I know a few people who do this, so it isn’t a joke. Those in places that aren’t the SEC or sorority driven schools can’t really understand. I doubt anyone would ever admit to doing it though. When d was a senior we both had to go out and hunt down 2 letters of recommendations from each of the 17 sororities. I knew 1 person who said they were in a sorority, and that was it. My d went to a catholic high school where teachers thought that sororities were for wild girls and no one could help there either. She did hunt them all down eventually. It’s truly a miracle she landed in the sorority she did - she was out of state, knew no one and yes, girls in top tier sororities make posters and push forward the girls they know from their town or camps. She was the one girl accepted who didn’t have connections. Girls honest to God transfer schools if they don’t get into their preferred sorority. That’s why some schools go a little later, I believe Ole Miss - because girls transfer after early rushes to try again. Many girls have generations of mothers, aunts, grandmothers before them who were xyz sorority and they are groomed from birth to be an xyz. Being an xyz then gets you mixing with the “right” fraternities, and when you go home you join the xyz alumnae club, you do junior league and you marry the right guy. There are girls who seriously practice and join specific activities to meet the right people. Just like there are kids who do specific activities, clubs, classes to get into a college.
End of the day, my d got into a top tier sorority, never really clicked with it and this summer dropped. It was good for her initially out of state to get to meet girls, have connections, something to go do, but then after she met her own people, it just wasn’t for her.