[JerzeeBoy26]

a little background...

For us, rush lasts from September through December. We are only allowed to give out bids to freshmen beginning the first week of January (the first week back from winter break) and they can only accept then or afterward. we can bid upperclassmen anytime during the year

it starts with.....

The rush chair mails out the RTS applications to all male incoming freshmen during the summer and they must complete them and mail them back to us or drop them off at the house by the end of freshman week. the rush committee (made of the rush chair, the recruitment events chair and four other brothers who are chosen/volunteer) choses the best applicants who are then brought in for 2 rounds of interviews. it is sort of like a job interview - everyone in suits with resumes in hand. there is no set number - last year we recieved over 80 apps and had 30 finalists. after the each 10-15 minute interview, the applicant is rated on a 10 point scale by each of the 2 brothers who met him (grades, athletics, other notable achievements and potential "fit" with the chapter are the primary criteria). each finalist meets a total of 4 brothers as well as the rush chair and recruitment events chair. those who recieve a combined average ranking of 7 and above are invited to a date party the following week. some have already been to the party we throw at the house during freshman week or some of the off campus fiascos that go on almost nightly early in the year. in any case, the date party is a classy event (usually to a nice downtown chicago club) and an early chance in their college career to impress a girl by taking her a beta event.

moving on to....

now the ifc rules state that no freshman may enter any fraternity house during until mid-october (the "Freshman freeze" rule) and while this is broken by most houses it is a strict rule so all of the RTS interivewing and stuff goes on in the student center. fraternities are allowed to have freshman in the house for dinner on sundays from 5-7 only until mid-October. but all houses break the rule and we are no exception but we are VERY careful.

rush is the job of the entire fraternity. mostly it is focused on dorms and the guys who live in dorms. the rush chair is only a coordinator of formal events. we pledge guys that he has never met every year. we rely on parties (both in-house and out), date parties, and exchanges with sororities (what many of you call mixers I think). but mostly, the focus of rush is having guys up to the house constantly for barbecues, kegs and eggs (before football games every saturday) and just to play video games and chill. we try to seek out friends and once we have those friends, we ask them to join our fraternity. we are not one of the big time party houses that people join just for status and to meet drunk chicks. guys who join beta really want it and know its a completely different experience. its why weve grown from 20 guys to 70 in 2 and a half years.

back to story at hand.....

rush is ULTRA competetive because it is spread over 4 months and guys really have a chance to look at a lot of houses (we have 21) and see what they want. because of this we lose some quality guys every year but we also get some quality guys who, in a shortened rush period might just join the first house that approaches them.

my advice would be to work on small groups of guys. have them over the house to chill in small groups with a good number of brothers so they can get comfortable. before you know it, they will be bugging you about when they can come to the house next and hang out. they will also bring their friends. you want to create a true friendship with guys. sure you need your big parties just to flex your social muscle but after having been co-rush chair for our biggest pledge class (27) a few years ago, I had guys tell me it was the little things - like guys taking them to a ballgame or movie that made the difference - not the huge parties. start small, have events every week (pick a night or two every week that you will have guys over or do something with them) and keep them hooked.

I dont know where I went with this really. I hope some of it helps