Fraternities: What % of your pledge class is "committed" before formal rush begins?

Kevin · #1 03-26-2003, 01:20 AM

It has become very evident on our campus over the past few years (we're a new chapter) that formal rush is pretty meaningless.

All the meaningful stuff occurs before that -- successful chapters recruit people straight out of high school. How many of your bids are already determined before formal rush even starts?

twinstars · #2 03-26-2003, 04:29 PM

I'm not a guy, so I can't say as an insider, but at my college (with deferred rush in January), nearly 100% of the guys who are rushing have it narrowed down to 1 or 2 choices of where they think they fit (out of 15 fraternities on campus) before formal rush. I would say the fraternities know who 85% of their pledge class will likely include, but you always get a few rushees changing their minds at the last minute or whatever. There are always a few surprises or random guys but for the most part, frats figure out who they like, and freshmen figure out where they fit in, well before "real" rush.

It's not so much that they rush people still in high school, but they go way out of their way to meet freshman guys in september and start calling ones they like for barbecues, parties, etc. If a freshman is from a frat guy's high school or hometown, you can bet that freshman will get a few calls to come hang out.

By the time formal rush rolls around in January, the frats have already been hanging out with these freshman on at least a weekly basis for an entire semester, so they have a good idea who they want to offer a bid, and who would likely accept their bid.

KEPike · #3 03-27-2003, 01:27 AM

I would agree with everything that's been said but want to state that formal rush does help secure some guys that were on the fence. So we'd have 85% of who we'd want prior to formal rush and then get the extra 15% during that time. So there is some benefit for some guys.

xp2k · #4 04-01-2003, 05:20 PM

Yeah

At IU, a couple of houses have manage to fill their 40-50 man pledge classes before the school year even starts.

Quite a few fraternities here do summer rush. They throw parties in the summer and attract up freshman who are here for orientation. They also have events in the area (i.e. maybe a barbeque in Chicago, or a trip to a Reds game in Cinci) where they meet people. Besides that, they also have alumni send them names of people who they think would be outstanding candidates for membership.

The very elite fraternities at IU usually only have 4 or 5 spots left in their pledge classes before formal rush even kicks off!

However, most still utilize formal rush to find the leftover quality guys. I wouldnt say formal rush is useless at all, at least from my school's perspective.

XP2k

James · #5 04-05-2003, 12:43 PM

When you say 4 or 5 more spots left, you don't mean you have quota's do you? Or do you mean the groups usually only recruit 4-5 more members than they did prior to Formal?

Thanks.

Quote:

Originally posted by xp2k

The very elite fraternities at IU usually only have 4 or 5 spots left in their pledge classes before formal rush even kicks off!

XP2k

slamit93 · #6 04-07-2003, 06:21 PM

last fall we gave 28 bids... 22 signed... only one of the 22 wasn't somebody we hadn't been hanging out with every day since they could move in to the dorms... we only knew 1 of the 6 that didn't sign before formal rush... the rest were random rushees... so... i guess...

96% of our pledge class was recruited prior to formal rush.

xp2k · #7 04-07-2003, 07:54 PM

James

I hate using "elite" but the the very elite/strong fraternities at IU usually have their pledges move right in to the house when the school year starts (this isnt normal, most freshman have to live in the dorms), meaning they can only offer so many spots to new members.

Other chapters who have a strong summer rush have an idea of how many guys they want so they extend a few more bids to fill out the pledge class when school starts.

I would say that the average fall (we dont have deferred rush) pledge class size is about 25 but its fairly common for chapters to take 40-50 men.

IFC at Indiana University does not have a quota system for recruitment, nor does it have a cap.

Betarulz! · #8 04-13-2003, 06:32 PM

We have summer rush, and so most guys have no clue who they will narrow it down to b/c they are busy with senior year still.

I'd say that in a given year we'll have 3 guys that we know that we will give a bid card to if they rush...usually those guys are sophomores with friends in the house already (and these rushee's hang out with us regularly) or they are little brothers of guys in the house already.

Summer rush is where everything is done...there has been an effort to get more out of formal rush but over the past 3 years only a total of 150 guys have even attended formal rush events, and out of that probably only 30 have signed with chapter during that time (most of that remaining 120 are actually in Pike now...they don't have a house which affords them different rush tactics and experiences).

We have gotten a total of 3 out of formal in the past 3 years...2 from 3 years ago, 1 from 2 years ago, and last year we were already full with our pledge class (not due to a quota or anything, but since we have summer rush the freshmen are allowed to move into the houses at the beginning of the year, so we had filled the available spots already, and managed to find guys who were going to live in the dorms).

33girl · #9 04-13-2003, 07:20 PM

OK, this might be a silly question, but what if you give someone a bid over the summer and then for whatever reason he doesn't start school in the fall? The whole concept just has me

.

slamit93 · #10 04-13-2003, 07:32 PM

I am curious about the summer rush too... only a few of our guys are around during the summer, how do you rush people if nobody is there to meet them... are you on campus year round??? how do you meet the new students before school starts??? ours don't show up until they can move into the dorms, a week before fall classes.