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.