An Honest & Tough Fraternity Recruitment

[dreamseeker]

yay!

[ebdelt]

I was aware of both, but for the sake of the thread I was trying to be somewhat allusive lol. Well I'm about to start the final chapter of what feels like a saga! Hope everyone enjoys.

[ebdelt]

Ok so this time around I was registering early to ensure as much possible notice as possible. I remember I signed up a week after the applications could be processed. I didn't want to come across as desperate to rush, so I made sure I signed up a week after the fact. Trivial and funny now looking back, but I took it all so seriously then. This time I made sure I had everything in order. I had great grades and was accepted into my schools Honors College. I also became a camp counselor just like the Brad Paisley that was my camp counselor, a pretty prestigioius and competitive job at my school. I was also involved in a few other organizations and overall I felt like I was a very desirable candidate, something I felt like I really needed considering I was a sophomore rushing now.

One day I got a call from Garth Brooks. The guy I talked to on the phone told me that they were kicking up their summer rush and would like to invite me out to their first event. He said he remembered me from last year and that last year's rush chair had told him to for sure get in contact with me. I was very flattered by all this high regard...then again this was the first time I had ever actually followed through with a summer rush call. They were having a big tailgate with chapter alumni at the local minor league baseball game and were only having a few rushees out and they wanted me to come. I made sure I was going this time! Even though Garth Brooks wasn't the only fraternity I was looking to hang out with for the summer, I definitely wanted to go to as many fraternity functions as possible, just to better my chances for a bid anywhere.

The baseball game ended up being really fun. I met one of the actives at their house and he gave me a ride to the game with a few other actives. They were all pretty cool that I met and I thought it was neat that the alumni were sponsoring this event to help out the chapter. I had heard this chapter had really strong alumni connections and it seemed true. I had great conversations all night while watching the baseball game. After that we went back to one of the active's house where we ended up watching Animal House and having a few drinks. I was never pressured to drink anything, and since I did have to drive home I only had one beer. They were really understanding and their top priority was me getting home safely. I left that night having a really great feeling about Garth Brooks. I felt they were even better this year than last year in terms of quality and I would definitely enjoy hanging out with them more.

Probably a week later I got another call. This time it was from Tim McGraw. Now this was not a name I was expecting. This fraternity was somewhat middle-upper tier in the Greek scene, so it wasn't as if I though they were way to good for me; it was more the fact that I didn't know a single guy in their fraternity and had never hung out with them before. They invited me to a house party they were having and I told them I'd be able to attend and was told I would get a call with more information and details about the party. Well I never got called back...so I just assumed that was the end. But later I got another call, again from Tim McGraw. They were inviting me out to a big house party they were having in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The rush chair for Tim McGraw had a big lake house and it seemed like it would be awesome so I cleared my weekend and made sure I could attend. This time they did follow through and actually picked me up. It was a long drive but I was riding with the Tim McGraw rush chair, another active, and a girl in a sorority that was coming to. They seemed nice but the conversation never really flowed. Plus they kept getting all my information wrong, asking if I was a freshman, transfer, etc. It was seeming like they didn't really know me at all and invited me on a whim or something.

Long story short this trip turned into a nightmare. I enjoyed myself but I mainly talked to a few other rushees and the few actives I clicked with. Overall, these guys just weren't for me and I wasn't for them I reckon. In all honesty, some of these guys were drunk or high the ENTIRE time I was there, sun-up, sun-down. It was just a huge party scene and not that I didn't like to party from time to time, but this was just too much for me. There was alcohol, drugs, and trashy girls everywhere (as in flashing everyone and public sex) and I just didn't think this fraternity was going to help shape me into the professional man I wanted to be after college. I felt this was a bad influence coming. I did like some of the guys and their lakehouse was awesome, but I was desperate to get the hell out of there and cross Tim McGraw off my list.

After that I got a call from a Brad Paisley but I was not able to answer the phone at the time. I never got another call from them again which I found a little weird, until I talked to one of my sophomore friends who was also rushing. He had always wanted to be a Brad Paisley and was pretty persistent and knew a lot of the guys. He ended up emailing the rush chair who took forever to respond, but when he did he told him that Brad Paisley had decided to not take any sophomores this year and exclusively focus on recruiting freshman. I wasn't too upset at this point. I was over the disappointment I endured with Brad Paisley last year and figured it wasn't meant to be for me. I was worried for my friend though as he had kind of put all his eggs in one basket and they certainly weren't going to hatch now.

