Ohioan rushing a Southern Fraternity
 

I'm a senior in high school from Cincinnati, Ohio who is planning to go to an SEC school and join the greek system.

First and foremost, let me assure you I'm not a stereotypical northerner I guess you could say. I don't have anything from Abercrombie or Hollister and I always call it a fraternity, not a frat. I've always acted more "southern" I guess you could say with my interests (boating, hunting, fishing, anything outdoors, etc) and I love sweet tea.
My sister goes to South Carolina if that counts for anything?

Anyways I was wondering how big of a deal is it that I'd be coming from somewhere more.. accepted?

Also, the fraternities I have always been interested in are Sigma Nu, SAE, Kappa Sigma, and FIJI.. do any of these (or any others in general) usually not give bids to someone because of location?

Any suggestions for what I should do to help my chances for bids or anything?

Thanks for your time.

Well anyone that knows anything about Cincinnati knows that Cincy is not "Northern". It's Midwestern. So if we're talking stereotypes, I think Southerners much prefer a Midwesterner to a Northerner.

You might have an uphill battle because you are unknown (ie you don't have guys already pulling for you), not because you are from Cincinnati. I'll let some of the Southern guys on this board give better tips on how to make yourself known in a positive way.

If all else fails, you could order some Graeter's to be shipped to your top choice. ;) (Kidding!)

A lot of it probably depends on the school. Kentucky: I would image they probably get a fair number of Cincy kids because of proximity and it would be nothing out of the ordinary. So I'm going to assume that's not the school we're talking about.

A lot of it will also depend on the fraternity. Out of those SAE is the strongest across the whole SEC, being a top house or close to it pretty much everywhere. Sigma Nu is the top at Ole Miss, but not anywhere else that I can think of right now, and while Fiji/PhiGam has some pretty good chapters neither they nor KappaSig have entirely outstanding reputations throughout the south. That is to say, the better the house the more people you will be rushing against more people and since lots of them have friends in the house probably, you have to do a lot to get known.

But in the SEC a lot of fraternities are fairly regional in that with in-state guys there are towns where most of the guys from that town will go to a certain fraternity. A lot (most?) SEC schools have a summer start for freshman if they want. A lot of rushing happens then, houses will have parties, BBQs, trips to lake houses, etc. as well as you can talk to some of the guys at bars (not in a gay way though or you won't get a bid). That's the best way.

Quite true.

For what it is worth, if you are attending Kentucky, some chapters may have summer rush events in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati - i.e. Reds ball games, boating on the Ohio etc. And with Cincinnati being roughly 80 miles from Lexington, you should be able to make events/parties there as well.

Thanks for the info. Your right about how Cincinnati is definitely Midwestern and that the places that are more familiar will understand how it's a lot more different then places like Jersey or Connecticut, but when I visited the campuses most people would call me northern regardless just for the fact im not from a common location.
Also I forgot to say something in my main post.. I actually already found a roommate with a guy from Alabama and he knows a lot guys down on the campus and he said that when we visit he'll get me introduced early to them so I could get to know guys earlier and stuff around spring/early summer. I think overall the "unknown" label is probably better though than people who go into rush with bad reps already.

about the graeters thing though I think that actually would be a really good idea:p
seriously.. one bite and it's over.

yeah I know a lot of people who go to Kentucky and I got accepted there but I think it's too close for me. It's a great place though and I've visited a lot though. Cincinnati has a lot of private schools that are typically more preppy (i wouldn't necessarily say fratty) so a lot of them go there.

I'm really hoping I can get to the summer and spring stuff if possible but I'm going to other planned vacations already so it will be hard for me to get there except during the mid-end of july and early june and may if that would work? When do most schools have their early rush activities?

Like the others said, it depends on where we're talking.

Vandy is already turning into a Yankee school more and more anyways. Kentucky has tons of people from the north as well.

When you're not from Jersey or New York or something, it more boils down to who you know rather than where your from to some extent. You need to make some summer rush parties, if you can.

As an advisor, I have both written letters and called SEC rush chairs about potential members. It does help to have someone send such a letter or make a call, but that alone won't do it.

Some SEC schools, like Alabama, have chapters that will arrange to spend time with a rushee--and his parents--while they are on campus during summer registration/orientation. That is a good way to break the ice.

