connections

Phi Mu, I think Kappa has a pretty solid list, and I heard Pi Phi and AOPi are looking at girls they know...
Basically most houses have a list of girls who they want, but of course that doesn't guarantee anything. Totally agree on rush rounds do matter. Too many girls just give up because their not on a list they aren't supposed to know about.

You are putting way too much thought into this!

There is no magic formula to getting a bid

i think its super interesting to see what sororities are following/friends with certain pnms. i know it doesn't mean the pnm gonna get a bid to that house or that the pnm is gonna want to be in that house, but it does mean the actives are looking at them. but i have noticed that i usually only see ddd kd dg and kkg following girls. at least the girls i know that i look at. i don't see chio's or phi mu's following girls as often as the other 4 i listed, but i don't think i have ever seen any of the other sororities not listed following girls. can any one comment on this? you would think all the sororities would be following and friending girls, but hey, maybe its just me and they are following girls too, just not the ones I've looked at.

Every sorority rushes differently. Some you have to have a majority vote to get a bid and other houses just a few girls can help you get a bid.

Houses like chi o are ruled by their alumni. Doesn't do any good for those girls to get to know you. Ddd, KD, DG, and kappa are still run by their alumni, but their alumni at least listen to the actives. If enough actives like you, they can talk their alumni into putting you higher on the bid lists.

In my sorority, you have the alumni lists and the "popular" list. As actives we try to make sure our favorites are on at least one of those lists.

Some sororities don't allow their actives to friend request PNMs unless we personally know them.
If you are followed by DG, Kappa, Theta, and Pi Phi then that means they just want to keep up with you. Don't give up on the other houses. There are 1,800 girls going through rush next year, we don't know everyone. I know my sorority is extremely strict on dirty rushing. We can't just follow someone based on their rec, we have to know them personally.

It means an alumni advisory group.

You're questioning whether a chapter alumni writing a rec for you will help? Seriously? Even if you don't know what's going on with rush, that should be self-explanatory.
"Their alumni" means an alumni advisory group. They're just there to make sure we're doing everything right during rush. They are also the ones who look at recs as well. If they know/like you, they will help you out during rush. If they heard that you have a bad rep or they saw some provocative pictures of you online, then they will fight really hard to drop you from the bid list. They're basically the "moms" of the sorority. The sorority does their own thing, but they need some help making the right decisions