Formal Rush was second trimester at my school. As both the PMN and an active, the hardest rule to follow was strict silence. This caused the most problems between the chapters as well.
As a PNM I was on the dance squad with 8 sorority women. The team was about 11 people with 2 rushing, 1 non-sorority girl in addition to the other 8. Let me tell you that practice was difficult. We went from a group of women who would laugh and joke all first trimester to stone silence, all business at the beginning of second semester.
As an active and a Rho Chi (I can't remember what it is called now) It was difficult to watch the PNMs when their friends could not talk with them.
Our school was small and by second term, you had already already been "placed" into a sorority based upon who you were seen with regardless of the reasons you were seen with them (educational or social) The actives on the dance squad were all Tri Delts. The other chapter on campus definitely assumed that was who I was favoring and I was left alone at their rush parties regardless of how I tried to make conversation. We all had to attend both preference parties and by this time no one was even trying.
Okay, that is my little rant. Not sure if things would have been different had we had rush fall trimester. But I am definitely where I belong
