final say. The members don't see their final list, only their rush chair sees what is submitted. The chapter submits their list and algorithm does the rest based on the number of pnm's still in the process, the return rates for the chapters, and the pnm's choices if/where applicable.

But it is not relevant to you as a pnm how each sorority votes. That is not public information, members never discuss it with people outside their chapter, and each chapter's membership selection method comes from their national's direction and is guided by their alum advisors. Every national sorority has their own method that all their chapters use, there is nothing different about the way SMU chapters do it.

The only thing that a pnm needs to know is to present yourself well in your appearance and conversations and don't worry about things you cannot control. That is your rush, nothing else. As long as you are being invited back you are being considered and if you are not invited back it doesn't mean you failed.

If it’s up to nationals and alum advisors how do they decide who makes the list? Bc they never get to meet the pnms so I don’t see why their vote/input is relevant. Shouldn’t it just be up to the bump group that the pnms are assigned to bc they’re actually the ones who talk to the girls? What would make a house cut a member after open house since the first round is a video so the pnms don’t actually get to meet the girls?

So the sorority girls discuss and vote together? I thought they had to vote individually online through an app or something after each round. Since the time between each round is so short I don’t see how they could all talk and vote collectively.

There is a lot that goes on within every chapter during recruitment. Behind the scenes chapter stuff is none of anyone's business who is a non-member and is irrelevant to what pnm's need to know for their rush experience. You are obsessed for the sake of curiosity. Enough.