Informal Recruitment can take place in both the fall and spring semesters. Since the events are unstructured, sororities are better able to accommodate your schedule, so you dont have to miss out on the opportunity. And there is a chance that no sororities will do COB the next time it happens. my favorite COB recruitment event was a bob ross paint night where everyone had to follow a bob ross painting video! Asking genuine questions related to the sorority can be a great way to showcase your interest. twitter; CONTACT. Informal recruitment is truly that - informal. Learn how your comment data is processed. Some groups deliberately avoid mentioning the dates of these events because girls who are genuinely interested would approach them directly. You have never been initiated to the National Panhellenic Conference. With that being said, informal recruitment may be in the fall instead of the spring but it depends on the university. "None of the events are required which takes stress away for those who are going through the process," Stonecipher wrote in an email. With that being said, if your university allows you to go through COB with multiple sororities, you can get into a tricky situation because you have the potential to be extended multiple bids at completely random times. Hi! Learn how to make your sorority dreams come true through informal sorority recruitment. And trust me, you want to get a bid to the right sorority for you! Then informal recruitment can be a great, fun way to meet sorority women and potentially find your home away from home. Once you accept a bid, you will need to sign a continuous open bidding membership recruitment acceptance binding agreement (COB MRABA). If you are currently registered for the primary recruitment process you will need to formally withdraw and register for the Panhellenic COB process on Campus Director using a different email address. Fall 2023 Sorority Recruitment. So I wasn't around for formal sorority recruitment this year and as a sophomore that was kind of my last chance to rush. COB events should not merely consist of gossip and love interests. Is the group genuinely interested in you? You have met the minimum GPA requirement of the university or a chapter to join the sisterhood. 2019 was filled with glitz and glam, with one main focus: eyes. Alternatively, if, at the same university, Sorority B had 100 members, they would not have to participate in informal recruitment and any woman wanting to join Sorority B would have until formal recruitment for the opportunity to join Sorority B. During this process, a sorority will offer bids to women in order to reach chapter total (the largest size a sorority can become through recruitment). Informal recruitment is held in the alternate semester of formal recruitment. Purchasing a product or service through an affiliate will earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. Although the best way to get information and invited to COB events is directly through the sororities themselves, sending an email or visiting your universitys Greek Life Department can help you get your foot in the door. For more information please visit the Panhellenic website or call 513/529-7117. On Monday, Jan. 27 at 4:30 p.m you will meet with your Pi Chi groups at the Bryce Jordan Center. During informal recruitment, depending on the event, you are most likely going to be paired up with 1, maybe 2, sorority sisters to talk to during your entire recruitment experience. And they will accept you for who you are. Unlike formal recruitment, campus chapters holdindividual eventsfor PNMs to attend. We hope that our article will help you find your perfect sisterhood. From there, potential new members, or PNMs, narrow down which chapters they like until they choose one to join. Meaning there are usually less women going through COB, recruitment events are less structured, and you meet only a handful of sorority sisters throughout the process. Getting a bid through COB is a huge deal. It does not operate on a set schedule like Primary Recruitment, so each sorority handles its Informal/COB process differently. When you go through formal recruitment, there is a very systematic process to sign-up for it via an online signup form. Heck, dont even mention any other greek organization on campus. Because you have 24 48 hours to accept a bid, you are more than welcome to make your decision right before times is up. Unlike formal recruitment, there are no silent rules and long party days. And not only that, you need to be open minded especially if you get invited to COB events from a sorority you are not 100% thrilled about. Chapters will host events for PNMs interested in joining that chapter. There are currently 17 Panhellenic chapters and three Associate chapters at the Penn State Main Campus location, and there are two different times in which you would be able to rush a sorority, Informal Recruitment in the fall and Formal Recruitment in the spring. Other sororities want their local chapters to remain filled at all