<p>It used to be that you could call upon most any member of your fraternity nationwide after college and they would accomodate you. The most-common examples are they would give you a job or buy from your business or, at the very least, introduce you to the right people.
I can't find evidence this is still true.
It used to be that fraternities kept up with their members' study habits and encouraged academics by limiting social activities (whether formal parties or informally getting drunk during Monday Night Football at the house).
I can't find evidence this is still true.
Can anyone provide me with evidence either way?</p>
<p>One of my fraternity brothers from a year ahead of me donated a kidney to a classmate. Does that count? </p>
<p>I don’t know about purchasing a business; I’ve seen a fair amount of networking amongst my cohort and at least one “hire him!” recommendation (which he had already earned anyway). Less so across chatpers, but I’d at least note it favorably if I saw greek membership on a resume, especially if they were in a chapter office. </p>
<p>Fraternity chapters should have academic standards for active membership, to reside in the chapter house, to be on the chapter’s executive board. I know my old chapter did and still does and my son’s chapter at his school does. Academic probation is not fun. Alcohol violations can get a chapter on probation or closed and de-chartered by their national organization, so responsible chapter officers and alumni take it very seriously. </p>
<p>Are their exceptions? Can you have a very successful college expereince without going greek, even at schools where greek life dominates? Certainly. This is not a steroetype of the 1950s or early 1960s, or of National Lampoon’s Adelphia Lodge and Animal House. I believe the vast majority of fraternity chapters and IFCs take academic performance and responsibilty for each other seriously. I count some of my best friends ever, many years after graduation, from among my fraternity chapter. That, the academic help, and the obvious social aspects, make fraternity membership beneficial to me, my fraternity brothers, and my son and his cohort. YMMV.</p>
<p>I think their best benefit is the connections. I mean yeah it’s also great to have a close group of friends and whatnot but you can get that without being in a fraternity or sorority. Heck I’ve even made some connections that could help me out just by going to dinners with my family. Met a guy who does consulting at a major firm who also knows some people in the Air Force (both potential fields I’d like to go into).</p>
<p>I know a few greeks and they’re all pretty smart folks who do pretty well in school. Yeah there are always the dumb burnouts who just drink and party all week but I think most fraternities are trying to distance themselves from that image.</p>
<p>It depends on the fraternity and how it is run. Certainly many are beneficial. When I was in a sorority, we had mandatory study hours during pledging, and there were always internships being offered (in fact, since most of the girls were from New York and were really rich, there were a lot of really prestigious positions available - I wished I was in finance because they offered an internship with Goldman-Sachs). </p>
<p>It also depends on the connections within the frat or sorority. Since the girls in my sorority were well-connected, there were a lot of opportunities. If you go to some random middle-of-nowhere school and join a frat of farm boys, it might not be as helpful. Joining a large frat with lots of chapters across the nation could increase your chances of running into a brother from another school…I doubt you’d be hired just because your employer was in the same frat, but all else being equal, it could be a bit of an edge.</p>
<p>The fraternity I joined has been known to get people jobs when they graduate and even internships with the State Assembly and Senate. Personally, being a member of the fraternity has gotten me an internship next semester and a job this coming summer. It’s all about who you know.</p>
<p>Most fraternities are going through changes right now and some are even switching from social to professional. Most are trying to get rid of and prove wrong the old fashioned stereotype about fraternities.</p>
<p>“You paid hundreds of dollars a semester to get drunk every weekend? Hey, that’s what I did too! You must be the best man for the job.”
Don’t you just love how fraternities work?</p>
<p>OP, provide you with ANY evidence? Is that a joke?</p>
<p>I’ll be the first to admit that some chapters of some fraternities are complete wastes of space but there are still many chapters where GPAs are valued (the all greek GPA is still higher than the average GPA at many schools [Greek</a> GPA’s Are Higher At Top Party Schools | The WebGreek Blog](<a href=“http://www.blog.webgreek.com/2010/09/greek-gpas-are-higher-at-top-party-schools/]Greek”>http://www.blog.webgreek.com/2010/09/greek-gpas-are-higher-at-top-party-schools/)) and where you can reach out to other members from your own chapter and others for help with jobs or getting acquainted to a new area (at least I’m constantly seeing these in my fraternity’s LinkedIn group). Literally my first day at medical school, a guy a year ahead of me saw me in one of my rush shirts and immediately introduced himself and has helped me whenever I’ve asked.</p>
<p>HarryJones,
Your statement could apply to 95% of the people I knew in college regardless of whether they were greek. Save yourself the typing though, the “buy your friends” argument is so old, tired, and inaccurate it’s not even worth hearing your response.</p>
<p>You are thinking of this in the wrong way, totally. Yes you can crash at a house of the group you joined nationwide (or if you are like mine, Canada, UK, and Israel as well). It does give you a slight edge to have involvement, no matter what group. If just gives a bigger boost if your potential employer is the same group.</p>
<p>The way you should look at it is the bonds you create with your brothers.</p>
<p>
You did invest your money in friends wisely.</p>
<p>Some people just will never get it, or plan to never get it. I can understand a GDI who doesn’t have the money or isn’t a fraternity type of person, but someone who outright makes fun of the system when it has shown to create better off people is downright stupid. Have fun Geed.</p>
<p>I will have fun, my fine frat. I will have fun hanging out with people I actually like, instead of people who just happened to join the same social club as me. I will have fun not humiliating myself just so I can join an exclusive society. I will have fun, going through life knowing that what I achieve it is through my own merit, not because someone liked that we were both part of the same club in college.</p>
<p>My old man joined an engineering fraternity as a premed and, as could be expected, did not reap any major benefits from it. He’s still managed to achieve his goals though.</p>
<p>Alternately, my cousin was the anti-Greek (he didn’t even date until after college) but he is now married with children and has a very high-profile job designing shipping cranes that allows him to travel all over the world.</p>
<p>I always got the sense that frats were exclusive clubs where the point of membership was to say you are in an exclusive club.</p>
<p>I’m in a sorority and I know that there were several alums who were recruiting for companies at our fall job fair. I fully believe that the Greek system is something you can’t explain from the inside or fully understand from the outside.</p>
<p>^HarryJones, who are you to say that Frat/Sorority members are any less merit worthy than you? Greeks typically have higher GPA’s and if anything that shows more intelligence/dedication because they managed to hold high GPA’s while still doing all the things Greek Life requires.
