Rush at my school was nowhere near as competitive as what I've heard about rush in the south. The sororities at my school pretty much invited everyone back after round 1 - that's how few people went through rush - out of 400-500 women in each freshman class, maybe 150 rushed. Sororities cut hard after round 2, but probably >90% of women got invited back to at least one house for pref, and most of the remainder were women who just gave rush a chance and didn't see anything right for them, so they were happy being independent.
It was unusual, though it did happen, for women to drop out of rush because they didn't like their returns.
I've never heard the sororities at my school described as prestige vs. non-prestige. If I were pressed I'd have to say there were 5 prestige sororities.
(Fraternities are another story.)
We never had a legacy come through, and I don't think we'd have known what to do with a rec if we'd seen one...
The only similarity I've seen between my school and southern schools is that it's extremely difficult to get a bid past freshman year, unless you're a sophomore transfer.
