Hi, I am new to this so hopefully I’m doing this right. First, I apologize and I know that there are too many threads about this but I was hoping I could some questions specific to me answered. Anyways, I visited Dartmouth this past spring and loved it! Beautiful campus, beautiful town and setting, and has awesome programs in what I want to do. And in August (I’m a senior), I decided to apply ED. I’ve been really excited to submit it but as the deadline approaches, I got a bit apprehensive about the Greek life situation. Earlier I never thought it to be too significant of a problem. But lately I’ve been reading threads and articles about how crazy and socially dominant Greek life is at Dartmouth, and it scared me a little. I mean it’s pretty much fifty percent of students, and it would probably be bigger if freshmen were allowed to join. And I really don’t have anything against it. But It’s something that seems very prevalent on D’s campus. I never planned on pledging but I’m not totally against it, either, but if I didnt, would I be a minority, especially as a guy? Would I have trouble making or keeping friends? Is there a clear division between Students involved in Greek life and those who aren’t? Is Greek life controversial on campus? I am definitely not the party type but will obviously go to a couple wherever I go. Will that make me different? Especially as a guy, because that is my main concern. It seems as though girls aren’t as pressured to be a part of sorrorities there. Sorry again as I know there are so many discussions about this, but I am hoping I could get some recent and current insight on this because I know there have been administrative changes since the threads and articles I read were posted. Thanks again! I appreciate any knowledge or experiences that you share.
I had the same concerns when my daughters were deciding whether or not to attend Dartmouth – and that was around the time that the infamous Rolling Stone article had been published. Many posters have made comments about the greek scene at Dartmouth, so I won’t revisit all of that. As a parent, I recognized that at a college of Dartmouth’s size, there would be at least twice the number of non-affiliated students there as there were total students at my daughters’ high school – and that was also about the same number of students as comprised the entire student body at my own East Coast alma-mater. You can’t be “friends” with 4,000 students, or even 1,000 students, so we put it in perspective. Any concerns we had were dispelled once my daughters began their freshman year at Dartmouth. There are many opportunities to make friends, both affiliated and non-affiliated – trips, freshman hallway, clubs, sports, classes, etc. Dartmouth is large enough for you to find your niche without being lost in a sea of faces. And by the way, my non-affiliated daughters have found Dartmouth’s greek events openness to all students, including non-affiliated students, to be one of the best things about the Dartmouth community. Free parties paid for by the greeks! Yes, sometimes jerks in frats do despicable things, but so do non-affiliated students at every college. I don’t mean to dismiss the bad actions, but unfortunately Dartmouth has been the media’s go-to school for negative greek hype. The media doesn’t give much print time to all the positive things that the frats and sororities do on campus and in the community — that doesn’t sell papers! Anyway, my daughters are now happy, busy, non-affiliated upperclassmen, who have many affiliated and non-affiliated friends, and who’ve also benefited from the tremendous resources Dartmouth offers its students – multiple study abroad experiences, internships at important national and international GOs and NGOs, direct access to Boston via the Dartmouth Coach, etc. Dartmouth will even fund many internship opportunities so you can afford to do them. Don’t fall for the negative hype. If you’ve visited the campus, you should have sensed right away whether you could envision spending four years there. Much of the rest is just a lot of noise. Good luck with your applications.
I hereby nominate @Ivylogue for Dartmouth post of the year.
Wow. Thats so helpful. Thank you so much for the info. You’re probably right that the school is poorly and not fairly represented in those posts and articles. I would probably follow the same route, in terms of social life, as your daughters, and it seems like they love it. I’m pretty confident to apply ED now. Thank you!! 
I am reviving this thread to hear more people’s opinions as I have the same question as the OP.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”
Doesn’t really apply here…
Anyway, could someone give a quick summary for each of a few frats? Athletic affiliation, types of people who join, stereotypes, vibe, etc. There are tons of lists online but they are all from 5+ years ago and a lot can change in that time period.
I think any list of stereotypes would be, sorry to be obvious on this, biased. I’d hate to read someone’s personal opinion that this frat is “the sketchy one” and this other one is “the cool one.” The great benefit of Dartmouth’s rush process is Freshmen can’t join a house. This year is perfect for getting to know each house and their personalities first-hand, and figuring out where you fit in, if you even decide to rush at all.