[twinstars]

My college has deferred formal recruitment, so freshmen don't rush until the first week back after Christmas Break. I think this is beneficial for the rushees and for the sororities. The freshmen get a chance to "figure out" what each of the houses are like, and the older girls have a whole semester to decide which freshmen they want for their pledge class. We have open contact during the fall, which means we can take freshmen out to dinner (they pay for their own food), invite them over to watch tv, and do normal things like that (but they can't party at our houses, and we can't give them alcohol). I think putting rush off until January lets the sororities base their decisions on more than just a girl's looks, since it allows time for us to really get to know the freshmen before we have to choose who we want. Rush is less superficial on the sororities' part and on the rushees'part, since both have had time to observe and know each other on a deeper level than just one week of formal rush parties would allow. By the time formal rush week comes around in January, we know who will be on our bid list, and a lot of the rushees have a good idea where they want to be.