<p>I am English, so I am foreigner to the American college scene. Although, I am somewhat familiar with fraternities and sororities, I was wondering how they were originally formed and what is their actual purpose? What are the benefits of being a member of a fraternity or a sorority? Sorry, if the question seems blatantly ignorant.</p>
<p>You should do a search...</p>
<p>read "Pledged" by Alexandra Robbins.
warning though: You'll never want to join one after reading it...</p>
<p>Princessbell: most searches I have conducted result in extremes and absolutes. Either Fraternities are despicable and elitist mediums of social stratification that are responsible for countless deaths or they are an aspect of college not to be missed. I don't want a sugarcoated version, I want the truth.</p>
<p>TheVeganActress: Thanks, you always provide useful advice and information. I'll check "Pledged" out.</p>
<p>Pledged is trashy journalism. Just like reality shows only take the "interesting" portions of the cast members lives to put on TV, Alexandra Robbins only put the parts that corresponded with her story. </p>
<p>The truth is this: the experience varies on which campus you are attending. Things that are commonplace at one school are unheard of at another. People (like me) who at one school end up being extremely supportive of the Greek System, might, at another campus be extremely anti-greek or completely indifferent. It really is almost completely dependent on campus. </p>
<p>At some campuses the chapters are competing actively for high GPA's, the most community service hours, and the most impressive array of campus leaders. At others, it's who can haze their pledges the most, who can build the largest beer bong, and which chapter is the prettiest. Some people love the latter and others the former. Obviously most campuses are somewhere in the middle, but I think you understand what I'm getting at.</p>
<p>For me, joining a fraternity was the single best decision I have ever made. I got way more out of it than I could have ever imagined, and wouldn't be where I am today (medical school) without having been a part of my chapter.</p>
<p>Bigredman...what exactly was it about the fraternity that so helped you and interested you?</p>
<p>How did being in a fraternity help you Bigredmed and how exactly were you admitted?</p>
<p>maybe the example in pledged weren't representational of all sororities, but it still gives a fairly good idea of what they are. It's sort of like getting all your information from CC... it may not be completely representational and not always accurate, but it can still help a lot. the original question was about what they are, and what their purpose is... I think that pledged helped me with that.</p>
<p>I'm an alumna member of a NPC women's fraternity (the word sorority was coined after the founding of many women's fraternities). Here is a link to the purpose of my organization.
<a href="http://www.yale.edu/kappa/Purpose.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.yale.edu/kappa/Purpose.html</a></p>
<p>As a newly married, newly graduated 22 y.o., I moved to an area in the South where I had no personal or college connections. My Northeast "nationally ranked private research university" did not have career networking or even an alumni association in this city. I was able to tap into the alumnae network of my Greek organization's alumnae association and ultimately found a position in my field.</p>
<p>I have moved A LOT over the years due to my H's career. Each time, I am able to join the local alumnae association and connect with women of all ages who have graduated from our chapters. Despite our many differences, we have a instantaneous link to one another.</p>
<p>I have given back to my organization as well. I have advised several collegiate chapters over the years. I have served on the House Boards and have held office during my college years as an active and many years as an alumna.</p>
<p>I would encourage you to look at the Greek system at your school. Going through recruitment does not obligate you to join an organization even when offered a bid.</p>
<p>My fraternity ended up helping in several ways.</p>
<p>First, it helped my academics, especially as a frosh, and then later as I progressed down through pre-med. We had required study hours as freshman, which were a big help for someone who had never studied in HS. I also had a couple of older guys who were really helpful in picking courses, answering questions when I didn't understand something, and advising me during the application process (since they were already in medical school). They really wanted me to succeed and do well, and get in, and with their help it happened.</p>
