I definitely understand that Phired Up is not the best answer for some campuses. However, I think that VBMS takes the subjectivity out of it if you provide concrete examples of how your potentials fulfill certain characteristics.

No idea. It's been that way for my five years of being Greek and perhaps at least three years before that. There are a few other GC'ers who were on campus well before I was so they can say how long ago it might be.
If I had to guess, yeah.
I don't think so. The pledge classes are of wildly varying sizes still. I would imagine quota would come into play to help even that out, if I understand it correctly. You'll have Farmhouse with two pledges and other fraternities taking 65, while still some choose to take 55 for qualities sake.

Correct.
Yep. It's 5 days all told, including Bid Day. The first two days are actually one round. You visit 6/7 houses the first day and then on the second day you visit the 6/7 houses that you didn't visit on the first day (and since the fraternities are in a sort of pseudo-square, you just go in a straight line until you have turn to the next line of houses). These parties are like 20 minutes a piece for each house. It's pretty much polo and shorts wearing. Then on the second round (third day), it's like long pants and an Oxford. Longer parties. Then on the third day it's full suit and tie, it gets very serious and the parties are longer still. Bid day my graduating year the new rushees had to wear polos/pants in gameday colors because they went straight to the football game afterwards.
Summer rushing and rushing in the Fall before the official rush week. Each house gets one designated "rush party" which always includes alcohol to really meet pledges but usually they have a good idea by who comes through the house. Many of the good houses (and alot of the not-so-good houses) will have at least 40% of their pledge class picked out before the Fall semester starts. Basically formal rush will be those rushees going through the motions for the fraternity.

This is difficult to explain even in person but let me give a shot at it.

After the 2nd round the rushee will only be going to three houses (or less) for the third round. At the end of the third round, all the rushees go to a designated spot (use to be the union, now they do it in the hper i think) and make their decisions where they rank them 1-3 or suicide. Each chapter has an A, B, C list. The C list simply means cut. Those rushees, no matter how they rank the chapter, will not be members. However many rushees a chapter wishes to pledge will be the number of spots on the A list. So say they decide to pledge 50, there will be 50 spots there. The order of the rushees on the A list does not matter. BUT, on the B-list it does matter. If a person selects XYZ as #1 and XYZ has that person on their A list, they will be automatically paired and that person receives a bid which comes through the IFC office, not through the chapter. BUT, if the person does not select XYZ as #1 and XYZ still has the person on their A list, he will be removed from their A list. Then, the first person on the B-list will move up to the A-list. So if that person has XYZ as #1 than he will receive a bid from XYZ even though he was on their B list. The A-listers who keep dropping only mean that the B-listers will keep moving up.

Re: overbidding. You may think that chapters would simply keep as many people around as possible to ensure numbers and so forth. Then just cut the people they don't like at the end. It isn't the case. Chapters are required to cut a certain percentage of the list (I'd like to say it's something like 15%) each round. Furthermore, the best fraternities have what our IFC lady likes to call the "Frozen Chosen" where after the first round they make heavy cuts...like 40% or so, so that those fraternities can truly drill into and put on the heat to those who they think are sort of wavering between their house and others. It allows for more members interracting with the fraternities.

Thanks Elephant Walk, that was really interesting.

Like Elephant Walk I went to a school that had formal IFC rush. The setup was practically identical to sorority rush and the entire rush week was "dry" (with IFC conducting random house inspections to enforce the policy).

Monday: PNMs visit the 10 or so fraternities that do not have a house on Greek Circle. The parties are 30 minutes but the day is longer as PNMs have to travel around town to houses or wherever events are held. I heard that now all the non-Greek Circle fraternities host their parties in the Student Union. This seems like a huge disadvantage because PNMs don't get to see where they actually meet.

Tuesday: PNMs visit the 10 fraternities that have a house on Greek Circle. The parties last 30 minutes. The attire is polos and shorts for PNMs and most active members usually wear a date party shirt or something showing interaction with sororities.

After Monday and Tuesday cuts are made. Because of the sheer amount of guys going through rush and the short time of the parties cuts were usually made quickly and on a trust system (i.e. I went to high school with him and he wouldn't be a fit) with most everyone going along with the cuts. We generally cut 30% of the total group.

Wednesday: PNMs are given a list from IFC showing which fraternities invited them to that day's parties. PNMs then sign up for 8 parties. PNMs must attend all eight parties. Not showing up for a party or scheduling less than 8 was grounds for dismissal from rush and not being able to accept a bid (most of the smaller fraternities don't make cuts so scheduling eight really isn't a problem for anyone). The parties last longer and attire is generally the same as Monday and Tuesday and are usually held at the house. For voting purposes we worked on a buddy system so that at least two brothers talk to a PNM. We also set up a camera to videotape the PNMs telling their name, hometown, high school, what dorm they are living in and a hobby. After the parties end we watch the video and vote. It generally went pretty smooth as you had two people that generally agreed or disagreed on the same person. We also cut anybody that did not choose to visit us on that day.

Thursday: PNMs are again given a list of fraternities that have invited them to that day's parties. They choose and sign up for four parties. The rules are the same for having to attend all four parties. This day is an "activity day" and can involve anything from hosting skeet shooting to renting out a bar/restaurant. Attire is khaki's and an oxford or a polo. The PNMs are again videotaped. This is the day that is the most intense in voting as it is generally accepted that if you invite a PNM to Pref Day they will be getting a bid and usually lasted around 4 to 5 hours. Like Elephant Walk's chapter one person could blackball a PNM. 50% of time the vote was respected and the PNM was cut - the other 50% resulted in a discussion and essentially devolved towards Animal House. Again, we cut anyone who didn't attend that day's party.

Friday: PNMs receive a list of fraternities that have invited them to Pref Day. Attire for PNMs and actives is suit and tie. The party lasts an hour and a half and is generally held at a prominent alum's house or a nicer banquet hall. While it is technically the most formal day it is actually the most relaxed - the day is the shortest and for the most part you have invited only the guys you are willing to bid. Virtually the only cuts that are made that day are people who did not attend your party.

Saturday: Bid Day. Unlike sororities and Elephant Walk's school the guys nor the fraternities do a ranking sheet. PNMs are given their bid invitations and virtually every PNM will have one from each fraternity they saw on Pref Day. At 1:30 fraternities are given a list of PNMs that accepted their bid and at 3:30 the new pledges are released to their houses, alcohol is again allowed and the Bid Day festivities begin. We generally had a brotherhood event that afternoon and then a party at the house that night.

Everyone I knew that rushed at a different school had a completely different experience and I hadn't really ever heard of anyone else that had as formal of a rush as we did.

The numbers usually fall along the lines of 700 PNMs on Monday/Tuesday, 450 on Wednesday, 250 on Thursday and 100 to 110 on Friday. We usually had about 45 - 55 bids accepted with the exception of one year when 65 accepted.

The exact same process is used for Spring rush.