Rush Truths (brutal honesty only please)

Why couldn’t they get a bid? How do you get into a house? How is it more tough than other colleges like bama?

The number of houses has NOTHING to do with anything, the number of bids is not preset; the more pnm's stay in recruitment the more bids.

It's not tough to get a bid at SMU, and the girls that didn't get one last year dropped out of rush because they thought they were too good for the houses that wanted them. They could have had a bid and had an amazing sorority life but most of them are never having that at this point.They believed the stupid rankings that only some houses are worthwhile, which is very incorrect. These sophomores are going to have a terrible rush this year because freshmen are far more desired.

It's tough to get a bid from a few houses. They recruit almost exclusively from certain high schools in Texas and other Southern cities and already know the girls they want based on that. It's hard for an unknown to break into that, but who wants to; they aren't prettier, more accomplished, smarter, or more fun than any other sorority members, in fact they have their share of very average, unremarkable members but hey, they were already known from high school so they got a bid. Whatever. They miss out on some tippy top girls because of that mindset and other chapters get them. Anyone can see with their own eyes that there are beautiful, sweet, classy girls in every house at SMU. Don't buy into to ranks, tiers, etc.

You have a good chance of getting a bid; ALL houses are excellent at SMU.

Do most girls come here already knowing people at smu? Why do they recruit exclusively to people they know? Wouldn’t it be better if they recruit people they like and think are cool but just don’t know them? I can’t imagine that the sororities know that many pnms that they have their pc already picked out. Do you HAVE to know girls in order to get in? Does rush week even matter? What can pnms do to have an optimal outcome?

No, you don't have to know someone to get a bid. Plenty of girls come here not knowing anyone. Don't sweat it you'll do fine. All sororities are excellent and are looking for girls who vibe with them, which is a different thing at each sorority. The only problem is when pnm's believe the 'rank' BS. You will see for yourself when you get here how great all the members are in each house and that the rankings are meaningless.

PART ONE:
The sororities are doing the choosing. Each sorority is given the number of pnm's they can invite back each round and they will rank all their pnm's and whoever falls below whatever their cutoff number happens to be will be released. This is about numbers, not about you not being good enough. Any membership selection discussions in a chapter are about finding pnm's that are the best fit for them and are positive in nature, NOT about fault finding and identifying who to cut. They can like you just fine, love you even, but their number is a hard cutoff, and while getting cut can sting, understand it's not a judgement of you personally and doesn't mean they didn't like you, or found something wrong with you, and wouldn't want to be friends with you. Sorority members get very upset too when girls they like don't come back so the sting is a two-way street for all concerned, but it's just about NUMBERS.
The sororities never see pnm's ranks of them at any round so this is never a consideration for them in deciding how they rank pnm's. Houses you rank high will not appear on your schedule for this reason. Getting back a full schedule is not actually the norm, most pnm's won't have that at one or more rounds no matter how pretty, how good their grades and extracurriculars, how great everything about them is; there are tons of pnm's just like that who don't get to go back to their faves.
Also remember that pnm's do not 'drop' chapters, they only rank them. They will only drop off if you would receive more invitations than you are allowed to visit for that round, so your lower ranked ones would drop off. Otherwise, chapters you rank low appear back on your schedule to give you as many options as possible and allow for another look. They asked you back because they see something they like in you, so do yourself a favor and be open to them. All chapters at SMU are full of the best women on campus, pretty, smart, sweet, fun, and accomplished, and you will find your people if you don't get caught up in so-called ranks, tent talk, or what outsiders say especially greekrankers.
Your gut feeling is VERY important during rush. Always trust it.

PART TWO:
Very few PNM's are released from all houses. The vast majority who don't get a bid chose to drop on their own. Your best opportunity at getting a sorority bid is as a freshman. Give any house that wants you a chance.
There is not a preset number of bids to give out. The process is designed that the more PNM's are participating, the more bids will be given out, so it doesn't matter how many PNM's are rushing, it's all percentage based not hard numbers based. Quota is not determined until after Prefs when all PNM's have signed their cards. The number of PNM's signing cards the number of houses = Quota.
Very few PNM's are released from all houses. The vast majority drop out on the
Your ranks will actually matter after pref during bid matching; the process does its best to get you matched with your number one, but there are no guarantees. There are no cuts after pref, though, so IF you rank both your pref houses, you are guaranteed a bid to one of them. (If you only have one house for pref you will get that bid, guaranteed.) If you would absolutely refuse a bid from one of your pref houses no matter what and would not be willing to give them even a chance, then don't put them on your card. This will do nothing to increase your chance at a bid from your number one however, and so you may end up without a bid at all. But do remember that any bid you get is a binding contract for an entire year, so if you get a bid and then drop at any point you are not eligible for another bid until next fall recruitment, but it's hard to get a bid as an upperclassman.

PART THREE:
Round 1 - Open House: The invitation lists will have already been made for the next round, Philanthropy, before recruitment starts. The sororities spend the summer going through all PNM'S information; your resume, GPA, video, social media, and any connections with pnm's they already know from high school or hometown or summer camp or from close personal sources. By the time you get to campus the Round 1 selection process is complete. You will watch the videos and rank the chapters, but your ranks will have no influence on whether or not you are on any of their invitation lists.

There will be a lot of releases this round so be prepared for them and don't get your heart set on certain chapters until you get your list back for Philanthropy to see what your actual options are going to be. The best you can do is to get all your stuff in as early as you can so they have time to review it. Get recs, they never get you a bid, but they certainly don't hurt either; a rec is another way to get some attention. Make sure your social media is on point and be sure to follow ALL the chapters, not just some of them. If you do have any connections whatsoever to any current members, let them know you are rushing so they can get you some attention, but if you don't have connections you are not alone, lots of great girls don't either so don't worry about it.

Round 2 - Philanthropy: Be interested and interesting! This is where you get to show your personality and style. It's all about your conversations. You and the sororities are looking for who you vibe with. Give your absolute best to each chapter you visit but be authentic. Don't try to be something you're not because you think they will be impressed or because you think they are looking for something specific; you will tank your rush doing that, so have confidence in your real self.

Round 3 - Sisterhood: If you have a clear number one at this round, you need to make sure you tell them so they will be confident enough in your interest to invite you to their pref. Sororities have to be extra careful of who they invite to pref; it's their last chance to be selective because every pnm they invite to pref is on their bid list somewhere. If they don't see you as being a sister then you won't be included.

Pref: If you have no doubt that one house is going to be first on your card then tell them because you want them to rank you high on their bid list. If you are torn between two houses then no need to offer that up to either one.

YOU GOT THIS IF YOU KEEP AN OPEN MIND!

Good question. No sorority misses out on a fun social life and no boy is going to ignore a pretty, sweet fun girl because of her letters. Your social life is a lot up to you and tiers aren't a social segregation system like people imagine. They aren't real. And the social scene is changing now anyway with rush in the fall. Houses starting the year with rush behind them and new member classes already in place means they are ready for more events in the fall than in the past. And also with SMU now in a Power Five conference, football gamedays will be at another level socially as well as far as pregames, tailgates, etc.

Honestly , I disagree with the other response to this. Boys here care ALOT about what sorority you are in. Not that this majorly affects your social life - all houses have mixers, formals, etc, but tiers are definitely present on campus and you will hear about it as a freshman

That was true when rush was in spring and the fall semester was just one long extended rush period building up to it and everyone was fixated on that stuff. It was like senior year of high school with everyone focused on where they were getting accepted to college and tiers and ranks were an obsession. Now honestly the houses will be judged by their new pc. Still superficial but a big change.