Fall Rush at Texas
 

Hello,

I'm currently a high school senior and I'm going to UT next year. I'm looking to join a fraternity but I don't know too much about the system. I'm not from old money or have any high connections, but I go to a good college-prep high school and know quite a few guys in fraternities at UT.

Does anyone know any specifics about rush at UT or can give me some advice on how to go about the process?

Thanks a lot.

bump up above the accidental second post

Don't worry about money or high connections- there are lots of fraternities here at UT and most all of them are very approachable.

There is really not much of a formal rush process at Texas. When I was there, we had a 4 day period where the houses were supposed to have representatives on hand from 2-6 in the afternoon to meet anyone who came by looking for more info. That was all they had.

And unless I am mistaken, even that is not done today. So the burden is pretty much completely on you to take initial steps if you want to get a good look at a large number of houses.

Roundup is coming soon and that is the first point when a lot of potential fall rushees will be coming up to check things out. From there, summer rush goes on from the end of the spring semester right up until the fall- though the real concentration of events begins in late June.

You have picked the right time to start doing your homework, and I would suggest you contact friends of yours in fraternities at UT- or better still women you know who are in sororities and who know you well enough to give you their honest advice about where to focus your efforts. A good friend in a sorority is your best resource for starting the rush process.

Some houses will send you invitations to events- either because someone knows you or because they got a list of high school seniors and invite everybody since that school has been a good recruiting ground in the past. Don't assume that a group that sends you an unexpected invitation is a low-tier organization pushing for new members. It could just as easily be a top-tier group that has already heard good things about you.

Roundup and July 4th are two pretty significant rush periods- generally speaking. Your best bet is to talk to friends now and try to get their advice on where to focus those initial efforts since you will be best off heading into Roundup planning to rush at just a couple of places.

The majority of bids extended at most houses are given out over the summer or right at the start of the year- long before "formal rush" begins. So it is important to get moving now so that you will be all set for this summer. It varies by house, but generally speaking a serious fraternity that makes a careful selection of good potential candidates will want to see you at 3 events before a bid is extended. So you will have some serious rushing to do. Even if you come into rush with several people knowing you, a good house will not give you a bid the first time you come to a rush event.

Be careful about any situation where you get a bid the first time you meet with a fraternity. Most groups, large and small, take their time before making a decision. And it is my observation that the few groups who do give bids to everyone they can right away will tend to have very high dropout rates in pledgeship among other issues. Texas is a very expensive place to exist, which is why some groups just go for the numbers and the money- but the result is not usually what most would call a great chapter. And I will also note those chapters are where a disproportionate number of risk management tragedies take place. I will not name names, but you will figure it out as you start getting around and meeting people.

Two final pieces of advice,

1. Don't get drunk, tear up hotel rooms or do other illegal things. A lot of rushees seem to think they are expected to cut loose, but it is not true. A HUGE part of rush is making sure that potential rushees have a certain degree of discretion and social maturity.

2. When speaking with sorority women you are friends with, you can have honest conversations comparing fraternities and how their particular character may or may not make them a good home for you. But when talking to the guys where you rush, it is best to not even mention the other houses. Focus on learning about that house when you are there- and do your comparing in the company of a neutral party.

Thanks for the advice.

I didn't know that Roundup was an important event for rush. I am definitely going but I don't know all what goes on.

Anyone else have any advice?

You rush during the summer. Your best bet is to go to roundup in the spring, and go by a few of the houses, meet the rush capitans etc. Each fraternity has a rush 'list', so basicly all you need to do is meet them so you get put on the list. If you have friends in the chapter they can go ahead and put you on the list.

During the summer the rush capitans will call (if they like you) to invite you to various events, both in Austin and in Dallas, Houston, etc. If they don't like you or you do something stupid and make an ass of yourself then they'll likely take you off the list, in which case, don't bother.

As for drinking, enjoy yourself, just don't be an idoit. If you throw up on some girl you're going to get kicked out, but at the same time nobody wants a pledge who just stands in the corner with one beer the whole night. Know your tolerance and build it up. Rush is the fun part, enjoy it.

Your saying that reminded me of the time I saw this happen when I was a junior. He got most of it on her shoes and legs- so at least her dress was spared, but she wasn't really focused on that one bright side of the situation at the time.

It was definitely a funny story when we were going over our lists the next evening, but he was also the first one we cut.

FIJI, SAE, Sig Ep, and KA are the top houses there from what I hear.

