Here’s a string from the USC site about Spring admission. They appear to enroll about 6x what SMU does but the programs are very similar with robust study abroad options and suggestion to attend college at local CC to save $ or take time off.
A friend’s son is an SMU spring admit. He’s considering SMU and a Big 10 school for business.
In terms of sorority life, the 2020 SMU common data set indicates that 35% of undergrad females are part of a sorority. 26% of males are in frats. Some sororities are more homogeneous than others. Some moms probably do to Dallas for some of rush week. It’s likely that the mom was in a sorority and being a part of a sorority is a big deal to the daughter as well. That’s not a prevalent move.
Rush is in the spring and maybe half of the girls go through it. Some are just curious and drop along the way. My daughter went into college not thinking that she would join one but found it to be a fun thing. She has many female friends that aren’t in sororities. My S22 is considering SMU and says he won’t join a frat.
I suspect that Greek participation is higher in some colleges than others. I’d guess that Cox is higher than average and Lyle (Engineering) is lower than average. Dedman College (pre-med and psychology) may be average to below average. In terms of being laid back, I suspect it’s more laid back than some peer schools not in the Southwest and less so than liberal arts colleges or those that aren’t as career or grad school focused. I’d also suspect that competitive large state schools wouldn’t be particularly laid back because you have to stay on top of things to progress through the system. Like anywhere, some of chiller about the process than others.