Not Making Quota
 

Too much fuss is made over a chapter not making quota. There are all kinds of reasons why a chapter does not make quota (especially if its only off 1 out of 50) that has nothing to do with chapter strength, or even how well a particular rush went.

I know our chapter has a much higher retention rate than many others on campus and if you take into account the large number of affiliate it's even higher. When numbers are high there's a tendancy to be more selective and go head-to-head for the PNMs who are being highly sought by other sororities. If you fall short in quota you still may have gotten most of those you really wanted and can easily make up the numbers next year.

This and other scenarios aren't generally known to those outside the house, so it's really unfair to judge a situation when much remains unknown.

This may be true in some situations, but I've often times seen chapters who have "big chapter" mentality. They think because they are so large, that not hitting quota one semester is ok. And then the next semester they miss by 3, and then 5, and before you know it, they're down by 20, and it's ugly. Just remember, to those with big chapter mentality, the day may and probably will come when you struggle with quota, so don't think it can't happen to you!

Just .02 from the peanut gallery :)

My main point was that not making quota does not necessarily mean a house had a bad rush or is in trouble. Also, I've seen posts which alude that making quota is THE yardstick for measuring the success of rush.

Obviously, if a chapter misses quota 4 or 5 years in a row, then they need to make some changes in their approach to rush.

Also, I'm disappointed when I read posts that convey a sense of "less than" when another house misses quota.

I think Shadokat is right... it's a very slippery slope. I just wrote to someone about how easy it is for chapters to make a 180' switch in a matter of a year (good or bad).

For chapters with large houses, missing quota by a large margin can have serious implications -- like having to raise dues for the mortgage, etc.. Not only do collegians have to take it seriously, but Alumnae need to take the issue seriously too and try to figure out how they can support their chapters when the tides turn.

Quota is a funny thing. ABC and DEF both makes quota, but ABC couldn't have gotten another girl if it was higher, whereas 20 more women would have clamored for DEF. Yet they can both brag, "We got quota." And chapter GHI that missed it by one, oh no! they didn't get it, what will they ever do?

Whether a chapter generally makes quota is a yardstick that measures how good a chapter is at formal rush. That's about all it measures, though. And the quality of those girls can vary so much. I have been very surprised to see the low retention rates some chapters have (and expect). If you get quota but half those girls or more are gone by senior year, you're not much better off than if you got half quota in the first place. Another chapter that got just under quota may keep 95% of their pledges - they're doing much better.

But when formal rush comes along, "making quota" is the quickest shorthand for "did we do well?"

Re: Not Making Quota
 

h2oot, I agree with most of what you said. Here goes my Southern, BUT... I think the issue that is in a lot of peoples minds (at least mine)... Is not oh :eek: they did not make quota. It is... wow... why are so many chapters, on traditionally strong Greek Campuses, that traditionally make quota... not making it all of the sudden. It seems in the last two years of rush, this is becoming a pattern. Why is it happening now? Why to so many campuses? At UGa (5/14 chapters made quota, I know a few more snapped to quota)... at Ole Miss (6/9)... Last year Penn State 14/21, but in previous years 16-18/21 made quota. At FSU last year it was Pi Phi, this year Theta. It seems at a few campuses on the West Coast that traditionally have more chapters making quota... not as many meet quota.

By no means do I think that a chapter like ABC at Ole Miss or even LSU that has 210 members and did make quota is weak or bad, or even had a bad rush... I am just curious why this is happening to so soo many similar chapters across the nation.

I know there is a better way of asking my question/making my statement. And if anyone understands what I am saying and can ask/say it better.. please do... I would love to hear from people actively involved with recruitment as an office or advisor!!! Barbara? Lauradev? anyone!!!

As I have said before, for me it is more about retention. What is the point of making quota by hook or by crook, just to say "we made quota" and then having half those girls drop out before initiation because the sorority isn't what they were promised during rush? On the other side of the coin, you can have the sorority who rarely makes quota through formal, but open bids up to total and has a 95-100% initiation rate. I wish that the Greek world would learn to look at long term success instead of short term.