And of course your not going to like all your brothers/sisters but thats life your gonna have to learn to deal with people you dont like in a respectful manner sooner or later.
And its not buying friends, it’s doing your part to maintain your chapter, its like paying tithes at church, it helps support something you use/used for future generations.
Are you even friends with any Greeks? Or did you not get a bid?You seem bitter.</p>
<p>Knowing people is good. Being in favorable standing of people is better. Doesn’t matter if this happens through volunteer work, church, sports, or in this case greek life.</p>
<p>Fraternities still allow great opportunities to network. I don’t know if the pull is as strong as it was decades ago but plenty of my brothers have gotten jobs/internships from alumni. Any organization that lets you meet a lot of similar minded people will usually be good for you professionally. In saying that you should never rely on those connections alone to have success</p>
<p>
Do you have a source for this? I’m genuinely curious.</p>
<p>
Yeah, if you’re not in Greek Life, you’re not doing anything at all with your life. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>
Except that this is usually completely voluntary, so it’s not really like fraternity dues.</p>
<p>
Um, yeah?</p>
<p>
Of course. I dislike fraternities. Therefore I must be super jealous of them.</p>
<p>I’ve done allot of research on Frats and Sororities. Came close to signing up to rush, but my major had/has a very intense curriculum (your not allowed to have an outside job in it), thus I was not able to fulfill their obligation requirements, but some friends did and made it. But the grand conclusion of them all: If you join one, you won’t regret it, if you don’t, you won’t regret it either. I have yet to meet a guy or girl who has said “I wished I joined them twenty years ago!” Success is never guaranteed by anything.</p>
<p>TylerL,</p>
<p>To be fair, while the vast majority of people fit your description, I have met both people who regret not joining and who regret joining (the ones who dropped).</p>
<p>Haryjones,</p>
<p>My post has one source, here are others:
[UF</a> Greeks have slightly higher than average GPA | The Chalkboard](<a href=“http://chalkboard.blogs.gainesville.com/2011/04/uf-greeks-have-slightly-higher-than-average-gpa/]UF”>http://chalkboard.blogs.gainesville.com/2011/04/uf-greeks-have-slightly-higher-than-average-gpa/)
[WSU</a> News Center - Fraternities, sororities post higher than average grades](<a href=“http://news.wsu.edu/pages/publications.asp?Action=Detail&PublicationID=26520]WSU”>http://news.wsu.edu/pages/publications.asp?Action=Detail&PublicationID=26520)
[Greeks</a> Post Higher GPAs Than PSU Average - Onward State](<a href=“http://onwardstate.com/2010/08/04/greeks-post-higher-gpas-than-university-average/]Greeks”>Greeks Post Higher GPAs Than PSU Average | Onward State)
[GVNow</a> - Grand Valley State University](<a href=“http://www.gvsu.edu/gvnow/index.htm?articleId=5776F13B-D73C-5FD6-EFB49DB34D6EFECE]GVNow”>http://www.gvsu.edu/gvnow/index.htm?articleId=5776F13B-D73C-5FD6-EFB49DB34D6EFECE)
[Colorado</a> State Greeks Earn Higher Gpas Than University Averages, Post Best New Member Grades Ever - News & Information - Colorado State University](<a href=“http://www.news.colostate.edu/Release/3899]Colorado”>http://www.news.colostate.edu/Release/3899)
[IFC</a> at UVA: Rush > Frequently Asked Questions](<a href=“http://www.student.virginia.edu/~ifcouncl/rush_faqs.php]IFC”>http://www.student.virginia.edu/~ifcouncl/rush_faqs.php)</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that many of these schools do not calculate “non-greek GPA” they calculate “greek GPA” and “total GPA” therefore, the differences are often larger than reported.</p>
<p>I dropped my sorority, but I don’t regret it. I just realized it wasn’t a good fit for me, and it was expensive. I met my best friend in it, whom I currently live with and who also dropped, and for me that was worth joining. I’m just not really the sorority type. I don’t hold any animosity towards the Greek system. I do strongly believe that it’s not something you can understand from the outside, and not something you can explain from the inside. Live and let live, people.</p>
<p>UF Greeks have slightly higher than average GPA | The Chalkboard Difference of .01
WSU News Center - Fraternities, sororities post higher than average grades Difference of ~.015
Greeks Post Higher GPAs Than PSU Average - Onward State **PHC 3.39, IFC 3.14, NPC 2.73, MGC 2.87, All 3.18 (Only the PHC has a higher GPA than the average)
**GVNow - Grand Valley State University Difference of .004
Colorado State Greeks Earn Higher Gpas Than University Averages […] Difference of .09
IFC at UVA: Rush > Frequently Asked Questions No statistics</p>
<p>$600 a semester for at best for what does not appear to be more than - at best - a .1 increase in your GPA?</p>