sorority rush

What do you mean by "bids" you? I thought it was a mutual ranking system that matched girls up with houses. How does the final selection work

It is mutual selection in that you have to match up. A house can only accept 90 members (ish), so they will select PNMs to extend bids to. If those PNMs liked them back (I.e. Listed them one thru three), they get a bid card on bid day and run home. So for example say you preffed at ZTA, XO, and DZ and ranked XO number one, DZ number two, and ZTA number 3. If XO loved you back, they'll bid you, and you'll get them on bid day. If they didn't select to bid you, or their spots filled up with girls they liked more, but DZ loved you, you'll get DZ. it sounds complicated but it really isn't - the short and sweet version is you'll only get a formal bid from one house, and that will be the house that loved you the most that you also ranked highest on your final list.

And to clarify - just because you pref at a house, doesn't mean you're getting a bid to that one. You'll end up at the place that cherishes you most, that you fit in with best.

But let's say that you're ranked 20th on the B List, and GH "fills up" with women who put GH first. Then, the computer will look at your next choice, DEF. If you're on the top list at DEF, you match and get a bid there. If not, it'll keep trying to match you until DEF "fills up," and then it'll try to match you with ABC. If all three houses "fill up" before you match with any of them, you become a "quota addition" meaning Panhellenic will stick you in one of the three chapters you preffed, trying to honor your preference ranking. (Nobody ever knows who was a quota addition, it is not disclosed.)

The reason it is SO important to rank all three chapters you pref is that you cannot become a "quota addition" unless you do. You have to "maximize your options." If you don't, and let's say you pick only GH, and it's GH or bust, then if GH "fills up" before they reach your name on their bid list, you're out of luck. However, if you'd maximized your options and ranked all three, you could have possibly been placed at GH as a "quota addition" even if you're not on their top bid list and they'd technically hit quota without you.

One more thing to note: just because House A ranks you top of bid list and House B puts you in the middle doesn't give House A "pull" in getting you. If you rank House B higher, the computer will try to match you with House B until there are no spots left in B. Some people say "ugh I wanted House B but because House A loved me more I got put there" but that's not how the computer looks at it. It tries to match each PNM to her first choice and only moves to her second/third choices of her higher preferred house fills it's new member class. I was someone who got her "second choice" house on bid day and now loooves it but I also really wanted to learn how the process worked. It sounds complex but you will generally end up in a good home if you stick with it!

What if you only pref at one or two houses? Can you still be a quota addition?

If you maximize your options, you can be a quota addition! That means if you only pref one or two houses, but have accepted all invitations extended to you throughout the process, you are eligible.

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