Gonna have to say ditto to everyone about the rushing in the fall bit, but for my own reasons...
i knew i wanted to rush as a freshman...but my parents live three hours away, all of my best friends were at different colleges and i had doubts about rushing because i wanted to see all of these people, including an ex- boyfriend (long story short: realized he was an a**hole, never laid eyes on him again)...i rushed anyways, knowing that i could drop out if i didn't like it and then the worst thing happened right in the middle of rush: September 11th. people were talking about stopping the whole rush process and delaying it until the spring, but they kept all of the events in the end, and i joined AXO. it was the best decision of my life. in the midst of all of my own personal tragedies, my new sisters and i bonded on the basis of simple human caring.
i know that's extreme, but my point is this: if i hadn't joined a sorority, i would have sat in my dorm room bawling and stayed with people who really didn't care about me in the long run (aka Jerk Boy and friends)...i wouldn't have met all of the people who are so special to me and the love of my life...this isn't to say that the people in your life don't care about you, but i'm willing to bet that you can never have too many friends or too many people willing to fight on your side....plus, on the flip side, if you're worried that your friends and family back home will be insulted if your weekends are totally swamped (which they won't be, unless by choice), then you need to think about why they or you are insecure about the distance...rushing in the spring will still get you all of the above benefits of being in a sorority, but rushing in the fall will probably give you more of a feeling of stability in the end.
