<p>Don't forget that you are only a pledge and active during your collegiate years and that you are able to stay involved as an alumna/us after graduation. I have reaped the benefits again and again as an alumna in terms of connections and good all-around friends. We used to move a lot due to H's corporate relocations and the first phone call I would make would be to my GLO's alumnae association in that area to get school, real estate, medical, dental recommendations, career connections, etc.</p>
<p>Being a founder sucks. A lot. It can be great, but it can really suck. Mostly, the people in your group don't stick around and don't really -get- what's it's all about because they're not initiated and they have no traditions to follow. Making your own is cool and wonderful--but it's just very different from joining an established organization.</p>
<p>Greek Life is what you make of it. Put a lot into it, don't be weird, love it, and you'll reap the rewards forever. Be dramatic, get frustrated, think that the fun will just be handed to you without any need to work, join a group that you don't really connect with, and you'll probably quit and become a Greek Life hater.</p>
<p>I didn't really read this thread--but I skimmed it and saw most of the stereotypes people have. Paying for friends...don't even worry about the usual "you're paying for insurance and bills" response. Let's say I did pay for my friends. They're the best friends I've ever had and we remain close after graduation. I think when it's all said and done, I paid about $3 for each of my incredibly close friends. It was worth it. Or you can compare it to senior year: football games, homecoming, pictures, yearbook, prom, senior trip...these things weren't free. Greek Life has all this stuff in a more evolved form.</p>
<p>It's not a bunch of old white guys. If it is, then get out of the south.</p>
<p>You don't have to be Greek to party, you don't have to party to go Greek. The two often coincide, but it's not the focus. Believe it or not.</p>
<p>SAM and AEII are both Jewish fraternities. Our AEII chapter wasn't very involved with anything. I knew a founder at a SAM chapter. I don't think he enjoyed it...but he's a giant pothead and probably never tried to do anything.</p>
<p>I've been thinking about joining a sororiety if I didn't get accepted to the study abroad program. This is one of my back up plans esp. since I go to a huge state with a lot of COMMUTER students which can get rather annoying and can be very damaging for the alumni network connection. So I've been looking at sororeities that'll fulfill me intellectually and that's not all about "hey i'm greek now look at me woo hoo" type people nor the party types. But hey I'd rather not go greek then be in a wrong greek that'll waste my time and money :)</p>
<p>8:00 A.M.
Frat: Kick sorostitute out of bed, have pledge drive her back to sorority house, go back to sleep.
GDI: Walk into Physics class that doesnt actually start until 9:00 so you can get a front row seat.</p>
<p>12:00 P.M.
Frat: Stumble out of bed, go to dining room and have lunch; get in a quick pledge line-up.
GDI: Install more powerful graphics hardware into computer for more realistic World of Warcraft experience.</p>
<p>4:00 P.M.
Frat: Just finished 18 holes and 18 beers. Missed both classes, but sorostitute friend has notes for you from each of them when you get back to the house.
GDI: Just finished studying at library. Heading to campus cafeteria for dinner.</p>
<p>8:00 P.M.
Frat: Pay for frattab at restaurant ($152, plus tip). Go back to the house to continue pre-drinking.
GDI: Enter Star Wars chat room in hopes of meeting his own Princess Leia. Removes cargo pants.</p>
<p>12:00 P.M.
Frat: Enter Greek bar. Prepare to frattab and scope out shacking opportunities.
GDI: Go to bed to get plenty of sleep for class the next day. Shack with right hand. </p>
<p>obvi join a fraternity</p>
<p>goodusername,
Paying to have friends? from what i know about frats at the school i will be going to next fall (SEC) they pay to have a maid, a cook, and live in a 10 million dollar house in college. all for around the same price you would spend if you had an apartment on or off campus. sounds perfect to me.</p>
<p>And by being so judgemental your acting just as stuck up as you obviously believe greeks to be</p>
<p>better fix that chip on your shoulder</p>
<p>To anyone who does not think so: Sammy and AEPi are both Jewish frats. Everywhere. They are historically Jewish. This doesn’t necessarily mean anything. At some schools, there may not even be that many Jewish people in them. It just means it was founded on Jewish ideals and that there is a tradition of Jewish members. I am in a Jewish sorority and I am not Jewish. (I am in the minority to be sure, however.)</p>
<p>Greek life is definitely not for everyone. Yes, you can get most of the benefits for free. It’s true. But I believe it’s not really something you can really change anyone’s mind about. I can’t give you a whole bunch of reasons why I love Greek life and expect you to love it too. If you don’t “get” it, you probably won’t. And that is 100% fine. </p>
<p>To the OP - just go wherever you fit in the best. Go wherever you click with the most guys. DO NOT pledge a house simply because it is high-ranked, or overlook a house because it’s been in some trouble or is low-ranked. Also, don’t join a frat JUST for the connections you’ll think you’ll get, or because you think it will look good on a resume. Join because you want to be part of a brotherhood. </p>
<p>Oh, PS: Yes, it’s cheaper to live in a frat house than in a dorm or apartment, usually. Just remember you’ll have to pay dues. And there always seem to be other things…I don’t know about frats but I get random (smallish) bills all the time and it’s rather annoying.</p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If you want to join a fraternity do so - I have no feelings either way on the matter. But don’t think it will enhance your graduate school application, particularly if you are applying to a traditional graduate program (but even a professional program). Fraternity membership doesn’t really impart any essential skills for surviving graduate school, and thus, graduate school professors could care less about it. Honestly, extracurricular activities do not matter much at all to graduate school - in traditional programs only your research experience matters, and in professional programs only your experience related to that program (such as, perhaps, an international internship and a language institute for IR) matter. IT’s very different from undergraduate applications.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Hahahahahaha, as someone who has founded a fraternity, I have to say: in reality, you kind of do both at the same time:</p>
<p>8:00AM: kick sober sorority girl out of room, ask pledge to drive her back, and make your way to physics class so you can fall asleep in the latter half</p>
<p>12:00PM: stumble out of bed after nap to install new graphics card in gaming PC while pledges watch eagerly so they can build their next pledge project – an awesome StarCraft gaming beast; meanwhile, a cheap pizza is being shared</p>
<p>4:00PM: 18 holes and 18 beers with notecards taped to the bottom of the cups; they had been created earlier in the day at the library</p>
<p>8:00PM: pay frattab at restaurant and happen to meet a Princess Leia. Invite her back to the house to continue pre-drinking.</p>
<p>12:00AM: enter Greek bar, scope out shacking opportunities, and get plenty of sleep with a hot girl, hopefully ;)</p>
<p>Any frat that doesn’t actually mix up the two well usually doesn’t last very long. You’ve seen what happened to the frats in Animal House and Old School – they got shut down. The ones that survive don’t fail in the other aspects of college life.</p>
<p>That said, in terms of founding a fraternity: it’s different from joining one, but I personally think it doesn’t suck. Being at a school with a large student population but a low Greek representation, I was able to get all my social opportunities outside the fraternity. Meanwhile, I still had all the brotherhood and leadership opportunities from my fraternity. I had the opportunity to leave my mark and set traditions so that a significant chunk is exactly what I made it to be. Yeah, it took more than two years before we had our first significant party with sorority girls, but it’s paying off big-time.</p>
<p>As for which one: go by your gut feeling. Whatever decision you come to, it better feel right. You may have doubts and think you’re crazy, but the gut feeling should say: you wanna do it.</p>