Quote:
Originally Posted by rock5060
Finally, is rushing fraternities again looked down upon? Are there any mistakes mentioned above that hurt my chances the first time so I can learn from them and not repeat them again? I know this is a long forum post, but I have a few final questions.
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It's totally fine to rush fraternities again. From your experience it seems like you were very busy during recruitment and had some trouble getting yourself out there and didn't have the opportunity to make a huge impression on the fraternities.
1. From my perspective as a club sport athlete:
My club sport was relatively well known on campus as a social group, lots of parties and typically the time commitment made it a problem for those who rushed. Even though some of the athletes were able to rush fraternities/sororities, some had to take a semester off of the sport for pledging or they had to choose between the sport and their Greek Life.
Since I was on the team at the same time as rushing, I experienced some disadvantages during my rush--some of the sororities may have thought I wouldn't be able to dedicate the time to pledging, and there also were some sororities that people from my team gravitated toward, so it reduced some of my options, just because people just assumed I'd rush the "xx club sport sorority" with my friends.
2. It seems some of your conversations were really meaningful (it's great to ask about philanthropy events and why they chose to join their particular fraternity), but I know that meeting more members and leaving a good impact on more people can be way more beneficial than having fewer, deeper conversations. Fraternities at my school pretty much expect guys to get to know the entire chapter, so since you're planning on re-rushing, I would definitely recommend meeting as many people as you can in the Greek community!
3. Even though you answered the 'greatest influence' question honestly, and I'm not encouraging lying during rush by any means, I think that is a source of conflict in a conversation. You can still be yourself while being polite and non-controversial... for example, you would never meet someone new and begin talking about political affiliations, religion, etc.; so in a rush situation keep that in mind. If you are asked a question that brings up an iffy subject (I was asked about religion during my rush), you can answer honestly and then try to steer the convo elsewhere.
4. You are clearly interested in fraternity life for many good reasons and you seem to have good intentions about impacting the Greek community. However, rush is not an interview, and treating it as one can come off as being a try-hard. You can certainly talk about leadership and brotherhood and stuff while rushing, but if you get "too" deep, it might overwhelm the brothers. Ultimately, they just want to give bids to guys who they think will fit in well and are likable and fun to be around
5. You mentioned your friends being disappointed when you didn't end up receiving a bid, so those would be the best contacts you have! Connect with them and see if they can introduce you to their brothers, take you to social events; that way when you re-rush, the guys will remember you and be excited to see you at recruitment.
I wish you all the best!