SEC summer rush

[UHDEEGEE]

Will someone be kind enough to explain to me the formal and summer rush process that most of the SEC fraternities offer? The fraternities at my college (30 years ago) had neither, so the practice is new to me. I’ve read a couple of threads that mention early bids. Is it common for bids to be given out over the summer? I have a son who will be entering an SEC school in the fall and I am curious about the process since it's very different from my own as well as my husband's experience with rush.

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by UHDEEGEE

Will someone be kind enough to explain to me the formal and summer rush process that most of the SEC fraternities offer? The fraternities at my college (30 years ago) had neither, so the practice is new to me. I’ve read a couple of threads that mention early bids. Is it common for bids to be given out over the summer? I have a son who will be entering an SEC school in the fall and I am curious about the process since it's very different from my own as well as my husband's experience with rush.

There are threads on this...

But I'm not sure exactly what you mean by process...

During the summer, the fraternities have summer parties in their special areas. These summer parties are pretty vital to getting a bid.

Now, actual bid day or rush or whatever doesn't happen till mid-Fall (people can correct me, Arkansas' is much different than any other SEC rush in terms of structure. But these parties are integral in getting a bid. Many fraternities will offer the bid this summer and it's essentially known when you go to the campus in the fall.

[UHDEEGEE]

Thanks for the responses. By process I mean, is there a proper etiquette that a PNM should follow when accepting/declining invitations during these summer parties? Does Ralph the Rushee accept every invitation he receives or should he be more selective? If he accepts all invites, will he look like a rush slut?
On the other hand, let's say Ralph the Rushee has attended a few parties to only one fraternity and is offered an early bid. Is he expected to accept that bid without having met any of the other fraternities? Or is it anticipated that Ralph with want to meet some of the other groups before he commits?
Even though he has not yet officially graduated from high school, my son has already received a couple of invitations to parties. He would like to attend ALL of them, but we are out of state, so getting to everything may not be possible. I am trying to get some idea of how much is too much vs. too little with respect to summer parties & fraternities’ expectations.

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by UHDEEGEE

Thanks for the responses. By process I mean, is there a proper etiquette that a PNM should follow when accepting/declining invitations during these summer parties? Does Ralph the Rushee accept every invitation he receives or should he be more selective? If he accepts all invites, will he look like a rush slut?

He won't if they don't know about it.

Again ours is more structured and less reliant on these parties, but I attended quite a few across the state and to my knowledge wasn't looked poorly upon.

On the other hand, let's say Ralph the Rushee has attended a few parties to only one fraternity and is offered an early bid. Is he expected to accept that bid without having met any of the other fraternities? Or is it anticipated that Ralph with want to meet some of the other groups before he commits?

I don't think he's expected to accept it, but he might not want to be in that position until he's met all of them.

Even though he has not yet officially graduated from high school, my son has already received a couple of invitations to parties. He would like to attend ALL of them, but we are out of state, so getting to everything may not be possible. I am trying to get some idea of how much is too much vs. too little with respect to summer parties & fraternities’ expectations.

Yeah, I understand.

I would suggest that he attempts to attend as many as financially and time possible.

What I was going to post (before the tornado sirens rudely interrupted) is that we try to put on a few parties in big cities where we do well in. We'll have one in Memphis, Little Rock, and Dallas some years as well as Hot Springs or Fayetteville.

There should be opportunities for him to get to know plenty of 'em.

[UHDEEGEE]

Thanks for your answers, EW. I guess my first search was too narrow to get any results. I tried it with a broader keyword search and have read through several other threads with questions similar to mine.