[33girl]

Sometimes the policies are different for sororities and fraternities - men can join first semester but women can't. Sometimes fraternities have to meet certain expectations (overall GPA, no risk mgmt issues) to be allowed to pledge first semester freshmen.

The standard party line is that freshmen are more desirable as members because 1) they'll be there for 4 whole years (not always true) and 2) they haven't yet had time to develop any sort of reputation on campus (also not always true). NPC and IFC get offended by deferred rush and say it's "discriminatory" since you don't have to wait to join other groups on campus. The difference (that they don't point out) is you're not going to be a lifetime member of the State U. chess club. I completely agree with waiting at least a semester to join, but unfortunately at some schools, it can really lessen your chances to get a bid to certain groups, if not ANY group.

If you go to the sorority recruitment thread, IrishPipes has a very long post of when schools hold sorority rush.