iPutSTUDinStudy

I heard that they moved Frat & Sor rush to fall rather than spring? Do we do this during orientation or a little later in the year?

What is to be expected during rush? (I'm asking specifically about sororities... but figured many guys might be wondering the same about frats)

I've been trying to find a site or something with details about this, but haven't been successful. Any info/tips/advice/warnings? It's all greatly appreciated!

molliebatmit

I don't know what the schedule is this year, but in general, sorority rush is a lot more structured than fraternity rush.

For sororities, everybody who's interested in being recruited signs up and attends a several-day set of recruitment events. Everybody meets and goes to events held by members of all five sororities, and temporarily deaffiliated members of each sorority serve as recruitment counselors to help people decide which sorority is best for them. At the end of recruitment, there's a preference lottery, where recruits select the sororities they'd like to join, and the sororities select the recruits they'd like to have. As far as I know, basically everybody who wants to join a sorority can join one -- there's a drop-off in numbers after the first day or so of recruitment, but it's on the end of recruits who decide that a sorority isn't for them.

Fraternity rush is more open-ended -- houses have events, like trips to amusement parks and steak dinners, and if you're interested in that house, you can go to all of their rush events or choose to split your time evenly among several houses. At the end of rush, fraternities give bids to guys they like, and a freshman can choose to accept a bid or not.

jessiehl

Fraternity rush has always been fall. Sorority rush used to be fall, was moved to spring, and then back to fall. ILG rush (don't forget about the ILGs; they are awesome!) tends to be open-ended and vary by house.

I imagine that ask-paul will be able to talk about fraternity rush. Especially because I am going to poke him^H^H^H^Hpoint him at this thread when he shows up online this morning.

Mollie's description of sorority rush is about what I would have given, but it would be most useful if a sorority sister showed up and talked. I don't know if any read this board, though. The sororities also sometimes do ongoing informal recruitment, to see if anyone who didn't come around during rush is interested...AEPhi kept trying to recruit me when I was a sophomore.

A warning (tip? with the way I dress, it would be a warning...) about sorority rush...based on what I've seen in passing, the prospective sisters are expected to dress up for many events, which isn't true (as far as I know) for fraternity or ILG rush. If you want to do sorority rush, bring or buy a set of nice clothes beforehand.

One important difference between fraternity and sorority culture at MIT is that most non-frosh fraternity brothers live in their houses, while many (probably most) sorority sisters live in the dorms, with a large minority living in their houses. Not all of the sorority house are large enough to accommodate all of their sisters as residents.

jessiehl

Oh, and you should browse the recruitment section of the sororities' website.

MIT Panhel

Apparently there's a new sorority on campus (bringing the total to six). I had not heard.

Edited to add: Looks like a lot of the pages just say "Coming Soon!" Oh well.

LauraN

Believe it or not, I actually considered going through sorority recruitment, I don't know, just for the hell of it....for about 5 seconds, until I found out there was a dress code, and that was the end of that.

And yup, there's a new sorority now, but I'm not sure if they're fully participating in recruitment yet, as they're so new...???

kryptonsa36

Are you talking about the one with four letters in its name instead of the normal two or three?

jessiehl

The new one? I'm talking about Pi Beta Phi.

ask-paul

Mollie pretty much covered the basics of fraternity rush. Fraternity Rush starts when Orientation ends with the "Greek Griller" in Killian Court; each fraternity and sorority has a table, so freshmen can walk around and talk to brothers/sisters from different houses. The idea is for freshmen to meet as many Greek men and women as possible - a lot of people think that Rush is all about things like steak dinners or whatever; but fundamentally, it's actually about the people, about whether or not you'd click with the people in the house(s) you're considering joining - and the Griller reflects that.

After meeting members of the various fraternities and sororities during the Griller, most freshmen finish up by visiting one (or several) of the actual fraternity houses. (I am not sure if girls interested in Recruitment are allowed in sorority houses on the first day.) This brings up another point I want to emphasize: each fraternity's house tends to have a different feel or atmosphere to it. Some are in Cambridge, some are in Dorm Row, some are in Boston on the river (like mine! ), many are scattered throughout the Back Bay - one is even as far away as Brookline.

