Do these 3 things play a role in rush?

[ohdollface]

Year, race and the size of the school.

Year.
I am a freshman and can't wait to rush 2nd semester. I've been doing research lately... I even went to the bookstore and the guy who was helping me was wearing his letters! So of course I was talking to him about greek life and he told me that I have a 99% chance because I am a freshman. He said that sororities and fraternities like to recruit freshmen because by their 3rd and 4th year they will have the ability and knowledge to take over when upperclassmen graduate. Is this true? Do I really have a good chance because I am a freshman?

Race.
I am an african-american and I have my eye on a few sororites that are not african-american. I was wondering about the difference it could make. Of course I will still look at the african-american sororities, i have just talked to the ladies and didn't like the vibe they gave me. And I also wonder why I don't see many african-americans or just diversity in the greek life. Or are they just never found during recruitment week?

and lastly,

School Size.
I attend a private, liberal arts college in Virginia. There are only 1,500 undergraduates and I was wondering if this would make a huge different in rushing. To those who attend a small college like mine: Is rushing less competitive? Is there a smaller number of rushees given bids?

Thanks for taking the time to read and answer this.

[jubilance1922]

Originally posted by ohdollface
Race.
I am an african-american and I have my eye on a few sororites that are not african-american. I was wondering about the difference it could make. Of course I will still look at the african-american sororities, i have just talked to the ladies and didn't like the vibe they gave me. And I also wonder why I don't see many african-americans or just diversity in the greek life. Or are they just never found during recruitment week?

NPHC sororities do not "rush" in the same manner as NPC. These two groups of sororities do recruitment in different ways, which is why you probably have not "seen" much diversity. I know on both my undergrad and my current campus, the two governing bodies had little interaction with each other.

Good luck with your pursuit of Greek life.

[smiley21]

Originally posted by ohdollface
Year, race and the size of the school.

School Size.
I attend a private, liberal arts college in Virginia. There are only 1,500 undergraduates and I was wondering if this would make a huge different in rushing. To those who attend a small college like mine: Is rushing less competitive? Is there a smaller number of rushees given bids?

Thanks for taking the time to read and answer this.

I go to a private school with around 2,000 students. That would mean a few number of girls are going through recruitment than bigger schools. It doesn't necessarily mean that it is less competitive. If anything, it is more competitive for the sororities. There is more of a competition to get the best girls. My school has four sororities and about 50 girls went through rush. So it was pretty cutthroat because the sororities were wanting the same girls.

And the whole thing with being black and rushing 'non historically black' sororities.... No one can stop you from rushing. You never know why a certain sorority did not want you. You cannot assume that it is because of race. I know what I am talking about cause I have been there. I am black and I went through recruitment. I am in a great sorority as a result. They wanted me cause I fit Alpha Delta Pi's ideals and got along well with the girls. I have learned that we cannot keep pointing out the fact that we are black and worry about being accepted in a sorority. Go through recruitment and see who fits you. The right sorority will see you for who you are and know that they want you as a sister. If a sorority does not want you cause you are black then do you really want to be with them? Don't worry about them and move to a group that will accept you for who you are.

[WCUgirl]

Originally posted by ohdollface
Year, race and the size of the school.

Year.
I am a freshman and can't wait to rush 2nd semester. I've been doing research lately... I even went to the bookstore and the guy who was helping me was wearing his letters! So of course I was talking to him about greek life and he told me that I have a 99% chance because I am a freshman. He said that sororities and fraternities like to recruit freshmen because by their 3rd and 4th year they will have the ability and knowledge to take over when upperclassmen graduate. Is this true? Do I really have a good chance because I am a freshman?

It depends on the campus culture. At a large state school, I would say yes, year would matter. But, since you stated you attend a small private school, there's a greater chance that it won't. But, I don't know what the campus culture is like, so I can't answer for certain.

Originally posted by ohdollface
Race.
I am an african-american and I have my eye on a few sororites that are not african-american. I was wondering about the difference it could make. Of course I will still look at the african-american sororities, i have just talked to the ladies and didn't like the vibe they gave me. And I also wonder why I don't see many african-americans or just diversity in the greek life. Or are they just never found during recruitment week?

It shouldn't.

There have been multiple threads addressing this exact issue, most of which are closed b/c they got too heated. Again, I think the amount of diversity you see (or don't see) depends on the campus culture. As jubilance pointed out, the NPHC sororities don't recruit the way NPC sororities do, so their presence won't be as prevalent during recruitment week, unless they have something else going on such as a program or event or something.

Originally posted by ohdollface
School Size.
I attend a private, liberal arts college in Virginia. There are only 1,500 undergraduates and I was wondering if this would make a huge different in rushing. To those who attend a small college like mine: Is rushing less competitive? Is there a smaller number of rushees given bids?

Thanks for taking the time to read and answer this.

I think this will be the biggest determining factor. On smaller campuses, recruitment tends to be less competitive, but it is still competitive in a different sense of the word. At a large university, you've got probably 800 girls competing for 75 spots/sorority. At a small campus like yours, you've probably got 50 girls competing for 4-5 spots/sorority (of course, this would depend on whether the chapter was at total, which is a whole 'nother can of worms). However, on a small campus such as yours, everybody knows everybody, and you've had a whole semester to decide which sorority you want or don't want. That's very similar to how it is on the large campuses where the first-semester freshmen come in knowing they want XYZ b/c their mom, grandmother and sister were XYZs.

Good luck with recruitment and please keep us updated!

[CarolinaCutie]

With regards to race, I attend a pretty liberal school in North Carolina with a laidback but still formal recruitment. Our chapters are not incredibly diverse, but this is not because we do not give girls of other races bids! We just don't have lots of African-American or other minority women going through Recruitment. We had several black women go through this year and they all found their NPC sorority homes, but it is still not enough to make us "look" diverse. Anyway, I share this with you because I don't think that the chapter's appearance on campus necessarily indicates how you will be welcomed in Recruitment. Definitely go through and see what it's like!

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

I went to a small, liberal arts school and I also have assisted at the same school and I would say that it depends on the school culture. The Greek Life office should have stats on how many women rush vs how many get bids. It depends how many groups are on your campus, how popular greek life is, etc.