Frats at Penn: questions

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Hello CC, I just got accepted into Penn ED and have a couple a questions about the fraternities at Penn.</p>

<p>While searching CC, I heard that a surprising amount of the frats do alot of hard drugs(not pot or alcohol) Is this really true? If this is true is it easy to tell which frats are involved with the hard drugs during open rush? I really don't want any part in that kind of stuff.</p>

<p>My second question was if engineering majors have enough free time to rush and still live a relatively normal college life. I am really interested in joining a fraternity but my academics need to take precedence.</p>

<p>My third and final question was about the selectivity of the fraternities at Penn. Are most people able to get into their frat of choice or is it a competitive process?</p>

2

<p>Plenty of engineers here are in frats. I remain unconvinced that engineering here is all that difficult. They might have more class hours, but the amount of studying required in total is generally consistent across the four schools. Back to your question, the frats here are generally very open, and not extremely selective. Some are very snobby, however, be aware.</p>

3

<p>^ PrincetonDreams, why do you persist in pretending that you go to Penn, when you’re actually A COLUMBIA STUDENT?</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13404106-post1141.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13404106-post1141.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/1183470-switching-jj-single.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/1183470-switching-jj-single.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>PrincetonDreams is from Columbia?</p>

<p>[Boo</a> This Man - YouTube](<a href=“Boo This Man - YouTube”>Boo This Man - YouTube)</p>

5

<p>In my 4 years at Penn I have never heard of any frats doing hard drugs (I’m assuming you mean cocaine/heroine/meth?). It is definitely not condoned at Penn and I would be very surprised if it was part of any pledging process</p>

6

<p>There seems to be a very diverse selection of frats here, some of my guy friends who thought they would never want to be in a frat ended up pledging. I know several guys I would call very studious who are in frats, it all depends on the frat and how you manage your time.</p>

7

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<p>REALLY? In my 4 years at Penn I rarely saw weed but cocaine was a daily sighting. There were tons of frats / “secret societies”(poorly named since they are really just offc campus unsanctioned frats) that were known for being huge for coke…Owls, Theos, St. A’s, Zetes, Castle. That said, although i was part of a “secret society” that was known for coke I was never forced to do anything I didnt want.</p>

8

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<p>I’ve been offered to do cocaine at an unnamed house. (Of course, I declined.) I’ve heard of other houses that do coke, too. But I mean…you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. It’s easy to say no.</p>

<p>In a similar vein, you’ll probably be offered ecstasy. Again, it’s easy to say no.</p>

<p>Don’t kid yourself. These are things that happen at literally every non-denominational college (and many religious colleges, too). Penn is not immune. However, it’s very easy to be a part of the Greek scene without being a part of the drug scene.</p>

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<p>The Penn mentality is very “work hard, play hard,” a phrase you’ll hear a LOT over the next year or so. Even the fraternities understand that you have schoolwork. You’ll have time to pledge and be in a fraternity.</p>

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<p>Because Penn has deferred rush for freshmen (freshmen aren’t allowed to pledge until the spring), the rush process is a bit different here than at most other schools. Allow me to explain.</p>

<p>When you first come to campus, just about every fraternity will be holding “open” parties during NSO (New Student Orientation). I use the word “open” in quotation marks because you’re not going to be allowed into the party unless you’re with a group of girls or if you know somebody in the house.</p>

<p>At first, the people you know might be students who went to your high school, friends of friends, etc. The only two kids I knew in Penn fraternities at the beginning of the year were a summer camp friend and a friend whom I’d met at Penn Preview.</p>

<p>During the first half of the semester, a lot of houses will be continuing this “open” party sort of thing. These “open” parties are your chances to get to know the brothers. They’re looking for freshmen that they can imagine living with and being brothers with. Basically, don’t be weird or awkward. The brothers will get your number and start inviting you over to house events.</p>

<p>Around the halfway point of the semester, houses are going to stop holding these open parties. Instead, they’re going to be having “dirty rush” events, in which the brothers you’ve gotten to know throughout the semester will explicitly invite you to. Nobody else will be allowed in, even if they’re with girls or if they know people in the house. This is essentially the brothers of the house trying to convince you to pledge at the house before rush actually starts.</p>

<p>During the first week of the spring semester, every house will have actual open rush events for two or three days. Any guy can go in, eat food, and socialize with the brothers. This is a chance for the brothers to meet and consider anybody else they haven’t seen during the fall semester for whatever reason.</p>

<p>After this, they hold closed rush events and then give bids to the kids they want in their fraternity as pledges.</p>

<p>Is it hard to join? No, as long as you can hold a conversation and network well. Even if you don’t get dirty rushed, I’m sure it’s not that hard to join a house. It’s just important to remember two things:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Penn has a very large “old boys network.” A lot of students know each other due to high school and summer camp and that sort of thing. In that regard, brothers at fraternities are always going to have the freshmen that they really want. You might have to work harder to break into that.</p></li>
<li><p>During NSO…grab a group of girls before going out. The standard ratio is two girls per guy.</p></li>
</ol>

9

<p>Thanks for all the advice.</p>

10

<p>There are plenty of drugs at many fraternities, but at most fraternities, you won’t find “hard” drugs at all. As for the pledge process, again fraternities differ. Some take pledging very seriously and will demand many hours from you (to the point that you may need to sacrifice leadership positions in other campus groups for that semester); others do not demand that you are completely available at all times during your pledge period. Most fraternities have study hours, where the pledges will spend a few hours in the chapter house doing work. You’ll find that a lot of the brothers will actually tutor pledges in intro courses, so it can be a very nice support system.</p>

<p>Fraternity members’ average GPA is close to non-Greek GPAs, so it really shouldn’t affect academics all that much if you do decide to pledge.</p>

11

<p>Tons of coke and molly (ex) is really, really popular.</p>

12

<p>That’s because Molly is the bee’s knees. (:</p>

<p>But in all seriousness, there’s no reason to worry about coke or E (forget about heroin; unless you’re at Reed/artsy schools, you won’t see it anywhere) except if you feel like you’re so immature and susceptible to peer pressure that you’ll be unable to hold yourself back–in which case, do NOT join a fraternity. It really does take a great deal of a) balls and b) common sense to survive the Greek scene, much as it does in the real world.</p>

13

<p>At the last IFC meeting (inter-fraternity council) it was reported that the Fraternity GPA was higher than the all-men average. There are still tons of meatheads and “bros” in fraternities, but there are also a surprisingly high number of studious and hardworking guys who pledge.</p>

<p>The time commitment also depends on which one usually, but there are plenty of engineers, business students and even a few nurses that I know of in fraternities.</p>

14

<p>As pledging will definitely take some time out of your schedule during the Spring semester of your freshman year, you need to plan accordingly. Whether that means studying more during your normal down time or taking a less rigorous set of classes that semester is up to you.</p>

<p>My son is in fraternity and is making time for:

  • Vagelos MLS
  • a double major in Biochemistry and Physics
  • Submatriculating in one of the above departments</p>

<p>Time management is as important in college as it is in everyday life.</p>