All in all, Rush lasts for a little over a week, overlapping (but not conflicting) with the start of classes halfway through the Rush period. Some of more enjoyable Rush events I took part of as a frosh include paintballing, kayaking, and even F1 racing. There are also more "traditional" parties/mixers at the fraternity houses as well. Things tend to tone down slightly when classes start - the Rush events tend to focus on dinner activities, boat cruises, poker games, etc. As well, some Rush events are invite-only.

One common question I've heard is whether it's possible to explore multiple fraternities and still get a bid (a formal invitation to join a house). My answer is unequivocally yes. I ended up visiting three fraternities seriously, and three others somewhat more casually, during my Rush. Just as with Dorm Rush, exploring multiple fraternities to find the one where you fit best is of the utmost importance. As I've hinted at above, each house has its own personality and culture. If you decide you don't really like one of the fraternities you've been checking out, that's fine - just tell the brothers (ideally thanking them for taking you racing or whatever) how you feel, and that's that. Rush comes with no strings attached. Even if you're offered a bid, you're under no obligation to accept it - although I would like to point out that houses don't offer bids lightly.

A final piece of advice: don't be afraid to ask questions of the brothers. Whatever you ask, it's almost certainly nothing they haven't heard before. Talking to the brothers is one of the best ways to get a sense of what a fraternity's culture is really like.

Regarding the new sixth sorority, Pi Beta Phi - they will have representatives on campus during the Recruitment period; however, they will not be participating formally in the first round - I understand there will be some other way for women to demonstrate their interest in Pi Phi. Additionally, there are a lot of Pi Phi alums in the Boston area (albeit not from MIT, obviously ) that will be helping the new chapter get on its feet.

Regarding the question above - none of the Greek organizations have four letters in their name. You may be thinking of some of the ILGs, however: either WILG (Women's Independent Living Group) or perhaps pika (which used to be a fraternity before going co-ed). Also, I apologize for talking more about fraternity rush than sorority recruitment, but Mollie covered the most important differences already.

One final word about Rush. It's often said that Rush doesn't properly represent the fraternities - just as it's often said, for example, that CPW doesn't actually represent what MIT is really like. Personally, I think that argument is bunk. Of course it's true that fraternities don't have steak and lobster for dinner every night. But the people, and the houses, don't change just for Rush; in fact, they want to be as honest as possible, so that freshmen know exactly what they're getting (and exactly who they'll be calling their "brothers" for the next four or so years). The number one reason I joined my fraternity, actually, is because of a casual, run-of-the-mill dinner I ate with them halfway through Rush - the same type of dinner I now enjoy with my brothers every week.

Fundamentally, fraternities aren't looking to get as many brothers as possible - they're looking to get the best brothers possible: committed freshmen who get along well with the current members, interested in joining their house in the spirit of brotherhood.

kryptonsa36

Oh. I was talking about Phi Kappa Delta Pi, whatever that's considered...

jessiehl

Searching web.mit.edu for "Phi Kappa Delta Pi" returns no results. And I never heard of a group by that name in my time at MIT.

kryptonsa36

ΦΚΔÎ* | Facebook

ask-paul

kyrptonsa: Oh. I think that is actually a joke. They appear to be a group of girls who hang out together, so they've organized themselves into a "sorority."

Lots of groups on campus unofficially adopt Greek letters (usually tongue-in-cheek). For instance, SIPB (the Student Information Processing Board - one of the groups that helps take care of Athena computers on campus) uses the Greek letters Sigma Pi Beta on its logo. Likewise, one of the East Campus halls - Second West - was once dubbed "Pi Tau Zeta" (they now go by Putz for short). Same situation with the "Annex" of McCormick; they sometimes call them selves Alpha Nu Chi (ANX).

iPutSTUDinStudy

Thanks for all the information!
Does each sorority have its own personality, like Paul said for frats?
If so ... could someone briefly describe how each sorority is seen? I'm not asking to stereotype anything but if there are different personalities for each, what are they?

jessiehl

Yes. But you'd want someone who knew them well (not me, probably) to give you an idea.

Conveniently, Panhel builds this into its rush system with the Pi Rho Chis (your temporarily-deaffiliated rush guides). They should be able to help you on this and to make sure that you get a good look at the different houses.

PiperXP

Unlike fraternities - of which there are, I think, 27 - there are only 5 (now adding a sixth) sororities. This means that it's pretty easy to get to know each individually =).