i rushed as a sophomore too. although my school doesn't have formal recruitment and with only three sororities, it's not very competitive, waiting really helped me. i was in a similar situation, but with my boyfriend, not my friends. i believe his exact quote was "if you come over here wearing a sorority shirt what will my friends say?" so i didn't join my freshmen year but i was able to see what all the sororities were like from an outsiders point of view, what my school had to offer outside of greek life, and i still wanted to join.

so i think rushing after a year of being in school could actually help if you think of it that way. you're not just joining because of what you think greek life will offer you, but because you really want to.