Why is Rush so Cut-throat on the Sororities' End at Big Greek Schools?

[ajuhdg]

WOW! For being 'JustaMom' that was an amazing rant! You pretty much said my sentiments exactly. I think that every PNM should read your post, it is a sad but true statement! I think it would answer MANY questions!

Well said....

Adrienne

[DGMarie]

From my perspective, this was exactly the case at my school.

[James]

Justamom. A good no-shit analysis lol.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Yet again, JAM hits the nail on the head.

I didn't go to a cut throat school for rush by the definition provided here, but your analysis is still accurate. In fact one of the 'top' sororities rated the rushees from 1 to 5 for looks and 1 to 5 for personality and ranked them for their bid lists. They wanted a pledge class made up of perfect 10s. That's what they usually got, too. One year they had 31 beautiful freshman and one sweet and nice but normal looking pledge. She was a legacy.

[Texas-Gal]

The system breaks down only when rushees decide that they would rather not be Greek than join certain organizations. That's when they drop out of rush after getting cut by their organizations of choice. That's when it is considered cut-throat. On campuses where girls are more willing to consider all chapters, it's not.

That is the most succinct analysis of the problem.

A UTexas, there are 14 NPC sororities (15 when I was there). There is a clearly defined pecking order among the 12 non-Jewish NPC sororities (and a definite 1-2 order among those 2 Jewish ones):

Top Three
#4
#5
the next two
the next three
the bottom two

For the vast majority of the hundreds and hundreds (thousands) of women who rush, Top 3 is completely out of their reach, #4 and #5 are quite difficult to get a bid from, with the next five groups still being no cakewalk to get into. Many, many women would rather drop out completely than pledge one of the bottom two, possibly even the next group of 3 above the bottom 2. I would place myself in that group, because I would not have wanted to spend 4 years in an organization that was constantly being "put in its place" (so to speak) at a school that already has a Greek-hostile environment.

This rigid hierarchy is like a self-fulfilling prophecy, though. The Top 3 will always be Top 3. The next 4 groups will always get quota with the best girls not taken by Top 3. The next 3 groups will usually get close to quota (if not making quota) with great girls. The bottom two will always struggle through rush, and try mightily, to maybe end up with only 50-60% of quota (if that).

The harsh reality at UT is that if you did not attend the right high school, run in the right circles, and are not a direct Texas legacy to Top 3 (and possibly #4 and #5), 99.9% of the time you will NOT get in. No matter if you are the greatest girl, with the best personality.

This is essentially what killed that 15th NPC group that still existed on campus while I was there. They were unable to ever even come close to making quota, and their house was half as big as the 12 houses. It's also probably the reason no sorority has tried to colonize at UT, the largest university in the country, in 30 years.

[Betarulz!]

I find it interesting that this became a discussion about the system of quota...

For me I look at my own greek system which is big and very strong, however I wouldn't classify it as cutthroat. Comparing it to aforementioned schools that are big, strong, and cutthroat makes me wonder what the difference is.

What I see the difference as being is the importance of greek life at the cutthroat schools...Sorority affiliation as I understand it in the south is such a big deal to what girls see as their perceived future viability that to join a house that is not considered strong would be more damaging than not going greek at all. Girls have friends that they talk to and they do their research, and know where they want to go...

In my experience as a campus tour guide here at Nebraska, I find that most HS Seniors have no concept of greek life unless they have older siblings in the greek system, and Beta Theta Pi sounds the same as Gamma Phi Beta is the same as Phi Gamma Delta is the same as Delta Gamma is the same as Kappa Delta is the same as Kappa Sigma so on and so forth....(I purposefully chose fraternities and sororities to demonstrate my point). And since there is not this supposed alteration of future potential that goes along with joining a certain house, they don't have to know all the houses and what their ranks are.

Thus when most of the girls go through rush they have little idea of campus reputation, and they are allowed to find the house that fits for them. Since most girls don't know reputations of the houses, there is not a scenario in which 75% of the 700 girls that go through rush are all dying to get in to 3 or 4 houses, which seems to the case in those cutthroat schools in which the vast majority of girls are looking to getting in to few select houses.

And because those houses have so many girls that are trying to get into their house they have to approach rush with some way of letting those girls go...and so legacies and those with multiple recs are not given a free ticket to the later rounds.