times, even if they have 1 slot open, so then that sorority is strongly . Each sorority operates on their own COB schedule, so there is no standardized time frame when all sororities are recruiting new members during informal recruitment. Although formal recruitment takes place in the fall, informal recruitment offers students another chance to meet friends and join a sisterhood. Informal Recruitment Questions. Recruitment is a mutually selective process. Instead of standing for hours, wearing painful heels, and or having to scream in each others ears, recruitment events are more fun and chill. See more ideas about recruitment, sorority life, recruitment themes. After you open your bid you will meet with your new sisters and begin the process of officially joining their sisterhood., The main thing to remember when going through the rushing process is to always keep an open mind. Informal recruitment activities can vary in style but are generally shorter and less structured than the formal recruitment process. For example, here is what Auburn University states in regard to the format of their informal recruitment events: Then formal recruitment may suit you better. But it all depended on which chapters were below chapter total. With the exception of Asian-Interest Recruitment, the Membership Intake Process for Multicultural Greek & Fraternal Council (MGFC) organizations happens at various times during the year at the discretion of each group and their national organization. Some chapters may only be recruiting a few new members and may quickly be finished, or finishing up with COB currently. Continuous open bidding can be a wonderful opportunity for women to join a sorority after formal recruitment. This process is less structured than Fall sorority recruitment - not all chapters . While the informal process may offer a less stressful environment for some, Graham said the informal process does not offer an equal chance for PNMs to visit all of the campus chapters and recommends women visit all of the houses. This means that networking can come in handy in the process. Not getting a bid or deciding to decline your bid can be heart breaking. A true sisterhood wants to get to know the real you! Remember its a mutual selection process. It tends to be more casual and unstructured than primary recruitment. In first rounds, you meet all 20 of the chapters in what is called the Panhellenic Preview which will be taking place Jan. 16 Jan. 18 this year. Finally, if you decide that sorority life isnt for you, thats 110% ok! "If people are on the fence about Greek life, it's not just a social aspect," Clarke said. During the formal process, PNMs have a Rho Gamma, an upperclassman who is an active member in a sorority, to guide them during recruitment and act as a mentor. "We also have scholarship opportunities. Decided you wanted to give sorority life a chance. And if you are interested in going through formal sorority recruitment, but your university has made it virtual, check out this blog post all about virtual sorority recruitment. The big takeaway from point #2: if you are someone who wants to see and weigh all of their options during recruitment, informal recruitment may not be for you. I previously did formal recruitment over Zoom (this past spring) but ended up dropping before I was extended a bid because the whole process felt super impersonal and overall I didn't feel like I fit in. Sometimes that would be 2 sororities and sometimes it would be 3 sororities. And you arent hurting anyones feelings by declining a bid either. There are still chances to get involved with a sorority after the Fall sorority recruitment process through informal recruitment, which includes the Spring semester. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. differences between formal and informal recruitment, University of Alabama informal recruitment, How To Manage Working While Being In A Sorority [Without Losing Your Mind], things you shouldnt, as a PNM, talk about during recruitment, 9 Off-Limit Conversation Topics During Sorority Recruitment, 50 questions you can ask sorority sisters, then click here, How Handle Getting Cut During Sorority Recruitment, The Complete Guide To Online Sorority Recruitment, 7 Qualities Sororities Are Looking For In Potential New Members, How To Stand Out During Sorority Recruitment As A Sophomore, 50 Questions You Need To Be Asking Sisters During Recruitment, 77 Cute and Creative Sorority Family Tree Name Ideas, Sorority Recruitment 101: Preference Round, How Do Bigs And Littles Work In Sororities, How to Deal With Sorority Rejection During Rush. All Ohio State University students are eligible to participate in COB provided that: (1) they are enrolled as a full-time student; (2) they have never been initiated into one of the 17 National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) sororities at OSU, or on another campus; (3) they have not received a bid during the most recent Primary Recruitment, declined the bid, or broke their pledge; (4) completed 12 