Different methods of bidding rushees.
 

I am the rush chair this spring semester and I have thought about experimenting with the way we bid rushees. First, I have heard blanket bidding is prevelant in larger houses and i wanted to know what this was and why this was effective. I have a friend in a diff house, and they bid rushees individually as the semester goes until a certain date. What my fraternity does is gather all the rushees we want to bid for a dinner, and surprise them with their bids their. I was just wondering about other methods of bidding rushees and what ya'll did, and what yall thought about it.

Blanket bidding is not a good thing. It means you don't give a fuck who comes through the door, you'll give them a bid.

We pull individual rushees aside and give them bids individually over the course of rush week after that person has passed a bid round.

Blanket bidding is sort of a euphemistic term for offering a bid to everyone who comes through the door. No prestigeous house ever does that, and no large fraternity can survive if they do that. If anyone can be a member then no one wants to go through the trouble to join. The prestige fraternities are almost always among the large chapters on their campus, but they're also among the most selective.

Almost all the prestige fraternities bid in the way described by crackerbarrel.

Two major chapters on our campus have rush banquets about halfway through rush week, but I think you take a huge chance when you do that. There's a real danger when you wait to put all your eggs in one basket. Rush happens fast. If your chapter is strong enough to "surprise" them with bids and get a high-percentage response, then you probably shouldn't change what works.

I would never wait till late in the week and then surprise my top prospects with a bid. I think you go after them as quickly as possible after they're cleared for a bid. A lot of rushees areen't that sophisticated; they might think you don't want them if you wait.

We're probably going to do a rush banquet next fall, but we'll hold it before formal rush starts and focus on the prospects we rushed over the summer, to get them locked in.

In general, I'd avoid "experimenting" with rush. It's too important, and there really aren't any secrets. It's hard work but everyone knows what's effective and what isn't.