<p>How much do the frats control social life at Cornell? I know about 30% of guys are in frats. Does this affect your ability to make friends at Cornell? And if you don't join a frat, what are the housing choices you have to help make friends?</p>
<p>Frats will only run your social life if you let them. I’m personally not into the Greek scene at all, and I’ve had no trouble making friends and having a great time; however, if you do want to go Greek, it’s certainly an option. That’s one of the things I love about Cornell…no matter what you want to do, you have a ton of choices.</p>
<p>All freshmen live on North Campus together, and you can’t rush until the Spring semester. If you don’t go Greek and want to live on campus, West Campus has many new dorms for upperclassmen. Many of those rooms are suite-style, so you can choose to live in suites with the friends you made in your freshman year.</p>
<p>Ive come to realize that all of the ECs that my friends and I have joined are a lot like frats. I am a freshman now, and all of the ECs that I am into throw parties that are way more fun than frat parties (they aren’t governed by the IFC rules lol). If you get involved with a few ECs you wont have to worry about not rushing, trust me. Also, I am living off campus next year with a bunch of my friends, we are renting a house. The problem with living off campus sophomore year is that most leases must be signed by the first week in october for living there next year. I think that most people join frats if they do not have a solid social network of people they know freshman year by rush week, or if they are the fratty stereotype. There are tons of cool frats too. Llenroc is not fratty at all, but they are a “frat”.</p>
<p>I must say, I enjoyed all the Llenroc parties I went to. What are some of the ECs you describe Tboone?</p>
<p>I am in the ski club, which is having a party november 6th. its going to be a blast, free admission, plenty of alcohol. Ill post the address later if anyone is interested but i do not plan on introducing myself to anyone at the party as tboone, but you will see me there. In addition, I do a few other ECs that are tight knit. outdoor odyssey people throw some good parties too, if you are a prefrosh, do odyssey, you will get a sweet collegetown party hookup through your guides (in addition to an awesome time). I also know the club sports teams and the varsity sports teams throw some good parties when they aren’t in season. A Capella groups are also basically frats within themselves. My friends who are in a capellas are always doing mixers with other a capellas and stuff. Just because you do tons of ECs too doesnt mean you cant join a frat. Tons of my upperclassmen friends who are in my ECs are also in frats and they have a blast. Point being, you will find your niche here, or a few of your niches here.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that not being in a frat won’t hurt you at all, whatsoever.</p>
<p>I had also held the misconception that social life at Cornell revolved around the Greek scene, alcohol-fueled parties, and the like; I couldn’t have been more wrong. I party maybe once every other week, but there’s so many other things to do here. The frat kids tend to live in frat houses, so you’ll find plenty of kids in your dorm that aren’t into that stuff and just want to chill out and do other stuff. There’s a Cornell page on the home site that says “just for fun” that lists out all cornell-sponsored stuff like movies and events.</p>
<p>The greek scene is going to be the last of your worries.</p>
<p>tboone i’m glad to hear about how the clubs are fun - i kind of figured that’s how it would be eventually, but that as freshmen, it was rare to get beyond frat parties. there is hope! hah</p>
<p>If you consider social scene to mean booze, I would say that they certainly control it for at least freshman year. If social life doesn’t have to include booze for you, then not necessarily. Only 30% of the school is in Greek life, I think.</p>
<p>like what jack said, the definition of social scene depends on what you mean by it.</p>
<p>if its like booze and partying, then pretty much frats control it, unless you get your hands on your own stash or something…</p>
<p>if you like other stuff, theres plenty of that too</p>
<p>if you drink and you’re not excessively awkward, then you’ll have tons of fun at Cornell, whether greek or not. as tboone already said, many of the bigger clubs throw good parties as do co-ops and varsity and club teams. after freshman year, once you know more people, frats also may become more appealing (i.e. getting past lines, afterhours, etc.). also, there’s always the bars if you’ve got a fake or you’re 21</p>
<p>what if you don’t drink???</p>
<p>I don’t drink at all, and again, greek life still won’t dictate your social life if you don’t want it to. My friends (who also choose not to drink) and I are still never bored on campus! You can also go to parties and not drink.</p>
<p>why dont you drink? i dont mean this as an insult or anything its just that everyone i know and I drink and really enjoy it, and im really curious what the reasons are against it</p>
<p>Some people I know have just really tried to drink, and they just truly don’t enjoy it, which I am fine with. My roommate was planning not to drink until 21, and already changed his mind :). I, on the other hand, do drink a good amount, and it is fun, but I respect people who choose not to. Yes, clubs and other social organizations throw a ton of parties which are outside the greek system, but still, frats hold a massive part of parties. You can have a ton of fun by not joining the greek system (I plan to though), and it’s very possible to survive grade-wise while having a lot of fun.</p>
<p>lol. It’s kind of funny because most of the people I know choose not to drink. Which is one of the reasons why I love Cornell…you’ll find your friends no matter what your interests are!</p>
<p>Anyway. To answer your question, CB1278…I just don’t see the point. What fun is there in getting totally drunk, passing out, nursing hangovers, throwing up, not remembering anything…? Of course, you can just drink a little bit and avoid all of that other stuff, but I really just prefer not to mess with my perfectly fine mental/physical state and don’t think it’s necessary to drink in order to have fun.</p>
<p>But that’s just my 2 cents. 
Plenty of people here drink, and plenty don’t. Whatever you’re looking for socially, you’ll find it.</p>
<p>but everything is more fun when you’re drunk.</p>
<p>I find that the fun I have with my friends when we drink is comparable to the fun other friend groups that dont drink have on the weekends, but “we the drinkers” have much better stories to tell.</p>
<p>lol. To each his/her own :)</p>