[texas*princess]

I definitely think you should give it another shot. You don't have anything to lose right? Just something to gain. Plus, you have the advantage of already knowing what to expect during recruitment week if you decide to wait until January rush to come around again. I'm near SMU (if it's Southern Methodist you're talking about), but not near enough to really know the dynamics of the Greek Life there, but I would highly doubt sophomores would be "looked down upon". But you do need to realize that sometimes certain houses will tend to extend more bids to freshman. Like I said, I don't really know the greek culture there, so that last statement might not even apply to your school. I know at my school, we even have a few upperclassmen that go through recruitment and get placed in the process... but at other more highly competitve schools upperclassmen going through recruitment are few and far between.

From the sound of your post, it sounds like there are only certain houses you want to join for whatever your reasons, and I could be wrong, but if you limit yourself to only those houses, you have a chance of going home with nothing.

I'm sure there are countless women .. maybe even on this board... who did not get their top choice, or the top house on their campus, but later found out that the sorority they joined turned out being right for them, so it all worked out.

So I personally would say to go into recruitment with an open mind.... or, attend COR/COB (continuous open recruitment/bidding) events for sororities that may have those opportunities in the Fall. Who knows? Maybe you'll find a match! And COR/COB does not obligate you to join any house, it is merely an informal way of meeting the sisters of the sororities. The advantage of COR/COB is that nothing is timed.. you're not talking to one sister for 5 minutes and another for another 5 minutes. It's relaxed, and usually COR/COB events are fun events like ice skating or bowling or whatever the chapter decides to do.. which in my book beats getting all dressed up, hiking to the different houses, and worrying about all the stuff that comes with structured recruitment.

If anything, attending COR/COB events will let you get more aquainted with the chapter whether or not you decide to accept a bid if you are given one.

Sometimes formal recruitment is so fast paced.. it's really hard to actually get to know the chapters, as it is hard for the chapters to really get to know the pnms, so sometimes either slip through the cracks.