advice for freshman girls

I am planning rush a sorority at wash u. I don't know that many girls who go here that are in sororities. I am from Georgia so im used to hearing SEC horror stories about rush and thats where I have learned from. I have a lot of questions and was hoping someone could answer them honestly without giving me the basic "youll end up where you should be." 1.) How important are recs and formal photos? 2.) Does it better your chances to get in your top choice if you know/befriend girls in that sorority? 3.) since washu is a deferred rush school what is the best advice you would give to an eager freshman girl trying to get into their top sorority in january? 4.) Are there any social media things to watch out for/ do? Like some schools examine instagrams and facebooks to see if the pnm would be a good match. 5.) How based is it on looks and appearance? 6.) How much do they look at first semester grades?