<p>hey everyone, i just applied ED to hamilton. I live in MN, and did not have the chance to visit hamilton during the school year. I did, however, have the chance to visit over the summer, though its hard to get the feel of a college during summer imo. I was just wondering how active the Frat life is and who usually participates in the frats? thanks a bunch for any reply</p>
<p>I am probably not the best person to answer your question (I have only just applied ED as well), but from what I’ve gathered through my obsessive Hamilton research is that the frat life is active but relaxed. There are no fraternity houses, and pledging is only acceptable for sophomores and upperclassmen. In other words, it is a basically integrated system.</p>
<p>The relaxed frat life is actually one of the reasons I’m so attracted to Hamilton. I was rather turned off by all of the fraternity emphasis at Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Frats are a big presence on campus, but there will be no negative impact on your social life if you don’t join one. Frats and sororities host most of the all-campus parties, and often smaller ones when they don’t have a big one that weekend. It’s true that there are no houses, but they all tend to occupy suites/floors in different dorms.</p>
<p>Oh, and while people technically aren’t allowed to pledge now, rush events for freshman started in early October, possibly late September. Two guys I know are pledging frats already. Sororities are still holding back, but frats try to gather and lock in freshmen early.</p>
<p>For your question on who participates… It really depends on the frat. Honestly, there’s probably just one that you’ll click with if you want to join one. You really have to feel it out for yourself if you’re planning on joining, because they’re all different.</p>
<p>frat recruitment starts early… but no pressure… nobody at Hamilton cares if you join or not. Almost everybody gets along by senior year. The frats tend to lie along sports lines… different teams tend to join the same frats, so if you are joining an athletic team, most of your team friends will opt for the same frat. There are no frat houses, but there are plenty of frat parties.</p>
<p>hey thanks for all the answers. sounds kinda what i had in mind but its good to hear from actual students, and ppl who conduct “obessive Hamilton research” lol. Im looking forward to attending Hamilton(hopefully) Is there anything that you wish you had known about Hamilton prior to attending? Or basically anything a current student can tell that I wouldnt already know, ie on the website. Thanks a bunch again</p>