fraternity rush: by the numbers

Day before rush officially starts so thought I'd be helpful. In the past about 800+ kids have registered for fraternity rush. In recent years, about 530-540 kids accepted bids to join fraternities. That means about two-thirds of kids are getting/accepting bids, while one-third are not.

You can look at rankings - most people do. Lots of kids go in wanting to join top/upper houses. Maybe about 20-25% of the kids who rush will end up accepting bids at those houses. A lot of those kids are dirty rushed, and these houses are competing for the same kids. You can definitely get a bid from one of these houses by going to smokers, they're just very selective.

Conservatively estimating that the top 20 frats or so frats (top to lower middle) take PCs of 20 kids (some take more, some take less), that means about 400 kids are joining frats from top to lower middle. That's about 50% of the kids that come back for rush. That's lower than a lot of people realize.

There are a lot of great fraternities on campus. Top to lower middle frats consistently have events every week, and only about half of the kids rushing will join one of these houses. Additionally, at least half of the people in greek life are in houses that would be considered middle or lower middle tier. Middle and lower middle frats are very similar in social schedule and brotherhood - they're mostly average guys.

There are also great organizations that are considered lower/bottom tier. These frats have smaller brotherhoods, but they're tight and still have classy events like date nights and formals. There are guys in these frats that are leaders on campus as well.

I know a lot of kids that drop rush, discouraged that they didn't get into the frats they wanted. I would highly recommend keeping an open mind, and really using your time to find a place you fit. You could join a better frat socially, but be miserable because you don't like your brothers. Really take rush week seriously and get a feel for each house - they're all different. Wherever you join, make sure its the right place for you.

Good luck!