am i the only person?

Also- not every house cobs so it's not like it's an equal opportunity right off the bat anyways. There's only a few houses that publicly cob bc they need numbers (sigma, phi mu, sk). If you're not interested in one of those houses than you can either risk waiting it out for another opportunity, or rush as a sophomore with everybody else.

SK doesn't publicly COB though, you have to know somebody or have had a certain score when you rushed in the fall to get an invite to their events. They had about a hundred girls get COB invites and only thirty got bids, so it's like a mini recruitment for them. Sigma and Phi Mu are the only ones I've ever seen tabling.

To be honest, They probably don't even know themselves. They may be waiting for their chapter to keep recommendations coming in before they open it to some girl they don't know. It sucks when you don't know anyone, but if you live in a dorm you should have plenty of girls in Greek life that know someone in a house that cobs. That's how I got my connection to aphi. If you absolutely don't know anyone, formal recruitment is your best chance. No one is trying to hurt your feelings, but there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes for cob - not just a silly email thread going back and forth between a recruitment chair and a potential member. Some advice- You need to relax and make some networking connections, make some friends in your dorm, and stop relying on a gossip site for information when a lot of it is speculation to begin with. We're trying our best on our side, please be courteous and patient!!

Expecting basic courtesy is not a reflection of a sucky attitude. If you already have met someone once and blackballed that person, fine, though I will bet my first year's salary that no emails have been blocked. I get that your house is run by women who don't know the first thing about manners, but all I am asking is that you hit "reply" to their email and copy and paste these words: "Thanks for your interest in our sorority. At this time we are not planning any COB functions, but best wishes to you in the future." That's how women with class do it. That's how my house would do it if we ever COBed, and that's probably why your house finds itself desperate for new members.

Wow. Way to insult anyone who wants to improve the process. As it turns out, I am in a sorority. I am extremely happy there and the reason I am concerned about COBing is because it seems to be an inherently unfair system. My house isn't COBing and, to my knowledge, never has But that doesn't mean I can't have legitimate concerns about PNMs who just want their emails to be answered one way or another. I also have to say that it's funny that someone who is in a house that COBs has no empathy for those who are going through this difficult process. Add to that the fact that you actually said: "You aren't good enough." REALLY??? Is this what it has come to? Bottom tier houses getting off on insulting people just for wanting to be Greek. I'm sure this somehow makes you feel better about yourself and your house, but it's just inappropriate to say that about anyone, much less someone who would like to potentially join your admittedly struggling house.

how can you possibly improve a system your house has never taken part in? all i've seen you do is insult the girls who cob when you have no knowledge of the process.

Y'all are rude as spit. I can't believe the stuff y'all are saying to these girls who are in houses that are COBing. You realize that COBing is a race, right? A race to get the best girls to pledge your house and close those spots. It's not like recruitment where you can spend hours and hours discussing the merit of each PNM and talk about whether she fits in. A good indication of whether she fits in is does she have friends in the house. If you spend half a school year on this campus and don't even meet one girl in my house then maybe you don't have the sort of personality that meshes with what we have going on.

And y'all are rude for assuming that all houses that COB do it because they have to. AXO and APhi don't have to COB, they do it because they like filling those spots with new sisters. And Sigma Kappa is COBing because PHA is still letting them recruit up to full chapter size because they're only a year old. Sigma Kappa is going to be the biggest house on campus after this next fall recruitment because they don't have any graduating seniors and they'll still get a full PC of about ninety girls. Even Phi Mu doesn't HAVE to COB but they do it because they like having more girls. The only house that has to COB because of numbers is Sigma. So don't sling around insults about COB, acting like these houses NEED new girls because they don't.

I don't understand how you're going to sit back and pretend you're concerned that PNMs when you're insulting your fellow greek women

Every house has to go through Panhell to cob to prevent such things. I'm sorry cob didn't work out for you, we all would encourage you to go through formal recruitment this fall. Rushing as a sophomore is difficult, but not impossible. Do your best to make friends in the houses you are interested in, make good grades, and get involved on campus. Remember- many houses were only taking a couple girls and therefore were not able to open up a major even to discuss hundreds of women for just a couple spots. And if you think the process is unfair, think about what the so sororities have to do to prepare for a cob event during classes. These ladies are bending over backwards to find new members for their house, setting up socials, making sure their members can attend the socials, and then discussing with their house about pnms to invite into their chapter. Can you imagine doing all of that with hundreds of girls when you only need 2 or 3? That seems absurd when a house can just offer names of girls they personally know would be good fits to their sisterhood. Please stop making this all about you without thinking about what it would be like to be in the other persons shoes. It's just not worth it to out that much time and effort into an event when you can pledge a few girls without the hassle. That's why there's formal recruitment where everyone is on an equal playing field. And houses that do publicly cob do so so they can hold large cob events bc they need more girls----

To fill spots. If you really wanted to go Greek and do it through cob you shouldn't have crossed off these houses off your list. It narrows your playing field even further bc there's already such a small percentage of houses to choose from.