I PM'd you earlier; I think that information will be helpful as well.

I'm looking at more of the "old south" type of schools, not so much the SEC schools closer up where I live. your definitely right though about Vanderbilt, I visited and there were a ton of people who I met from Connecticut especially and also Massachusetts and even Ohio. I know seriously 5 girls that are going there already next year too.

I completely understand the "who you know" idea. I think that's true to any situation when your coming from somewhere outside of your normal place so that should only be expected from my view. Honestly I'd probably think less of a considered "old southern" fraternity if they didn't point that out very quickly or anything. I think I told someone else in another post also that I'm actually rooming with someone from the South who knows a fairly good amount of actives in the fraternities I'm looking into so I feel like I'll have an advantage of being able to get access to meeting with the actives then with someone who is unfamiliar with the certain houses.

Even though I'm clearly not from the Jersey/New York area.. how big of a deal is it when someone from there does rush and stuff? What typically occurs?

Aside from not having a Southern accent, they might not notice you're not from the South if you fit with the chapter. Personality, interests, other things that might be important to "Old South" chapters. I highly doubt such a chapter would refuse to bid someone whose only "strike" against was the fact that he was born North of the Ohio river.

True, it is better to be unknown that to have a bad rep. I think guys with bad reps are blatantly shown the door during rush parties. What I'm getting at though, is by being "unknown" you're at a disadvantage because chapters have a good idea of who they want to bid well before school starts. Top tier chapters will have a large pool from which to choose members. You'll be competing with guys they know from high school, younger brothers, legacies, etc. I'm glad you're being proactive and making the effort to go down and meet members of fraternities.
Kids from NY/NJ don't go any farther South than UMD.:p

You forget the University of Southern New Jersey at Durham, aka Duke. ;)

Cincinnati is a lot more "southern" than you think. There is Ohio (academia and blue collar), and then there is Cincinnati (conservative).

Back to the SEC. It will be more of who you know if you land in the Deep South. Not so much for the northern SEC schools.

This is an interesting distinction. By Northern SEC do you mean Tennessee and Kentucky? Is Arkansas in there too?

Your observation seems pretty valid to me although I bet some houses at Vandy are still pretty elite/ist. (It's weird that I never thought of it as being a north/south thing.The states do seem like of different "culturally," but Memphis really throws things off for me, and the Greek system at Arkansas, especially for sororities seems pretty intense.)

I think the OP is probably rightly concerned since he's kind of limiting himself to certain chapters right off the bat. If you have your mind set only on certain chapters, then I think you always have to know people already or make contacts pre-rush.

I wasn't necessarily limiting myself to only the certain chapters I had previously stated in my original post. I had only brought those certain fraternities into discussion due to meeting actives of those fraternities before (not necessarily from where I'm planning on attending) and thinking that I'd be a good fit (assuming the fraternities are similar to where I visited). Sorry about the confusion.
Also, I understand that assuming anything is probably not necessarily the best idea possible, but I do believe it's better to have some type of direction rather than going into rush with no idea. As I said though, I'm not just limiting myself to the select few I had brought up.

Also I think the only school two schools that have any significant differences compared to the rest would be Kentucky and Vanderbilt.
Kentucky is simply due to the fact that of it's location. Vanderbilt is more diverse due to it's academics and it's elite selectivity in it's admissions process.

"Just cause a cat has kittens in the oven, that don't make them biscuits."
 

When I was an undergrad at UK, most of the Ohioans I met were from southern Ohio and were either legacies to UK and/or had family roots in Kentucky. Quite a few others had historical ties to other Southern states. As such, they (Ohioans with Southern roots) were not always viewed as "Yankees" (i.e. Northerners, Midwesterners, what have you) per say.

I'm sorry if it seems like I was judging you harshly or something. I actually agree with your basic take. If you want to pledge at a traditional, strong southern fraternity chapter, it's going to help you to know people in advance.

I'm not saying no one gets a bid who doesn't already have connections, but if a pledge class for a chapter primarily comes from summer rush and you don't even know about, it makes it hard. As long as you can conduct your research and make your connections without seeming desperate (and I do think that's possible) it's hard to see how it could hurt to do stuff in preparation for rush.