That's also what I've been hearing. But as far as I know KA isn't affiliated with the IFC on campus (I believe they were kicked off for hazing, but I'm unsure) which means my parents won't pay for it.

I actually know more guys in Sig Ep than any other fraternity, and a lot of guys from my HS end up there, so that may be a very good possibility.

I can't find much info on FIJI or SAE because they have no websites currently.

BTW what do people mean when they say a house is "good" or "the top house?" Is it a matter of prestige, or who has the best parties, or the most noticable guys on campus?

Thanks everyone for the help though!

"Good" "Top House" et al are all in the eye of the beholder.
All POV and HO.
Good and Top only matter from your POV.

I know people like to say that on here because it's PC, but that couldn't be further from the truth at my (and many other) campus. If you go to a small school, then there may or may not be any "top houses", but the truth is that at most schools, especially those in the South (ie. Texas) there is a VERY well defined pecking order of GLOs. If you don't understand what I'm saying then you're right, your campus probably doesn't have a "top house".

Great post, that pretty much covers it. Up north each house seems to offer different things, which is true in the south but not to the same degree.
If KA got kicked off then stay away from them but the houses I listed are the ones that have the respect among other fraternities at UT, that usually means that they are the best in all aspects listed. Obviously don't pledge somewhere that you don't fall in love with but I'm just trying to make you aware of the opinion amongst other southern fraternity men. The fact that you already seem to be acquainted with greek life at texas, at least to some degree, is a very good thing.

Social tiers at UT get tricky.

Sig Ep is a top house in that they have a huge chapter and an incredible property- plus they get good mixers. But back in my day that was the "new money Dallas" crowd- and on that score they were not as elite as the other chapters you mentioned. I would not ever call Sig Ep a top tier chapter at UT, but it is certainly a great place to be by many measures.

Also, there are a couple of mid-tier chapters which are proud of it and attract their share of the Texas "old guard" as it were who chose that route and did not really care about the scene at the top tier houses.

Every top tier house has a few guys who are total losers and never get anywhere socially. And every mid-tier house has some guys who are active in the high end social scene. So making a choice purely based on the social status of a house is a bad idea- although it is a good idea to be aware of what general tier you are buying into.

Money comes into play too. Top tier houses have dues of $5,000 a year and up. That is in addition to any special assessments for formals or OU weekend which can get expensive fast. All fraternities at UT are expensive- but the top groups are 2-3 times as expensive as the rest.

Within each tier any guy suited for fraternity life can find a good home, but to parse it down to who is the best is ignoring the most important criterion of finding the right place for you. And that place does not necessarily need to be where everyone from your high school goes. Branching out a bit in college is not a bad idea.

I mention this because it gets back to a comment I made in my earlier post about the big chapters at Texas that pledge everybody and then lose a lot of the pledge class during the pledge term because they were just after numbers and money. This past semester one of those chapters lost HALF their pledge class- and many of those guys are spring pledges elsewhere.

Some of them have upgraded to a better house in the process because they came into rush not really knowing how to navigate the process. Being good candidates they eventually found the right place- but they lost the chance to be a fall pledge during football season when the pledge classes are large and the experience is its best, and they had to go through dealing with a lousy first experience with fraternities.

PM me if you like and I will have a more detailed discussion with you about various chapters and their reputation on campus. This forum is just not the place to post all that info as a matter of courtesy- and also in deference to the fact everyone has their own opinion.

As for KA- they are doing well and still a top place to be. They were not kicked off campus. They made a conscious choice to exist outside of UT control- an option many chapters have considered in recent years. The University for a long time had nothing to do with the Greek system here and is only recently getting involved again. And in that process, chapters are charged expensive dues to fully fund all staff devoted to Greek Life.

So as I have advised others who have asked me, don't overlook KA just because they are not currently a recognized organization. They did not do anything wrong to achieve that status- it was a choice they made.

Fiji, Sig Ep, SAE and KA are all top houses. Also check out Delt, Kappa Sig, and ATO, they all have some good guys.

'top house' mostly has to do with prestige and how the rest of the campus and greek system views you. Of the 7 I mentioned, all have good parties including a few signature big ones, and they all attract plenty of girls, etc. Some of them do have their stereotypes, which while not always true, will factor in to how people might view you if you join.

Shoot me a PM if you want some info. I go to Texas. SAE.

Hook Em.

Glad you jumped in on your own Brother.
Forgot to PM you on this thread.