I do agree with what A&As is saying though - on a campus where there is NO shortage of rushees, why are so few groups making quota? That's not a rip on the groups, it's a rip on the system, because obviously you have both parts of the puzzle but somehow they are not fitting together. If it is an issue of rushees saying "I want XYZ or nothing" then the system as a whole has to be marketed differently.

yes, yes, yes, and yes.

I really liked the points FuzzieAlum made. And I think that is what h2oot was getting at. (She is quite familiar with southern rush, too, I think?!) I think she was just saying we shouldn't all get so hung up on quota, because a chapter could have not made it by 1 or 50, most of the time we do not clarify. Or a chapter could have taken quota "plus 10!!!" Well, then it wasn't close enough to total in the first place so what does that say? etc. etc. etc.

(However, I do think we should be worrying when many houses aren't making quota. But that is another issue.)

So, be happy when your group does make quota, but don't assume a chapter is failing because it didn't.

It's cliche maybe but chapters that don't make quota should always remember:
"Quality over Quantity"

The number of girls rushing is cyclical ... it depends on the political and social currents. That's why so many chapters closed in the 1960s; there were generally not enough rushees to sustain as many chapters as were on most campuses.

But quota is based on the number of girls rushing near the end of rush, so if half as many girls rush as usual, quota is half as much, and in theory most chapters should still make quota - although the entire system will suffer. Any of several things could be happening to make many chapters fall short of quota:

1) Getting into the "right" chapter is becoming more important; girls will not pledge at all rather than pledge what is a "lesser" sorority in their mind.
2) Girls who aren't traditionally considered good rush candidates are rushing. However, you think they'd get cut early enough on that it wouldn't affect quota.
3) Sororities are cutting too hard, harder than their return rates say they should.
4) Girls are getting turned off by Greek life altogether late in the rush process and not bidding or skipping preference.
5) Several chapters went psycho over the summer after being kidnapped by aliens and were suddenly undesirable. ;)

If it's 3, it's easy to fix. I doubt 4 is happening without at least a little 1 happening, too. (And I really doubt aliens are roaming campus!)

Quota going down all over the country suggests the cyclical popularity of sororities is going down again. Chapters being less likely to make quota means something is broken _during_ the rush process.

33, that's the puzzle. Especially in the South, rushee numbers are soaring!

I know that part of it is due to rushees who will only consider, say, 2 of 15 sororities. I know maybe 15 college freshmen who dropped out of rush because they didn't like their returns yet the truth was they'd only been cut by 1 or 2 chapters.

The other part seems to be a combination of the newest release figures and overly heavy cutting of PNMs. There are some chapters who are required to cut around 75% of their PNMs after second parties. That can screw up the chapter if many rushees then cut them after third parties. I've heard of at least 3 big-deal sororities on various campuses who cut way more girls than they were required to early on and then were heavily cut by PNMs later on and none of them got anywhere close to quota...whereas any other year, the groups could've taken 20 over quota!

I still feel like the release figures are too harsh. Sororities are having to make decisions too early and worse, if a girl is cut early on by the majority of the sororities, she's likely to drop out of rush.

In response to Fuzzie Alum, I see (at least on my campus) a decrease in interest in Greek life along with a lot of sorority number one mentality. I have met about 5 girls a year (implying the real number is higher) that go through rush to be a member of the one sorority that they think is best on campus (some consider two-- but they hardly consider all 5). Many girls drop out of rush when they decide it's not for them, or when they get cut by the sorority they wanted to rush.

*sigh*
M

I agree with the fuss over quota. One of the houses on our campus- no, two- which are traditionally known as two of the top houses, that always make quota, have a problem with keeping their pledges. One doesn't have a lot of house unity and by consequence they have the highest deactivation rate on campus. The other hazes its pledges so badly that last year many of them depledged en masse before initiation.