As a woman whose house COB'd this semester we had several girls who were on our bid list and didn't show up for preference because they thought they were "too good" to join us, suddenly want to COB and think just because we liked them during recruitment that they had a sure spot.

If you wanted to wear my letters, why didn't you give us a chance during recruitment? It's a little insulting that there are some women here who think they're doing US a favor by wanting to be in our house.

I'm sure you can understand the daunting task of replying to an upwards of 200 emails while balancing school, sorority meetings, clubs, scanning through resumes, setting up cob events, and meeting pnms. I'm so sorry you're feelings were hurt because you didn't get an email back. Just know there will be many aspects in life where you won't get a response back on why you were rejected. No one is being petty. If the recruitment chair has 200 girls, she will most definitely pick the top 10 best women based on grades, looks, involvement and activities. No one has the time or energy to meet with and talk to all 200 girls. I also believe every house gets to choose their members in the fall and not just bottom tier houses cob.

It can be told that something positive is indeed coming out of this thread. As of this afternoon Panhellenic reps will be interviewing houses that COB and determining whether these allegations are true. It was determined that potential new members have the right to honest and timely communication about their COB status. And I think Panhell is right to look into this. The procedure is blatantly unfair and some houses are really abusing the situation. I never thought I would say this, but thank God for GreekRank.

Well if you are going to take down The COB process, might as well start attacking the formal process too. It's even more unfair than cob. I mean, some girls have friends or sisters in houses before they rush and so they know what to wear and what to say, and come in with numerous recs. but what about those poor girls who know nothing about Greek life? Or any of our houses? The horror that they have an unfair advantage! They'll slip through the cracks and may not end up in a house at all!! How unfair!! And then when they try to cob but made no effort to make necessary connections like the girls who had the advantage in formal rush did, they go and and it on the system!! The horror!!! What ever shall we do!?

To Actually: that is indeed good news. However, Panhellenic reps interviewing houses that are COBing about COBing is like the IRS auditing it's own taxes, or "Congressional probes" into Congressional wrongdoing. Perhaps some of the girls on this thread who never heard back from a sorority/ies should email Panhell themselves.
And finally, the courtesy of a response isn't a dismantling of the entire COB process. To be fair, the COB process IS informal, but as my grandma taught me, "informal" doesn't mean "casual".

You wanna talk about PNMs being treated fairly? Then let's talk about the Fall Rush process because when I rushed, I was hardly treated like a human being in some houses. A few things I had happen when I rushed in the Fall include, but are not limited too...

- Getting asked how much money my parents made
- Getting pestered to answer how much my parents made when I refused to answer
- Getting hot seated (Two actives talking to one PNM and grilling her)
- Got promised bids in two houses (Neither I cared about but still)

The process of getting into a house is unfair, across the board. But if you wanna dismantle COB, then let's follow through and start punishing houses that abuse the process in the Fall as well.

The difference, Word, is that you got to meet people, see the house and be asked those questions that you didn't want to answer. The way COB works is that people who are interested in a house don't necessarily get that chance, or even the courtesy of a reply to an email. I am firmly convinced that the houses COBing do it because they are used to getting the dregs of the people going through rush and they, for once, like having some power. All I can say is it is far better to go through fall rush, even as a sophomore, than deal with COBing with loser houses.

Enough already, do you have any proof discrimination is NOT happening. When rush chairmen get to pick and choose based on emails they can choose whomever they want. How do we know they aren't just choosing the little white girls? That's the problem with this system: when not everyone is considered discrimination can indeed be a problem. And if they aren't discriminating in some way, why do they prefer to keep things so secretive? I am in a house that doesn't COB, but I have a high school friend who lives in the dorm (a year younger) who is black and sent emails to three houses that she heard would be participating in COBing. To date, she has heard from no one. Is it discrimination? YOU be the judge.