Hey everyone.
I am going to be attending UA this fall as a freshman, and I really want to rush a fraternity during my first semester on campus. However, I am from the northeast, specifically Long Island, New York, and I have heard that it is very hard to get a bid from some of the fraternities if you are out of state. I am really interested in some of the Old Row fraternities, but I heard these are even harder to get a bid from if you are out of state. The fraternity that I am most interested in is Delta Kappa Epsilon. One of my family friends is the president of DKE at Yale, which is where DKE was founded, and he is going to be writing me a recommendation letter prior to me arriving at campus in August. If I get along with those at DKE, do you think they will be willing to overlook the fact that I am from the north and out of state? Will this recommendation letter help me at all?
Thanks
This isn’t the best place to get the straight answer to that. Google a Greek life discussion board. There’s a very popular one you’ll find, but i can’t link to it directly since that’s against the forum rules.
There’s a lot of advice posted about finding the right “fit” at a sorority – and much of this advice applies to fraternities as well. Each chapter has a different personality and you need to keep an open mind about which one is right for you – as opposed to which one you think has the better pre-conceived reputation. You will be spending a lot of time and money with the brotherhood and you need to really like the members. UA fraternities have rush events during the summer. If you are planning to go down to register, you might network to get an invite to your target group. There will be more events in early fall too.
In my experience, that particular fraternity seeks to pledge in-state men, but there’s always a chance they’ll like you. And personal connection is the main thing. Most fraternity rushing is done during the summer, at parties at the house and at alumni homes around the state. Go ahead and contact the chapter and tell them of your interest. Don’t expect an immediate reply because everybody just left after exams. If you don’t hear back in 3 weeks, contact them again.
But do yourself a favor - contact a bunch more, because counting on a bid from just one fraternity is setting yourself up for failure.
Let them know when your Bama Bound session will take place and ask if you can visit the house at that time, or at other time this summer that you might be in Tuscaloosa.
DKE is definitely one of the better houses. The best advice I can give is be proactive. Get to know the brothers on a personal level.