I totally agree with kate & fuzziealum and of course, I am going to take another opportunity to proselytize for deferred rush.
I don't mean this silliness where the freshmen are segregated from Greeks for a semester, but the women get a chance to know the sororities as real people, and get their bearings as well.
If I would have gone to a "pledge first semester or nothing" school, I never would have. I had just spent the last few years putting up with the "A Group" (those of you who have seen Romy & Michelle's HS Reunion will understand
) and the last thing I felt confident enough to do was go through rush. Luckily, I got to spend my first year hanging out with sorority members and getting to know them on my floor. It made me realize this was something I wanted to be a part of and COULD be a part of because all that high school bullshit was over and done with.
I think there are a lot of women out there like me, who want time to figure out who they are and realize they are no longer just someone's sister or daughter or whatever they did in 7th grade. When you don't give them time to do that, you are shutting out a lot of people.