rushing as a transfer?

Frat, haha.

Rush is mostly about connections especially as a sophomore so if you don’t have any check out lower mid and bottom houses such as dchi du lambda beta sig + unhoused if that’s what you’re into. This will give you a much better shot at a bid than showing up to houses where most bids will go to friends of friends and gpa boosters

I probably should have said this before but I'd be transferring into IU as a Junior, so that adds some intrigue to it all.

I'm not really into the whole "tier" thing, though. I want to join a house that I like, not just where the "cool kids" hangout. I get that they exist but it seems like the best way to happiness with this process is to find a group of guys that seem like folks that I'd generally want to be around even if one or two are jerks.

Does anyone know what the rate of guys not getting bids is like? Reading one of the threads about women's recruitment for sororities, it sounded pretty brutal, but I know that there are fewer sororities and that some of the stuff on this site is hearsay.

Sorority rush here is brutal to say the least. For frats it’s a lot more chill but I still know plenty of guys who rushed as freshman and didn’t get bids. You just have to be smart about where you go if you spend all your time at houses you have a very low chance of getting a bid at.... you have a very low chance of getting a bid

Like I said above, I'm not really invested in the "tier" stuff. It'd be great to find a group of cool, open-minded guys who like to party on the weekends but are also serious students.

Any suggestions on how to meet folks in houses when I get to campus? I know people keep on saying stuff about philanthropy events and stuff but, coming from a smaller school, a lot of the process just works differently here. Like, there are philanthropy events at DPU, but they aren't usually until the end of the school year, after rush, when folks are rushing to make their nationals happy.

Yeah he can check out any houses he wants or he connects with but he’s not going to get a bid not knowing anyone as junior anywhere but bottom tier and that is a FACT. Telling a junior with no connections to go wherever he wants is just bad advice and unrealistic. The bottom/lower mid houses are all solid options so saying to check those ones out for a MUCH higher chance at a bid is exactly what he should do. And tbh as a junior you should probably check out some of the unhoused too there is nothing wrong with any of those options especially since op specifically said he doesn’t care about tier. For OP, it’s honestly probably going to be hard for you to come in the fall and meet guys in frats as a junior if you don’t know any at all. try friends of friends if you have any or know anyone who could introduce you to people or bring you to a party. Most chapters here do a fall and a spring philanthropy event but not everyone’s will be before rush. Good luck I hope it works out for you!

I’m sorry but you’re delusional if you think a lower mid house will give a junior a bid, not even the ones listed like Lambda or Beta Sig. Many of the unhouses chapters may flirt with the idea and bid but the age difference of most recruits being freshman just wouldn’t work at bigger houses