Didn't get a bid, what should I do?

[chlorax]

there is only 4 fraternities at my school (one of the chapters doesn't have a house). I go to a school of only 2400 people

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by chlorax

there is only 4 fraternities at my school (one of the chapters doesn't have a house). I go to a school of only 2400 people

Okay, that makes sense. I'm guessing the 3 you looked at were the housed chapters? In that case, yes, get your grades up and rush again.

[AnotherKD]

Originally Posted by chlorax

there is only 4 fraternities at my school (one of the chapters doesn't have a house). I go to a school of only 2400 people

How many people are in each fraternity? I mean, if there are 100 guys in each one, that is a pretty small percentage of the school's population that are in fraternities. I don't see how you wouldn't have a social life outside of that.

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by AnotherKD

How many people are in each fraternity? I mean, if there are 100 guys in each one, that is a pretty small percentage of the school's population that are in fraternities.

If there are 2400 in the school, without knowing the gender breakdown, I would assume there are around 1200 men. If there are 100 guys in each of the 4 fraternities, that's 400, which is 1/3. Pretty Greek-heavy from that POV. *shrugs*

Good luck to the OP. Just get involved in the things you enjoy. Small schools still have all kinds of opportunities for meeting new people - you'll find your place eventually.

[lucgreek]

You only rushed three chapters at a school with four. Why? Was the unhoused group not a good fit, or did you not want to join a chapter without a house?

Your GPA is the most likely reason you didn't get a bid (I would have immediately vetoed a person with a 2.46. No point in taking someone who will already be facing academic probation), but none of us know that for sure. You could have been completely socially awkward and your GPA never came into the picture. Again, we don't know.

Get involved with campus groups if you need more friends.

[AnotherKD]

Originally Posted by SydneyK

If there are 2400 in the school, without knowing the gender breakdown, I would assume there are around 1200 men. If there are 100 guys in each of the 4 fraternities, that's 400, which is 1/3. Pretty Greek-heavy from that POV. *shrugs*

Good luck to the OP. Just get involved in the things you enjoy. Small schools still have all kinds of opportunities for meeting new people - you'll find your place eventually.

I can see that. I was a school that had over 50% of the students in Greek life, and there was still a lot of social activities/clubs out there for everyone. Even though it was mostly greek, many people who weren't still had very fulfilling social lives. It just depends on what you put into it.

[chlorax]

Well actually at my school, only about 20% of the population is greek, (although freshman can't rush, so about 28% of the upperclassmen are greek). My school has plenty of clubs, but I feel like even when I join one, I will either run into people who don't like to party on Friday and Saturday nights, or are not willing to make any new friends because they already have enough.

One question that wasn't fully answered was: would it be worth it to try in rush again in the spring, after I get my 2.46 gpa up. Would going again in the Spring and showing that I'm really interested in the fraternities help my chances? (If you're an active brother of a chapter, answer based on what your group does).

[33girl]

Originally Posted by chlorax

Well actually at my school, only about 20% of the population is greek, (although freshman can't rush, so about 28% of the upperclassmen are greek). My school has plenty of clubs, but I feel like even when I join one, I will either run into people who don't like to party on Friday and Saturday nights, or are not willing to make any new friends because they already have enough.

If you were this focused on partying during rush, no wonder you didn't get a bid. You come across as someone who wants to use a fraternity to get what you want (a social life), not someone who wants to contribute to a group.

And I've never heard of someone - especially at such a small school - saying "I'm sorry, but I have enough friends right now. I don't want to bother with you." Something about you is turning them off. Unless you fall far outside the social norm of the school (i.e. you're Jewish and attending a church sponsored university where everyone is born-again Christian), honestly? You shouldn't have this much trouble making friends.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by 33girl

"I'm sorry, but I have enough friends right now. I don't want to bother with you."

Siggy.

[lucgreek]

Originally Posted by chlorax

Well actually at my school, only about 20% of the population is greek, (although freshman can't rush, so about 28% of the upperclassmen are greek). My school has plenty of clubs, but I feel like even when I join one, I will either run into people who don't like to party on Friday and Saturday nights, or are not willing to make any new friends because they already have enough.

One question that wasn't fully answered was: would it be worth it to try in rush again in the spring, after I get my 2.46 gpa up. Would going again in the Spring and showing that I'm really interested in the fraternities help my chances? (If you're an active brother of a chapter, answer based on what your group does).

Newsflash: You will run into people who don't like to party on Friday and Saturday in Greek Life. There may be brothers in your chapter who you aren't best friends with and don't socialize with much.

As for joining clubs and people not willing to make new friends, that's BS and something you're just telling yourself to make you not join those clubs.

Again, we don't know what will "improve" your chances. Even if you up your GPA from a 2.46, there's no guarantee the groups who chose not to give you a bid will offer you one (Hell, if a group said they can give bids to people and let them pledge the next semester if they didn't make grades and still chose to NOT give you a bid, that should say something). Will boosting your grades help your chances? In theory, yes. But rush isn't all theory and math, it's meeting people.

We can't really answer based on what our chapters do, because we have no idea if you blended well into our chapter. If someone was a really awesome fit for our chapter and was great friends with everyone and had a 2.46, we would have our rush chair and president tell him to get his grades up again and then rush in the Spring to get his bid (You must have a 2.5 or higher to rush on our campus, so we can't give bids to people with lower). If the person wasn't a good fit, we'd pass on him and maybe give him a second glance if he made is GPA shoot up (but again, there's no guarantees he could keep that GPA up...)

[chlorax]

Thanks for the answers and replies everybody, this was very helpful