justmyo - FWIW, I agree with you. I think too many freshmen take on too much too quickly. They forget the classes are a LOT harder than high school and there are no parents taking care of their food, sleep, study habits etc.
That being said, one of the things I've learned from this board is that at schools with huge Greek systerms (LSU, Indiana U etc)you can severely hurt your chances of EVER getting a bid if you don't rush your 1st semester. Partly because of housing, partly because of $$, partly because of tradition. For myself personally, I pledged as a 1st semester sophomore and can't remember us ever having a pledge class without a junior or two. We also were at a small school with no Greek houses on campus.
I think the best solution is for the school to defer rush to the spring so the freshmen can get a taste of "normal" college life. I know some people consider that discrimination because "freshmen can join anything else their first semester." True, but this isn't the ski club - this is a lifelong commitment, not to be entered into lightly. If deferring rush cuts down on senior burnout, disenchanted rushees and depeldging, I'm all for it.
So wait if it won't hurt you, but if it will, don't.
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