But there are good chapters who provide a worthwhile experience at SEC campuses who do actually pledge guys they meet in formal, so it's not like all is lost if you don't get in to the most exclusive chapter.

Guys are fortunate that you can receive multiple bids and decide and you can get bids even before formal is over. I'm not sure that keeping an open mind about the whole process is quiet as important.

Thanks for the info.

Is there any specific type of way that you would recommend for me to get or find any potential connections? Any advice like that would be really appreciated since I don't want to be assumed as desperate by doing something a little off or something.

Hopefully (as I brought up before) my roommate will get me introduced to some of the guys since from what I've heard (on here and through others) that nothing really can substitute or add up like a good reputation and relationship with actives.
...
I look at the situation like this: Academics, Extra-Curricula, Volunteering and Recs only get you to be in the mix, but it comes really comes down to separating yourself when meeting actives during rush events (obviously whether it's spring, summer or fall). Not being proactive about meeting brothers or showing no sense of care would be my guess for what will get you cut.

..and let's be frankly honest here. I'm out-of-state, don't know very much people, and I simply don't have much connection with most of the fraternities. It's pretty safe to say that getting cut from multiple fraternities that I'll be looking at is highly expected. Even for the guys coming in with more relations and connections, they'll most likely be cut from many of the houses also.
I'm not really making that a big deal since it happens to everyone.

Another question though..
How exactly does rush work for fraternities? Does it go by each day having a different event similar to sororities? How do you find out about cuts? Are you part of a group like sororities?

I've heard about the sorority rush and how it's really organized, but I don't know if it's the same with the fraternities. Just a brief summary with what you do and stuff would be really nice.

Thanks again.

yea I understand your predicament. I'm a out of stater going to LSU. I'm from there, but don't know anyone. I get the feeling that most SEC schools have enough fraternities and there will be one for me, especially at LSU. LSU is different than most southern schools though.

It depends where you go. I've heard of some campus IFCs having a structured recruitment with "rounds" like with Panhellenic sorority recruitment, but they are in the minority.

The majority of schools will let each chapter set their own schedule of parties and you are free to come and go as you please to the open house parties. Brothers will contact you to invite you to invite only parties.

If you don't hear anything for a few days after open house parties/you don't get contacted to be invited to an invite only party, consider yourself cut. A chapter won't necessarily call you to say you were cut. I'd imagine most don't. Also, I've heard of brothers literally showing the door to some PNMs they don't like, but I think you'd have to be pretty socially retarded or obnoxious to have that happen.

Brothers can walk out the weirdos whenever they want, but towards the middle of rush week we'll start walking out guys that are coming to every event but aren't faring real well at bid rounds, give them a chance to go somewhere else since my house isn't giving them a bid.

It seems like doing some relatively impersonal lists or invites would be so much easier. I'm not really advocating for a change, but invites that the guys actually had to pick up some place would allow them to save face and spare the brothers the awkwardness of rejecting a guy to his face.

Another big hint with guy's rush is that you all can actually give bids to guys you want early in the process. If a guy was hearing from other guys doing rush that they had gotten bids, that might help him clue in that he wasn't a chapters first choice. Do chapters have a point at which they put the word out that they are done extending bids?

How could a guy keep himself from getting walked out?

Also, what would you recommend for an out of state guy in terms of how to get invited to summer events? Is a good recommendation from an alumnus who knows him going to be enough? Could the alum who was willing to recommend him ask on his behalf for the guy to be invited or will that come off wrong and actually work against him?

My impression is that some chapters kind of pride themselves on only taking guys they know or who they know of from certain schools and hometown events, but I don't know how many chapters really want to turn down a good guy from out of state, assuming they could get to know him. What could he do to make it happen?

I realize I'm basically repeating what the OP asked a couple of posts ago, but I don't know the answer, and my instinctive answer is really based on sororities, so I don't have any idea it's close to accurate.

It's pretty clear that for me (along with fellow out-of-staters in the same situation) this is the majority of the battle/problem. I'm pretty sure that it'll come down how much someone (in my situation) really wants to be a part of it. If your that serious and confident then I think you'll show care for getting to know the guys and I eventually think that'll make an impression on the actives.

I'd love to hear some specific suggestions, too!

