Should i accept sorority bid

You are about to meet all your new sisters. Bid Day is probably the most magical day of the year. I guess you can compare it to Christmas Day when you still believed in Santa.

You know? You are so excited you just cannot contain yourself. I will let you in on a secret. Your GPA, legacy status, and what you are wearing will not get you a bid. To get a bid to a sorority you love, you need to stand out from the other potential new members. In order to stand out, you need a strategy a plan.

A strategy helps you walk into sorority recruitment confident and helps you get invited back to sororities you love. We think you would make a great member of the sorority. Do you want to join? You have to go through all the rounds of sorority recruitment and vote on the sororities. Then on the last day of sorority recruitment, you receive a bid. AKA Bid Day. Want to learn more about voting?

Click HERE. After Pref, you vote on the sororities you visited. Do not forget order matters when you vote after Pref! Then, the sorority put all the potential new members on a list in ranking order. The potential new members with the best scores are at the top of the list. Later, Panhellenic who is in charge of sorority recruitment tells each sorority how many bids each sorority can give out.

It is your 1 sorority. You like Alpha Alpha Alpha, so you put it as your number 2. Wondering about a single preference vote?

During your preference vote, you vote Delta Nu 1. Delta Nu puts you on their Bid Day list. AKA you are in the top You get a bid to your 1 sorority. Delta Nu does not put you on their Bid Day list.

AKA you are not in the top You get a bid to Alpha Alpha Alpha. After mutual selection, each sorority receives its final list of potential new members. Now, things start to get exciting! The sororities write out invitations.

So, if you participated in recruitment but did not join, they have your information. A sorority will also poll its members to get ideas. An officer will announce that the chapter will be conducting COB and will ask if anyone already knows someone who might be interested. For this reason, it is important that you let your sorority friends know that you would be interested in learning more and maybe joining, should they conduct COB.

You can find that information on the Sororities at UCA link. Your information is also released to the sororities so they can make sure you meet their eligibility requirements.

If you complete an interest form, a sorority may or may not call you to meet or offer a bid. Looking for Fall Formal recruitment registration? Find it here! UCA dedicates itself to academic vitality, integrity, and diversity. Panhellenic Council. For example at the University of Alabama , every women participating in formal recruitment in followed this schedule:.

For example, here is what Auburn University states in regard to the format of their informal recruitment events:. A second example from Ole Miss :. Then informal recruitment can be a great, fun way to meet sorority women and potentially find your home away from home.

And with all of these rules and regulations on both sides of recruitment, it can sometimes feel over structured or even limiting on how you can express yourself as a PNM. Instead of standing for hours, wearing painful heels, and or having to scream in each others ears, recruitment events are more fun and chill.

Here are some examples of COB events:. How awesome is that?! There is absolutely nothing wrong or scary about going through it. But if you are looking to join a sorority in a less stressful environment, then consider going through informal recruitment. Unfortunately, at some universities there is a negative connotation surrounding COB such as:.

However, let me tell you: There is nothing wrong with joining a sorority after formal rush or getting a bid through COB.

For many women, COB is a great way to join a sorority with very little cost in regard to time and money. COB events can also be more insightful than formal recruitment events in respect to what the sisterhood is truly like. Through informal recruitment, you get to meet with sorority women in a more genuine, authentic environment, which can help you make a more informed decision about joining. Because sororities are pretty much free to do whatever events they want for COB, the dress code is subject to the event itself.

Regardless of dress code, make sure you look and feel your best when you attend COB events. They want girls who have genuine interest in joining their sisterhood. Being proactive will pay off! Even if it is uncomfortable at first. So go ahead, send that DM or email. You never know what a simple message could lead to next. Recruitment is a mutual selective process. By the time informal recruitment comes around, you may have already heard rumors, good and bad, about the different sororities on campus.

When you are going through recruitment your conversations need to be focused around you and the sororities you are rushing. They obviously saw something in you!

Now give them the opportunity to show you just how amazing they could be for you. Instead, prioritize the conversations you are having with the sorority sisters who are talking to you:. The conversations you have with sorority sisters can give you a lot of insight into how the sorority would be if you joined it. It can let you know if you would be able to make strong connections with the other sorority sisters of the chapter.

No matter if you decide to go through formal or informal sorority recruitment, all sorority sisters are looking for potential new members with genuine interest in their sisterhood. The conversations you have during COB events are likely to be more personal than during regular recruitment.

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. Also, being open and honest during your conversations can help them get to see the real you. And that will help them make a better decision for their chapter and you in regard to extending you a bid or not.

And trust me, you want to get a bid to the right sorority for you! I know it can be awkward to talks about all your hopes and dreams with women you literally just met, but in the long run it will give them a better idea about you. In fact, a sorority would rather have you decline their bid than have you leave their sorority 2 months in. So, if you get offered a bid, take some time to think it over and make the decision on your terms. Getting a bid through COB is a huge deal.

That means a sorority really fell in love with you and would like you to join their sisterhood. The bids system is slightly different during informal recruitment because bids are given out at different times.