Brothers have not texted me at all... What does this mean?
 

I signed up for rush at Lehigh. The first event was basically visiting fraternity tables and giving info, name phone number email etc. with the promise that we would be contacted about events and such. I gave info yo about 5 (there are 21). It's been four days and I haven't been texted once. I know it's not because the fraternities don't like me, I have not had enough interaction with them for them to have any opinion of me. GPA and other stuff like that isnt a problem either. People who know guys in the houses are being texted though. Is this typical of the rush process? That you only get contacted if you know somebody? Not that i care about this, but im not even looking into houses that are considered "top tier". I don't get it... What's the point of rush if you aren't contacted for events just because you're new to the whole fraternity scene...?

I only started looking at Greek life recently, as in like a week or two ago. I have literally had not been to their parties or anything at all last semester. What could they possibly be judging? I dont know them and they don't know me. i thought the point of rush was to change that. At the party I went to last night I hit it off with the president and got an invite back for tomorrow. But I don't love that house. I would be very puzzled if them not liking me was the reason

You didn't land on campus in the last few days. Don't you think you met fraternity members eveywhere you went last semester... classes, out at restaurants or clubs, in the dorm, etc? They know you.

Go to the chapter website or FB page or whatever you kids are using these days. Many chapters will post their rush schedule or the name of their rush chair. E-mail the rush chair ("Hi, I met your guys at the fraternity tables. I was really interested in Alpha Beta Chi. If you are having any open recruitment events, please let me know. I would like to attend and learn more about your members and organization.")

If you still don't hear back from them, I don't know what to tell you.

ETA:

I just re-read your 1st post. While I'm sure you really liked the 5 out of 21 you gave your name to, you might want to cast a wider net. Contact more groups.

ETA: Also, Lehigh is getting a colony of Phi Delta Theta this semester. Go to the Phi Delta Theta webpage and check it out. There might be a spot that asks for interested guys to send them a message. It's worth checking into. Almost anyone who was part of a colonization process will tell you that it is some work, but well worth it.

They're not required to invite you to anything. And some fraternities may already know who they want to invite, and to pledge. This may be formal rush, but fraternity members have been meeting people all year and considering them for membership. Maybe not in a formal setting, but certainly informally.

You only chose 5 to be interested in? You need to broaden your interest range. As we tell the girls, keep an open mind about ALL the groups.

This is it exactly. If you were visiting tables in an open environment, there may have also been judgements made about you by which tables you visited. Visiting more groups would alleviate that.

And yeah, trust me, at a school of under 5000 people, they DEFINITELY know who you are - either directly or secondhand. Again, visiting as many groups as possible and showing yourself in person would alleviate snap judgements.

Fair enough. Doesn't this kind of screw over people who come in 2nd semester though? And I chose 5 because a number like that was recommended, basically bc you can't possibly see every one during the rush period. Ill definitely broaden my interest though

Since NO ONE is allowed to rush before second semester of their freshman year, I'm assuming you mean you transferred in this semester. In that case, you should have been intelligent enough to realize the normal recommendations didn't apply to you.

They probably already know who they want. You should have signed up for all of them. Keep a clean profile, get involved on campus and try again next time. Make an effort to get to know the Greeks in your classes and in the organizations you join.

Seek out the help of some guys on campus. Of course, LaneSig offers excellent advice and I'd definitely look into that. But I'd start asking around to guys you know, meet, encounter in class, etc. You probably made bad choices, like picking the 5 most selective fraternities on campus, who are probably only inviting the guys to parties who they already know they want. You can't jump in your way-back machine, so now's the time to start getting the word out in the traditional way, by actual verbal communication with flesh and bone people. See if you can't find an additional 5 fraternities to focus on based on guys you've met already.

I'm not sure I agree with the bolded. I do think that not signing up for even a quarter of the fraternities might have been a mistake, but the mindset towards recruitment on both ends is far different then sorority recruitment.

I agree about casting a wider net. To be honest they may know you on a superficial level, but you're right, they don't really KNOW you. Which is why you have to put yourself out there and be more assertive and open. Try and get to know brothers on your campus and participate in their activities, if you can.

I wouldn't worry too much about it, to be honest, don't take it personally or assume anything yet. I also agree with getting involved on campus and meeting more people, brothers included, while keeping a clean profile.

hm... thanks for the advice everyone. It's just weird because I know for a fact 300 people are rushing total for 21 fraternities. Based off of those numbers there are a lot of spaces in houses. Obviously some get a lot more attention than others, but the ones I was looking at were considered to be more in the "middle" and "lower middle" tiers. Weird.

I'm scratching my head because you don't seem to "get it." If they don't know you, and your only effort has been to sign your name to a list at a table on a particular day, don't you think that you should make some effort to talk to guys in classes, in the cafeteria, etc.? You haven't mentioned that you have done that.

As far as I know, fraternities don't have a "silence" period, and therefore, you should be as friendly as possible (without making people feel like you're only making friends because you want a bid). How did you choose these five organizations out of 21 if you don't know anyone?

Rush is about seeing if you're a good fit, but you need to give them something more to go on than a few seconds writing your name down. How to do that? As others have said, the old-fashioned way. Talk to people.

I agree with Psi U MC Vito and LaneSig. The mindset of IFC recruitment is different and often it may be best to start with a smaller number of chapters to explore at first. But if you are not getting any replies (texts, invites, what have you) from these chapters, then you should look at additional chapters.