<p>GGT-- if you're coming into UMD with at least 12 AP/IB credits you can go ahead and rush in the fall (for informal recruitment)...otherwise you have to wait til spring (formal recruitment). you might want to wait until spring anyway so you have a chance to go to all the houses. in the fall, every house has 4 or 5 parties. you don't have to go to all of them, you can choose which houses you want to visit, and you don't even have to stay the whole time. in the spring, on the other hand, you are required to participate in each day's activities and go to as many houses as you are invited back to. (typically 14 (split between 2 days), 10 (split between 2 nights), 6, 3.) spring recruitment is much more formal and structured, but it's a better choice for a lot of people because you get to learn a lot more about each house.</p>
<p>personally i like fall better, i went through recruitment my first semester and as soon as i came to my sorority's house i felt right at home and really enjoyed myself. i didn't need to see any other houses. of course it doesn't happen like that for everyone.</p>
<p>as far as the not drinking thing goes...i have 2 opinions on that. one is that yes, you can have fun. you can go to the parties and dated parties and things and just not drink. any social event needs to have sober sisters there anyway (my sorority requires that there are 2 sober sisters and 2 sober officers at each event). so to have someone who doesn't want to drink is really helpful. also, beer pong is plentiful (as is flip cup) so you can always play that.
my other opinion is that drinking is a major part of a lot of greek social events. and while you don't have to drink by any means, when everyone else is, it tends to get annoying to be the sober one.</p>
<p>i didn't drink at all in high school, minus a couple sips of beer, and that was definitely something i worried about when i joined my sorority. but now i do drink and it's just a lifestyle change that i've adapted to. most houses have a sister or two that doesn't want to drink, and it isn't really that big of a deal.</p>
<p>hope that answered your question :)</p>