Formal vs. Informal

[Firehouse]

Yes. What TSteven said.

[EE-BO]

A good house gets most of its guys well before formal rush starts, but during formal rush you will find guys worth pledging who are not necessarily from schools or backgrounds where they know to start attending events during the summer.

Spring is important too. Again- lots of quality candidates who maybe wanted to wait a semester before pledging, or came to college not knowing much about the Greek system.

A fraternity is only as good as its last pledge class. Until you have your chapter's ideal number of pledges, and good ones, lined up- you better take advantage of every recruiting opportunity you have.

And ideally you will have a strong informal rush program as well as a plan to be aggressive during whatever formal rush plan your school enforces for fraternities.

[Akkus]

Then doesn't informal rush mean a big number of bidless rushees?

[Firehouse]

I'm not being flip, but I've never heard any guy say, "Gosh I really wanted to join a fraternity but no one would have me." Problems are created when a rushee decides that it's one house or nothing. There's always a fraternity who will take a man who wants in.
It's not at all like the sorority rush where there are a limited number of slots available. Men react very badly to anyone trying to limit their size or make them conform to sorority notions like "quota" or "limitation." Fraternities can take as many or as few as they like.

[EE-BO]

Originally Posted by Akkus

Then doesn't informal rush mean a big number of bidless rushees?

It varies by chapter, but for us informal rush was during the summer before freshman year and by invitation only. Since Texas is a state school, most of your potential pledges will come from Houston, Dallas, Austin or San Antonio- and typically there is a rush captain for each city who organizes events in that city and invites people recommended/recruited by brothers from that city.

But, at least for us, it was never a cattle call. Summer informal rush is when you lock in the guys who the chapter knows about and wants to bid. It is expensive and time-consuming since you are not just hosting stuff in the chapter house, so efforts are focused on top candidates who are often rushing other houses at the same time.

Again, you get some solid guys in formal rush- but the real competition for pledges is in the summer.

[srmom]

My son is a senior and will be going through rush next year. I honestly have no idea how fraternity rush works. I was in a sorority that had deferred rush, my husband was in a frat that had fall rush, but it was a long time ago, so we are clueless. My son knows some guys that are in fraternities at the school he will be attending and they all say he should join their frat. It sounds like it is mostly like EE BO is saying, and he will be invited to parties at those houses this spring and summer, but will he ever get a chance to see or be seen by other fraternities? My older son went to UF and is involved in a sport so chose not to do the frat thing, but the summer before, they sent questionaires for him to fill out (he didn't because he didn't want to rush), is this general practice? At my sr son's high school, it seems like all the guys tend to join certain fraternities at this college, so are these the only parties he will go to? I don't necessarily have a problem with this because the guys we know are great, but I would like him to have options. Any info would be appreciated.

[LaneSig]

Originally Posted by srmom

My son is a senior and will be going through rush next year. I honestly have no idea how fraternity rush works. I was in a sorority that had deferred rush, my husband was in a frat that had fall rush, but it was a long time ago, so we are clueless. My son knows some guys that are in fraternities at the school he will be attending and they all say he should join their frat. It sounds like it is mostly like EE BO is saying, and he will be invited to parties at those houses this spring and summer, but will he ever get a chance to see or be seen by other fraternities? My older son went to UF and is involved in a sport so chose not to do the frat thing, but the summer before, they sent questionaires for him to fill out (he didn't because he didn't want to rush), is this general practice? At my sr son's high school, it seems like all the guys tend to join certain fraternities at this college, so are these the only parties he will go to? I don't necessarily have a problem with this because the guys we know are great, but I would like him to have options. Any info would be appreciated.

A lot of southern chapters (big and not so big) have rush parties in the summers. Most are ways to meet potential members, get to know them, and let them know about the chapter. Some campuses allow the chapters to offer bids during summer. My own chapter would hold a couple of summer rush parties, but could not give out bids until official rush and bid day.

Guys from the same hs will tend to join the same fraternities at colleges. It's easy to judge someone when a member can say: "I know this guy and can vouch for him." or "This guy is my cousin's best friend. He's good." I think it happens a lot.

By all means, if your son wants, he does not have to sign or accept a bid before school and rush begins. He can wait and go to the parties and get to meet and know as many of the chapters as he can. Personally, I think it's a good idea.

[Tom Earp]

As we all know, "The Fall Rush" is the most important in many minds.

New PMM's.

But as has been pointed out in the "Old South States", recruitment is done during the summer and for legacies.

The cattle call of the fall gets over whelming for new kids coming to school and look at the Chapter Buildings, not the people on the inside.

While a Formal Recruitment is good, how many really sign up for it as they are scared of what they may not know or feel they cannot afford it? They want to find out a little more before thay make a comitment.