Then one day later in the summer I got a really surprising call. It was a Randy Travis. Now this is definitely one of the top two fraternities at my school. Old money and big names flock to this fraternity, and they throw the biggest and most publicized parties at school. Now I'd be lying if I said I didn't come from a family that was fortunate, but in no way am I rich enough to compete with the average member of Randy travis. They were also having a weekend lakehouse trip that they wanted me to come to. The only catch was that when I was talking to the rush chair he said to me, "Hey we heard your transferring to [school's name] this fall and we'd like for you to come out to our rush party at the lakehouse for the weekend." Another fraternity thinking I was transferring? I figured if these guys couldn't take the time to learn my information and who I was than why would I want to be a part of this organization. I didn't know any Randy Travis' and though I was flattered to be invited to a rush event, I told him I'd call him back to get more information. Ultimately, I never called him back and never got another call from them. I didn't want to be a part of a group that didn't seem genuinely interested in getting to know me.

Throughout summer I had gotten a couple more calls from Garth Brooks. This time they had a suite for the MLB team in our area. One of their alumni owned a box suite and was letting the rush team have it for one of their games. I found this quite impressive and was able to go. Once again, I had great solid conversation with the guys and really enjoyed the game. They even invited my friend who originally wanted to be a Brad Paisley and he seemed to be enjoying himself. It was a big and sucessful rush party for them.

By then it was the time of year when everyone was going back to school. There were a lot of rush parties and I ended up going to another Garth Brooks rush event, this time a house party. These guys were showing me their versatility...they could do formal and well-organized rush events such as the baseball games but also do big parties. I enjoyed myself there and got to meet even more actives who seemed genuinely excited to meet me. After this party, I was given an oral bid from Garth Brooks and they even told me I was one of their top 5 rushees for this year, from a list they had made. The flattery that comes from summer rush sure does feel good!

The only lingering thought in my head was...why haven't I heard from George Strait? I knew more of their guys, than any other fraternity. I had met several through the freshman camp I worked at and through class, and other things. They even told me they would keep in contact after spring rush.

Fall rush was starting in just a couple days, but at least this time I had a much more focused vision and strategy for rush. I felt good this time around, and no matter what I would be in a fraternity.

[ScarletBlueGold]

Originally Posted by ebdelt

After that I got a call from a Brad Paisley but I was not able to answer the phone at the time. I never got another call from them again which I found a little weird, until I talked to one of my sophomore friends who was also rushing. He had always wanted to be a Brad Paisley and was pretty persistent and knew a lot of the guys. He ended up emailing the rush chair who took forever to respond, but when he did he told him that Brad Paisley had decided to not take any sophomores this year and exclusively focus on recruiting freshman.

This Fraternity is insane. Why would you completely disregard someone simply based on the fact that they are a grade-level higher than what your ideal candidate is? The MOST you could lose would be two semesters of dues. Not only do you have better account of how well they are going to perform as scholars, but also as leaders, athletes, and gentlemen. Perhaps it's just different at my school, but this makes no sense to me.

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by ScarletBlueGold

This Fraternity is insane. Why would you completely disregard someone simply based on the fact that they are a grade-level higher than what your ideal candidate is? The MOST you could lose would be two semesters of dues. Not only do you have better account of how well they are going to perform as scholars, but also as leaders, athletes, and gentlemen. Perhaps it's just different at my school, but this makes no sense to me.

It might vary from school to school, but fraternities aren't under the pressure that sororities are to be at a certain number. And even if they were, all taking a sophomore means is that the chapter has to replace the member a year sooner to maintain the same chapter size. A small price to pay for a quality sophomore. Their loss.

[Barbie's_Rush]

Originally Posted by ScarletBlueGold

This Fraternity is insane. Why would you completely disregard someone simply based on the fact that they are a grade-level higher than what your ideal candidate is? The MOST you could lose would be two semesters of dues. Not only do you have better account of how well they are going to perform as scholars, but also as leaders, athletes, and gentlemen. Perhaps it's just different at my school, but this makes no sense to me.

They may have taken an exceptionally large pledge class that was all or almost all freshmen the previous year and were trying to balance things out. Even though fraternities can give out as many bids as they want, having that many brothers graduate at once when your other classes are more balanced in numbers can be devastating.

[Drolefille]

This is why we don't engage the troll, people.

[dreamseeker]

i'd like the OP to stop having a life and finish the story.

[ebdelt]

So sorry folks! This weekend has been much more hectic than anticipated. I really did mean to finish my story the night of my last post but than a friend dragged me off to a local festival and ever since it's been go, go, go! So here is the finish to my recruitment coming up!

[ebdelt]

So here I was back in formal recruitment, but feeling much more secure this time around. I had peace of mind that there was no way it could be worse than last time around. For some reason I can't remember the order of the houses I went in but the format and typical responses from the fraternity were much the same.

Billy Ray Cyrus once again presented a monologue from the drunk crippled guy and nothing beyond that.

