First off, I should say I didn't yet read all the posts, but I wanted to offer why I did rush when I went to college, albeit at the "normal" college age.
I did rush not to actually join a sorority but to get a chance to arrive on campus a week earlier than most other students so that I could get the lay of the land and meet a few people before school started. That served my needs as an introvert, since it was slightly less overwhelming to have to meet a small group of other new female students. Even though none of the the girls I rushed with became my good friends, it was nice to have a familiar face until I did meet friends.
I never really fit into the sorority stereotype, but it was a good experience to try to have conversations with these people during rush parties. Kinda like job interviews, although much more, shall we say, "sweet." It ended up being kinda fun in a personal project kind of way - to see if I could get invited to join.
Anyway, all this to say that there might be more benefit to going through rush than joining a sorority.
Amazingly, I did end up joining a sorority, mostly because I was flattered that they wanted me. After just one year I did fully realize that my personality just didn't line up with sorority life as much as it did with the friends I met in school, and I ended up not really going to many more sorority events. It was a good learning opportunity, though, and a chance for me to explore who I was and wanted to be and evaluate possible life paths.
