Rush algorithm

what if your insta is private and only you 1 or 2 girls from a few chapters follow you?

Make your insta public before and during recruitment.

Follow ALL the sorority instas.

Wait so our rankings of the sororities don’t actually matter at all to help us get certain houses back and it’s pretty much just up to them?

Correct. Recruitment is not a sign up sheet where you pick the sorority you want, the sorority has to pick you first. The sororities are choosing their new members, not the other way around, so the sorority's ranks of the pnm's drive the algorithm. It doesn't matter how bad you want a certain house, if you're not ranked high enough by them to get to the next round then they are no longer a choice for you and you need to focus elsewhere.

Your ranks of the sororities only matter if you make the cutoff for more chapters than you can visit. If that happens, the algorithm drops your lowest ranked chapters from your schedule. Otherwise, the algorithm doesn't allow pnm's to 'drop' sororities as long as you still have room in your schedule; you keep going back to as many as possible every round.

The exception to this is bid matching after pref. In this round, the pnm's ranks of the chapters are equally as important as the chapters' ranks of the pnm's. Everyone invited to a chapter's pref is on the bid list somewhere. The bid matching algorithm does its best to match you to the chapter you put down as your first choice.

This is why you should keep an open mind and don't take getting dropped by any chapter personally. It's a numbers game. Also know that there are plenty of sorority members who get VERY upset when they lose favorite pnm's because of the numbers. Everybody just has to suck up the disappointment, put a smile on her face, and keep going. It does work out believe it or not.

This is precisely how it works. I am an alum who has been a recruitment advisor for multiple chapters.

What are you confused about?

PNMs get back houses they rank lower (“drop”) because the houses they ranked higher cut off their invitations before they got to their name.

Houses- Rank every PNM in order. They get back PNM based on that list, and cut off after they reach maximum for that round. Everyone after that is dropped.

PNMs- Rank houses in order. They get back houses based on where they are on the list for each house. So if a PNM ranks house A as highest and house A make their quota for that round before they get to that PNM, she won’t get house A back. This happens for every house until the PNM get back the maximum houses for that round that she matches with.

All correct and good explanation. I would just say that calling it "quota" is confusing because that is a very specific thing for Bid Matching only.

Here is another bit of insight for pnm's:
The discussions and ranking of pnm's within the chapter is actually quite positive in nature. The sorority members in each house are looking for their future sisters, not trying to find things wrong with you! And while each chapter has their own way of discussing and ranking pnm's, the general membership really has no idea what the chapter's final ranking is, only the recruitment chair and a few others on the committee see the list that gets submitted for the next round. We also don't know the exact cutoff number for our chapter, just an idea of it, because the numbers are always being adjusted each round by panhellenic based on how many pnm's are staying in the process. Each sorority member tries to advocate for the pnm's she likes during the membership selection process, but in the end it's a chapter decision. When favorite pnm's end up not coming back, we don't know if you dropped us or if you didn't make our cut off. Either way we take it hard. Rush is stressful and emotional for us too.

This is also true. The entire chapter does NOT see the invite list for every round. It's a very formal, closely controlled process. Advisors and Panhel are also involved.

Because "mutual selection" means that neither party is required to extend or accept membership if either feels it is not a good fit. So when a sorority's ranked list eliminates the possibility of you getting a bid from them, the "mutual" part between you has ended. Believe us when we say that it is far better for you to find that out as early in the process as possible! That's why the first round releases are so big. This allows you to focus on chapters that are your actual options, where you are wanted, where they feel you fit with them, where you have a chance at a bid.

You are never forced to accept a bid you don't want, but the process is doing you a favor by getting you to take a second and third look at chapters that weren't initially on your radar. You'd be surprised how your opinions can change during the week, so don't sell yourself short, just keep going back where you are invited. You can drop if you want, you can SIP after pref if you want, but there is a downside to both if you make an EMOTIONAL decision you will likely regret.

Yes to all that, and to add...the rush process started for the sororities waaay before now. Chapters already have a pretty good idea about the pnm's before you show up for the open house round. They have been spending a lot of time reviewing your grades and other information, your social media, your in-person contact with any members and their friends over the past semester (and even before). They have learned about you and talked about you within their chapters. The first day of recruitment is not actually the first day of recruitment, it is just the next phase of a process that has already been going on for them for weeks.

Recruitment is the most important thing a sorority does every year. It is taken very seriously.

To the above comment. Yes, this is true. But PNMs should NOT be intimidated or feel "behind" if they don't have any Greek connections yet. Again, just be your real self and put your best effort into EVERY party at EVERY chapter and you'll land somewhere GREAT!

Every srat ranks differently so there’s no one answer and don’t worry about it. Just be your best self in person and in your socials. When in doubt be humble not a bragger. Assume everyone u talk to and know has some say in the process.

Can be both depending on sorority and round. All chapters are guided by their own national's recruitment method and alumnae advisement, but they are all similar in result. The selection process is as fair and efficient as possible. Every member gets a say somehow, but it's a chapter consensus and only the recruitment chair/committee end up seeing the final result that gets submitted each round.

Bump groups. Each chapter puts together small groups of their members that form a 'bump group' for every round. Sometimes this group is the same for all of recruitment, sometimes it changes based on round---every house handles it somewhat differently. The group usually includes a mix of girls....different years, different majors, personalities, friend groups, etc.....this gives every PNM a "sampling" of the types of sisters in that house, and gives them the fairest shot. After every party, the bump group discusses and 'ranks' (often a 1-5 system) each girl they talked to. 1 being definitely not a fit and 5 being she needs to be my sister.

Bump groups. Each chapter puts together small groups of their members that form a 'bump group' for every round. Sometimes this group is the same for all of recruitment, sometimes it changes based on round---every house handles it somewhat differently. The group usually includes a mix of girls....different years, different majors, personalities, friend groups, etc.....this gives every PNM a "sampling" of the types of sisters in that house, and gives them the fairest shot. After every party, the bump group discusses and 'ranks' (often a 1-5 system) each girl they talked to. 1 being definitely not a fit and 5 being she needs to be my sister.

Could go either way. If you don’t know anybody, I would curate my social and make it public.

IG is important for recruitment; it's not the only thing but it is something that pnm's can use to their advantage, but waiting until actual recruitment won't do a thing, that's way too late. You want to get noticed AHEAD of time by making it public and following all the chapters during fall semester. Sororities start to consider pnm's before registration even opens. By the time you have registered you definitely want to have that presence because the chapters will use all the information available to them as they make their preliminary lists. If your IG shows you as fun, classy, and someone they would want to see wearing their letters then it's a big plus for you as a first impression. At the very least it will get you noticed so you are not as likely to fall through the cracks.

Right, true but don’t dissuade PNMs from doing it now just because it would’ve been better to be done in the fall!!! It’s not like srats aren’t still looking at insta.

Don't wait. The sororities are busy finalizing their assessments of pnm's. Not sure what you mean "clear everyone for rush". What do you think RhoGams do?

Go public now if that’s your choice- can’t hurt/might help as long as your posts are classy. Like all srats too. Good luck!

So your rankings matter, but they won’t get you higher on the PNM list that the srat makes .

Thanks that explanation was the easiest to understand for me

Your rankings matter, but correct, you won't move up to a higher position on the PNM list the sorority makes.