collegiate credit hours. If you get a bid, youll most likely be called by the sororitys recruitment chairwoman or another member of chapters executive council, and youll be given have 3 options: In this section we will further discuss the next steps if you get a bid or dont get a bid through COB. My name is Madison, but everyone just calls me Maddy. Sponsor Delta Phi Omega Sorority. WHAT MAKES ME ELIGIBLE FOR INFORMAL RECRUITMENT (COB)? For more information on informal recruitment please contact the VP of Recruitment, Deisi or the Director of Informal Recruitment, Kendall. Some of the common ways to enter the informal recruitment process are as follows: The best way to stay updated about deferred recruitment is by following the sorority on social media. However, if you are open to other options, you can see if there is another sorority, or sororities, on campus participating in COB and potentially get a bid to that sorority. The dress code is similar to Panhellenic Review, so dress casually and accessorize how you like. She said her advice to women interested in informal recruitment is to stay open-minded during the process. Throughout the COB process, sororities will either host events or individually meet with interested women and extend them a bid for membership. And if it doesnt go your way (granted you dont receive a bid and sign a MRABA), then you can go through formal recruitment the following semester. But well discuss this in more detail in the next section! COB events can also be more insightful than formal recruitment events in respect to what the sisterhood is truly like. And not all sororities participate in COB every semester. However, it is quite uncommon, in my experience, to randomly get a new pledge class in the middle of the semester. Instead, COB reaches out to a potential new member and gets to know a possible sister better. If youre interested in a specific chapter, please contact them to get more information on their recruitment process. How will sororities decide who they will invite? During Preference Night you will attend parties at only two sororities where you will get to mingle and socialize with the sisters for about 50 minutes. The above chapters are eligible for Continuous Open Bidding,HOWEVER, each chapters COB process is different. This will allow you to see if there are any other sororities extending you a bid and help you make a more informed decision. Informal recruitment is a great opportunity for women who did not join a sorority through formal recruitment to become a member of the sorority community. Informal/Continuous Open Bidding (COB) begins as soon as Bid Day ends. The process is a little more casual than formal and is typically held to fill the sororities quota, which is the number of girls the sorority can have within a rushing period. Not all chapters are eligible or will participate in informal recruitment. Completed at least 14 credits at a Penn State campus OR 27 transfer credits OR be classified as an adult learner by Penn State, You must not be subject to any pending or active conduct violations, You must complete the Sorority and Fraternity Life Informational Quiz. Sometimes informal recruitment may be referred to as: Continuous open bidding (COB) Continuous open recruitment (COR) Spring rush* Spring recruitment* Let us know about Informal Sorority Recruitment. Sororities are not for everyone. If you like their posts and ideas, feel free to comment or DM them about it. Why do some sororities participate in COB and some do not? It means that the sororities must not only like you but should also go the other way around. Keep checking the chapters Instagram pages, the PHC Instagram, and this website for updates as we get them. While some prefer going out on dinner dates, others may invite the PNM for a board-game night. However, just because you fill out the interest form does not mean you will be contacted by a sorority chapter on campus. If youre interested in sorority membership and a chapter invites you to a COB event, you should consider attending. See more ideas about sigma alpha iota, sorority events, sorority recruitment. Because UD is remote this semester, all recruitment events will be virtual. Formal sorority recruitment is a very serious process. You should sign-up for deferred recruitment if you fall under one of these conditions: When it comes to informal recruitment, you dont have to spend your time applying online and later attending several parties in a row to find your match. If you decide to wait for COB, you will be taking your chances on which sororities will be available to join. CONNECT. Im so happy for you and wish you nothing but the best in your new sisterhood. When deciding which time to rush, its important to know your options because while the rushing process is generally similar, there are a few differences between Informal and Formal Recruitment. . Continuous Open Bidding is a very informal process that sororities use to take in new members. Related: How Handle Getting Cut During Sorority Recruitment.