Forml Fraternity Rush at UGA?
 

What should I expect when I go this fall? Can someone walk me through what I need to do and what to prepare myself for? I've been up a lot during the summer and such, but I'm not familiar with the official Rush.

Thank you

If it works the same way as most schools in the southeast you just need to register for rush, attend as many events as possible at the houses you're interested in, and meet as many brothers as possible in those houses. That's about it.

It looks like at UGA if you haven't already received a formal bid by August 13th you have to participate in the house tour days and visit all houses. If you don't houses aren't supposed to bid you or they can be sanctioned it looks like.

You can register and read the procedure here http://www.uga.edu/ifc/rush/index.html

You say you have been up there a lot in the summer. Have you been visiting fraternity houses while there? Have you had any contact with chapters there or been to any events?

Formal rush at Georgia is very structured by any standard. It may have changed some, but when I went through a few years ago all rushees who registered with the Greek Life office did a formal round much like what happens with sororities.

We basically had to to dress up and then visit each house on guided visits. During the visits we had about 30 minutes to hang out and meet the guys. At some houses, guys got pulled aside right away- presumably top rushees. Others chatted with the active members and some got invites to events outside of formal rush, and some did not.

There is one top chapter at Georgia which has its class locked in before formal rush- and be ready for a fun show when you go to their house during the formal round. Seriously- it is a good time even though it is basically a "no soup for you" kind of experience if you have not already been vetted, and approved, before formal rush.

All the other chapters will usually have some spots open, so formal rush at Georgia is a very worthwhile experience that will offer any guy some chance of getting into a good house.

One final note- for some reason Georgia is extremely picky about attire, even for a top southern school. The best advice I can give you is to check around with friends and get yourself in touch with a lady from a good-great sorority at UGA. Ask this classy young lady to go through your closet and take you to the mall if necessary to get you properly attired for rush and Greek Life.

Sounds superficial and silly I know, but this matters at Georgia to a degree that just does not exist elsewhere.

If you can get that covered, then the rest will be totally on you- and just be yourself. Once great thing about UGA is that Greeks are a respected community. And so there are very few lousy chapters. Most of the houses are great places to be and so it is all about finding where you fit in best. That you will know on the first visit I think. Once you get into rushing, or if you already have, see where you are having the most fun- and that is your best bet.

Good luck and hope this helps.

if you do end up joining a fraternity at UGA ... go ahead and invest in red pants. :)

Fiji is the best there

Why is Fiji the best there? Please explain.

It's not. It is definitely in the top tier- but even though the differences are minor, SAE is King at Georgia, and one could make a case for KA too. Still FIJI is right up there. None of this really matters as rush advice, but as long as we are talking tiers...

Is SAE still King after the heroin death a few years ago?

It's not my intention just to rehash gossip, but I would have thought that what the group went through and how that might have affected guys coming out of high school might have tipped their interest to other groups.

I guess it's been two rush cycles, so maybe it's old news. SAE has been a strong chapter, so I would expect them to rebound; I'm just amazed that there wouldn't be a little dip in reputation that would allow a different group to claim to be at the top.

Can I ask a kind of random question? Phi Delta Theta used to be good, maybe a little overly enamored with Wide Spread Panic, but a good size, high membership of private school guys, etc, and I noticed that their numbers seemed way down when I looked at a list. Is it the housing situation that hurting them or something else?

Never a bad thing.

the traditional fraternities found in the South are KING at UGA

Kappa Alpha ORDER and SAE being the big two

Yeah, but sometimes it's hard to tell when you've gone too far down that hippie road. One day you're outdoorsy, laid back, Patagonia or North Face-wearing Wide Spread lovin' fraternity guys and the next you're ponytail and tie-dye wearing, hacky sackin' burnouts around the drum circle.

Anyway, anyone know what happened? I don't really think their loss of numbers has anything to do with Wide Spread or hippiedom. It really was a very solid, Southern chapter as I remember. What's up with it now?