Harder for older students to join?

[ealymc]

I have heard lots of questions here regarding age of the PNMs and it being held against someone for being a sophomore while rushing. This concept is unheard for me and I don't exactly understand the reasoning or logic behind it.

One of the things that we kind encourage our guys to do regarding rush is to broaden our focus on the guys that we consider. Not just freshmen, but there are a tons of guys with unlimited potential that are older (be it sophomore, junior or whatever), already settled into college and know what's going on, able to juggle both school and fraternity, and may already be a proven campus leader in some cases. Those, personally, were my favorite ones to rush, I guess partially because you want to know that the fraternity is in good hands when you leave.

So, I guess my question is - why would someone be at a disadvantage at your campus because they aren't a freshman?