What makes a school recruitment competitive?

[APhiAnna]

I would say that the biggest indicator of how competitive a school's rush is is how ingrained being Greek at that school has been in the past, and also how legacy (at the university, not sororities) is viewed at the school.

For example, let's pretend there are two fictional universities that are equal in most aspects. However, since 1900 25% of School 1 has gone Greek, and 15% of their freshman class has had a family member attend the school before. At School 2, only 10% of the school has gone Greek over the years, and 5% of the freshman class has had a family member attend the school before.

At School 1, not only is Greek life HUGE and affects the campus as a whole, but a significant portion of the freshmen already have a built-in social network of connections with alumni. This means more legacies to sororities, more PNMs with connections to the alumni, more PNMs with connections in the current sororities and more PNMs who have been "born to go ABC" since birth. At School 2, there are far fewer legacies and most freshmen are coming in with NO connections to alumni. Not to mention that Greek life is not as important there, so there is not as much pressure to go Greek.

At School 2, an "un-prepared" PNM is going to waltz right in without any hurdles. Maybe her personality will not click with chapters, but rest assured she is not being cut because there were too many legacies or hometown friends. At School 1, even a girl who is well prepared with recs may not stand out enough to get past the throngs of legacies and well-connected PNMs who are vying for a spot in certain sororities. Due to the history of these schools, these "chosen" PNMs may have been on the radar before they even sent their own recs in! If enough sororities have enough legacies and connected PNMs, then the PNM without those connections will have very limited options, hence making recruitment competitive as a whole.