Formal vs. Informal

[FSUZeta]

elephantwalk,
if fraternities have their pledge classes determined before school starts, what happens when an awesome rushee walks into the house during formal recruitment who is not from the area, and therefore has not been able to attend the summer rush parties?

[LaneSig]

Originally Posted by Elephant Walk

This thread doesn't make alot of sense seeing as the at least decent chapters already have their pledge classes figured out before high school is done with...

However, spring rush is usually the worst people we end up taking because these guys didn't know they wanted to go through fall. If you're not fraternity bound at the get-go, you're probably worthless.

Elephant Walk -

That was a very thought provoking statement. Thank you for taking the time to share it with us.

How do the rest of you feel about formal vs. informal?

[GV Spi]

Both formal and informal have their merits. Formal recruitment is great for bringing out the guys who are guaranteed to join and are actively looking for a chapter (the NIC likes to say that this is between 10 and 20 percent of the campus population). It does not, however, do much to attract the men who haven't considered greek life. These guys are a far larger pool of the population. This is where informal recruitment comes into play.

I knew nothing about greek life when I first came to my campus and I completely missed formal recruitment. Off of a chance meeting with an expansion consultant nearly a month after the end of formal rush I attended an informational session and became a colonizing member and founding father of the organization which has changed my life.

Despite Elelphant Walk's claim, many valuable members have no intention of joining a fraternity when they come to college. It's not that they are anti-greek but rather that they simply know nothing. I was one of those individuals yet I'd like to believe that I am a great brother and an asset to my chapter. Greek life wasn't even on my radar when I came here and now I'm on IFC's eboard and am my chapter's philanthropy chair. Much of the same can be said for my brothers.

Informal recruitment has largely made my chapter what it is today. Formal recruitment has certainly been an asset. We get about half of our brothers through traditional rush. In the year-and-a-half since chartering, however, we have become not only the largest chapter on campus but also the chapter most recognized by campus. We got there by having a very heavy emphasis on informal recruitment. Formal rush lasts a few weeks at max. Recruitment should take place every day.

Meet him. Make him your friend. Introduce him to your friends. Make him friends with your friends. You and your friends introduce him to your fraternity. 95% chance, he'll join your fraternity.

[Jestor]

As someone who's gone through both formal and informal rush as a rushee, I'd like to offer my insights from my own personal perspective.

Formal Rush

Positive Aspects

1. It's a lot more exciting. The rush of parties, house tours, etc create a thrilling atmosphere in its compressed state.

2. When you're rushing with the same group of people, you can see where they're leaning towards and get their thoughts on things. This is useful in that it a) gives you other information and pairs of eyes to consider perspectives of and b) if they're looking like a strong mutual match for one fraternity or the other, you can take into consideration if you'd like to be a fellow pledge brother with them in that fraternity.

Negative Aspects

1. You've got to be fast. Fast in evaluating your choices and faster still to make a good impression. This is really where the limited time factor comes into play and paying attention to signs. We've all discussed on here how some great PNMs slip through the cracks. That's something that can happen in formal rush.

2. Related to #1, even if you don't slip through the cracks, you can still end up pledging a house that you thought was the right fit for you, but after getting to know them more during pledge period, you realize that your initial impressions were wrong. This leads to either your de-pledging or initiating into a chapter you don't feel at ease around. In the first case, your chances of finding somewhere else have taken a huge hit. In the second, you get less than what you hoped for out of the fraternity experience.

Informal Rush

Positives

1. You have time to get to know the fraternities and they have the time to get to know you. This ensures the highest possible chance of mutual fit, which is the ultimate end goal in any fraternity or rushee's mind. (or it should be)

Negatives

1. It's frankly nowhere near as exciting as formal rush to me. Now some people will probably disagree with this, but it's my opinion.

So they both have their positives and negatives from a rushee's perspective.

[Tom Earp]

LOL, I wonder how much of a blur there is to young people who are running from house to house?

During Formal, everyone puts on the Ritz to impress the new possibles and they do not really have time to put a hook on them unless they have a deep desire of joining a certain GLO.

If that is the case, they are going to join anyway and a lot of money is spent for a party.

Informal gives members a little more chance to meet the members and make a decission to see if there is a fit between both.

[banditone]

Informal Rush owns... Our big end of summer bash was "WaterSport Weekend". Hit up to the lake for a weekend of drinks, partying, boats and jet ski's. We'd ge the bulk of our Fall Class signed here. Also would have little bbq parties and big parties in some of the larger surrounding cities.

Then the blah-boring Formal Rush starts at the beginning of the school year. Coats and Ties, all stuffy and stuff.... Grab a handfull of new candidates here.

I hated formal rush.

[Tom Earp]

With todays College costs, media reporting, anti Greek Social Organizations are a cost that many feel that they cannot afford or the parents are against joining.

While formal rush can be fun, it can also be a hardship and a blur for not only the possibles, but the chapters.

As a new local back when, we went through a Formal rush (Fall Semester) and got no one! While we were upset, we did not let that deter us. We then went to informal and got 12 new pledges ("USED" at that time) for us.

It was fun to see how some of the Sororities used to dress for formal rush and the costums that they wore. It was beautiful.

The thing is, the people need to meet each other and mesh!

Right Pinto!