Every guy that has went to college has had the thought cross their mind about whether or not to join Greek life. Whether they had no intentions of doing so, were a legacy, or just wanted to party, the thought of trying to get a bid from a fraternity was inevitably bound to happen. Here, I have outlined the five stages of getting a bid.

Stage 1: Post-Graduation Summer

The time when most high school graduates spend every weekend attending three to four different graduation parties of kids you really thought you’d miss, and many that you knew you wouldn’t, but still went for the cheesy potatoes and the chance at there being a party afterwards, where you got to practice your beer pong abilities to get ready for college frat parties.

Stage 2: Day One

The day when your parents get their last goodbyes and you get lectured about not walking alone, or to always remember to drink responsibly. After the parents leave, you get told by the guys that helped move you in to your office cubicle-sized dorm room that there's going to be a party down the road from you, and to bring as many people as possible. So you do as you're told, because nobody wants to be the guy stuck in dorm hall meetings playing ice breakers when everyone else is out partying.

Stage 3: Week One

The week when you only go to class to collect a packet of paper that eventually gets put online anyhow, and in smaller classes, make sure everyone knows your name, hometown, and a fun fact about you. This is also when you start setting a firm base of friends that eventually start hanging out with the same chapter you are interested in rushing. These guys attend all recruitment events with you, and eventually decide that they want to rush the same chapter, or some not. This is also time when you find out that calling a fraternity a “frat” is an unwritten sin (but really, who cares, one syllable words are so much easier).

Stage 4: Formal Recruitment

If your school is one of the more up to schedule universities or colleges and has formal recruitment for fraternities, this is the time when all the tents start popping up, the pocketless shorts and Sperrys are everywhere, and everyone has their trophies aligned on tables to show off their intramural history (even if it was an ultimate Frisbee award from 1967). Very few guys actually walk around to other chapters during this time, they probably already know which chapter they are joining, so they gather around that chapter’s tent and try to bring others to get them to join as well.

Stage 5: Bid Day/Week

The day you have been waiting for since you first stepped foot in that party the first day on campus. That piece of paper that was filled out 20 minutes before you got it by a few brothers that frantically tried to get the bids out before the chapter that seems to bid everybody gets theirs handed. Some chapters hand bids out like trick or treat candy, so if you didn’t get a bid from the chapter you really wanted, don’t worry, just knock on their door and Greek life awaits you.

Now that you have received your bid, it’s time to be super involved for two years until you develop a mindset that you’ve already done enough (it’s bound to happen). Don’t worry, though, you’ll do great; may the odds forever be in your favor.