<p>Can anyone objectively rank the fraternities at SMU? It would help a lot to describe which high schools the fraternities draw from. I'd be a legacy at Kappa Sig; I don't think its the best these days. All of my friends going to UT are SAE's. </p>
<p>Generalizations and stereotypes are welcome.</p>
<p>bump…</p>
<p>Two very different fraternities there. SAE at SMU and UT are far more similar than Kappa Sig at SMU and UT.</p>
<p>Are you a student? How does Kappa Sig compare to SAE AT SMU? I’d be a triple legacy there, but I don’t know much about it.</p>
<p>Hey cornelliot, I’m actually a current student at SMU and a lot of people typically have questions about greek life. I am in a sorority so I do know a good deal about all of the organizations on campus and I can honestly say that each organization brings something different to the table. From the sounds of it you are still in high school correct? I honestly don’t think that this is that pressing of an issue for you right now. At SMU rush takes place second semester which gives you a whole semester once you come to SMU to get to know guys in each fraternity and create your own opinion. Because like you said, guys are always going to claim that their fraternity is the best. And being from Alabama I can tell you first hand that rush here is VERY different from SEC rush, so my best advice to you is to stop seeking opinions from others because if you decide to come to SMU you will get the chance to meet people in each organization and find who YOU fit in best with.</p>
<p>Thanks for the insight, Peruna. How is SMU rush different from, say, Georgia or Ole Miss? I am considering these things because, admittedly, they’ll matter in which school I choose.</p>
<p>Fraternities at SEC schools (except for Vandy) all have rush events in the spring and summer and most of the larger groups pretty much have their pledge classes filled out before school starts. For example, the four boys from my son’s school that went to Bama all pledged a fraternity in April of their senior year - though one of the four had an active brother in the chapter. Vandy has deferred rush in January like SMU does so it gives the freshmen a semester to get to know people at the school before they go through rush.
When I was in school (and I went to a SEC school with a very active greek life) some of the frats had spring rush - but they usually did not pledge that many boys - so if you didn’t get in during the summer/fall rush then you would have to wait until the next fall and hope that they would pledge upper classmen.</p>
<p>I agree with everything Wrestlingmom just said about SEC rush. The difference inherently is in the fact that rush at SMU isn’t until second semester and therefore Fraternities are not looking to fill the majority of their pledge class before school even starts. The SMU process takes the SEC process and pushes it back a semester so that they start rushing guys once they actually get to SMU and start filling their pledge classes in December/January instead of April. At SEC schools getting into a fraternity as a Freshman can be challenging if you aren’t from the state that it’s in or don’t already know people that go there (or with connections there)that can put out a good word for you. Whereas at SMU the deferred recruitment process allows for people to come in not knowing anyone and still get a good house because they are able to meet guys once they get to SMU. This is because a lot of the student body comes from areas of the US where greek life isn’t as popular and therefore don’t know a lot about the process. So basically SEC rush can often depend on who you know whereas at SMU you get the chance to find an organization that fits you because you get a whole semester to get to know them and for them to get to know you. Also because SMU is much smaller than most SEC schools the chances of success are much higher.</p>