I don't know how to get invited to summer events for us. Ours are not that important but I would bet that 60-75% of our pledges come to one of our three rush events in either Dallas, Little Rock or Memphis. But they all come through high school friends who hear of it/we invite.

Depending on who the alum is, he could certainly ask on behalf of the rushee if the rushee could be invited or so on.

You say "the campus," and that you already have a room mate. Do you know for sure which school you are going to? Because that would help people to give you more specific advice. But in other posts it sounds like you haven't settled on a school yet...

:confused:

I'm a little confused... do you already know which school you are going to? You already have a "room mate," but you are talking about various SEC schools as if you have not decided yet, so I'm just wondering.


Also, perhaps your future room mate will be invited to summer events. Fraternity members may want to chime in on this, but maybe he could mention your name/give your contact info if he is invited (unless that's tacky)? I'm not sure how tagging along would look necessarily (clearly, I'm not in a fraternity doing summer rush). I'm guessing that there are probably some invite-only events, but maybe there are some events that say bring other guys with you, i.e., if your room mate gets invited and is encouraged to bring out a few guys, you should make the trip!

PGroove, I might be able to add a bit to help you out.

My son had a roommate freshman year from out of state. He didn't know a soul at UT except for my son through phone conversations and emailing. My son thought he was a great guy, so he helped him out by introducing him to the guys who were rushing him, and let him know when things were going on in the summer. The guy ended up being able to come down for a week, so was able to attend some events. They both ended up pledging the same fraternity, and it is one of the top house that normally pledges guys from Texas hometowns and feeder schools.

So, if your roommate to be and you get along really well, he will help you out. Let him know that you would like to come down for some of the summer stuff, and to let keep you in the loop.

If you are a cool guy, you'll get a bid. I think in my son's pledge class they had a guy from Illinois, a guy from Indiana, and a guy from England - they fit in really well with the 40 something other guys from Texas hometowns and feeder schools.

You'll be fine. Just don't act desperate!!

Thanks for the advice. I feel like the that is pretty much the same situation for me so it's nice to hear that it worked out well.
My roommate and I have gotten along so far and he's actually already helped me out with getting on a few rush lists too already and we're planning on attending a few events in the next couple months or so.

I also have a new question:

If I have received an invite through the mail for a rush event but don't know the rush chair or other members of the fraternity so much, should I first call someone at the house to tell them I'll be attending or should I just show up and introduce myself there?

If there isn't any specific RSVP info listed, reply via U.S. mail to the rush chair. Especially since this is for a chapter at an SEC school and that is how they communicated with you. You may follow up with a short phone call.

Northerner Comes South
 

I would not worry about the acceptance thing. There are lots of great opportunities with some of the smaller fraternities at all schools. What you need to do is find a group of men you are comfortable with and that you would want as your "brothers". This is for life and if you take it as such you will be glad of your decision the rest of your life. Kappa Sig at LSU routinely pledges 50+ every fall. There is room for all good men if it is the right fit.

ghostwriter... I am planning on rushing at LSU this fall. I have stated my situation on this board already I think. When should I sign up for rush, and also is there any advice you could give? Much appreciated.

Pgroove, What sec school are you attending in the fall? People on here could probably give you a lot more info on the specific school rather than the sec as a whole because each of them are different.

LSU Recruitment
 

You can go online at the LSU website and pull a copy of the recruitment rules for fraternities. If I can find it you certainly can.

I can tell you that early bids are limited to 15 students and the rest go through formal rush. My opinion is that you need to get to campus, scout out the fraternities you think you want to rush and meet some of their guys. KSig at LSU is huge and is one of the earliest formed chapters of the fraternity. They routinely take 50+ pledges. That leaves at least 35 from formal rush.

My advice is to relax and visit as many fraternities as you can. Have fun with this. There are 18 top notch national fraterenities on campus. If you work at it you will find the one that is perfect for you. Do your homework online and go to the IFC website and click on all the national websites for the fraternities that are of interest. Information is power!

I decided on Auburn (but it was very close between them and a few other schools)
Does that help much?

decided on Auburn (but it was very close between them and a few other schools)
Does that help much? If it helps, i know people here in Georgia that are going to Auburn and are joing the Greek life that do not know anyone there.