I don't think it's a big deal if a house is a couple girls under quota. The only time there should be any discussion is if a house significantly fails to make quota. I think it's much more impressive when a house manages to do really well during informal rush. During formal rush, a girl can easily be dazzled with cheers and songs and cute clothes and dance routines and skits- but during informal you have to impress the girl by just being yourself.

quota does matter
 

due to basically fraternity crap-talking (not even from all frat chapters), my sorority has struggled to make quota in the past. the campus stereotype of us is of a very diverse group of intellectual women. we suffer because guys tell freshmen we do not go out to parties. (which is SO untrue!). :rolleyes: so this year we are making an extra effort, so hopefully, it will pay off. (we have winter rush). but i must say that i think not making quota hurts us. last year quota was 38 and we took only 21. with COB, we brought it up to 23. but i think people see confirmation of our supposed "uncoolness" in our low numbers. but in reality, we're cool, but freshmen have such a negative stereotype that often many of the women we've been looking at withdraw rather than pledge, when they would have made a great addition to our sisterhood. i know about 10 women who *could* have been in my pledge class, if they just hadn't withdrawn! that would have brought us almost to quota... anyway, i think on our campus, where we are the only house not making quota (which of course is printed up in the paper after bid night, being a predominantly greek campus) people look at quota as an extension of our reputation... when in reality, we're a lot of fun, and people are just scared to pledge! *sigh* coming from my perspective, quota is really, really, really important--of course, i would rather go under quota that take women we don't think would work in our sisterhood, but this year i want quota so bad i can taste it..... :D plus, on our small campus, if you don't make quota for several years, you have fewer people to conduct rush and meet freshmen in the coming years.... i guess it depends on your campus and chapter, though!

There have been some good points made here, but I have to say, having just sat in on bid matching for a large university, making quota does not always mean what it might seem on the outside. Sometimes the top chapters are SO selective that it can actually hurt their numbers. We faced a situation where we had to hand match some of the PNMs, and out of the "top" 3 chapters only 2 were able to get any additional girls this way......therefore those 2 chapters ended up with 29 new members where the other only got 24. It can vary. I would say that missing it by one or two does not necessarily mean anything, but if you are consistently off and not getting the girls who were at the top of your list then you might have a problem.

Hey - time for my two cents and a story...

Some chapters choose to invite women back to keep their retention rates high. ABC invites back the maximum amount allowed during formal recruitment. They're a very popular chapter on campus, so their parties are always full. Pref Night rolls around and their parties are full - but they're surpirsed to find that a few of their rush crushes went to other houses. They have some of the best and the brightest women going through rush. Oh and oops, they have a couple of people that slipped by, but hey, they had a 87% retention rate on their invites back.

Then Bid Day rolls around. They are shocked to see that their bid list is made up of three girls from their first bid list and the rest of their new members are from their second bid list, and some barely made it. They got quota but most of their rush crushes went to other houses and they have eight new members that they never even wanted as sisters. But - they got quota.

So then there's another chapter, XYZ on this campus. Throughout rush, they've been consistently cutting about 35% of the women that come to their parties. This is harsh cutting for them as their retention rates are around 25-35%. They did not make quota - 2 short. However, they don't invite back anyone they do not want to "pay to be their sisters." (yes, we use this phrase as a standard during rush - would you pay to hang out with this rushee?) After rush ends, sisters of ABC come up to three new members of XYZ and ask where they were on bid night. Eight days after rush, four new members of ABC depledged - two that were hated and two that ABC liked but were friends of the unliked new members.

Who wins in this situation? Slippery slope...

Not making quota is not the tragedy that some sororities make it out to be. Sometimes its worse to make quota and not get the new members you want. If anything, if a large amount of sororities make quota on campus - as mine did last week - then it shows that Panhel is doing something right. Sorority rush is being promoted, not specfic chapters. Greek Life is attractive as many women feel comfortable signing up for rush. And the chapters themselves have confidence and realize that women want to join them.

Quality comes first and quantity follows.

I agree with a lot of the points made here, I just have seen that slippery slope so many times, that it's sort of frightening to say that not making quota isn't a big deal. Look how we are talking on other threads that this group made quota and so did this one and praising them. And when we see a group didn't make quota, we say "sorry!".

Also, not making quota is ok I guess, if you're then COBing to hit quota and/or total. But how often does that happen at large schools where COB is "stigma". I guess you can look at this in many different ways, but if you don't hit quota, and you don't COB to hit that number, then your group won't remain at the standards it's had in the past, and that causes a world of problems, as many of us can attest to.

I stumbled upon this old thread about making quota. This is a fabulous discussion and I especially liked the points brought up by dphies00.

It's hard! You want quality over quantity but you have to maintain your "image" or live up to the number your national demands. And no group wants to pledge a woman who's pretty much disliked by everyone but there's that number you have to reach...

