What makes an impression
 

Hey everyone,

I am currently rushing a few fraternity houses this Spring. Week one has passed and I believe it is going well so far, though I was wondering what makes a true impression on brothers. There is one house that really sticks out to me. It has it all: strong brotherhood, large philanthropy involvement, high GPA, exciting mixers with great sororities. I have a friend who is currently a brother there and has more or less guided me as to who to talk to. I have had some pretty good conversations with these brothers and believe they found me at least interesting as well. I wish to continue rushing this house, though I feel that my conversations will soon become boring. I haven't met/ talked to all the brothers yet, but the ones I have talked to I just discuss all the aspects of their pledgeship, living in, philanthropy, social, classes, sports, etc. I have been reading past posts here on Greek Chat and it seems like these are all things I should be talking about. But what can I talk about in the future to stick out a little bit more. I fear going to this house in the coming weeks, greeting the brothers I have talked to and not having anything to contribute in a conversation as we have already gone over most of how their house runs.

Thanks for any suggestions!

This is too individual for us to be able to answer well. Just speak about what interests you and hopefully that will do the job.

It sounds as though you've gotten to know the chapter, now you want to get to know the brothers. You should try to connect with at least a few of them on a more personal level...just ask them about themselves and try to find common interests. Ask about what they did over break, or if they follow any sports teams, or whatever else it is that regular guys just talk about.

This. And more.

It's great that you want to know more about the fraternity and are asking the brothers questions about what they have to offer, but you should also try to have "normal" conversations with them. Pretend as though you were in a different situation, there's no fraternity, and you meet someone for the first time. What do you talk about?

Co-sign. Ask brothers questions about themselves, not just about the fraternity.

I wasn't clear if you were the one steering the conversation this way, or if they were.

Either way, move on to music, sports, etc etc etc. If they persistently steer the conversation back to fraternity-related stuff (i.e. they don't want to do anything but spout facts at you) I would question as to whether they are really interested in you.

Hey again,

I was able to talk to a few more brothers this week and the conversations have flowed naturally with minimal awkwardness. This house has turned out to be very selective. A large rush crowd has come out to the recent events (very large for what I imagined Spring rush to be). The other night I was brought into a brother's room and 'profiled' in which I had to write down leadership/volunteer work/aspirations/GPA/Basic Info and had my picture taken. I saw that there were a handful of other kids profiled as well, but they weren't taking just anyone up to get profiled. I had been at the house 3 times before this happened and had been talking to a brother for about 30 minutes before he asked if I had been profiled. The process to being awarded a bid here includes: attend rush event(s)->get profiled->pass brother vote->get bid.

I went to an event tonight and there were more rushees than normal and less brothers were present so I could only really get in one solid conversation, introduced myself to a brother already in a conversation, and met a few rushes before leaving.

The brothers I've talked to at this point are people I wish to align myself with. I have a friend who joined last semester and he said to check them out last semester. Also, one of the brothers on the recruitment committee is originally from my area and was telling me how he wanted to recruit more kids from our area.


At this point I'm not entirely sure where I stand. Do you guys think I'm headed in a good direction?

If you are asking us if you will get a bid, we can't help you. As far as I'm aware none of us can predict the future or read minds. Seriously you never know what can happen.

Co-sign to above
If they are taking you to that step I would say they have an interest, but we can't say how the vote will go. Glad there was little awkwardness. Hope it works out!

YouthLagoon, please keep us informed. You are getting good advice from the other posters. Here's mine:
1. Self confidence makes the best impression. Not cockiness; confidence.
2. Do NOT worry about what to say. You don't need to do the talking. Concentrate on asking others about themselves and draw them out so they spend the conversation telling you about themselves.
3. Issuing bids is a process that sometimes doesn't make a lot of sense. You should join a fraternity; if not this one then another.

Cokiness won't get you anywhere. Neither will cockiness. :)

Thanks. I suppose that could be read several ways...

I just have visions of some poor guy turning up with a huge bag of coke, thinking that's a sure in...

Hey, I'm in Florida. He certainly would be popular.