Formal recruitment can be good, but it doesn't stop there does it.

I am amazed how few schools and Greeks do not worry about Spring recruitment? I have preached for years about Spring Recruitment.

A new Frosh can get an idea and meet people on a one to one basis, visit and see if they fit in. See if they can afford sometning they are not sure about joining.

Kids today are Dumber and yet smarter with less money because of the economy.

It has to be proven to them that they will get out of the Union for the moneies worth.

Someone once said on a thread, We don't tell them the costs. How stupid. Cost is an important part of to days Greek Life.

We as GLOs have to compete with many parts of College life including the cost of living in a House if there is one.

But, never forget, We have to sell ourselves not just a Building.

[EE-BO]

Originally Posted by srmom

My son is a senior and will be going through rush next year. I honestly have no idea how fraternity rush works. I was in a sorority that had deferred rush, my husband was in a frat that had fall rush, but it was a long time ago, so we are clueless. My son knows some guys that are in fraternities at the school he will be attending and they all say he should join their frat. It sounds like it is mostly like EE BO is saying, and he will be invited to parties at those houses this spring and summer, but will he ever get a chance to see or be seen by other fraternities? My older son went to UF and is involved in a sport so chose not to do the frat thing, but the summer before, they sent questionaires for him to fill out (he didn't because he didn't want to rush), is this general practice? At my sr son's high school, it seems like all the guys tend to join certain fraternities at this college, so are these the only parties he will go to? I don't necessarily have a problem with this because the guys we know are great, but I would like him to have options. Any info would be appreciated.

Welcome to the forum srmom.

It sounds like your son is in pretty good shape on the rush front. Anytime someone is getting recruited during high school by college friends and contacts, that is a good sign. So your son will surely have lots of choices.

Depends on the school and chapter, but very often you will see particular chapters recruit heavily out of particular cities and even certain high schools. So a fraternity can often be a continuation in some senses of high school. This can be good or bad depending on what your son wants.

It varies greatly- but typically if a rushee is a solid candidate with a particular chapter, he can expect to receive a bid after 2-3 events. 3 seems to be the usual standard.

It can sometimes happen at the 1st event- but frankly I find that suspicious. It looks desperate and your son should be wary about a fraternity that offers a bid the first time he attends a rush event. Even for guys who have strong connections to get into a house, it does not often happen at the first party. A chapter that bids a guy at the first party is a chapter whose judgment I would question because no matter a chapter's "rank" socially, they should be looking carefully at potential members and how they would benefit the brotherhood.

If nothing is forthcoming after 4 events, then it is time to reconsider whether things are working out. And it never hurts to ask a member privately at this point how things are going. Guys are going to be honest about this stuff and it could be nothing to worry about at all.

Once a person gets a bid during informal rush, it is okay to wait for a while to accept- but that can be a dangerous game. Sometimes pledge classes fill up, and sometimes a chapter can interpret a long delay in accepting a bid to mean a lack of interest. This is not usually the case, but my advice is that once your son finds a chapter he really likes, he should take the bid when it comes. There is not one particular house that will be the magical right place for your son, or anyone for that matter, to pledge- so no need to wait around for that to happen when you have a bid in hand from a house you really like.

On a final note, we all know the drinking age is 21. And I will not suggest anyone under 21 ever drink.

But summer rush events are parties. If your son must drink, the best advice I can give him is to NEVER get drunk or lose control of his senses.

Taking one sip is against the law, and that is a chance we all took at that age.

But even if you are rushing the hardest core party house on campus, the ONE thing that can get an otherwise solid rushee blacklisted in a hurry is being that rushee (and every year there are some) who thinks it is cool to get plastered and do stupid things. This is ESPECIALLY bad if ladies from sororities are present.

Rush for guys is a fairly laid back process. But not being able to handle your booze is one thing that can kill your chances during rush. Save that stuff for later.

It is better to not drink at all than drink too much. Even the party houses will be interested in a solid guy who does not drink. But drinking too much at rush events can only bring trouble.

Final advice- tell your son to talk to a few ladies who are either in sororities where he is going to college, or to fellow high school classmates who can get him in touch with sorority women.

Sorority members are the best resource he has to find out more about the various fraternities and what they are really like before he begins the rush process. Summer rush events often overlap, and so he might have to make choices about attending one party versus another. Having advice from sorority women will help him make better choices.

Best of luck to your son. This forum is here if you have any more questions or experiences to share.

[AZ-AlphaXi]

Here's the link to an article in the UofArizona student newspaper about Fraternity rush which is this week.

http://media.wildcat.arizona.edu/med...epublisher.com