How long to respond to a bid?
 

You may or may not have looked at my other thread "How to impress a frat", so I guess this is the next step forward in my journey.

I'm kind of over the 'top' house 'bottom' house thing. I found two fraternity that I like. One is brand new, I would be rushing for their alpha class and they seem like nice people. The other one is well established with equally friendly people but with a greater net of social networking.

Personally, I like the older, more established fraternity better - maybe because they have more members or what not but there were literally 30-40 people rushing. I am confident in how I present myself but their rush week is a week half long, so I still have half a week to go before interviews. The other new fraternity on campus only has a week long rush week so they will be hosting interviews tomorrow.

The new fraternity is a lot less competitive and I'm fairly certain I will get a bid. The problem then is how long do I get before I need to reply to a bid? This is because I would like to hear back from the other fraternity first (which I will probably know a week later) before making the decision.

You need to ask each chapter *their* specific requirements as to how long you may have to accept their bid. In *some* cases, that information may be given at the time the bid is formally extended. If it is not, then ask.

Also note that some schools may require a deadline for acceptance as well.

Is the new fraternity already chartered, or would you be a charter member? If it's the latter, please be aware that it's A LOT more work than joining an established chapter.