Can you rush as a sophomore? Here’s everything you need to know about rushing a sorority as a sophomore, my personal experience, and tips.
Chances are, if you’re reading this post, you’re in a similar position as the one I was in during college and you want to know about rushing as a sophomore.
Is sophomore year too late to rush? (Spoiler alert: no, it’s not!)
Whether you did not rush as a freshman or are re-rushing for the second time as a sophomore, hopefully I can answer your questions and share some advice as someone who successful re-rushed when I was a sophomore.
Can You Rush As A Sophomore?
First things first, can you actually rush a sorority as a sophomore in college?
The answer is yes!
While the majority of your PC (pledge class) will likely be freshmen, you will probably not be the only sophomore. When I joined my sorority as a sophomore, there were five other sophomore girls in my pledge class of around 60 girls.
I went to a pretty large, academic-focused college where Greek life was not a huge deal — only 25% of students were involved with it. Rushing wasn’t as competitive as it is at some schools such as SEC schools, but it still wasn’t “easy” and you had to do some work to get in.
So if you’re interested in rushing as a sophomore, you will definitely want to do a lot of research about the rush process at your school.
You will like want to prepare “rush packets” that you send to each sorority with your resume, a headshot, and a recommendation letter from a woman who was a member of that sorority. (But all of this varies by school!)
Can You Rush A Sorority As A Junior?
I know this post is about rushing as a sophomore, but I wanted to quickly address rushing as a junior too, because I know that’s a common question.
The truth is, rushing as a junior may be significantly harder than rushing as a freshman or a sophomore. You’re no longer an underclassmen, and you only have two years left of college.
From a financial standpoint, it doesn’t make as much sense for a sorority to take on a new member who will only be paying dues for two years, as opposed to four full years.
Also, from a social standpoint, it can be harder. As a junior rushing, you’re likely 20 years old, while most of the members of your pledge class would be 18-year-old freshmen who are just beginning their college lives.
Even as a sophomore, I found it a little difficult to click with the freshmen in my pledge class because they were all living in the same dorms together, taking the same classes, and having the same freshmen experiences.
I imagine that would have been even harder as a junior.
That being said, it’s not impossible! Especially if your school doesn’t have a “tough” rush, you might not have any trouble finding a house that will take you as a junior.
My Personal Experience Rushing As A Sophomore
Okay, like I said at the beginning of this post, I am going to share my personal experience rushing as a sophomore and then give you some tips for how to do it yourself.
I did go through rush as a freshman, and I was disappointed because the houses I wanted all ended up dropping me by Pref Night (the last night of rush.)
I ended up going to Pref Night at the one house I had left, and signing a pref card which ensured I was going to get a bid with them… but since my heart wasn’t in it, I ended up calling my rush leader that night and letting her know I wanted to withdraw from rush.
Although I really regretted not being in a sorority throughout my whole freshman year, I did not regret withdrawing from rush because I knew I truly did not want the house I had left.
My freshman roommate was in one the sororities I really wanted, and this definitely ended up being a huge help for me. I also ended up living with four other girls from that same sorority the following year, and going into sophomore year, they knew I planned to re-rush.
These connections absolutely helped me during my second time rushing, and that’s something I’m going to talk about in my tips below.
My second rush went much better from the start. I got invited back to more houses, including several that had dropped me right away the first time around. I ended up with two houses on Pref Night this time, and one of them was the house that my roommates were in and the one I REALLY wanted.
And that’s the one I ended up getting! I had never been happier to open my card on Bid Day and see that sorority’s name there.
So Was Rushing As A Sophomore Worth It?
Now it’s time to get brutally honest.
Yes, re-rushing as a sophomore was 100% worth it for me. That being said, I didn’t end up having quite the Greek life experience I expected.
As I mentioned earlier, being a sophomore did make it a little harder to connect with the other girls in my PC, all of whom were freshman aside from me and 5 other sophomores.
It also didn’t help that I went and studied abroad during the second semester of sophomore year, so I missed out on a LOT that was happening on campus. (I don’t regret that one bit, though — studying abroad was the BEST thing I did in college.)
However, when I came back, I never really developed any super close friendships. I don’t have any lifelong friends from my sorority now that I’ve graduated college. And that’s fine — I still had a lot of good memories, but I was also lonely at times.
I definitely placed a lot of importance on joining a “top” house at all costs — and I was extremely lucky that I got the house I wanted, but I didn’t always fit in the way I had hoped.
Overall, I am still glad I had the experience.
There were even some surprising benefits, like how being in a sorority actually saved me money during college. My school was in the middle of a big city, and housing costs were high. I ended up being able to live in my sorority house for three semesters, paying rent that was about one-third of what it would have been in a college apartment.
So anyway, that’s my experience. Now let’s talk tips if you’re in the same situation as me!
If You’re Re-Rushing As A Sophomore
If you’re like me and you already rushed freshman year but dropped out of rush for whatever reason, you probably hope things will go a different way the second time around.
You should definitely prepare as much as possible for your second rush, especially if there were things you dropped the ball on the first time around (like not having recommendation letters or having a low GPA that is hopefully now higher.)
It’s also really, really helpful to have connections in houses already. So if you’re reading this is a freshman hoping to re-rush during sophomore year, you still have time to do these things.
When you’re actually going through rush, being a sophomore can actually be a slight advantage and make conversation easier. (Also, you’ll have the experience of one rush already so you’ll be better prepared this time!)
The active members in the sorority rushing you will likely be sophomores themselves (or possibly juniors or seniors) and so you’ll have more things in common with them than a brand-new freshman would. Use this to your advantage.
You also don’t have to talk about re-rushing (unless someone point-blanks asks you.) You can just talk about why you’re excited to join a sorority as a sophomore. If the subject of re-rushing does come up, you can mention that you wanted to focus on academics or other extracurriculars freshman year and decided it wasn’t the right time to join a sorority yet.
If You’re Rushing For The First Time As A Sophomore
If you didn’t rush at all freshman year and are rushing for the first time as a sophomore, you obviously don’t have to worry about the topic of why you’re re-rushing even coming up.
Still, you’ll want to have a reason for why you are rushing now.
For some people, it may be really obvious. For example, my sorority had several girls who joined as sophomores (and one even as a junior!) because they were involved with collegiate sports like cheerleading and swimming freshman year.
You can also use the same explanation I gave above, which is that you were focusing on academics or other extracurriculars.
Or if you honestly didn’t even know much about Greek life, you can say that too, and explain how you met sorority members who made you interested in joining one yourself.
If you didn’t rush as a freshman, you’ll definitely want to do LOTS of research and preparation to make sure you understand what to expect.
Rushing As A Sophomore: Final Thoughts
If you were looking for an answer to the question “Can you rush as a sophomore?” I hope this firsthand personal experience helped you!
I re-rushed as a sophomore and was able to join my top choice sorority, after being dropped by them when I rushed the first time as a freshman.
Obviously, this isn’t going to happen for everybody, but I truly believe that you can have a more successful rush as a sophomore and you should definitely give it a go.
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