Twenty students who began the recruitment process, or roughly 18 percent of all participants, dropped out of the process voluntarily. All 89 women who attended preference night, the final night of rush, received a bid from either their first or second choice house. Four students did not receive invitations to preference night at any house, according to Cai.
Alphi Phi sorority and Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority each extended 11 bids. Delta Delta Delta sorority, Sigma Delta sorority and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority each extended 10. Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority extended 9, Alpha Xi Delta sorority extended 12 and Kappa Delta sorority extended 18, according to representatives from each sorority.
"The rush process went by very smoothly this year," Cai said. "Though some women wind up getting disillusioned because they are not matched with the house that they originally preferred, and this year is no different, it all worked out in the end."
The first round of winter rush was held on Jan. 17 and Jan. 18, during which participants met and socialized with current members at all eight sororities.
Unlike in previous years, each house had only one day of round one parties, with four houses hosting events on Jan. 17 and four on Jan. 18. At the end of Friday night, participants ranked each sorority in order of preference. Houses also simultaneously rank potential new members based on how they "fit" in with other members of the sorority, Cai said.
"I appreciate that the Panhellenic recruitment process at Dartmouth tries to make sure that every potential new member gets to spend time at each house, and that sisters at each house get to meet all the [potential new members]," EKT membership selection chair Soo Jee Lee '13 said. "No matter the result, the process itself provides an invaluable opportunity for sophomore women to get to know many upperclasswomen they otherwise would not have met, and vice versa."
The second round of rush took place on Jan. 19.
Participants visited up to five houses in the second round, and then returned to two houses for preference night on Jan. 20.
Sorority rush uses a computer software called Interactive Collegiate Solutions to cross-reference the preferences of potential new members and sorority houses in order to determine mutual matches.
"Our system does the best that it can" Cai said. "An important thing is not to take the rankings too seriously. They are not a reflection of who you are as a person but just an indication of whether you're a good fit with a certain house."
Morgan Blackburn '13, vice president of membership at KD, said that Dartmouth's system resembles the rush processes of many schools in the southern United States, but is less competitive.
"In many southern schools, thousands of girls go through recruitment and only a handful get into houses," she said. "Compared to that, Dartmouth's system is great since it tries to match every girl to a house."
Winter rush is more "intimate" because there are fewer participants than in Fall rush, Cai said. While the latter is more "hectic" due to larger parties and recruitment groups, Winter rush gives participants opportunities for one-on-one talks and small group discussions.
Most participants in Fall and Winter rush were members of the Class of 2015, although a few members of the Class of 2014 also participated, Cai said. A large number of Winter rush participants had participated in the process previously but decided to drop out early.
This fall, over 130 of the 413 women that registered for recruitment dropped out before preference night, possibly due to rules that prevent those who decline a bid from rushing for a full year, according to Cai.