I would say that the only thing that has changed in 20 years is that it seems to be less embarrassing to COB. Lately, I've noticed that several chapters who never would have done so years ago are picking up COB members and announcing it on Instagram, to the point that I might advise women who drop out of recruitment to sign up for COB. Their options would be a lot wider than they were at the end of formal recruitment.

This. I, too, have noticed many more chapters announcing COB classes, instead of being so hush-hush about it, as was done in the past. I still advise PNMs to attend all parties through preference round, and THEN, if they could truly not see themselves in their remaining choices, remove themselves from rush.

A larger sense of belonging to the chapter may be instilled in new COB members by this new growth in social media postings pertaining to COB classes.

Having studied Gen Z extensively, this doesn't surprise me at all.

I clearly couldnt post all the resources that will tell you everything you need to know about this generation, but this is a start:

https://blog.phiredup.com/recruiting...sorority-life/

Based on the overall timing and circumstances of when they grew up, they're tech-savvy, looking for a cause to support, careful with how and on what they spend their money, and they're yearning for meaningful connections.

Those last two points are important, and it doesn't appear nowadays that a portion of potential members are willing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on an organization when they've only had a few 30-min conversations with a handful of sisters they were paired with randomly.

That's not to say we should shut the entire system down as we know it, but it seems more recently there are a lot more women who are looking for the more personal connection one gets through COB.

In general, members of Gen Z want less structure and conformity, but they're looking for a sense of community. They prefer individual tasks and learning but want to avoid isolation. They're entrepreneurial and want to invest in things they deem worthy. They want a "work-life balance." They're not looking for recognition and accolades but for meaning in what they do.

How does sorority life cater to all of this, and how does it push away the new members of today?

This depiction of Gen Z makes them sound awfully self-centered, much more than previous generations.

How so?

This whole thing is me, me, me. Several of my own children are Gen Z and I hope they never act like this, all "what can you do for me?"

Me, me, me? Again, wondering why you're interpreting it that way.

Longing for personal connections, working for meaningful causes, and spending their money on things they deem worthy - after growing up through the recession of 2008, the COVID pandemic, and paying more for college than any generation before them by a long shot - doesn't scream self-centered and selfish to me.

Like I said, I'm seeing, "What can you do for me?" These are the kids who are quitting Greek life in droves after soph or junior year because they want to live off campus and they never thought they would actually be required to live in the house, even though they knew it was the rule. This is only in recent years. These are the kids who have decorators come in and do their dorm rooms freshman year, the kids who consider how fancy the dorms are when they're choosing a college.

I have seen this as a parent, teacher, and professor over the last several years and it's disheartening.

We sure are going to have a lot to talk about!

Being relatively close to a lot of Gen Zs at home and at work, I would say that we were far more "about me" than they are. We worked a job that gave us a good salary and whether we liked it or not was not important, leaving many of us horribly burned out and cynical. Gen Zs are doing things that MATTER regardless of pay. I don't see that as selfish- I see it as quite the opposite. They want to work for companies who are doing things to better the world, non-profits, etc. over big corporate conglomerations who are only there to make rich people richer. They are not afraid to break out of traditional work situations to start their own businesses and give themselves flexibility so they have time to do volunteer work or spend time with their families. I think they are much healthier.

Back to the other topic though- I think COB is more acceptable because they are re-setting Total after every formal recruitment and more chapters are below that Total as a result. There were campuses I worked with (including my own) who NEVER changed Total so the big chapters stayed pretty big and the smaller chapters stayed small because they couldn't COB over certain numbers. Quota would be 15 and 3 chapters took 15 but the other 3 took less than 10 and they could never get to the 60 members the larger chapters had because the larger chapters insisted Total stay at 40. It was crazy. Re-setting Total every year helps that a lot.

Especially during the pandemic, I really have a hard time seeing what greek life is offering to young people that they can't get elsewhere. It's getting ridiculously expensive for kids who are already taking out a ton of student loans to be in school. The housing is significantly more expensive than other off campus housing options. There are so many student organizations and residential living options at a lot of campuses that don't carry the cost. We have to really figure out what young people are looking for from greek life these days.

Oh yes!!!!