<p>Second was just the friendship and camaraderie, having people who cared about you and what was going on in your life. A bad test, problems with a girl, or just a miserable day, I had people that I could go ***** to, who would try to help. I think that very few people have that as freshmen (if you lived in the dorms, did you really care what was going on with the guy down the hall - even if you were friends?) and even as an upperclassman when you've developed closer friendships, how many friends were that close? Probably not close to the 80 guys I had looking out for me any given year...</p>
<p>Third, and maybe most importantly was the fraternity got me involved on campus. I had never been supeinvolved in ECs during the HS like some of the people on this site, but (again the older guys) getting a push into certain organizations really was a catalyst for my personal and leadership development during college. It's one thing to have an RA announce that such and such club is accepting applications, it's quite the other to have a guy you know, who lives down the hall from you, who just happens to be the VP of said organization bring you the application and say "you should apply for this group, I think you'd be good in it, I'm in it and we do this, that and the other thing, let me know if you have any questions..." and then continues to hound you to get the application in. </p>
<p>In the end, I'm pretty sure that I didn't get into medical school b/c of my grades, though I'm sure they were higher by being in the fraternity than they otherwise might have been. I am pretty sure that i got in because of my MCAT score and my fairly impressive list of involvement and leadership activities (and the letters of rec they generated). I also know that the fraternity kept me on the pre-med track when I got a poor grade or bombed a test - whether it was an older pre-med or just one of my pledge brothers I had someone who was there to encourage me to stick with it.</p>
<p>Lastly, just because this has been all about how the fraternity benefited me, I do want to say that I helped a lot of younger guys in the ways that I was helped. I worked to help make that house run, and I put a lot of effort into the thing events the house was involved with.</p>
<p>I have read pledged, and my sorority is NOTHING like what was described in that book. All of the sisters are friendly and welcoming, there was never any pressure to do things you didn't want to do, and there cattiness level in the book is unbelievable to me.</p>
<p>We also don't spend all our time getting drunk, dieting, and hooking up with frat boys.</p>
<p>qwilde: You want the truth? Then don't look for the exceptions. The fact of the matter is that if you want to get drunk, have easy access to drugs, and party then join a frat. If you were a girl, a sorority is your best bet for all manners of eating disorders and general materialism.</p>
<p>I kind of feel like we're the "un-sorority" at my school. It seems like just about everyone in the house never thought they'd join a sorority, but they decided to rush (as I did) and now love it. There are maybe like 3 partyers in the house, which is nice, because I'm not very comfortable around party people, though it does make formal events difficult. For example, turnout at Victory was like 1/3 of the house, and at Pearl Ball was like 1/2. I didn't go to either. </p>
<p>But anyway, being in a sorority provides a great group of friends that you can always count on while you're at school, and then there's stuff for alumae, too. Like last week, there was a little get-together for alums and current members, and we played Disney trivia and Apples to Apples, and I met my great-great-great grandbig. It was cool. </p>
<p>We're really big on campus and community involvement. Wednesday, I went with a couple of other girls to Walmart to get gifts for a man from Exodus house (a local shelter). And homecoming is like the most participation heavy event - I never would have done anything for homecoming if I wasn't in a sorority, but it was so much fun. And for next semester, I'll be holding a VP position in the sorority, and I'm co-social chair for the GSA on campus, and I'm hoping to become a member of the theatre honor society and Young Democrats (if I can ever find them). I like being really involved, but I can be a pretty shy person around people I don't know. However, being in a sorority has let me meet so many more people that I'm not afraid to get invloved in other areas on campus. </p>
<p>We also really stress having good grades. If you have below a 3.45 GPA, you have to do study hours every week, either 3 or 6 hours, depending on your GPA, and I think if you get lower than a 2.5, and don't bring it up in a certain period of time, you could become a member not in good standing.</p>
<p>Oh, and we don't live in our house - it's just a meeting room, kitchen, and bathroom. I definitely prefer it that way, because it doesn't separate us from the rest of the campus, and I would imagine there's a lot of drama when everyone lives together. If, on your campus, the people don't live in the houses, then I definitely recommend rushing at the very least. I love my sorority, and I wish you the best in whatever Greek experience you have.</p>