Didn't recieve a bid, should I try again Spring?
 

Hey guys! I rushed for an Asian Interest Social Fraternity this term in the beginning of September. When rush week came I attended 4 rush events(3 mixers and a Poker Night with brothers) with my good friend(roommate). I was confident, I had fun and felt that I did everything a good rush would do by being social and talking to everybody(including alumnus of the Fraternity and other rushes), dancing, beer pong, and etc. Let's say i was pretty confident and felt that I was sure I was gonna get a bid (didn't say that or have the attitude like that). Shockingly, when bid day arrived, I didn't get a call, pretty much felt like shit for that entire day. My question is should I phone one of the newly crossed brothers that I talked to a lot about the situation? I already asked him about it and he said he wasn't there when they made the decisions so he'd ask for me, he also asked if I felt disappointed.

So, what do you think? Should I rush again? I have a great feeling that all the friends I met during rush will cross and would vouch for me if I did for Spring 2012.

Other things to note: I only rushed for one fraternity. I talked to a lot, and I mean A LOT of the alumnus from various chapters, but I didn't talk to the actives as much.

That might have been the problem.

If you rush again and don't get a bid, will you be crushed? If so, don't rush. Nobody here can tell you whether you are likely to get a bid the second time around. We can only give you general tips and say we're sorry it didn't work out.

Thanks for responding :D

The thing is, I thought the actives knew me enough, but I guess not. For the next rush event, what questions should I ask to so I can stand out more?

I wont be crushed, but this time I know that I wasn't a good fit for the fraternity and I wouldn't be happy. As of right now, I am still not satisfied and I believe that this is the right brotherhood for me. Yeah I know that you guys can't tell me, but this whole thing has been bothering me for the last 2 weeks and I just wanted to ask around on what I should do. Sorry for coming out so wimpy... general tips would help!

Lots of people have rushed a second time and had better outcomes. Lots of people have had worse. I'll defer to the men on specific things to do/say/ask, but I suggest you ask a friend who you really trust for a general opinion on how you come off in social settings.

It's never over until it's truly over. I once attended a rush party with my friend to get free booze. We never really intended on joining the fraternity since it was considered a 'bottom' house.

The recruitment person was super nice to us, kept telling us to come interview and that he would make sure to get us bids. We both went to interviews just to be polite, fully intending on declining the bid but guess what, we both didn't get a bid.

Was I bothered? Hell yeah, the bottom house not giving me a bid? The recruitment guy even promised to give us one. The moral of this experience is, if you just go to the events to have fun and drink, then no one will give you a bid. You need to build rapport with as many members as possible so they actually remember you when they make their decision.

If you truly feel like this is the right fraternity for you, then you should rush again. Personally for me though, I don't like rejection much which is why I tend to 1up anyone and anything that rejected me once.

Well ... when I got my bid it was pretty exciting. I can only suggest you hang out with the active members more, and become good friends with the rush chair. While I do not remember people being denied bids, apparently there were several ... meaning those people didn't even interact with the other rushees.

PS: There is no such thing as the bottom house, you can make what you can with any fraternity to make it the top. That is of course "if" you get a bid and "if" you make it through pledging.

To the last 2 posters (one of which isn't even Greek, but I digress): Please note that this person is interested in an Asian-interest fraternity, not an IFC fraternity.

An Asian-interest fraternity may also be an IFC fraternity.

However, it's unlikely that people pursuing Asian-interest fraternities will be concerned with "top houses"

Yeah it's not part of the IFC

"Top houses" are not limited to the IFC or to "non interest" fraternities. Just saying. :)

I've never heard of that being a concern, outside of the IFC/NPC bubble.

But the OP has confirmed that it's not IFC, so we can run with that :)

I can second the "top" house term has been used outside of NPC/IFC. On my campus it wasn't "tiers" like it is with NPC/IFC but a top 1 chapter since there was not as many chapters.

Are these locals that follow an NPC- or IFC-type model?

If so, this is the first I'm hearing about "culturally based" aspirants worrying about getting to "the best" as opposed to the best for them.

This is very interesting to me.