Help with Informal Rush! Advice needed!

[Msm81793]

Hello, I am a current freshman going through informal recruitment at the moment, but I need some advice. I go to a fairly big school that is located in the northeast region. Greek life is pretty competitive here, as it is a well known party school, but it’s not super competitive like SEC schools and recs are not required. The Greek life percentage on my campus is about 10% and we have 8 sororities. I only recently decided to join a sorority.

I didn’t particularly have an interest in participating during fall rush and everyone that I talked to on campus told me not to do it my first semester because it is a major commitment that not many first time freshmen are ready for. I decided to rush this semester because I want the sisterly bond that sororities provide and I’m interested in the philanthropy work. I have checked the GPA requirement and even though my first semester grades weren’t that great, I’m working really hard to bring them up and I still meet the minimum requirement for the sororities on my campus. I also recently became friends with a sorority girl here and she encouraged me to rush and I have a cousin who is in a sorority as well.

My school does informal recruitment during the spring and so far, I’m really enjoying it. However, informal recruitment at my school is more competitive than formal recruitment. Only 4 of the 8 sororities on campus are participating in spring rush this year. There are only about 100 girls participating in spring rush but most of these sororities only have about 10-20 bids to give out. That’s about 40-80 bids total.

Even though it’s still early in the rush, I’ve been hearing a lot of rumors that are not very, um, pleasant to hear. I’ve heard that my top choice sorority, and the only house I’ve been able to visit thus far, is only giving out 15 bids this semester and that they already have their bids picked out. I find this a little hard to believe seeing as how it’s still so early in the process, but the rumor that I heard was that the sisters knew a lot of the girls who were rushing before rush even started and that they were giving “pre-determined” bids secretly.

I know better than to be one of those girls who believes that they either HAVE to get into their top choice or not get in at all, so I’m trying to keep an open mind about all of the sororities, even though I feel as if I clicked very well with this one. I haven’t heard any rumors about my second choice yet, so I’m still very hopeful about that one, but it seems as if most of the girls rushing this semester are aiming for that one also.

The 3rd one, from what I heard, is only giving out 8 bids this semester and has already given out 3 supposedly. Once again, that doesn’t really give me much hope of getting a bid from that one cause I haven’t even visited their house yet.

The last one is the one that my cousin is in and while it used to be one of my top picks, now I’m not so sure. Once again, I’m trying to keep an open mind, but this sorority has a horrible reputation. They’re on thin ice right now and could easily get kicked off campus if they don’t clean up their image. The only reason they’re even doing spring rush is because they recently kicked out a bunch of girls and now they need more. From what I heard thus far, not many of the girls rushing this semester are even rushing for this one because of its poor image. I’m also told that the sisters aren’t very friendly and even my cousin doesn’t feel very welcome there. I’m still going to visit the house, but I’m worried that this sorority will be the only one I get a bid to and I’m not sure what I should do if I don’t feel comfortable there.

I kind of want to try rushing again in the fall because formal recruitment sounds really interesting and I’d be exposed to even more houses that I could fit well with. At my school, there is about an estimated 600 girls that participate in fall rush. Also, the sororities at my school claim to be accepting of girls with a sophomore or junior standing but I’m still worried that being a sophomore next year will hurt my chances.

So I would just like a little advice from you guys as to what you think I should do. If I get a bid to the “undesirable” sorority, should I accept it even if I don’t feel connected to it? Would I be allowed to participate in fall rush if I decline the bid? Would it look bad to the other sororities if I come back for fall rush? And what about this whole “secret bidding” thing? The girls in my top choice sorority told me and a few of the other pledges to come back tomorrow so why would they say that if they supposedly picked out all of their bids? Was that rumor just started to “weed out” the girls who might not be dedicated? Plus, what if they gave a bid to a girl, but that girl accepted a bid from another sorority? Does that mean the bidding is still open?

I’m really confused about this whole process and what I should do right now. I’m honestly not even expecting to get a bid this semester and it wouldn’t surprise me if other girls got picked. The other girls probably know more sisters and know exactly what to do. The girls in my group were both sophomores and one had been through formal rush before but had quit because of personal reasons so I feel as if this rush is more beneficial to these older girls. I still want to find a sorority where I truly belong though and I don’t want to rule out the other houses that aren’t participating in spring recruitment this year because I might end up loving those houses.

Can you older girls on here PLEASE give me some advice and answer my questions. It would be greatly appreciated!

PS: I should also add that I don't party that much so I doubt the sisters would have to worry about me "tainting" their image. I also avoid bringing up controversial or awkward topics when conversing with the sisters or saying things that might make me sound cocky. I know that small talk is very important in rush and I didn't want them to get a bad first impression of me.