Advice from a Former Student: Do not attend SMU. It was the worst decision I could have made in choosing a college. There is very little school spirit (unless the school is doing very well) and the whole social life revolves around Greek life as the ratings they display do not count freshman and easily 90% of the student body is greek and if you are not greek you are an outcast. I would not recommend SMU and if you are thinking about applying there I would not suggest anyone go there. I cannot believe I was not warned and want to warn anyone I can. If you have any questions or want more specifics just message me and I will answer. My advice is to think twice before attending. If I did it over again I would have never chosen SMU and will never let any of my friends, family members, or children go to SMU
Sorry SMU was not a good fit for you. But a lot of your complaints are verifiably untrue. For one, the school isn’t all Greek. Less than 35% of students at SMU are Greek. SMU has plenty of school spirit.
What was your major? Did you graduate from SMU? What state are you from? Did you get involved in any of the other clubs/activities?
I visited last week and its clear you need to be Greek there to really fit in, and very wealthy…am likely to not attend and forego Cox/BBA Scholar/Provost - am not into the Greek and drug scene, just doesn’t feel like a fit, beautiful campus though! You can smell the money down there. What’s weird is my family has money, but I dont think it should define someone.
@DG Are you truly saying the 65% of non-Greeks don’t fit in? That’s silly.
I asked about that, and it’s 45% greek but includes grad students, so a bit misleading.
Perhaps it was due to the face i was there as rushing was going on, and I had the misfortune of seeing girls and some boys packing their bags to transfer and leave school because they didnt get a bid to a frat or sorority.
Schools do play games with the published percentage of Greek Students…one has to know the denominator they are using (should be undergrads only, some schools are tricky and include grad students), and whether pledges are included in the total greek students in the numerator.
This page says that 43% of SMU undergrads join a frat/sorority. https://www.smu.edu/StudentAffairs/StudentInvolvement/FSL
I doubt that this number includes freshman pledges, so after spring rush if one includes all the pledges, the percentage of total undergrads who are Greek is higher than 43%. But still not 90% as the OP claims.
FWIW, students in our area who go to SMU tend to be attractive and wealthy, join frats/sororities, and say there is good school spirit.
Is there a place for me at SMU if I am not wealthy or studly and have no interest in being a fraternity bro?
@maristlover - is tough call…the frat culture i think is resulting me in passing…am interested in having fun but even though family has plenty of money i dont define others by it and could care less if people have money or are in frats etc…- hopefully me passing results in BBA Scholar/Cox admit opening up for someone else.
@DG & @maristlover, my son had that same concern. We are friends with a college consultant and when she recommended Cox, we said we didn’t think the culture was for him- he is very easy-going and not pretentious. She said several of her clients choose SMU every year and with one exception, each has been very happy there and glad they chose it. She said the diversity has improved significantly over the last 5 years and there is much more of a range of different kinds of students. She encouraged him to give it a chance. He spent some time down there and really loved it. Drive by the frat house parking lot and you will see mostly normal cars vs. trust-fund ones. I know there is a lot of money there, but I am hoping that reputation just has not caught up with current reality.
@DG and @MustangMom24 , thanks for the responses. It is definitely something to keep in mind.