<p>I got into Cornell engineering and want to go Greek but am wondering how competitive it is to get into fraternities. I've heard that freshmen can't go to fraternity parties during fall semester so is there any recruitment outside of rush? Also, if I don't have connections in the Greek system am I going to be stuck looking at the lower tier fraternities only?
I'm middle of the pack in terms of athleticism, white, relatively quiet and like to drink. </p>
<p>I'm also considering Michigan engineering and know more about what it's like there having visited and talking to a friend there.</p>
<p>Freshman “cannot” go to fraternity rush parties during the fall semester, this is true. However, there are plenty of ways to get around this rule, so yes there definitely is recruitment outside of rush. I am a member of Greek life here at Cornell and if I were you, I wouldn’t be so quick to group the houses into tiers. The important thing to remember during the recruitment/rush process is to find a group of guys that you like and can see yourself living with over the course of your college career. I believe that anyone can get into the right house for them if they go into rush with an open mind. By the way I am also an engineer. </p>
<p>Best of Luck!</p>
<p>^ completely agree - everyone has their own personal fraternity tier system in terms of how a group fits them as individuals. don’t go for the PR lists that are passed around. it’s all about your finding a group of friends you’re happy with. with 30+ fraternities on campus and a wide variety of students from all over the world, tiers don’t really hold any validity.</p>