Continuous Open Bidding 

Continuous Open Bidding (COB) is a very informal process that sororities use to recruit new members. Unlike Formal Recruitment, a Potential New Member engaged in COB will not visit all of the sororities. When a sorority decides to offer COB, they simply contact Potential New Members on their own and hold a series of informal events to get to know her better. Registration on the part of the potential new member is not necessary either. All women are eligible to participate! 

There are many differences between Formal Recruitment and Continuous Open Bidding (COB) that are important to keep in mind:

1. COB almost never involves all of the sororities at any particular time. Those who do take part usually have only a few spots open for new members. Therefore, your chances of joining a sorority during COB are much lower than during Formal Recruitment.

2. COB is a much less structured process. You do not get the overall view of sorority life, nor do you see what each sorority is about. Because of this limited spectrum, most of the women who join through COB do so because they have been on campus for a few years and have a better feel for which sororities they would be comfortable joining.

For many reasons, including wanting to get to know all the sororities, most women choose Formal Recruitment as their way to join a sorority. However, if you find that you are unable to go through Formal Recruitment for any reason, keep in mind that COB may occur each fall or spring semester and information about it will be posted following Formal Recruitment.