|
Ole Miss fraternities do not have a quota.
Fraternity rush at Ole Miss is a different animal, to be sure. I'm glad that newgreekmommy brought this up...rush can be just as competitive for men at Ole Miss, although in a different way.
To most people, the fraternities are 'ranked' based on the number of in state member they have. Beyond this, the number of men from Jackson play a huge part in this (typically, Sigma Chi and Sigma Nu are very Jackson-heavy). Because (obviously) fraternities don't rush freshmen based on their recs, they're rushed more on word of mouth and actually hanging out with the PNMs. So, if a guy goes through rush and is from a city and/or school that's heavily populated with actives, a lot of times the PNM's rush is already done for him. Either everyone that knows him likes him and they'll rush him hard, or they don't, and he'll probably have better chances at a chapter with fewer or no hometown guys.
My high school sent almost no one to Ole Miss. When I went through, in fact, I didn't know a single active in any chapter. I'd been (blissfully) unaware of the politicking one must do before rush when one doesn't know any actives. I ended up in a middle tier (I really hate ranking fraternities) chapter, and had a blast. Once on the inside, I realized the importance of guys' pre-rush activities. I made friends with brothers of the larger houses and understood the importance of these events; it's not just meeting the brothers (though that helps considerably), it's also hanging out with them, drinking with them, laughing with them, etc. The actives are looking for guys that will uphold or increase their reputation, of course, but they're also looking for the guys that they want to hang out with for the next few years. So, when a PNM shows up for rush, and no one has hung out with him, they are wondering...is he a sloppy drunk? is he just weird? is he a creeper? by bringing him back, is he scaring off other PNMs? So, by hanging out with the actives before rush starts, the chapter can get a good idea of whether or not they want to hang out with this guy.
A lot of the top (ugh) houses do already have their bid lists ready the week before rush starts (if not sooner). When I was there ten years ago, a lot of the guys I knew in the bigger houses said their pledge class was about 90% who they already had on their list. A few might be a last minute switch (Sigma Chi to Sigma Nu, for example), but for the most part, they already knew exactly who they wanted and who wanted them.
The point of this extremely long post? Newgreekmommy is right...network with the actives as much as you can. If there's a floating trip, be there. If there's a dinner, be there. If there's a party, be there. And when you're there, act like your mama taught you some manners, have fun, be respectful to the women that are present, and look around. If no one else has started skinny dipping yet, there's a good chance that they're not just waiting on you to start. Try your best to just fit in, especially at first.
|