In my assesment of the situations, this is not a question of quota or total. It simply comes down to the fact that there is such a perceived impact on one's future due to Greek Affiliation that girls are stuck having to figure out some way to reach the top houses so they don't miss their opportunity.

[twinstars]

I think it can be cut-throat among the top sororities, competing for certain rushees, because even though there are plenty of girls rushing, there is always that top 20% of the pool (or so) that any of the best houses would love to have. If you do succeed in getting those rushees, it's a big ego boost. It means your house beat out the competition (other very good houses). Guys talk about it.... "oh, did you hear theta (or whoever) got so-and-so? Her dad's the president of .... whatever"

It's so competitive because the top tier of sororities are all going after the same set of rushees. There aren't enough of those "cream of the crop" rushees to go around... someone's got to get them, and it might as well be your house.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally posted by twinstars
Guys talk about it.... "oh, did you hear theta (or whoever) got so-and-so? Her dad's the president of .... whatever"

Wow, never in my like have I wanted a gifl in my chapter because of what her dad does for a living.

[twinstars]

Originally posted by DeltaBetaBaby
Wow, never in my like have I wanted a gifl in my chapter because of what her dad does for a living.

That's not what I was saying...

If a sorority snags a really high-profile freshman (for whatever reason she's known on campus), then it can look good for that sorority. Especially if people know/think she could have had her choice of the top houses.

I go to a small school, and we all know each other's business. If someone has a notable background you can be sure everyone knows about it. The dad thing was just an example. I doubt any sorority anywhere would give a rushee a bid solely because of what her dad does... come on now.

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by twinstars
I think it can be cut-throat among the top sororities, competing for certain rushees, because even though there are plenty of girls rushing, there is always that top 20% of the pool (or so) that any of the best houses would love to have. If you do succeed in getting those rushees, it's a big ego boost. It means your house beat out the competition (other very good houses). Guys talk about it.... "oh, did you hear theta (or whoever) got so-and-so? Her dad's the president of .... whatever"

It's so competitive because the top tier of sororities are all going after the same set of rushees. There aren't enough of those "cream of the crop" rushees to go around... someone's got to get them, and it might as well be your house.

But the not-enough-of-the-great-girls-rushing is true at EVERY school, not just the big Greek schools . . . so why does it only make things so cut-throat at certain schools?

I think you may have hit on something later in your post, though. My school is competitive, but definitely not cut-throat, and here, none of the fraternity men would ever care which sorority's pledge's dad is the president of something . . . unless he's the president of the U.S.! So depending on how much a given school cares about status, that would make a difference as to whether or not a rushee would be willing to pledge a house that's not one of the Big Three . . . or Top Half, or whatever. And it's not surprising that so many of the cut-throat schools are in the South, where your perceived "status" is much more important than in, say, the Midwest.

I also think that the amount of influence Greeks have on campus and how well-known they are makes a difference, too. If everybody on your campus knows the reputation of every sorority, you're probably going to be less likely to pledge a sub-par house than if the individual sorority stereotypes on your campus aren't known by anybody outside of the Greek system.

[cuaphi]

Okay, I know what you mean by that. Colorado had the daughters of two very well known NBA coachs come thru rush. It was a very big thing to discuss who they dropped vs. who dropped them. There were, of course, voices of reason who didn't care about them just because of their last names... but once something hits the campus rumor mill it takes on a life of its own.

[Texas-Gal]

here, none of the fraternity men would ever care which sorority's pledge's dad is the president of something . . . unless he's the president of the U.S.!

Hey, the US President's daughter DOES go to my school! She had no difficulty at all during rush...

[UF56]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
But the not-enough-of-the-great-girls-rushing is true at EVERY school

I disagree with this. The problem with my school in particular which makes it cutthroat is that there are too many of the great girls rushing that only want to be in certain houses and are not willing to go to other houses. And these certain houses can only take so many girls. I mean during first round almost all of these certain houses have to cut their numbers in half that means going from 1300-1400 down to 650. And our campus is one that many a girls feel that its better not to be greek than to be in a house that isnt considered one of the best.

[mmcat]

who is going to turn down a bush or two???
i'm glad the twins are legal now...they can buy their secret service guys a drink.
good girls though.

[DGMarie]

Originally posted by Texas-Gal
Hey, the US President's daughter DOES go to my school! She had no difficulty at all during rush...

I can only imagine how rush was that year. Probably a little crazier than usual.

I recall a common topic of conversation when I COB'd was what your parents did for a living....