Randy Travis ignored everyone that walked in the room as usual.

Blake Shelton decided this time to lecture us about STD's and how to contract them, even passing out fliers about herpes.

Toby Keith jumped around shouting showing us wild and crazy slideshows. One guy even said to the guy next to me, "Dude...two girls, same time!"

The others were much the same as last year, but one thing confused me. The George Straits, who had not contacted me all year, suddenly acted like they were so happy to see me and how they didn't know I was going through recruitment again. I smiled and carried on the conversation, but inside I couldn't believe they were telling me this. I had figured they just lost interest me and were pursuing other guys in rush, it wasn't that I held any bad feelings but I thought I deserved to get some more time to hang out with them during the summer. I still liked the George Straits and thought in some ways I was a lot like them, but in my mind it would be sort of senseless to go way out on a limb and try to receive a bid from them during formal rush after having no contact all summer.

The other houses gave much the same presentations last year whether it be pretty effortful such as Brad Paisley or Garth Brooks, whose president and vice president both came to talk to me at the same (I could tell they were really wanting me at this point), or not much at all as Alan Jackson or Tim McGraw.

I left formal rush pretty exhausted as this year was even hotter than last. I signed my card quickly and left. I thought I had everything in order for the next day, even though I had a Monday night class and would only be able to attend the second half of Day 2 of formal rush.

[ebdelt]

So I rushed over to the Greek housing after my night class had ended (thankfully my professor hadn't kept us long at all).

I had to hunt down my Rho Gam who was in the Alan Jackson house. I knew there was no way I was invited back to their house, nor did I really have any interest in staying longer. I had to go in there while their guys looked at me like they were thinking, "Who the hell is he?". Finally, I tracked down the Rho Gam who handed me my slips which notified me that I had been asked back to:

Trace Adkins
George Strait
Garth Brooks


I knew I'd pass on hanging out with Trace Adkins. I had never hung out with them and din't really click with any of the guys I knew. My roommate had ended up dropping during their pledgeship and said he just didn't like the guys and thought the organization lacked unity. Another one of my best friends had also dropped Trace Adkins and was rushing again and was becoming a Garth Brooks.

I still didn't know what was going on with George Strait. They had been playing with my mind since the spring, and after acting like they had no interest in me suddenly seemed really adament in seeing more of me.

I sort of stood outside the Alan Jackson house for a few minutes to think. I didn't want to rush anything. So I went into the Garth Brooks house and talked to the guys some more. They asked me how the process was going, where I was invited back to, and what I was thinking. It was all very natural and never in the history of the time I had spent with them felt like I couldn't belong. I knew Garth Brooks was my home. They had put a lot of effort into getting to know me for a long time. I liked how we could talk about all different parts of being in a fraternity. While other fraternities told me all about partying and hooking up, these guys would also tell me about their academics, scholarships, alumni connections and stuff that would really matter, especially later on down the road. I knew they could party too and had thoroughly enjoyed myself at those events as well. I figured why would I pursue George Strait when they haven't seemed genuinely interested in me for all except five minutes or so. I wouldn't even know if I'd click with their guys. My other friend that was told by the Brad Paisleys that they were only taking freshman was also becoming a Garth Brooks. The pledge class I could see starting to form was already full of my friends and I knew I could grow there.


So I left their house, walked to the Greek office, signed my card, and became a new member of.....


ΔΤΔ
Delta Tau Delta



Best decision I ever made!

The friend that dropped Trace Adkins ended up becoming probably my best friend in the fraternity, roommate in the house, and now we are living in an off-campus house together. The friendships I've made through DTD have been amazing and I can't imagine my college experience without it.



My best advice....SUMMER RUSH! Get to any events you can and when you get there don't make a fool of yourself by drinking too much, bad things happen. Just try to find the fraternity you get along best with, and try to have meaningful conversations about what the fraternity can offer you and what you in turn can offer them as a new member.

[jennyj87]

Originally Posted by ebdelt

My best advice....SUMMER RUSH! Get to any events you can and when you get there don't make a fool of yourself by drinking too much, bad things happen. Just try to find the fraternity you get along best with, and try to have meaningful conversations about what the fraternity can offer you and what you in turn can offer them as a new member.

Does your school even offer summer recruitment anymore? i looked on the website and it said it didn't...

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by jennyj87

Does your school even offer summer recruitment anymore? i looked on the website and it said it didn't...

At most schools like this, summer rush isn't something that is sanctioned by the school. The indivdual fraternities do it on their own.

[Blue Skies]

I loved your story, ebdelt!

My brother left college forty years ago. He still gets together with his Delt friends to sail, travel together, etc. I think you chose a great org!

[FSUZeta]

wonderful advice and so timely! congratulations.