is it true

DDD, KD and Chi-O (and DG to an extent) have the greatest alumni influence. Mainly because they are the Mississippi/Memphis sororities and their Ole Miss alumni don't tend to leave Mississippi after graduation. So they are able to be more directly involved with their sorority. It's been this way for decades and isn't ever going to change. I don't think the alumni devise the bid list, but they do have considerable influence over the list. The list for these three sororities are already about 95% complete before formal rush ever starts. It is kind of sad that so much hype surrounds the top 3 when in reality there's little to no chance of someone without these alumni/hometown connections receiving a bid to KD, DDD or Chi-O, especially with the reduced quota.

Until quota has been set and they know exact group of girls who had been at the previous day's parties, a sorority cannot create a "bid list". They can, and do, create lists of girls they really want to target.

What can you do during rush to really make yourself stand out? I have strong connections to a few of the top tier houses but I would say there isn't one house I have stronger connections to than the next. What can I do during rush to get into the remaining 5% of room left open on the top tier's lists.

No. This has been a rumor about DDD Chi O and KD for years but it is not true. Alumni do NOT make the bid lists, but they DO play a big part in rush for pretty much every house whether you think yours does or not (you usually don't know about it unless you're on rush team). Alumni write recs which are used in deciding which girls are kept or cut. Rush teams also like to listen to what alumni have to say about girls because alumni have $$$ and power. But rush team and advisors make bid lists. NOT!! alumni. But what alumni say is sometimes not really, sometimes heavily considered when making bid list

As @Honesty said...connection (aka money) talks!!